Yana & Marty Davis Map Collection

The Yana & Marty Davis Map Collection is one of the largest and most diversified selections of Texas maps in the state. The collection, housed in a special map room, is available for study by special arrangement. Selections from the collection are on display adjacent to the map room.

To schedule an appointment to visit the map room, please contact us at 432.837.8735.

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Retablos Collection

Retablos were produced during the mid 1800s through the early 1900s in Mexico and are small, personal devotional paintings on tin. The Betty Byerley Collection at the Museum of the Big Bend contains over 25 retablos that are an excellent sampling of these works. The Holy Family, the Trinity, and numerous saints are represented in the collection. In addition, Leo Byerley, when donating these retablos in honor of his wife, included three ex-voto tin paintings. Ex votos were commissioned by an individual to thank a particular saint for his or her intercession and help during a time of crisis. For more information, contact Mary Bones at 432.837.8145 or maryb@sulross.edu.

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The Mr. & Mrs. Robert E. McKee III Family Fred Darge Collection

Bonnie and Robert E. McKee, III became interested in the work of Friedrich “Fred” Ernst Darge in 1998 when their daughter acquired a couple of his oil paintings. From there they began to collect his work and research his life which included many painting trips to the Big Bend region and other areas of the West. Darge chronicled the everyday lives of the people living and working on these lands in the the early to mid-20th century. The McKee family donated their collection to the Museum of the Big Bend in 2023.