Haley Memorial Library and History Center

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Haley Memorial Library and History Center Research historical documents, photographs and rare books. We exhibit fine western art. No charge. The purpose of the Nita Stewart Haley Memorial Library and J. J.
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Evetts Haley History Center is to preserve our western heritage. The Library houses more than 25,000 books, manuscripts and other printed material documenting western history. The collections and programs of the Library and the History Center concentrate on the common threads between the cowboy, the range cattle industry, military and railroads. Each industry depended on the other in order to expand. The settlement of the West could not have occurred without these elements co existing and growing together. Our mission is to provide a first-class, actively used research facility for aspiring and professional historians and writers. To this end, librarians and archivists on staff continually catalog, preserve and organize the collection in order to facilitate any researcher's task. Many eminent historians, novelists and writers have written books, screen plays and articles based on material found only within the Haley Library collections. "The information, first-hand, of what happened is not available anywhere else'" notes historian Dudley Cramer whose recent book on the notorious Pecos and Lincoln County War derived from research at the Haley Library. Historian Robert Utley also relied up research at the Haley Library for his highly acclaimed book on Billy the Kid. Patrick Dearen's several books on the forbidding Pecos River area of West Texas depended on original historical records found exclusively at the Library. Prolific western novelist Elmer Kelton credits the Haley Library materials for inspiring many of his books. The bulk of the Library's primary historical sources, however, remain to be utilized by historians and writers who will disseminate this rich western history to students and the general public. Evetts Haley interviewed almost 700 Southwestern pioneers personally. These resources provide an exceptionally fertile, meaningful historical insight. Who knows how many fascinating histories, dynamic biographies and screenplays lie within these hundreds of interviews. With added financial resources, the Haley Library plans to stimulate increased research on the archival materials by publicizing Library holdings through electronic media, creating award programs for writers and expanding the Library's capability for publishing. Established in 1976, this remarkable institution has endured the test of time. Offered in the collections are printed and manuscript materials on western exploration, frontier military history, early railroads, the development of ranching and farming, mining, politics, frontier social history and material on regional and local Texas histories. The Library is a "no charge" facility. Research and use of the Library is always free.

Before the Old West faded into memory, photographer Erwin E. Smith was determined to preserve it on film.Traveling acros...
09/18/2026

Before the Old West faded into memory, photographer Erwin E. Smith was determined to preserve it on film.

Traveling across Texas ranch country, Smith documented the people, horses, cattle, and landscapes that defined life on the range. His work captured everything from legendary Panhandle ranches to quiet moments like this lone rider watching over a grazing herd—creating a visual record of a way of life that was already beginning to change.

Smith's photographs would later become an important resource for western historian J. Evetts Haley, whose own research and preservation efforts helped ensure these stories would continue to be shared for generations.

Today, those photographs remain part of the Haley Memorial Library & History Center's research collections, preserving authentic images of the working West for historians, writers, and visitors alike.

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Erwin E. Smith Collection
Haley Memorial Library & History Center

Boots, Buckles & Blazers returns to the Haley Memorial Library & History Center September 23–25.Clint Orms Engravers and...
09/17/2026

Boots, Buckles & Blazers returns to the Haley Memorial Library & History Center September 23–25.

Clint Orms Engravers and Silversmiths and M.L. Leddy's will be at the Haley for this three-day event celebrating handcrafted Western tradition.

A Moment of Rest on the Open RangeThe American West wasn't built by cowboys alone. It depended on a steady network of pe...
09/11/2026

A Moment of Rest on the Open Range

The American West wasn't built by cowboys alone. It depended on a steady network of people who moved livestock, supplies, equipment, and information across long distances. Trade kept ranches operating and frontier communities connected.

This photograph, titled "Horse Trader at Rest," captures a quiet pause in that rhythm. Beneath the shade of a large tree, a family pauses beside their covered wagon. Wooden chairs, cooking supplies, and everyday belongings transform a stop along the trail into a temporary home.

For those who traveled the range, trade extended far beyond buying and selling horses. Saddles, harnesses, blankets, tools, clothing, food staples, and other necessities often changed hands wherever people gathered. On the frontier, commerce was as much about meeting daily needs as it was about making a living.

