Panel Two

The Hogue/Bywaters mural shows John Neely Bryan, the founder of Dallas, building his log cabin. The original cabin remains preserved in downtown but at a different site. The title above is the same as the one used on the original mural: "1841 - The beginning of Dallas. John Neely Bryan builds his cabin." (All the following Hogue/Bywaters murals also have titles.) Revealed behind the monochrome depiction is downtown Dallas circa 1995, showing the tallest building (NationsBank Tower), the Hyatt Regency Hotel and ReUnion Tower, and City Hall. On a whimsical note, the large coffee cup hovering over City Hall refers to John Neely Bryan's son Coffee, who died as an infant. Bryan's cabin was located next to a spring seeping from a bluff on the Trinity River. Even after levees were constructed in the 1930's, historical accounts indicate that the spring continued to flow. There is no evidence of it now. The quote in the center of the image is from Margaret Bryan, John Neely's wife: "We lived happily in that lonely log hut. We ground our meal on a steel mill and raised the corn on the ground where your fine courthouse now stands."