Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Wills was a major creator of a genre of music known as Western Swing, described by
David Vinopal in the
All-Music Guide
like this:
Take fiddle-based old-time string-band music from the '20s and '30s, move it to a city
such as Tulsa or Fort Worth, add jazz and blues and pop and sacred music, back it with
strings and horns played by a dozen or so musicians, add an electric steel guitar along the
way, and you have Western swing; and when you talk Western swing, you start with Bob
Wills.
Wills reached his greatest fame in the 1940s with his band the Texas Playboys, with
whom he recorded such hits as 'San Antonio Rose' and 'Faded Love.'
The museum includes lots of artifacts from the musician's life, including his fiddles,
scrapbooks, movie posters and a gazillion photos. In the halls outside are haunting class
photos from the adjoining high school, which closed in 1972. They tell stories of a time
when the future of Turkey looked much different.
10,000 or more people stuff themselves into Turkey for a weekend of pickin' and grinnin',
with jam sessions galore. Many well-known musicians appear and jam.
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Quitaque
POP 410
Quitaque has been a rival of Turkey's for decades; the latter never forgave the former for
getting the town's combined schools in the 1970s. But this small town isn't doing much
better than Turkey, although the beauty of Caprock Canyons brings a steady stream of
travelers.
Quitaque's website (
www.quitaque.org
) lists guesthouses in the area, but many people
choose to camp in the Caprock Canyons State Park.
It doesn't look like much, but then again you don't have much choice, so fortunately
the
Caprock Cafe
( 806-455-1429; 201 Main; mains $6-12; 6am-8pm Mon-Wed, to 9pm Thu-Sat)
scores
with excellent small-town fare. Lunch buffets are big, with a different special each day
(chicken one day, catfish the next). Otherwise it also offers breakfasts and burgers. It's
very popular with Caprock Canyons campers fed up with campfire meals.
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