Angelo State Guest Lectures on Local History

The Angelo State University Friends of the Library and West Texas Collection is sponsoring a pair of guest lectures on historical aspects of the Concho Valley on Thursday, Jan. 28, and Wednesday, Feb. 3, in the Houston Harte University Center, 1910 Rosemont Drive.

Both lectures will be presented at 7 p.m. by Larry Riemenschneider, a regional steward with the Texas Historical Commission’s Division of Archeology, in the University Center’s C.J. Davidson Conference Center and are open free to the public.

On Jan. 28, Riemenschneider will speak about “Burt Smalley Petroglyphs in Irion County.” During a pipeline survey in 1989, crews discovered an extensive collection of petroglyphs, or historic carvings, in the limestone bedrock near Teepee Draw. It was determined the petroglyphs were carved by a lone cowboy, Burt Smalley. The lecture will trace the life of Smalley and show many examples of his work.

On Feb. 3, Riemenschneider will present “The Battle of Dove Creek and the Story of the Kickapoo Indians.” The lecture will feature details about the Kickapoo Indians, Confederate soldiers and Texas Militia before, during and after the Battle of Dove Creek in 1865. The Battle of Dove Creek was the largest Indian engagement during the Civil War and the most distinctive event in the history of the Kickapoo Indians in Texas.

A graduate of Texas A&M University, Riemenschneider is a retired farmer and past president of the Concho Valley Archeological Society. He has spent more than 30 years documenting and recording archeological sites in Texas and Mexico.

For more information, call the ASU Porter Henderson Library at 325-942-2164.