Watt Matthews of Lambshead

Austin, Texas: The Texas State Historical Association, 1989. K1 - A hardcover book SIGNED and inscribed by Laura Wilson to previous owner on the front free endpaper and also SIGNED and inscribed by Watt Matthews to previous owner on the title page in very good condition in very good dust jacket that is mylar protected. Dust jacket has some wrinkling, chipping and crease on the edges and corners, scattered rubbing, light scratches, and scuffing, some scattered light foxing and stains, light tanning and shelf wear. Book lightly boweed, some bumped corners, some scattered light foxing and stains on the page edges, light discoloration and shelf wear. Introduction by David McCullough. 10"x11.75", 139 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. WATT MATTHEWS is ninety years old. Except for four years at Princeton, he has spent his entire life on the ranch he rules. He is among the last of the great Texas cattlemen, and the ranch is the historic Lambshead. In this powerful photographic essay and text, Laura Wilson has captured the spirit of this fabled ranch and the irreplaceable man behind it. Watt Matthews and Lambshead are at the center of a world which reflects Texas a century ago. He carries within him the story of a large part of the cattle industry from the time of the Civil War to the present day. Fifty-three years ago, in her book Interwoven, Watt's mother, Sallie Reynolds Matthews, gave the nation a classic chronicle of the Texas frontier in the story of two remarkable families. The combined force of the two families pushed back the Comanche frontier and held the open range along the Clear Fork of the Brazos River where Lambshead was established. "In breeding livestock you get a certain strain," neighboring rancher Bob Green remarked. "Once in a while you can see the genes mesh to make an animal of distinction. That's what happened when that little, sensitive Reynolds girl married that strong Matthews man. Out of all this we have Watt." Except for his ninety-nine-year-old sister, Lucile, Watt is the last of the nine Matthews children. He has never married, nor has he ever been engaged. He has maintained a simplicity of life by daily contact with the people who work his ranch. He sleeps in a room in the bunkhouse where he has a bed, a bureau, a chair, and, next to the chair, a bootjack. This simple room is a silent rebuke of the new Texas, the oil-rich and profligate. He is unlikely to be succeeded by anyone who can match his passion and shrewdness in holding this vast ranch together. . Signed by Author. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.