Once upon a time in Texas, gold was black. Big gushers of Texas crude spewed from the land, and the large-living, free-spending oilmen that came forth of the boom forever marked the state as place of "bigger and better."

To celebrate the glorious hey-day of Texas "gold," the San Jacinto Museum of History will host a Family Day on Saturday, October 9, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is the second Family Day in a three-month celebration of the newly installed exhibit, Texas Originals: Real and Imagined, and coincides with a portion of the exhibit that explores the oil and gas industry.

"The oil and gas boom is such an important part of Texas history," said Larry Spasic, director of operations for the San Jacinto Museum of History. "That era not only added wealth to the Texas economy, but also fundamentally changed the way people viewed the state forever."

The Oct. 9 Family Day is free, and will include vendors, live entertainment, horse-drawn carriage displays and family-oriented, oil-related activities presented by "mad scientists" from Mad Science of Houston, for kindergarteners through middle schoolers and their families, including:

• Wave Motion Modulators – Learn about density and wave motion by making a Wave Motion Modulator (fancy language for a simple density stacker) to see waves in action.
• Oil Spill Clean-up – Use different methods to clean up a mini-oil spill, and learn the effect of oil spills on the environment; help the Mad scientist find better ways to clean them up.
• UV Detector Bracelets – See how different minerals are affected by UV light.  Make a UV Detector bracelet that will change from white to rainbow colors in the sunlight (or any UV light).
• Panning for Minerals – Go on a Mad Science Mineral Hunt.  Learn about different types of rocks and where they come from and search for your own cool minerals.

For a chance to "step back in time", four turn of the 19th century horse-drawn carriages will be on display for visitors to admire and recall that elegant era of transportation.  The carriages are made available courtesy of Mr. Stewart Morris, Senior Chairman of Stewart Title.

The third Family Day occurs on Saturday, November 6, from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., and will highlight "Vaqueros y Cowboys." This event will feature historical re-enactors, including the South Texas Gunfighters in authentic western attire; Dean Shostak, a renowned American musician who will play the fiddle reputed to have belonged to David Crockett (the fiddle is part of the exhibit); and K.R. Wood and his chuckwagon. K.R. presents the history of the Texas Revolution through games, chuckwagon cooking and live music.

Texas Originals Exhibit: Texas Originals tells the story of Texas, from the early Texas Indian migrations to the oil boom in the twentieth century. The exhibit includes premier artifacts from the collections of the San Jacinto, Witte and Shell museums, as well as the Center for American History at University of Texas, Austin. Texas Originals contains hands-on components geared toward interactive learning, especially for school-aged children. Highlights include:

• David Crockett’s 1819 fiddle
• Sam Houston’s signature red sash that he wore during the Battle of San Jacinto
• Kiowa high top moccasins and Kiowa pouch
• 1830s Bowie knife collected from the battlefield at San Jacinto
• 1835 Broadside from General Cos warning the citizenry against the rabble-rousers
• Artifacts in the Texas Gold area of the exhibit include a Spindletop story video, an oil pump jack, Texaco gasoline pump, and displays on oil fields, workers and boomtowns.

General Information: The traveling exhibit, which was created by the Witte Museum in San Antonio and sponsored by Frost Bank, opened at the San Jacinto Museum of History Sept. 4, 2004 and will be on display through Sept. 5, 2005. The Texas Originals exhibit will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week except for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The Texas Forever!! movie shows on the hour, 10AM–5PM.

Admission to the Museum and the Family Day celebrations is free. There is a minimal charge to see the exhibit; combo tickets are available for the exhibit and to the Texas Forever!! digitized presentation of the Battle of San Jacinto.

For more information on the exhibit, the museum or Family Days, visit the museum’s website at www.sanjacinto-museum.org, or contact the museum at (281) 479-2421.

Texas Originals: Real and Imagined was created by the Witte Museum in San Antonio and sponsored by Frost Bank. The exhibit is underwritten by The Kinder Foundation, HEB, CITGO/PDVSA, Judy and Charles Tate, Rohm and Haas Texas Incorporated, The Barrow Family Foundation, The Summerlee Foundation, Stewart Information International, Inc., Ned S. Holmes, ABC-13/KTRK-TV, 1003.KILT, Clear Channel Outdoor, Courtyard by Marriott, Illuminations Lighting Design and Time Warner Cable.

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NOTE: Images of exhibit artifacts, the exhibit lay-out and/or Family Day participants, as well as advance and event interviews, are available by contacting Dianne Powell at 210/824-9474 or dpsellmark@aol.com.