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Texas
| Features
| Books
True Tales
of the Texas Frontier:
Eight Centuries of Adventure and Surprise
By C. Herndon Williams
(Charleston, SC: History Press, 2013 )
Pp. 125. American Chronicles Series. Illustrated.
ISBN: 978-1-62619-029-0.
Book Review
by Dr. Kirk Bane |
"Texas is the
Lone Star State, right? Then why does the flag of Chile, which is
older, look so much like the flag of Texas? Recently, viewing the
visiting tall ships berthed in Ingleside, I looked at the ship from
Chile and asked, 'Why is it flying the flag of Texas?' But something
about it did not seem quite right. What was the difference?" So inquires
Dr. Williams in his essay "Is Texas the Only Lone Star State?," one
of fifty-eight brief pieces in this informative, thought-provoking
collection.
A native Texan residing in Bayside,
Williams is a member of both the Refugio County Historical Commission
and the Bayside Historical Society. He has also written Texas Gulf
Coast Stories, published by the History Press in 2010.
Dr. Williams divides his book into five sections: Prehistoric Texas
Through 1519; The Spanish Colonial Period, 1519-1811; Mexican Texas,
Colonization and Revolution, 1811-1836; The Republic of Texas, 1836-1845;
and The State of Texas, the End of the Frontier. Among the topics
he examines are "Mammoths Roamed the Texas Plains," "Clues to the
Earliest Humans in Texas," "What the Indians Saw in the Texas Sky
in AD 1054," "What Do We Really Know About the Karankawa?," "Tragicomedy
of La Salle's Colonists at Fort St. Louis," "The Texas Revolution:
The Mexican Side, in Their Own Words," "Luck at the Battle of San
Jacinto," "The Texas Rangers Meet the Colt Revolver," "Jack Hays Was
a Legend in His Own Time," "Daily Life in the Republic of Texas,"
"The Old South Plantation Life in Brazoria County," "The Last Slave
Smuggled into Texas," "The Chihuahua Trail Started in Indianola,"
and "The Devil's Rope Marked the End of the Texas Frontier."
Lone Star history enthusiasts, especially educators who can use these
vignettes to enhance their lectures, will enjoy this newest effort
by Dr. Williams. In short, this is a pleasurable way to learn about
our state's fascinating heritage.
- Review by Dr. Kirk Bane (Blinn College—Bryan campus) |
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