As school bells ring again after the 2023 summer break, Texas Cache presents this first article in a series, Marfa Memoirs, sourced from term papers written by 1960s high school students for their history class.

The following is a reprint of a 1969 research paper titled “Then Came the Indians” written by then MHS student Richard Hewitt and subsequently preserved by the Marfa Public Library and made available online through the University of North Texas’ Portal to Texas History website. In this bygone assignment for his American History Class, Hewitt described local lore in his own words and related his experiences hunting artifacts and petrographs in Presidio County with his brothers and their father. Reproduced here is the photocopied essay as it looked after Hewitt turned it in along with the teacher’s grade marks on the paper.

The modern reader could no doubt interpret this objective presentation through any number of present-day filters, but the inspiration to document one’s own experiences and perceptions of the past, like this teenager did back in the sixties, is the intention of publishing this piece. When Richard handed in this term paper assignment just before the Christmas Break in the final weeks of the sixties, he was probably ready to get out of class and ring in the new decade with no idea that anyone would see that paper more than a half century later. Such is the unintended staying power of the pen when it is added to one’s own memory- which often fades faster than ink.

Two questions immediately come to mind: Where is Richard Hewitt today, 54 years later? If any reader knows of his whereabouts, Texas Cache would love to talk with him. The other question is, did the teacher give him a good grade?  Here's wishing all teachers and students everywhere a wonderful school year for Fall 2023. More Marfa Memoirs will appear in future issues.