About the Owner

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William E. Moore is a professional archaeologist living in Bryan, Texas. His hometown is Park Place, a small suburb of Houston near Hobby Airport.  Following graduation from Charles H. Milby High School in 1962, he attended Sam Houston State Teachers College (SHSTC) in Huntsville, Texas.  During his junior year (1964) he spent a summer on a farm in rural Germany, and this experience made a huge impression on his view of the rest of the world.

In 1967, he graduated from SHSTC with a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography and a Master of Arts Degree in English (with a minor in Geography) in 1968.  During a period of temporary employment, he pursued a slightly successful career as a free-lance writer with articles in local and national magazines and a book entitled Bastrop County: 16911900, published in 1977 by Nortex Press of Wichita Falls, Texas.  He entered the United States Army in 1972 and completed basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.  Following an extensive background search by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he became assigned to the Army Security Agency with a Top Secret Clearance.  His next duty station was the Defense Language Institute in Monterrey, California where he studied German from native speakers and traveled as much as possible throughout California.  His advanced training was at Fort Devens, Massachusetts learning about code.  During his stay there, he visited all of the New England states and as many historic sites as possible.  His final duty station was in Berlin, Germany where he served as a translator and eventually as aide to the Colonel.

After his discharge, he returned to his former college, now Sam Houston State University, and completed the requirements for a secondary school teaching certificate.  He did not find any jobs that interested him so he enrolled as a graduate student at Texas A&M University where he completed the requirements for a Master of Arts Degree in Anthropology in 1980.  He worked as a crew member on several archaeological projects before becoming a full-time staff archaeologist at Heartfield, Price and Greene, Inc. in Monroe, Louisiana and later at Texas A&M University in College Station.

In 1987, he left his university position to create a private contract firm that he named Brazos Valley Research Associates (BVRA).  His interests have evolved over the years, and today he is very active in locating and recording prehistoric and historic sites on personal time and conducting research on various topics that he believes will be useful to the archaeological community and the general public.  At the time of this writing, he has recorded 324 prehistoric sites, 66 historic sites, 26 sites with prehistoric and historic components, 12 isolated finds containing prehistoric artifacts, 1 isolated grave, and prehistoric locality in 44 Texas Counties and authored or co-authored _____ reports documenting his work at BVRA.  More information about BVRA can be found on his website www.tinytexasjails.com/bvra.

Notable publications include Bastrop County: 1691-1900 (Nortex Press – 1977), The Texas Calaboose and Other Forgotten Jails (Texas A&M University Press – 2019), The Sooner I Get Out, the Better: Oklahoma Calabooses, Hoosegows, Lockups, and Jails (Texas A&M University Press – in production), and Arrow Points of the Texas Borderlands (privately published bythe author – 2023).  A sequel for Dart Points and other Large Stemmed Bifaces of the Texas Borderlands is in progress.