Buffalo Foot Table

This month’s article may be a little shorter than usual because, to be honest, we do not have much information on the piece that I am going to discuss. It does, however, deserve to have attention paid to it because it is a wonderful piece of furniture from the settling of Southeastern New Mexico. The piece of which I am speaking is a coffee table from the Virgil and Thelma Linam Collection.

Why is this piece so special…it’s just a table, right? Well, yes and no. The table top is made of wood that has been covered in leather. While utilitarian, the tabletop is also ornamental as proved by the design that has been tooled into the leather. The border of the tabletop has been tooled with an acorn leaf pattern. The middle of the table is a wonderful scene of a cowboy chasing after a buffalo. This scene is bordered by a rope design. Tooled leather is both beautiful and useful. This table was actually used in the home of Virgil and Thelma Linam as their first living room furniture. Before I go much more into that, I want to tell you another reason that this piece is truly unique: the legs of the table are buffalo legs and hooves. Yes, that’s right, real buffalo feet. You’ve heard of a claw-foot table, I’m sure, but a table with real buffalo feet? The design tooled in the leather is pretty, but it’s the taxidermy buffalo legs that really make this table special. Now, I cannot say for sure whether or not these were from the Linam’s herd of buffalo because Virgil and Thelma were married December 25, 1921, and they did not start their herd until 1932, but wherever they got these buffalo feet is not the point. When we get school tours in the Museum, our animatronics cowboy, Gus, shares with kids what is in the cook’s “son-of-a-gun stew” and let’s just say it shows the kids how people can use every part of the animal, well, this table is kind of a continuation of that. Rather than just discarding the legs and hooves, they turned them into something useful which in this case was a table. While raising their own buffalo, the Linams made many robes, coats, and rugs from the tanned hides, once again showing that nothing went to waste.

This really is an item where a photo does not do it justice. If you get a chance stop by the Western Heritage Museum Complex and Lea County Cowboy Hall of Fame and check out this unique piece of history in the South Gallery.