Heritage, Volume 9, Number 4, Fall 1991 Page: 28
30 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Texas Historical Foundation Holds
Quarterly Meeting in Austin During JulyThe Texas Historical Foundation Board
of Directors, along with several member
guests, gathered in Austin for the
organization's quarterly meeting July 18
and 19.
On Friday evening, Karen and Mike
Collins hosted a reception at their home
(featured in the Spring '91 issue of HERITAGE),
a pioneer farmstead in the middle
of Austin that they are in the process of
restoring to the general appearance it had
in the 19th century. Mike Collins is an
archaeologist at the Texas Archaeological
Research Laboratory and his wife Karen is
a historian.
Mike Collins led members through the
house and began by telling the story of how
their project started. Interested in purchasing
a home, the Collinses spotted the condemned
three-building property, which
they believed to be an early Texas structure,
on a routine drive through the city. By
Fund Your Project
With
"Signature Pavers"
Bricks purchased
by
donors and
engraved with a name may be
placed in courtyards and walkways
as an effective means of
funding your historic preservation
or restoration project.
For more information call
1-800-879-025328 HERITAGE * FALL 1991
January of 1989, they had purchased the
property and began their monumental restoration
task.
Collins told THF members that during
excavation and when he and his wife began
peeling the "modern" exterior and
interior sheating that had wrapped the
building, they unearthed bits and pieces of
Texas history. In addition to carved or
written names, dates and phrases, the
Collins also found a Republic of Texas
uniform button, the body of a brass "sewing
bird," and numerous arrowheads, including
one imbedded in a log of the main
house.
Collins also told members that meticulous
records are being kept of all the
restoration and renovation. Standard archaeological
techniques of screening and
documentation are followed, a daily log of
all activities is kept, and the area is being
carefully mapped and photographed. The
Collinses are committed to carrying out
the work so that information and materials
will be available for future research and
study.
While the restoration efforts have
provided Mike and Karen Collins with
much satisfaction, the couple has been
expecially happy to be able to share the
archaeological experience with volunteers
from the Travis County Archaeological
Society and Delta Tau Delta fraternity at
the University of Texas, two groups who
have assisted the Collinses in their preservation
work.Twenty THF members attended the
Saturday morning Board meeting, which
was followed by a luncheon and presentation
by Dr. James Bruseth of the Texas
Historical Commission on the Mound
Prairie Project in Northeast Texas. Mound
Prairie is transected by the Red River and
includes three large Indian ceremonial
centers, George Travis Wright's 1831
plantation, and Jonesborough, said to be
the first Anglo-American settlement in
Texas (1815).
Bruseth explained that intense flooding
of the Red River in the spring of 1990
had severely damaged the western temple
mound at the Sam Kaufman site. The Red
River is now moving toward the remaining
mound, threatening total destruction of
this magnificent prehistoric ceremonial
site.
The Texas Historical Foundation was a
supporter of the field school project, during
which professional archaeologists and approximately
500 volunteers spent nine days
surveying, documenting, excavating and
analyzing the area and its important historical
information.
Dr. Bruseth said that successful completion
of the Mound Prairie Project would
have significant and long-lasting benefits,
including educational materials and technical
reports that will increase our knowledge
and understanding of more than 1,000
years of human occupation in that part of
Texas.A A
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 9, Number 4, Fall 1991, periodical, Autumn 1991; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45425/m1/28/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.