Bobby D. Weaver, born on November 6, 1936, in Coryell County, Texas, near Gatesville, graduated from high school in 1955 and sporadically attended night school at Odessa College while working in the oilfield and later a petrochemical plant. In January 1969, he transferred to Texas Technological College, whence he graduated in December 1970 with a B.A. in History. Weaver then moved to Corpus Christi to work for Reynolds Metal Company but enrolled in night classes at Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville). He graduated with an M.A. in History in August 1972. In the Fall of 1974, he entered the Ph.D. program in History at Texas Tech University. He was a Field Representative for the Southwest Collection while working on his dissertation. In 1979, he went to work for the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, where in 1984 he completed his dissertation on Castro’s Colony, which was published by Texas A&M University Press. In the spring of 1988 Weaver went to work for the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City as its Assistant Director, whence he retired at the end of 2001. Weaver has published several books including Panhandle Petroleum, European Folk Islands in Northwest Texas, Oilfield Trash, Hotter Than Pecos, and History of the National Cowboy Museum. He has also written more than 350 articles.