Sometimes history is found in the extraordinary. Other times, it is preserved in an ordinary afternoon beneath a tree.

Horse Trader at Rest
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Haley Memorial Library & History Center

The damage to this book was intentionally left untouched.Published in 1897, Drawings by Frederic Re*****on preserves mor...
09/04/2026

The damage to this book was intentionally left untouched.

Published in 1897, Drawings by Frederic Re*****on preserves more than 60 full-page images by one of the most influential artists of the American West. But this particular copy carries another history—one written not in ink, but in fire, rubble, and survival.

During World War II, the mother of one of the book’s eventual donors found it inside a bombed-out building in London during the Blitz.

The book had survived.

Its scarred cover was not restored to look new after it was recently donated to the Haley Memorial Library & History Center. Instead, the damage was deliberately preserved as part of the object’s history. The book has been conserved so that it can continue to survive without erasing the evidence of what it endured.

Inside are Re*****on’s depictions of riders, horses, soldiers, Indigenous people, and life across the American West. Outside is the physical record of a very different historical event thousands of miles away.

That is what makes an old book more than the words and pictures printed on its pages.

This volume preserves the history Re*****on illustrated, the history of the people who carried and protected it, and the marks left by one of the most devastating periods of the twentieth century.

Some books tell history.

This one survived it.

Drawings by Frederic Re*****on. New York: R. H. Russell; London: Lawrence & Bullen, 1897. Recently donated to the rare book collection of the Haley Memorial Library & History Center.

One photograph can preserve far more than the people standing in front of the camera.Taken during the final years of the...
08/27/2026

One photograph can preserve far more than the people standing in front of the camera.

Taken during the final years of the Fort Clark cavalry, this image captures soldiers at an ordinary stop in town—but it also preserves a snapshot of everyday America. Signs for Budweiser, Dr Pepper, Grapette, Indian Gas, and stacked Coca-Cola cases remind us that history isn't made up only of battles and military posts. It also lives in the businesses, products, and familiar places that surrounded the people of the time.

Fort Clark would become one of the last active horse cavalry posts in the United States before the Army completed its transition to mechanized cavalry during World War II. Soon afterward, the post itself would close, bringing an end to a chapter of military history that had lasted for generations.

Photographs like this are valuable not only for the soldiers they depict, but for the countless small details they preserve—details that help researchers better understand what everyday life looked like at a particular moment in time.

Jack Sigmon photograph from the Fort Clark cavalry collections at the Haley Memorial Library & History Center.

Water on the Texas FrontierOn the Texas frontier, a dependable source of water could determine where people traveled, wh...
08/20/2026

Water on the Texas Frontier

On the Texas frontier, a dependable source of water could determine where people traveled, where military posts were established, and how long horses and soldiers could remain in the field.

This photograph from the Jack Sigmon photographs shows Fort Clark cavalry horses gathered near the Waco Batteries, natural springs that served for many years as one of the only reliable sources of water in the surrounding area.

Fort Clark remained one of the nation's last active horse cavalry posts before the U.S. Army completed the transition to mechanized cavalry during World War II. Images like this preserve a way of military life that would soon disappear from the American landscape.

The Haley Memorial Library & History Center preserves extensive cavalry collections, including photographs, journals, and other primary source materials that continue to support researchers, historians, authors, and anyone interested in the history of the American Southwest. Every photograph is one piece of a much larger historical record preserved for future generations.

Photograph from the Jack Sigmon photographs at the Haley Memorial Library & History Center.

Some books tell history. Others are history.The Haley Memorial Library preserves a complete, two-volume first edition of...
08/14/2026

Some books tell history. Others are history.

The Haley Memorial Library preserves a complete, two-volume first edition of Captain James Cook’s *A Voyage Towards the South Pole, and Round the World*, published in London in 1777.

The volumes record Cook’s second voyage of exploration aboard His Majesty’s ships *Resolution* and *Adventure* from 1772 to 1775. The expedition ventured farther south than any known voyage before it, crossing the Antarctic Circle and traveling through the southern oceans, New Zealand, and islands of the Pacific.

