Museum of the Coastal Bend > Exhibits

View temporary and focus exhibit information in the most recent museum newsletter. (pdf)

The LONESOME DOVE Photographs: Exhibit dates Jan. 20 - Mar. 17, 2012  See one of the film's musical performers, Michael Martin Murphey, at the Victoria Symphony on Jan. 21, 2012.

Cattle Boom!  Ranching in Victoria and the Texas Coastal Bend, 1845 - 1929

Cattle Boom! tells the story of ranching families, cattle drives and ranching culture through artifacts, historical photographs, documents and maps from regional collections.  This exhibition is organized exclusively for the Museum of the Coastal Bend and will not be seen elsewhere. 

Cattle Boom! will be open to the public through Dec. 15, 2012. 

The La Salle Odyssey

The La Salle Odyssey exhibit tells the story of the first European settlement in Texas- the French Fort St. Louis, and the French ship La Belle’s archeological excavation in Matagorda Bay.

Fort St. Louis and Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle  

The Fort St. Louis exhibition explores several subjects relating to the first French settlement in Victoria County and the first European settlement in Texas. From French explorer LaSalle’s early expeditions to life at Fort St. Louis and the archeological research on these subjects, each segment of this amazing story is told through informative scholarly written text panels, photographic images, and original artifacts found at the site.

The Cannons
The centerpiece exhibit in the Museum's gallery is the exhibit of seven of the eight cannons brought to Texas by French explorer La Salle. The eighth cannon is on exhibit at the State History Museum in Austin. The Fort St. Louis cannons are the focal point of the Museum gallery.

Presidio La Bahia scale model
The Spanish exploration and settlement of Texas in the early 1700s with the establishment of Presidio La Bahia in 1721 on the same site.

La Belle artifacts
Artifacts recovered from La Salle’s ship La Belle, which sank in nearby Matagorda Bay.