The Mr. & Mrs. Robert E. McKee III Family Fred Darge Collection
Going Home–Elephant Mountain
Oil on canvas, 24″ x 32″, ca. 1940s
Elephant Mountain is familiar to the residents of Alpine and Big Bend area. It is a short 26 miles south of Alpine, located on the east side of SH 118. The top of the mountain is a 2,200-acre protected wildlife management area that was donated to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in 1985. Its primary purpose is for the conservation and development of desert bighorn sheep. Other wildlife species include mule deer and pronghorn antelope. Over the years, Darge travelled annually to the area and, with his interest in wildlife, he must have painted the various inhabitants in their natural places a number of times, although there are no known wildlife paintings of his that are specifically identified as Big Bend locations.
Gifted by Robert E. McKee IV and Terry V. McKee
