The third stop on the ninth day of this 3,000 mile journey took me to Seymour, Texas, to see another Post Office Mural on my bucket list. "Comanches" painted by noted artist Tom Lea hangs there and is one of the most significant murals in the state. Seymour is 70 miles south of the Oklahoma border in the heart of Comanche territory. Known as the greatest horsemen in the world, the Comanches, a Plains tribe, followed the great herds of buffalo over a huge portion of the state, as far south as below San Antonio, and through much of Southern Oklahoma and western New Mexico.
Lea has been quoted as saying, "The town [of Seymour] is in the heart of the former marches of the wild Comanches; and any old timer's eye will light up with a Comanche story at the mere mention of the name ... Among all the wild and daring and skillful riders North America has seen, authorities place the Comanches at the top of the list. So it is natural to paint them horseback - wild and free on the boundless plains in the early morning light."
Lea also wrote novels about the Southwest and he frequently expounded on how the Indians' spirit of freedom and individualism were as much a part of our nation's character as the spirit of the pioneers.
I had a nice long chat about the mural with a young woman in her 20s who was working at the window of the post office. It was so refreshing to find a young person who was knowledgeable about the mural. She was quick to point out that at some time in the past someone in authority had actually poked a hole in the bottom edge of the mural (as seen above in the last photograph) to install a light fixture!
Due to the close quarters of the post office lobby I was not able to get far enough away from the mural to get an even horizontal shot of the 13'7" long painting. It appears to have been well cared for. Painted in 1942, Lea was an established artist and later served as an artist/war correspondent for Life Magazine during World War II, although throughout his life he was largely unknown outside of Texas. He was paid $950 for this commission.
7 comments:
Hello Kathy, beautiful murals, They do tell a story.
I just love the horses too. I assume $950 back in those days was a lot of money. Great series, have a happy day!
it's just beautiful.
i like the horses, they appear to be ready to jump out of the painting. to bad on the light fixture but it did not hurt the best parts of the painting.
I like this one very much! It really does convey the free spirit of the southwest.
Love the motion in this mural! Well done!
Gee I don't know what to think about someone poking a hole in the mural even for a light fixture.
I really like this one a lot. I also like what Lea had to say about the Indian spirit.
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