True Tales of the Texas Frontier. (original) (raw)

"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)