Cook’s written account is accompanied by maps, charts, portraits, and remarkable views of the places encountered during the voyage. Many were created from the work of William Hodges, the official artist aboard the *Resolution*, and engraved for publication by some of the leading craftsmen of the period.

What makes the Haley’s copy especially significant is its completeness. Both volumes remain together, along with all of the maps and engravings that belong to the edition—materials that have often been removed from surviving copies and sold individually over the centuries.

The bindings bear more than 250 years of history. Inside, the pages still preserve Cook’s account, the expedition’s navigational records, and extraordinary images of icebound seas, Pacific islands, wildlife, vessels, and the people and places encountered during the voyage.

This is what it means to be a research library.

The Haley does not simply preserve stories about the past. It preserves the books, maps, records, and works of art through which history was first documented and shared with the world.

*Cook, James. A Voyage Towards the South Pole, and Round the World. First edition, two volumes. London, 1777. From the rare book collection of the Haley Memorial Library & History Center.*

Among the Last of the Horse CavalryFor decades, Fort Clark stood as one of the United States Army's most important caval...
08/06/2026

Among the Last of the Horse Cavalry

For decades, Fort Clark stood as one of the United States Army's most important cavalry posts on the Texas frontier. As transportation and warfare evolved, however, horses gradually gave way to mechanized vehicles. Fort Clark remained active through that transition and ultimately became one of the last horse-cavalry posts in the United States before the Army fully mechanized its cavalry during World War II.

This photograph captures mounted troops from that remarkable chapter in American military history, when horsemanship was still an essential part of military service.

The Haley Memorial Library preserves more than photographs from Fort Clark. Among its collections are the original Fort Clark Surgeon's Journals, spanning the late 1870s through the end of the nineteenth century. Those journals provide a firsthand record of daily life at the post—from illnesses and injuries to the routine challenges faced by soldiers stationed on the Texas frontier.

A single photograph preserves what the eye could see. The journals preserve what life was like. Together, they help tell the story of one of America's last great horse-cavalry outposts.

Image from the JHS Collection at the Haley Memorial Library & History Center.

Streets that normally carried merchants, shoppers, and everyday business became the setting for extraordinary events dur...
07/30/2026

Streets that normally carried merchants, shoppers, and everyday business became the setting for extraordinary events during the Mexican Revolution.

This photograph, identified simply as "Insurrectionists in Juarez, Mexico" and dated May 18, 1911, captures revolutionary forces assembled in the city during one of the conflict's pivotal moments. Rather than focusing on a single individual, the image preserves the larger scene—mounted fighters, spectators lining the sidewalks, and a community witnessing history as it unfolded.

Photographs like this provide more than a record of military events. They preserve the atmosphere of a place and a moment that written accounts alone cannot fully convey.

This photograph is from the RNM Collection at the Haley Memorial Library, part of the Mexican Revolution collection donated by western historian Robert Norville Mullin, a longtime friend of J. Evetts Haley.

A single photograph can preserve a moment. A collection can preserve an era.This 1911 photograph, from the Robert Mullin...
07/23/2026

A single photograph can preserve a moment. A collection can preserve an era.

This 1911 photograph, from the Robert Mullin Collection, captures Pascual Orozco in Ciudad Juárez during the early years of the Mexican Revolution.

Orozco emerged as one of the revolution's most successful military leaders during the campaign against President Porfirio Díaz. In 1911, Ciudad Juárez became the site of one of the conflict's defining battles, a victory that helped bring an end to Díaz's decades-long rule and changed the course of Mexican history.

The Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) profoundly influenced life on both sides of the border, shaping the history of Mexico while affecting communities throughout the American Southwest. Recognizing its importance, Western historian Richard Mullin assembled an extensive collection of photographs documenting the conflict. Following his death, that remarkable collection was donated to the Haley Memorial Library & History Center, where it continues to serve researchers studying this pivotal period.

More than a century later, photographs like this allow us to see history through the eyes of those who witnessed it, preserving not only the people but also the events that shaped the Southwest we know today.

Photograph from the Robert Mullin Collection at the Haley Memorial Library & History Center.

Address

1805 W Indiana Avenue
Midland, TX
79701

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 5pm
Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm

Telephone

+14326825785

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