roping
old schoolhouse
Roping and schoolhouse activities at UTSA's Institute of Texan
Cultures spring break event

Spend spring break on the Texas frontier at ITC

By James M. Benavides
Public Affairs Specialist

(March 11, 2009)--During spring break, Buffalo soldiers, ranch hands, schoolmasters and pioneers will welcome guests for a trip to the Texas frontier at UTSA's Institute of Texan Cultures during "Spring Break on the Back 40."

From 1 to 4 p.m. through Friday, March 13, costumed docents will offer a glimpse of frontier life, letting guests learn by doing. "Spring Break on the Back 40" features the Back 40 outdoor interpretive learning area that includes five period structures: a one-room schoolhouse, a barn, a dogtrot log cabin, a frontier fort and an adobe house.

At the log cabin, visitors will learn to wash clothes with homemade soap, washboard and basin. After a lesson in penmanship and writing on the slate chalkboard, they can play schoolyard games such as marbles and hoop-rolling. They will learn how to rope like a cowboy and read maps like a Buffalo soldier.

Each day, the one-room schoolhouse will be open, along with one of the other period structures.

UTSA's Institute of Texan Cultures is at 851 Durango Blvd. Museum hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday; closed Monday. Admission is $7 for adults; $4 for children, seniors and military; free with UTSACard. "Spring Break on the Back 40" is included with regular museum admission.

For more information, visit the Institute of Texan Cultures Web site or call (210) 458-2330.