LAS CRUCES, NM – A new exhibit at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum provides insight into the Old West through the storytelling and paintings of the late Keith Humphries.  

“Keith Humphries: Stories of the Old West,” is now open in the museum’s new Legacy Gallery. The exhibit combines Humphries’ paintings, excerpts from his book and artifacts from the museum’s collections.

Humphries (1907-2002) was a man who loved stories, so much so that he chose to preserve them. Tales of life in the “Old West” were told to him by stagecoach drivers, muleskinners, miners, cavalrymen and homesteaders. Colorful and vivid, his writings and artwork narrate this region’s history.

Humphries was born in Oklahoma and raised on a ranch in West Texas. He graduated from New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now known as New Mexico State University) in 1932 with a degree in civil engineering. That same year, Humphries married Gertrude Loomis and the couple settled in Las Cruces. Following service in the Army Air Corps during World War II, he worked as an engineer at White Sands Missile Range until he retired at age 65. While in college and working, Humphries continued his interviews with the “old timers.”

In the 1970s Humphries began to paint pictures using oil paints. This medium enabled him to visually narrate the scenes described by his informants as accurately as possible.  Eyewitnesses provided the details he needed for his narrations since little physical evidence of these sites remained. He produced 80 paintings that depict life during the western frontier period.

The quotes that accompany the paintings in the exhibit come from Humphries’ book, Apache Land, From Those Who Lived It (1978). His book combines his abilities for gathering information and oral histories with his talent as a painter. The legacy of his work is that it allows people to visualize and better understand what life was like in earlier times. In 2000 Humphries received a New Mexico Historic Preservation Award for his lifelong devotion to the preservation of Southwestern history.

A special opening reception for the exhibit is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Aug. 14. At 7 p.m., in the museum’s theater, local archaeologist and historian Karl Laumbach will present a lecture that takes a closer look at Humphries’ work as a historian and painter. Admission is free.

For more information, please call Craig Massey at 575-522-4100.

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