PART II. BLOOD AND SPOIL: THE TEXANS
Theodore Roosevelt's The Winning of the West (4 vols., New York, 1889–96) reflects the views of a westward-looking President at the flood tide of American imperial thought. A paperbound volume of excerpts, edited by Harvey Wish, (New York, 1962) presents the student with a brilliant picture of the Western frontier through the Louisiana Purchase.
The filibuster and early Anglo-Saxon colonial periods are adequately covered in most general histories. Eugene C. Barker, The Life of Stephen F. Austin (Nashville and Dallas, 1925) and Mexico and Texas, 1821–1835 (Dallas, 1928) give in-depth treatments of the empresario age. The best descriptive book of the period is Mary Austin Holley Texas (Baltimore, 1833); the author was a cousin of the great empresario. Noah Smithwick, The Evolution of a State (Austin, 1900) is rich in firsthand experience and observed detail.
The general histories devote enormous space to the Texas Revolution; all 19th-century historians considered this event the heart of Texas history. Further detail is endlessly presented in the historical quarterlies. The student will find interesting the Diary of William Barret Travis (Waco, 1966); Marquis James, The Raven (New York, 1929), and John Myers Myers, The Alamo (New York, 1948). Antidotes not without merit to the Texan mythology are Carlos Castañeda, The Mexican Side of the Texas Revolution (Dallas, 1928) and Richard G. Santos, Santa Anna’s Campaign Against Texas, 1835–1836 (Waco, 1968). The Eagle: The Autobiography of Santa Anna (Austin, 167), edited by Ann F. Crawford, presents another differing view.
PART III. STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT
The compendium of the Texas Almanac 1857–1873 (Waco, 1967) contains the bulk of eye-witness reports and documents of the 1836 campaign; the student will find these nowhere more accessible. Llerena B. Friend, Sam Houston: The Great Designer (Austin, 1954, 1965) and The Writings of Sam Houston, A. W. Williams and Eugene C. Barker, editors, (8 vols., Austin, 1938–43) reveal the often enigmatic mind of Texas's first President.
For a complete view of the Republic, see Stanley Siegel, Political History of the Texas Republic 1836–1845 (Austin, 1956); William R. Hogan, The Texas Republic: A Social and Economic History (Norman, 1946); and Joseph W. Schmitz, Texan Statecraft, 1836–1845 (San Antonio, 1941). Mary Austin Holley, The Texas Diary 1835–1838 (Austin, 1965) is descriptive. The adventurous may want to explore The Papers of Mirabeau Bonaparte Lamar (6 vols., Austin, 1921–27) and Memoranda and Official Correspondence Relating to the Republic of Texas, Its History and Annexation 1836 to 1846, by Anson Jones (New York, 1859; reprinted, Chicago, 1966). Almost all of the biographies of the men of this period are useful.
Again, the 19th-century general histories deal adequately with the early statehood period. Valuable information is contained in the Houston papers. The boundary controversy is explored in W. C. Binkley, The Expansionist Movement in Texas, 1836–1850 (Berkeley, 1925).
For information on immigration, see the Texas Almanac for 1857, 1858, and 1859; German Seed in Texas Soil, Terry G. Jordan, (Austin, 1966); and the U.S. Census, 1850 and 1860. The historical quarterlies richly supply information on settlers and colonies.
