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The Dykes Range Livestock Collection
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The Jeff Dykes Range Livestock collection is truly one of national stature. Its breadth is phenomenal, encompassing such diverse topics as cowboys, cattle, sheep, horses, ranch management, brand books, predators, barbed wire, and range literature from Louis L'Amour and Zane Gray to Larry McMurtry and Elmer Kelton. The approximately 20-30,000 books cover a variety of languages and regions, and any type of material on the range livestock industry. 
Besides books on every subject from western movies to rodeos to western art, the collection also
contains more unusual volumes such as branded books, the book with the bullet in it and books
covered in cowhide and horsehide. It also contains unusual artifacts such as boots, saddles, spurs
from the King Ranch and music from the western era.
The collection was originated through the generosity of Jeff Dykes, class of 1921, noted soil conservationist, western historian, and bibliographer. Further illustrated here are the papers of Charles Goodnight and the Mariposa Ranch. Goodnight's papers explore the trials and triumphs of an early Texas rancher and businessman, and the Mariposa Ranch papers detail life on a Mexican ranch. These two exhibits are just a sampling of what can be found in Cushing's Range Livestock collection. |