DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Tex Randall — and friend, this one is worth pulling over for. Now, there are roadside attractions, and then there are landmarks that stop time. Tex Randall is the latter.
Forty-seven feet tall. Seven tons. A concrete cowboy standing watch on U.S.
Highway 60, west toward New Mexico, right there in the Texas panhandle. The marker calls him a Texas icon, and you know what? It's hard to argue with a seven-ton cowboy.
The man behind him was William Harry Wheeler, born in 1914 in Hartley, Texas — panhandle born and bred. Wheeler was a teacher by profession. Steady work, honest work.
But sometime in the 1950s, he got to thinkin' about supplementin' that income, and he opened a curio shop along the highway. Called it the Corral. Sold trinkets and curiosities to travelers passing through.
After three years, he moved the shop across the highway — and that's when something shifted in Harry Wheeler. Because right around then, he decided to build his masterpiece. He called it the Big Cowboy.
For ten months, Wheeler worked. Six-inch wire mesh. Rebar.
Concrete. A friend came in to help weld the pipe and rebar to the frame. When the concrete was set, they covered the whole thing in burlap to protect it from the elements.
That's the panhandle for you — the wind alone out there could sand down a mountain. But here's where it gets good. Because Wheeler wasn't just building a statue.
He was dressing a cowboy. Levi-Strauss made the pants. Amarillo Awning made the shirt.
One thousand, four hundred and forty square feet of fabric total. The clothes were hand-stitched in back using sailboat thread. The shirt got sheet aluminum buttons covered in vinyl.
And naturally — in true Texas style, the marker says — the whole operation was topped off with a Stetson-style hat. Harry Wheeler completed all of this in 1959, and that concrete giant rose up alongside Highway 60 as a roadside phenomenon, welcoming travelers to the Corral and announcing, with no particular subtlety, that they had arrived somewhere. Wheeler even added a six-room motel for the visitors who wanted to linger.
For a little while, it all worked beautifully. Then the highway got reconstructed. Tourist trade declined.
In 1963, Wheeler sold the property. He lived on until 1997, dying in Amarillo — never too far from the panhandle that made him. But Tex Randall is still out there.
Forty-seven feet of wire mesh, rebar, concrete, hand-stitched sailboat thread, and one man's ten months of stubborn, detailed vision. The marker puts it plainly: the giant cowboy became Wheeler's lasting contribution to Texas heritage and history. Seven tons of it.
What the marker says
The 47-foot, seven-ton cowboy statue, known as Tex Randall, is considered a Texas icon. Designer and builder Harry Wheeler created the cowboy in 1959 as a roadside phenomenon to welcome travelers to his Corral curio shop on U.S. Highway 60 west to New Mexico. The giant cowboy relates to the western heritage of the Texas panhandle as well as symbolizing the state of Texas. William Harry Wheeler (1914-1997) was born in Hartley, Texas in the panhandle and died in Amarillo. He was a teacher by profession, but in the 1950s, he sought a way to supplement his income and opened a curio shop along the highway. After three years, he moved the shop across the highway and began his masterpiece, the Big Cowboy. For ten months, Wheeler worked with six-inch wire mesh, rebar and concrete. A friend helped weld the pipe and rebar to the frame. The concrete cowboy was covered with burlap to protect it from the elements. Levi-Strauss made the pants and Amarillo Awning made the shirt, a surface total of 1,440 square feet. Dressing the statue was completed by hand-stitching the clothes in back with sailboat thread, and the shirt was decorated with sheet aluminum buttons covered with vinyl. In true Texas style, the cowboy was adorned with a Stetson-style hat. Wheeler soon added a six-room motel for visitors. Due to reconstruction of the highway, the tourist trade at his shop declined. Wheeler sold the property in 1963. Harry Wheeler's vision, dedication and attention to detail sealed his creation as a landmark and tourist attraction. The giant cowboy became Wheeler's lasting contribution to Texas heritage and history. (2013)