There is a huge total of writing on the life and institutions of Texas between 1836 and 1861, both published and unpublished. The following contemporary accounts are recommended: Mary A. Maverick, Memoirs (San Antonio, 1921); Frederick L. Olmstead, A Journey Through Texas (1857); Ferdinand Roemer, Texas 1845–1847 (Bonn, 1849; San Antonio, 1936); August Santleben, A Texas Pioneer (New York, 1910); Francis R. Lubbock, Six Decades in Texas (Austin, 1900); J. C. Duval, Early Times in Texas (Austin, 1892; facsimile, Austin, 1935); Melinda Rankin, Texas in 1850 (Boston, 1850; reprinted, Waco, 1966); Gustav Dresel’s Houston Journal, translated and edited by Max Freund (Austin, 1954); William Bollaert’s Texas, edited by W. E. Hollan and Ruth L. Butler (Norman, 1956). Also useful are Joseph W. Schmitz, Texas Culture 1836–1846 (San Antonio, 1960); Marilyn M. Sibley, Travelers in Texas 1761–1860 (Austin, 1966); Samuel Wood Gerser, Naturalists of the Frontier (Dallas, 1937); D. W. Winfrey, Julien Sidney Devereux and His Monteverde Plantation (Waco, 1966); and Dorothy R. Bracken and Maurine W. Redway, Early Texas Homes (Dallas, 1956).
PART IV. THE CONFEDERACY AND THE CONQUERED
There is so much literature on the War Between the States, both national and in scores of local Texas histories, that only a few representative accounts are recommended to the student: Oran A. Roberts's account in Wooten, A Comprehensive History of Texas; Frank W. Johnson, The History of Texas and Texans (both cited in "General Histories," above.); Governor Lubbock's Six Decades in Texas (cited above). These are Confederate accounts, but nine out often Texans were Confederates. Claude Elliott, Leathercoat (San Antonio, 1938) presents the life of James W. Throckmorton; August Santleben, A Texas Pioneer (cited above) gives the story of a Texas-German Union volunteer.
The student will easily find published accounts of most of Texas's fighting legions, from Terry's Rangers to Ross's Brigade. A useful compilation of Texas Confederate troops is Col. Harold B. Simpson, Texas in the War 1861–1865 (Hillsboro, 1965). Col. John S. Ford's journals detail the Rio Grande Valley campaign; the most useful compilation is Rip Ford’s Texas, edited by Stephen B. Oates (Austin, 1963). Another contemporary account is Rags and Hope, the memoirs of a survivor of the 4th Texas Infantry (Hood's Brigade), edited by Mary Lasswell (New York, 1961). For authoritative data, there is no substitute for The War of the Rebellion, An Official Compilation of the Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.
The definitive work on secession and reconstruction is Charles William Ramsdell, Reconstruction in Texas (New York, 1910; reprinted, 1964). W. C. Nunn, Texas Under the Carpetbaggers (Austin, 1962) is less scholarly but full of detail. The Texas Almanac between 1867 and 1872 is useful, as is D. Richardson, Texas as Seen in 1870 (Shreveport, La., 1870).
The failure of reconstruction and the restoration has been explored most thoroughly by Seth Shepard McKay, Making of the Constitution of 1876 (Philadelphia, 1924) and a number of other papers. The constitution itself can be found, with amendments, in the Texas Almanac. Other works of value are Governor Lubbock's memoirs (cited above); L. E. Daniell, Types of Successful Men in Texas (Austin, 1890); S. H. Acheson, 35,000 Days in Texas (Dallas, 1938); and James T. DeShields, They Sat in High Places: The Presidents and Governors of Texas (San Antonio, 1940).
PART V. UNTIL DAY BREAKS AND DARKNESS DISAPPEARS: THE LAST FRONTIER
Just as the Texas frontier itself was fragmented and scattered, so are the writings on its aspects. Joseph Milton Nance, in After San Jacinto (Austin, 1962) and Attack and Counterattack (Austin, 1964) presents exhaustive studies of the Republic's Mexican wars. T. H. Wells, Commodore Moore and the Texas Navy (Austin, 1960) covers one little-known aspect of Texas frontier defense. George W. Kendall's Santa Fe Expedition, (London & New York, 1846) is hard to find; John Russell Bartlett's Personal Narrative of Explorations and Incidents (New York, 1854) has been reissued (Chicago, 1965). These contemporary books show attitudes and flavors of the Anglo-American in the Mexican Southwest.
