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"Ranchers
of the Panhandle
Fighting Prairie Fire
with Skinned Steer"
Artist - Frank
Machau
Location: Brownfield
Police Headquarters
(The former Brownfield
post office)
Photos by Barclay
Gibson |
"Ranchers of
the Panhandle Fighting Prairie Fire with Skinned Steer" by Frank Mechau
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, March 2010 |
The artist:
Frank Mechau, 1904-1946
Born Frank Albert
Mechau Jr. in Wakeeney, Kansas, Mechau spent most of his (abbreviated)
life in Colorado. In addition to the Brownfield
mural, he installed three canvases in the US Courthouse in Fort
Worth (now called the Eldon B. McMahon, courthouse).
Frank and his devoted wife Pauline met in a Manhattan bookstore and
sold their book collection to finance a trip to Europe. To finance
his art education he worked as a cowboy for the railroad and engaged
in prize fighting. He taught artist Ethel
Magafan who was also a noted muralist. One of his murals in Washington,
D.C. of Indians attacking a wagon train has become a point of controversy
in recent years for its portrayal of Native-Americans.
His wife Pauline (a Colorado conservationist) supported the family
after Frank’s untimely death by forming a folk-singing group – made
up of she and her children. She survived her husband by 59 years,
dying in her beloved Colorado at the age of 98 in 2005. |
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Marker - "Fighting
A Prairie Fire" by Frank Mechau
Photos courtesy Barclay
Gibson, March 2010 |
Historical Marker
Text
"Fighting
A Prairie Fire"
by Frank Mechau
Mechau,
a resident of Colorado, was selected by the WPA to paint a mural for
the Brownfield Post Office which he completed in October of 1940.
The work of Frank
Mechau stands as a magnificent documentation of The West. The
promising young artist died in 1946.
The artist described the mural in the following way: "The prairie
fire was a demon of the Panhandle. Sixty square miles of range could
be destroyed in a day's time. Once the flame befan to spread there
were few efficient ways to combat it. Plowing a line was too slow,
backfiring too dangerous. Cowboys would fight the fire with wet sacks
or kill a steer and partly skin it leaving the wet skin to drag behind
in an effort to rub out the edge of the fire."
Terry County Historical Comm. |
"Fighting
a Prairie Fire" detail
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, March 2010 |
"Fighting
a Prairie Fire" detail
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, March 2010 |
WPA Mural "Fighting
a Prairie Fire" Artist Frank Mechau's signature
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, March 2010 |
WPA Mural "Fighting
a Prairie Fire" hanging in the Brownfield Police Station
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, March 2010 |
The former Post
Office is now the "Public Safety Building."
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, March 2010 |
Brownfield Former
Post Office cornerstone
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, March 2010 |
| A detail from
the mural was used for the cover of the book The Texas Post Office
Murals. Image left shows the detail as it appears in place, while
the right side shows a reverse image for the cover. |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and vintage or recent photos, please contact
us. |
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