"SENTINEL ON THE RED RIVER - BURKBURNETT, 1919"
Print Number Five in the C. A. Warner Memorial Series of Historic Texas Oil Field Images
(Note: All prints in this series are on old-world style heavy weight, acid free, cold press watercolor paper.)
When Burkburnett began to get lively after the big 1918 strike in town, derricks flew up as fast as timber could be brought in, leases were signed at all hours of the day & night, and fortunes were won & lost daily. Every inch of available space was used to sink wells and the town crawled with wildcatters out to make a mint. That's exactly what you'd expect in a boomtown, right?
In stark contrast to our other Burkburnett piece, this eerily serene 1919 scene shows another side of Burkburnett & Wichita County, away from all of the action. It depicts a lone derrick, standing watch over the Red River and the Texas/Oklahoma border. There is no hustle or bustle, no Oil Fever, no speculators, no money changing hands, no cars stuck in the mud. A simple auto bridge (likely where I-44 crosses the River now) and the photographer are the derrick's only companions. But as every student of Texas petroleum history knows, all of this and more was going on just beyond the reach of the camera.
This is a high quality Giclee print on old-world style heavy weight, acid free, cold press watercolor paper. Each one is individually hand numbered. The 'felt finished' surface allows the inks to 'bite', reproducing the shading and tonality of the original image vividly, beautifully, and exactly. These inks are guaranteed color-fast for 80 years, which means you won't need to lay out the extra money for UV glass. You can hang your print in direct sun and it will be just as bright when they are passed on to the next generation as a family heirloom as it is the day it ships.
All you need to do choose any standard 18 by 24 inch frame and mat from your local frame shop. Like all prints in this series, it is a Limited Edition of only 254 hand-numbered and titled copies, one for each county in Texas. Get yours before they're gone.
** The first 50 copies of print Number One (Vestil #1, Ranger) and print Number Two (Tripping Pipe - Corsicana) were produced on a very special triple primed canvas. Unfortunately that material has become difficult to source consistently. We experimented with other canvases, but none took the ink nearly as well. This is why all further prints in this series will be on old-world style heavy weight, acid free, cold pressed watercolor paper. This produced test prints on this paper before we launched the series last summer and slightly more people actually preferred it to the canvas. We went with the canvas mostly because our Art Director has a profound love for canvas. We guarantee you will love fine art look that the new watercolor paper gives these images. Several of you have told us you'd prefer to have them without a mat so you can choose one that matches your frame and decor. Your wish is our command!