The truly monumental work on the warfare on both the Mexican and Indian frontiers is Walter Prescott Webb's The Texas Rangers: A Century of Frontier Defense (Austin, 1935, 1965). Webb is flavorful, folkloric, and detailed, and incorporates most of the useful sources. For those who wish to go beyond Webb, accessible accounts are Rip Ford’s Texas (cited above); Recollections of Early Texas: Memoirs of John Holland Jenkins (Austin, 1958); Now You Hear My Horn: The Journal of James Wilson Nichols 1820–1887 (ed. Catharine W. McDowell, Austin, 1967); Robert E. Lee in Texas, by Carl Coke Rister (Norman, Okla., 1946). Biographies are available of all of the important Rangers, from Big Foot Wallace to the McCullochs.
Mildred P. Mayhall, Indian Wars of Texas (Waco, 1965) incorporates many valuable original sources.
The northwestern Texan frontier is exhaustively covered in the following: Carl C. Rister, The Southwestern Frontier (Cleveland, 1928); Fort Griffin on the Texas Frontier (Norman, Okla., 1956); wit
h Rupert N. Richardson, The Greater Southwest (Glendale, Calif., 1934); Rupert N. Richardson, The Comanche Barrier to South Plains Settlement (Glendale, 1933), and The Frontier of Northwest Texas 1846 to 1876 (Glendale, 1963); J. Evetts Haley, Fort Concho and the Texas Frontier (San Angelo, Tex., 1952).
Col. Richard I. Dodge, 33 Years Among Our Wild Indians (reissued, New York, 1959) and W. S. Nye, Carbine and Lance (Norman, 1937) are both interesting and valuable.
Mari Sandoz, The Bufflalo Hunters (New York, 1954) describes this animal butchery. T. C. Battey, The Life and Adventures of a Quaker Among the Indians (Boston, 1945) presents a non-Texan view, from the Indian side.
Historical literature about the cattle frontier is endless and increasing. Suggested reading includes Ernest S. Osgood, The Day of the Cattleman (Minneapolis, 1954); Lewis Nordyke, Cattle Empire (New York, 1949) and Great Roundup (New York, 1955); C. L. Douglass, The Cattle Kings of Texas (Dallas, 1937); and Wayne Gard, The Chisholm Trail (Norman, 1954). The cowboy is covered in A. R. Rojas, The Vaquero (Charlotte, N. C., 1966); Charles A. Siringo, A Texas Cowboy (New York, 1950); and Joe Frantz and J. E. Choate, The American Cowboy: The Myth and the Reality (Norman, 1955).
Works about the great Texas ranches and ranchers form an important class of this literature: J. Evetts Haley, The XIT Ranch of Texas and the Early Days of the Llano Estacado (Norman, 1953) and Charles Goodnight, Cowman and Plainsman (Boston and New York, 1936); W. C. Holden, The Spur Ranch (Boston, 1934); Tom Lea, The King Ranch (2 vols., Boston, 1957).
PART VI. THE AMERICANS: NEW DREAMS FOR OLD
The student will find the general histories weakest beginning with modern Texas. Compared to earlier periods, there is an actual scarcity of good published material, especially at the turn of the century; fully caught up in the battle against the frontier, Texans tended to ignore its aftermath in literature. In addition to the more or less general works listed below, for much factual data the student must consult public documents, newspapers, and specialized studies. Much political writing is either superficial or emphasizes the grotesque. The few good writings on Texas's race and ethnic problems are generally found in magazines usually published nationally or outside the state. The Texas Almanac is invaluable.
General political studies: Steen and Adams, Texas Democracy, and Steen, Twentieth Century Texas (both cited in "General Histories," above); Wilbourn E. Benton, Texas, Its Government and People (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1966); Caleb Patterson, Sam B. McAlister, and George C. Hester, State and Local Government in Texas (New York, 1961); James C. Soukup, Clifton McCleskey, and Harry Holloway, Party and Factional Divisions in Texas (Austin, 1964); Fred Gantt, Jr., The Chief Executive in Texas (Austin, 1964); Paul Casdorph, The Republican Party in Texas 1865–1956 (Austin, 1965).
