Appliance for Training Horses. (open access)

Appliance for Training Horses.

Patent for a new and improved appliance for training horses. This design "consists, essentially, in a leg-halter composed of chains or ropes connected by a common ring, or otherwise, and connected with gyves or shackles to encircle the pastern of each leg, a yoke or frame placed upon the withers, or forward or back thereof, and provided with a clamp, and a band passing through the clamp and down to one of the shackles, or to the horse's leg, the other end being carried to a convenient point to be passed by the trainer or attendant" (lines 9-20).
Date: August 10, 1886
Creator: Dodge, Israel Alexander
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Milk Cooler. (open access)

Milk Cooler.

Patent for a new and improved milk cooler. This design consists in "the combination, with the body or frame provided with water-troughs, of the jacketed cans having the upper ends of their jackets extending into the troughs, and an air-collecting device arranged . . . to collect and direct the air against the exposed jackets" (lines 14-21).
Date: April 2, 1889
Creator: Dodge, Frances A.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Refrigerating Apparatus. (open access)

Refrigerating Apparatus.

Patent for a new and improved refrigerator. This design "consists, essentially, in a series of vessels surrounded or enveloped by fibrous material, dipping into a water-vessel above, and serving to maintain a constant supply of water to the exterior of the vessels through capillary action, the water being caused to pass down in such quantity as to drip from the bottoms of the vessels and collect in a second tank supplying a second series of vessels in the same manner, and finally to collect in a suitable vessel below, intermediate filtering apparatus being provided or not, as required" (lines 9-20).
Date: January 1, 1884
Creator: Dodge, Frances A.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Shepherd's Crook. (open access)

Shepherd's Crook.

Patent for a new and improved shepherd's crook. This design "has relation to shepherd's crooks; and it consists in the construction and novel arrangement of the tapering and balanced staff, the slender neck near the head or crook, the broad bearings of the crook, and the guard-knob on the end thereof" (lines 16-21).
Date: April 3, 1883
Creator: Deland, Edward E.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fleece Binder. (open access)

Fleece Binder.

Patent for a new and improved fleece-binder. This design "consists in a fleece-binder constructed with a box attached to a supporting-frame, and having inclined flanges upon its side edges, and provided with hinged press-boards and fingers operated by push-bars, a cord, and a treadle, whereby the fleece can be compressed and held while being tied. To the ends of the sides of the box is attached a knife, so that all the twines of the bundle can be cut at a time" (lines 20-29).
Date: September 2, 1884
Creator: Krueger, Theodore C. H.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History

Mason Sheet

Topographic map of a portion of Texas from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) project. The map includes towns, historic or notable sites, bodies of water, and other geologic features. Scale 1:125000
Date: 1887
Creator: Geological Survey (U.S.)
Object Type: Map
System: The Portal to Texas History