This is an excellent regional portrayal of Texas ranch history, architecture, art and travel from the roots of the West.

Hard cover book of 124 pages covering 80 paintings by Texas artist Mondel Rogers of old ranches on the northern and western plains of Texas.

Foreword is by Mitchell Wilder, first director of the Amon Carter Museum; Regional Map of ranches; Introduction by Mondel Rogers; Reproduction of paintings most in color, some in black and white ; and Comments about the paintings by Rogers.

The interest of the book is basically four fold: regional history, architecture, art, and travel. History includes ranching development on the high Plains of Texas. Architectural is the progression of ranch building from primitive indigenous construction such as dugouts, log cabins, adobe, and stone structures as examples of the first ranch sites, to the arrival of the railroads when lumber and brick headquarters began to develop, and finally as signs of success and profits from ranching begin the appearance of Victorian mansions. The time span is narrowed, but covered well, from about 1870 to 1920.

Ranches include "whose who" in that business--the Pitchfork, XIT, Matador, 6666, Triangle, Waggoner 3D, Long X, Mashed O, Frying Pan, LX, Goodnight, Long S, Brownfield, Spade, Hank Smith, Yellowhouse, and many more.

Rogers is a well known realist artist in the medium of egg tempera and drybrush watercolor. His background and interest of west Texas and ranching are expressed throughout the book. His detail in painting, history, and writing are most revealing. He was Texas State Artist in 1990, and has exhibited in numerous major museums across Texas including the Institute of Texan Cultures, Texas Tech Museum, the National Ranching Heritage Museum, Houston Museum of Natural History, Amarillo Art Center, Texas A&M University Rudder Center, Grace Museum, the Texas Capitol Retunda, and others. Rogers was featured in American Artist magazine in 1978.

"Old Ranches" was the first book published in the Texas A&M University Press of the Joe and Betty Moore Art Series under direction of nationally renowned university publisher Frank Wardlaw. Printing was done by Hart Graphics in Austin. The first shipment in the fall of 1976 included 1500 books to Chicago, London, and Germany. About 4 years after the publishing of the First Edition (the only edition) the chrome plates were destroyed in a fire. About the same time all the first printing of 10,000 books was sold out. It is not likely that a second edition exactly like this copy will ever be published.