Also valuable are S. H. Acheson, 35,000 Days in Texas (cited above) and the scattered writings of Seth S. McKay, the latter especially covering the Depression period; his Texas Politics, 1906–1944 (Lubbock, Tex., 1952) is recommended.
C. E. Evans, The Story of Texas Schools (Austin, 1955) is a comprehensive work on education.
Settlement of the last frontier and the problems of the Southwestern farmer are shown in Carl C. Rister, Southern Plainsmen (Norman, 1938). W. C. Holden, Alkali Trails (Dallas, 1930) covers west Texas. The politics of Populism can be found in R. C. Martin, The People’s Party in Texas (University of Texas Bulletin 3308, Austin, 1933); broader insights are in S. J. Black, The Agrarian Crusade (New Haven, 1920) and John Hicks, Populist Revolt: A History of the Farmer’s Alliance and the People’s Party (Minneapolis, 1931), two national studies. For individual lives and trials on the late 19th and early 20th century Texas farm frontier, read Edward Everett Dale, The Cross Timbers (Austin, 1966) and William A. Owens, This Stubborn Soil (New York, 1966). J. Lee Stambaugh, Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas (San Antonio, 1954) provides much data about the scene of Texas's last land rush.
Minor K. Kellogg’s Texas Journal, 1872, edited by Llerena Friend (Austin, 1967) gives some tenor of Texan life.
For studies of Mexicans in Texas, see John H. Burma, Spanish-Speaking Groups in the United States (Durham, N.C., 1954); Pauline R. Kibbe, Latin Americans in Texas (Albuquerque, 1946); Arthur J. Rubel, Across the Tracks, Mexican Americans in a Texas City (Austin, 1966); William Madsen, The Mexican-Americans of South Texas (New York, 1964); F. J. Woods, Mexican Ethnic Leadership in San Antonio (Washington, D.C., 1949). Cultural insight into Mexican society is provided by Julia Waugh, The Silver Cradle (Austin, 1955).
Various publications on the Negro in Texas tend to be out of date. The ferment of the 1960s in both Negro and ethnic Mexican affairs is best reported in current newspapers, periodicals, and other media. Both situations are not only controversial but very much in flux.
The major oil corporations, like the major ranches, have their individual published histories. For an authoritative study of the whole subject of petroleum, see Carl C. Rister, Oil! Titan of the Southwest (Norman, 1949). The Texas Business Review, published monthly through the University of Texas, is a rich source of business and industrial information for recent years. For a bitter view of the Texan's (and American's) economic obsession and destruction of his country through exploitation, see William O. Douglas, Farewell to Texas (New York, 1967).
There are many books which attempt to explain or illustrate Texas life; most of these are superficial, more travelogs than studies. Among recent publications recommended is Stanley Walker's Home to Texas (New York, 1956), which captures the feelings of a successful expatriate on his return to native soil.
The following are not purely Texas works but regional treatments of the American Southwest of special interest:
The writings of J. Frank Dobie, including Coronado’s Children: The Longhorns (Boston, 1941); The Mustangs (Boston, 1952); A Vaquero of the Brush Country (Boston, 1943 rev.); Texas and Southwestern Lore (Dallas, 1927) are folkloric and filled with the mystique and flavor of a vanished way of life.
Paul Horgan's Great River (New York, 1954) is a superb study of the culture of the entire Rio Grande from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico.
Bernard De Voto, The Year of Decision (Boston, 1950) presents a discerning history of Manifest Destiny, the Mexican War, and the explosion of the American nation to the Pacific.
Finally, in The Great Plains (Boston, 1931) Walter Prescott Webb wrote the definitive history of man's approach to the plains of North America. This book is timeless, readable, and probably presents more insights to the American West than anything in print.
Lone Star Page 107