Haley Memorial Library and History Center

Haley Memorial Library and History Center Research historical documents, photographs and rare books.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 expa

nd. 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.

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.

Every photograph tells two stories.One is the moment it captures. The other is how the people in it wanted to be remembe...
07/15/2026

Every photograph tells two stories.

One is the moment it captures. The other is how the people in it wanted to be remembered.

This remarkable portrait is believed to have been taken in Abilene, Kansas, after a group of Texas cowboys completed a cattle drive north in 1871. According to historian Chuck Parsons, the men had driven cattle from Gonzales County, Texas, on what proved to be an eventful and dangerous journey.

Standing (left to right) are Mannie Kimbro, Jim Denson, Ferdinand "Ferd" Brown, and James Monroe "Doc" Bockius. Seated are Emanuel "Mannen" Clements, Joseph Hardin "Joe" Clements, and Jim Clements.

Photography was neither inexpensive nor casual in the 1870s. Every pose was intentional. The hats, the revolvers, the confident expressions, and the carefully arranged composition tell us these young men wanted this moment preserved. Whether they were commemorating the successful completion of a difficult and fatal cattle drive or simply celebrating their arrival in one of the great cattle towns of the American West, this is the image they chose to leave behind.

Joseph Hardin Clements would later become associated with the turbulent years surrounding the Lincoln County War, but here we see him much earlier—one of seven young Texas cowboys standing at the beginning of histories that would eventually become part of the legend of the American West.

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

Not every figure in Western history carried a six-shooter. Some carried the responsibility of shaping a nation.This port...
07/09/2026

Not every figure in Western history carried a six-shooter. Some carried the responsibility of shaping a nation.

This portrait is of General Henry Carroll (1836–1905), a career officer whose military service spanned some of the most defining years in American history. A graduate of West Point, Carroll served during the Civil War and later spent decades in the American West, where the U.S. Army played a significant role during a period of rapid expansion and change.

As commanding general of the Department of Texas in the late 1890s, Carroll oversaw military operations across a vast region during a transformative era for the Southwest. His career intersected with the stories of frontier forts, soldiers, settlers, Native peoples, and the evolving landscape that would become the modern West.

Photographs like this remind us that Western history wasn't shaped by one type of person alone. Ranchers, lawmen, soldiers, merchants, families, and community leaders all left their mark on the places we know today.

Photo from the RNM Collection at the Haley Memorial Library & History Center, Midland, Texas.

As we celebrate Independence Day, we pause to remember not only the events that shaped our nation's history, but also th...
07/04/2026

As we celebrate Independence Day, we pause to remember not only the events that shaped our nation's history, but also the generations who preserved those stories for those who would come after them.

At the Haley Memorial Library & History Center, every photograph, letter, map, diary, and artifact serves as a reminder that history is more than dates and events. It is the story of ordinary people whose lives helped build the communities, ranches, and traditions of the American West.

This Fourth of July, we celebrate the spirit of independence, the courage of those who came before us, and the responsibility we share to preserve their stories for future generations.

From all of us at the Haley Memorial Library & History Center, we wish you and your family a safe, joyful, and meaningful Independence Day.

Happy Fourth of July!

**From the CFC Collection at the Haley Memorial Library & History Center**History is often remembered through famous nam...
07/02/2026

**From the CFC Collection at the Haley Memorial Library & History Center**

History is often remembered through famous names and dramatic events. But its legacy is carried forward by families.

This photograph shows **Buster Casey** in New Mexico's Rio Hondo Valley during the early twentieth century. Buster was the grandson of **Robert Casey**, who lost his life during the Lincoln County War—one of the most well-known conflicts of the American frontier.

By the time this photograph was taken, the gunfire and turmoil of the Lincoln County War had passed into history. Yet life continued. New generations were raised, ranches were worked, and families built lives in the same country where those events had unfolded.

The Haley Memorial Library & History Center preserves hundreds of photographs like this, documenting the people, families, and ranching operations that shaped the Southwest long after the headlines faded.

Sometimes the most remarkable photographs aren't those capturing famous moments—they're the ones reminding us that history is ultimately about people and the lives they continued to build.

Photograph from the CFC Collection, Haley Memorial Library & History Center.

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1805 W Indiana Avenue
Midland, TX
79701

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

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