By J.B. Smith

Tribune-Herald staff writer

The appointment of a Texas House of Representatives subcommittee to inquire into the handling of human skeletons found at Waco’s Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum has injected a note of political rancor into an already messy situation.

Waco’s city attorney and one of its state representatives say the Kerrville legislator who appointed the subcommittee is politicizing the problem to gain points for a proposed Ranger museum he supports in his hometown.

In return, Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, chairman of the House Committee on Culture, Recreation and Tourism, says he is “annoyed” by that accusation and says it’s the city that is playing political games.

“They’ve got my attention now,” he said. “I’m kind of perplexed at why they’d want to make that claim.”

More than 100 graves have been discovered in the last year at the Texas Ranger Museum grounds, known as Fort Fisher Park.

SLIDE SHOWS

Richard Thompson takes bones from museum expansion site / July 19, 2007

American Archaeology Group photos of grave excavations / March 2008

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Cemetery map

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See a 1968 map and gravestone registry from the relocation.

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COMPLETE COVERAGE

• 05-12-09  National Park Service wants historic cemetery designation and other changes around Waco's Texas Ranger Museum 
• 12-16-08  Waco City Council to decide whether to spend another nearly $500,000 for Rangers Museum work 
• 10-29-08  Cemetery 'debacle' at Ranger Museum site will bring about new legislation, lawmaker says 
• 10-08-08  City of Waco countersues archaeological firm in Texas Ranger Museum project 
• 09-23-08  State legislator tours burial site at Texas Ranger Museum expansion 
• 09-08-08  Political charges fly over graveyard dig at Ranger Museum 
• 09-06-08  State calls inquiry on graves at Ranger museum site 
• 09-05-08  State funeral hearing's focus shifts to graves at Texas Ranger Museum expansion 
• 09-04-08  State agency hearing in Waco today on families' access to graves 
• 05-07-08  City OKs spending up to $350,000 to dig beneath graves for water line to museum 
• 05-06-08  Letting First Street Cemetery dead rest in peace will come at a cost, city leaders say 
• 04-27-08  Descendants of First Street Cemetery dead plea for peace at long last 
• 04-02-08  Museum grounds may be re-dedicated as old cemetery 
• 03-23-08  DEAD WRONG: Bad assumptions, ignorance played havoc with old city cemetery 
• 03-08-08  Firm says city mismanaged burial site at Ranger museum 
• 11-13-07  Grave concerns bedevil Texas Ranger Hall of Fame project 
• 08-06-07  Texas Ranger Museum gets OK to resume construction at site where bones were unearthed 
• 07-24-07  State officials scrutinizing loose human bones, ambitious museum plans 
• 07-20-07  Missing bones cause big beef for city, museum officials 
• 07-19-07  A bone to pick: Case of exposed skeletal remains 'gone awry' 

OPINION

• 04-03-08  Editorial: Re-dedicate old Waco cemetery 
• 03-25-08  Editorial: Solution, not blame needed at old cemetery 

The city discovered the bones in May 2007 while trenching for water and sewer lines to serve the new annex that will house an education center and Texas Rangers Company F. Archaeological work at the site is expected to cost more than $1 million and delay by about a year the facilities’ opening, which was supposed to have happened this past January.

Fort Fisher Park was built on the site of an old cemetery that Waco got court permission to relocate in the late 1960s. But it has become clear in recent months that the project mostly moved gravestones, not bodies.

Hilderbran said his committee, which oversees Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Historical Commission, discussed the issue with historical commission officials in July.

He decided to appoint a subcommittee to ensure that the grave removal is proceeding in accordance with the law and to determine whether state policies on cemetery disturbances need to be tightened.

“This is not just about the Ranger Museum,” he said. “It’s the idea of disturbing a grave site. Our main concern is to get the facts on it. It sounds like they didn’t necessarily violate in the law in 1968, but they would have violated the law if they were doing the same things today. As city officials, you don’t just have to follow the letter of the law. You have a responsibility to do a better job than that. Clearly, they didn’t take it very seriously.”

State Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, who is heading the subcommittee, said Waco officials and others will be asked to explain how the current situation developed. The goal is to have a policy recommendation before the next legislative session starts in January.

“We are asking, is there a systemic problem in terms of burial sites that we are in the position to be protecting?” she said. “This subcommittee is not set up to be an investigative committee. What we’re looking at is what policies are in place and how are we implementing them. Certainly, the bigger picture is what we need to do across the state when these situations arise.”

Waco City Manager Larry Groth said he didn’t have enough information on the subcommittee to comment on it. But City Attorney Leah Hayes said it appears to be part of “a continued effort” by Hilderbran to get state recognition and support for a proposed Texas Ranger History and Education Center in Kerrville.

The Former Texas Rangers Foundation, which now has a small museum in San Antonio, is trying to raise $10 million for the Kerrville facility, causing concern among Waco officials, whose city-run museum is designated as the state’s official Ranger museum.

State Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, said he objected last year when Hilderbran tried to add an amendment to a large parks bill that would have allowed the Kerrville group to seek state support. Hilderbran said he voluntarily removed the amendment.

“I know he’s had an agenda in this,” Dunnam said. “He’s trying to promote this thing in his district at our expense. I don’t blame him for that. I guess he’s representing his district. I just don’t think it’s something a committee needs to look at. I think someone should have called the city or at least the Waco delegation” before appointing the subcommittee.

Howard, the subcommittee chair, said she had no reason to believe the inquiry was politically motivated.

Hilderbran said he was offended at the city attorney’s suggestion.

“They should know that if I wanted to harm or oppose anything with the Texas Ranger Museum, I would have opposed it during appropriations,” he said. “But I didn’t. Up until this moment, I was always a supporter. Now, I don’t know. We need to have a dialogue. Apparently we’re at best a competitor or a threat or an enemy. I don’t think there’s room for this when we’re trying to educate the public about our heritage.”

He said he never considered the Kerrville museum to be a rival to the Waco museum, but he was bothered last year when he came across a list of the city of Waco’s lobbying objectives, including opposition to state recognition for the Kerrville project.

Joe Davis, a retired Texas Ranger sergeant and president of the Former Texas Ranger Foundation, said he is disappointed that the Waco museum sees his group as a competitor. He said his group chose not to build its museum in San Marcos because it would appear to be competing with Waco. He said he traveled to Waco several years ago to meet with Johnson and propose ways for the museums to cooperate.

”The Waco museum means a lot to me,” said Davis, who was with Waco-based Company F for 24 years. “I wish the best for Waco. I hope they can get their issues settled. I hope the day comes when we can shake hands and say we’re all for the Rangers. I would be happy to walk into the Waco museum tomorrow and say, ‘I’m for your facility, and I hope you will in return support us.’ Even though we’ve caught some flak from them, we’re going to wear the white hat and hope to some day work together.”

He said he has had no discussions with Hilderbran about the inquiry into the First Street Cemetery situation.

“It’s not their fault this has come up,” he said. “It happened back when they were building it. It’s a black eye, no doubt about it. It hurts me because the Rangers are sitting on that land. I hope it can be corrected without all this publicity.”

Groth, the city manager, said he has reason to hope the city can avoid further gravesite disruptions by using old utility lines and areas along the Brazos River that have been found to be free of bodies. He said the timeline of the project depends on several factors, including the Texas Historical Commission’s approval, but he hoped to have the work completed by year’s end.

“I think everything is pulling together, and we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” Groth said. “There are things we could have done better and more timely, but we’re doing everything we can to follow the law.”

Groth has recommended rededicating the remainder of Fort Fisher Park as a historic cemetery after the graves that have been exhumed are relocated in another city cemetery.

jbsmith@wacotrib.com

757-5752