80 John Wallace Historical Recognition, Honors & Museum Inductions
1966: The State of Texas placed a State Historical Marker in honor of 80 John Wallace’s life and accomplishments as a cowboy, rancher and longtime community leader and philantropist
1976: Ebony Magazine “Marlboro Man” Poster - His story was featured in a September 1976 Ebony Magazine Black Experience “Marlboro Man” ad, now part of the National African American Museum of History and Culture in Washington, DC in Museum’s Ebony Magazine collection.
1978: His story and the Wallace brand and full family history, was enshrined in the University of Texas Institute of Texas Cultures Curriculum and Study Guide.
1989: The Wallace Ranch was accepted into the prestigious “Texas Land Heritage Program”, which recognizes farms and ranches that have been operated continuously by the same family for 100 years or more.
1991: His story was featured in the acclaimed 1993 visual portrait book of the African-American experience, “The African-Americans”, prefaced by the celebrated historian, John Hope Franklin.
1994: The State of Texas and the Mitchell County Economic Development Board honored 80 John Wallace by naming the State’s new 1,000 bed prison in Colorado City after him, dedicating it as the “80 John Wallace Unit”.
2007: The Wallace homestead house and heritage story was selected for induction into the National Ranching Heritage Center. The Museum, at Texas Tech in Lubbock, moved the original Wallace Homestead House 90 miles from the ranch to the Center’s Heritage Park, fully-restored it and have it on permanent display. The Center’s funding proposal summarized the historical significance of their acquisition as follows: “The acquisition of this house will provide an educational tool for including the participation of America’s black cowboys and families in the development of the ranching and cattle industry.”
2023: Daniel Webster “80 John” Wallace is inducted into the National Western and Cowboy Museum “Great Westerners Hall of Fame” in Oklahoma City, OK
Through its three Halls of Fame, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum honors and memorializes the men and women who have through their exemplary lives, careers, and achievements embodied and perpetuated the heritage of the American West. Every inductee, whether a real cowboy in the Hall of Great Westerners, a “reel” cowboy in the Hall of Great Western Performers, or a rodeo cowboy in the Rodeo Hall of Fame, perpetuates and enriches facets of this Western heritage. By honoring them, the Museum, in a sense, provides a generational continuity with the past, present and future and bears witness to an evolving American West.
The more than 200 men and women honored within the Hall of Great Westerners represent the heart and spirit of this virile Western heritage and embody a precious and immutable legacy. Explorers, Native American leaders, writers, poets, statesmen and others who have revered the land, cherished freedom of individuality, inspired their fellow man, and found the strength of character to overcome tremendous adversity find a home within this unique and enduring national memorial.
Inductees are recognized with a permanent wall placard located in the Edward L. Gaylord Exhibition Wing. https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/collections/awards/great-westerners/inductees/daniel-80-john-webster-wallace/
HALL OF GREAT WESTERNERS
Daniel Webster "80 John" Wallace (Texas)
More Facts About 80 John Wallace
More About 80 John
- He is a featured Black cowboy and rancher in numerous Texas and National western and cowboy history books and publications, K-12 school books, periodicals, journals and university dissertations
- His daughter, Hettye Wallace Branch, who received her Masters of Education from the University of Colorado in the 1920’s, told 80 John’s life story in her book, “The Story of 80 John”, Greenwich Books, NY, 1960
- Nearby Colorado City, TX, whose segregated black high school was funded and built by him, decades later had his grandson, T.P. Fowler Jr, as its school principal. The school still stands with the now-integrated campus repurposed by the city as the “Wallace Accelerated High School”
- Laura Wallace has a full chapter about her life as a pioneer woman and rancher in “Grit, Not Glamour”, by Cheryl Mullenbach (TwoDot Books, 2023)
