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Fred Clark of Van Horn, Texas and his cactus garden. I haven't counted all of the succulent little beauties (beware the search traffic that phrase will draw), but I'll go out on a limb and say there are many hundred. Ouch! View full size. (Courtesy Portal to Texas History).
This is the first of a number of images we plan to post from a coalition of west Texas museums. The kind folks at the Texas Mountain Trail contacted us with an offer we couldn't refuse: Access to old photographs. You can see all of the images in our Texas Mountain Trial gallery.
You're right, Mr. Clark grew cacti for sale at his hotel in Van Horn, Texas. I love this photograph, too. With the exception of lumber about, there's something so orderly about the layout of the garden/nursery, the rock walkways and borders. There's more about the Clark Hotel Museum at www.texasmountaintrail.com (select from the Attractions menu). Van Horn is an interesting community at 4,000 ft in the high desert mountains of far west Texas along I-10. The Clark family had the hotel there from the 20s to the 60s, and served rail and automobile travelers.
Those cacti are in an awfully regular pattern for a garden. Also, most gardens - even cactus gardens - have a variety of plants. I think this is really nursery - that Mr. Clark is growing cacti for sale.
something funny about this, I just can't put my finger on it
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