Robert Runyon (July 28, 1881 – March 9, 1968) was an American photographer, botanist, and politician who served as the mayor of Brownsville, Texas from 1941 to 1943.
[2] The Gulf Coast News and Hotel Company hired him to sell fruit, candy, sandwiches, and cigarettes to St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway passengers in early 1909.
In 1913, Runyon began recording the events of the Mexican Revolution, starting with the takeover of the Matamoros garrison by the Constitutional Army under General Lucio Blanco on June 3.
[2] In 1915, Runyon was the only professional to photograph two skirmishes by Mexican bandits on American soil, the Norias Ranch Raid and a train derailment near Olmito, Texas.
Runyon was a charter member of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America and served as its regional vice president in 1942 and fellow in 1945.
In 1986, the Barker Texas History Center at UT Austin was given Runyon's photographic collection and business files by his family.