continued from page 19
generations of Crosses, from
the family estate in the late
1970s in anticipation of a move
to Alpine. But it was destroyed
by fire before we returned to
the area.
Many Alpine businesses
have been influenced by the
Crosses through the years. In
1971, Robert and I purchased
the Big Bend Wool & Mohair
in partnership with Robert and
Laura Eaves and W. M. (Buddy)
and Prudella McMillan, all
originally of Alpine. The part-
nership continued for several
years, with Robert eventually
buying out Eaves and McMillan.
A thriving business for many
years, the firm handled con-
signments of wool and mohair
for subsequent sale to buyers
until the general demise of
large-scale sheep and goat
ranching in the Big Bend area.
continued from page 23
identification of elements pres-
ent in the sample. The XRF
analysis has been popular in
determining the source of
obsidian artifacts from a num-
ber of sites in the Big Bend.
Although there are some
source areas of obsidian in the
Big Bend, none is known to be
of knapable (shaping by break-
ing away flakes by chipping)
quality, therefore we know the
obsidian was traded from out-
side regions. The XRF analysis
tells us that the source areas
were from the Jemez
Mountains of northern New
Mexico and the mountainous
areas of central and northern
Chihuahua, Mexico.
Ceramics, of course, are
made with clay and other min-
erals used for temper, which is
added to the clay in order to
reduce rapid shrinkage and/or
expansion during the firing
process and allows for a more
even distribution of heat energy
through the ceramic paste dur-
ing firing and/or use of the ves-
sel. The use of the optically
stimulated luminescence (OSL)
analysis has been useful in dat-
After Robert’s death in 1996,
the store continued operation
until 2003 with our son Justin.
It is now the headquarters of a
Cowboy Church.
Many Crosses attended Sul
Ross State College/ University
and received more than one
degree. Mae Cross Robinson
Tarrant represented Sul Ross
as a “Sun Carnival Princess” in
El Paso in 1942. The 1923 Sul
Ross Brand is full of pictures of
the sports prowess of Frank,
who lettered 13 times. Robert
Cross, president of the Sul Ross
State University Ex-Student
Association in the 1970s and 80s,
created the Lifetime Member -
ship Program to generate schol-
arships and was an Athletic Hall
of Fame inductee. I taught as
an adjunct. Crosses have been
instrumental in the life of Sul
Ross since its beginning.
Many grandchildren and
great-grandchildren of Ewing
and Eula Mae still live in the area. After Robert’s death, I
married David Seals of
Brownwood. I’m now semi-
retired after 36 years of public
school teaching, mostly in
Alpine. My son Justin and his
wife Lori ranch south of Alpine.
Justin works for Customs and
Border Protection and serves on
the Alpine school board. Lori
manages La Vista RV Park.
Stuart Cross, my second
son, is assistant manager of the
physical plant for McDonald
Observatory, and his wife
Linda is assistant director of
the Sul Ross day care.
Daughter Kimberley, an
English teacher in Luling, and
her husband, Max Johnson,
police lieutenant in Austin,
have bought a home in Alpine.
Another Cross descendant
who has returned to Alpine is
Billy Lee Tarrant, who is dis-
trict 1 leader of Texas Parks
and Wildlife. His wife, Ralene,
is an obstetrics nurse at Big
ing ceramics, especially for
ceramics from the last thousand
years. The method uses an opti-
cally sensitive light in tempers
that contain certain minerals.
During exposure to light, the
luminescence signal within the
grains is erased until it is com-
pletely removed. Once the
grains are sealed from daylight
and remain at normal environ-
mental temperatures, the lumi-
nescence signal accumulates
again, being induced by natu-
ral-occurring
radioactivity.
Dating is achieved by compar-
ing the natural luminescence
signal of a sample with that
induced by artificial irradiation.
Finding traces of the
remains of organisms on stone
tools has naturally led to DNA
analysis of these residues. The
technique enlarges DNA
sequences as many as one bil-
lion times and has the potential
to determine animal genus and
sometimes species. DNA analy-
sis can be expanded to include
investigations of plant remains
on stone tools as well. By com-
bining DNA analysis with
other techniques, including
how the tool was worn through
use and microscopic residue
analysis, archeologists can con- struct a much more complete
picture of prehistoric tool func-
tion than is otherwise available.
High magnification use-
wear study analysis entails the
use of a microscope capable of
magnifications to 200 diame-
ters and optics that use divi-
sions of polarized light to allow
three-dimensional views of tool
edges and surfaces. The prem-
ise of use-wear analysis is that
the damage a tool bears may
relate to its former function.
This has been deduced from
experiments with replicated
artifacts and has shown that the
processing of organic and inor-
ganic materials can cause the
edges of a tool to be damaged
and its surface to be modified.
Therefore, the function of the
tool can be interpreted by the
comparison of its damage pat-
tern with those of the imple-
ment used in the experiment.
Rocks and minerals were an
important resource to past cul-
tures in the Big Bend region. As
we employ existing and new
analytical techniques on the
uses of stone by the prehistoric
inhabitants of the Big Bend, we
learn how their heavy reliance
on stone material was no doubt
vital for survival.
Bend Regional Hospital.
An Alpine drama of March
1943 played out in the presence
of Mae (Cross), wife of Arin
Forest Robinson Jr., who was
serving with the U.S. Air Force
in Germany while she lived
with her in-laws.
Mae’s father-in-law, Bob
Robinson Sr., worked in
Thompson’s Grocery on
Holland Avenue. One evening,
as Robinson came home with
the day’s receipts, he was fol-
lowed into the house by an
armed intruder who trailed
him up the stairs in the two-
story brick house on the corner
of Holland Avenue and 11th
Street, now attorney Mike
Barclay’s home.
Mae remembered hearing
the intruder accosting Robin -
son on the stairs and demand-
ing money. At the commotion,
Mrs. Robinson and Mae each
came out of separate bed-
rooms on the upper floor. Mae
saw Mary Beth, Robinson’s
daughter, run up the stairs and
try to fight off the intruder.
Mrs. Robinson tried to go
downstairs to the phone, but
the man yelled he would shoot
if she called the police. In the
ensuing scuffle, Mr. Robinson
was shot, and the assailant ran
down the back stairs with
Robinson’s billfold. Robinson
died before help could arrive,
and the murderer was never
brought to justice.
The history of the Cross
family is a long one, and the last
chapter has yet to be written on
a family who will always call
Alpine home.
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27