While he may be physically gone from this Earth after passing away a few years ago at the age of 97, the spirit of Jack Glover is alive and well through the Cowboy Museum at Pioneer Town on 7A Ranch in Wimberley.
With the museum being kept and run by his widow Cheri Glover, Jack Glover’s collection of Wild West artifacts are on display for everyone to see.
Jack’s fascination with the Old West started when he began working at the Fort Worth Stockyards and was able to listen to the stories of the cowboys who worked the famous cattle trails of the 1860s and 1870s.
“That was his mission in life was to collect,” Cheri Glover said. “He was fascinated by Old West history, and he was an old cowboy… He started working as a young boy when he was eight or nine years old in the Fort Worth Stockyards. Being that age, he was working with cowboys who were a part of the old cattle drives. He learned all the stuff from them, so he had first hand knowledge. He was in the window looking at all of that history. He learned so much from all that experience as a young boy growing up that it stayed with him. It was a real love and passion to study the Wild West.”
But it wasn’t just the cowboy version of the Old West Jack that was interested in, but also the Native American side of history due to his heritage.
“He had a lot of attachment (to the Native Americans),” Cheri Glover said. “He was half Cherokee and was also Chief of the Indian Police of the Lumbee Nation. He could go on reservations and settle disputes. He was an elder, but at the same time he was an old cowboy, so the two worlds were mixed together to make the one.”
Jack Glover’s original Cowboy Museum was opened in 1973 in the small town of Sunset, Texas before eventually relocating to Wimberley. It was there that Jack’s collection was at its peak.
“He started collecting in 1945, but the first museum was a small place then a larger one opened up in 1973,” Glover said. “…So from there he started his museum when his collection was at its peak. In the 70s the Old West was very popular, he (Jack) had all the spaghetti westerns, and we just came out of an era with Roy Rogers, John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. So it was very popular and lots of people were collecting and trading. There was a lot of stuff that you could collect that you can’t find anymore due to it being too old or being lost.”
As part of their Native American collection, the museum is home to a sizable collection of Hopi Kachina Dolls, which are 100% made by Native Americans.
Annette Dunn, of Wimberley, donated the dolls to the Cowboy Museum after collecting them for years, but was unable to care for them.
Now they sit in the museum for visitors to know and learn about the significance of what these dolls meant to the people who created them.
“The Kachina dolls are really something and have a spirituality of their own,” Glover said. “The one thing interesting about the Kachina doll is that they are all made of cottonwood. The reason they are made from cottonwood is because, if you can associate this, for the Native Americans, the main thing for them is survival. Survival for them is water, because not only do you drink but to grow stuff to eat. With the cottonwood tree, wherever you plant it, maybe in the desert or in the plains, the roots will grow so deep until they reach water. Being water is everything to them (Native Americans) and that the cottonwood tree will find it, they make the Kachina dolls out of the roots from the cottonwood tree. Otherwise they (the dolls) don’t have the same spirituality because behind all of the rituals they go through for survival, the Kachina dolls represent a method of survival, something to do with their survival and culture. Therefore the root of the cottonwood is the most important, because if the cottonwood root can reach water then their Kachina doll will survive.”
Other artifacts were also donated from many families that Jack Glover was friends with including Frank Eaton, aka Pistol Pete, Fred Hartman, cartoonist of the Red Ryder comic strip and many more.
But perhaps the museum’s most famous object is the nearly seven foot tall Jackalope that sits in front of the museum. Guests are encouraged to take their picture with the gigantic representation of Texas folklore.
“It’s a Texas legend of course,” Sheri Glover said. “It’s supposed to be a cross between a jackrabbit and an antelope. Being a Texas legend, it has been around for many years. This one is very old and my husband (Jack) had it during the 80s, so we have had it for at least 40 years. It was originally at the Marketsquare in downtown San Antonio where the original owner was in the middle of Market Square. People were getting up on it and taking pictures and my husband saw it and immediately wanted it. He bothered that guy for weeks before the owner finally relented.”
All in all, the Cowboy Museum remains open and alive today for the public to see that not only showcases what Jack Glover collected all these years ago but also to understand the importance of keeping the Wild West spirit alive.
Winter hours at the Jack Glover Cowboy Museum are Fridays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from noon until 5 p.m. at Pioneer Town at 7A Ranch at 333 Wayside Drive in Wimberley.
