Texas: An Illutstrated History 9780195092462

Table of contents :
ISBN 0-19-509246-5......Page 8
Contents......Page 9
Chapter One The Native Americans and the Laud......Page 11
INDIAN TRIBES OF TEXAS......Page 17
Indian Rock Art......Page 18
PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS OF TEXAS......Page 20
The Armadillo......Page 23
Chapter Two Texas and Spain......Page 25
Free Blacks in a White World......Page 31
PLANO DELA POBLACION......Page 32
Jean Laffite: The Pirate of the Gulf......Page 34
The Bowie Knife......Page 41
The Alamo......Page 42
Chapter Three The Lone Star: Nation and State......Page 45
The Pig War......Page 47
The Lone Star Flag......Page 49
Terraqueous Machine......Page 54
Chapter Four The Last Frontier......Page 69
Longhorns......Page 73
Thorny Fence......Page 78
The Texas Rangers......Page 79
The Hoggs of Texas......Page 81
Chapter Five The Development of Modern Texas......Page 89
Texas Leaguer......Page 91
The Rainmaker of Post City......Page 94
Audie Murphy: To Hell and Back......Page 111
Chapter Six Texas and the World......Page 113
Vanya! Vanyushka!......Page 115
A Most Dangerous Sport......Page 116
Barbara Jordan: I Have No Fear......Page 121
Iron Mike......Page 127
Astrodome......Page 128
Chronology......Page 134
Museums and Historic Sites in Texas......Page 136
Further Reading......Page 141
Index......Page 144
Picture Credits......Page 147
David G. McComb......Page 151

Citation preview

Texas: An Illustrated History covers a lot of years and a lot of ground. Everyone notices how different Texas is from other states. For one thing, it's bigger than all of them (except Alaska). For another, it's got so many different types of land in it that it seems like at least four states in one-mountains, gently sloping plains, three mighty rivers (and many lesser ones), prairies, wetlands, islands, not to mention miles and miles of highways passing through farm country and vast cities. And then there's the weather. It rains a lot in the eastern and central part but hardly at all in the west. Snow and sleet are unusual, but there can be blizzards on the Great Plains and in the Panhandle. There are also parts of Texas that experience droughts and other parts that are prone to flooding. Texas weather can include dust storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and even "blue northers" that blow through, breaking tree limbs, shaking the windows, and lowering the temperature as much as 24 degrees in an hour. It should come as no surprise that a state so full of variety has a history as distinct and unpredictable as its weather and geo graphy. In 9200 B.C. the first humans migrated into the Texas Panhandle. What followed-exploration and settlement by the Spaniards, Mexican rule, the years as an indepen­ dent republic, statehood, secession, and the Civil War-and what is still unfolding today are fascinating stories. Distinguished Texas historian David G. McComb has gathc J anecdotes, tall tales, and little-known facts to bring to life the drama, humor, and far-reaching consequences of Texas history. He writes of the Native Americans in Texas, of the armadillo (a whimsical folk symbol but not, as most suppose, the official state animal), the Alamo, barbed wire, longhorn cattle, the Texas Rangers, and the supreme importance of football to the average Texan. He profiles such Texans as Jim Bowie, Audie Murphy, Van Cliburn, Willie Nelson, Barbara Jordan, Michael DeBakey, and many others who have left a mark not only on Texas but on the world. The long and complex history of Texas falls into place in an entertaining text, brimming with facts and filled with fascinat­ ing photo graphs and illustrations from the past and present. It is safe to say that the United States could survive without Texas if it had to. But after reading Texas: An Illustrated History, you will agree that Texas has, over the years, added much to the history of our country and that it has a special brand of humor and style that enriches us all.

$21.95

AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY

An Illustrated History

David G. McComb ALLSTON BRANCH LIBRARY

Oxford University Press

New York • Oxford

ice

xford Univer ity Pres cw York xford Athcn Auckland Bangkok Bombay al utta ape T wn Dar alaam Delhi lorence Hong Kong I tanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madra Madrid Melbourne Mexico ity airobi Paris Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toront and as ociated companie 111 Berlin Ibadan opyright © 1995 by David G. McComb Publi hed by Oxford Univ r ity Press, Inc., 200 Madi on Avenue, New York, New York 10016 xford is a regi tered trademark of Oxford Univer ity Pre AJl rights re erved. o part of this publication may be r produced, stored in a retrieval sy tern, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior p rrni ion of Oxford University Press. D ign: andy Kaufinan Layout: Loraine Machlin Picture re earch: Wendy P. Will Library of ongres ataloging-in-Publication Data Texas, an illu traced hi t ry / David G. McComb p. cm. Includes bibliographical reference and index. 1. Texas-History-Juvenile literature. [1. Texas-Hi tory.] I. Title. F386.3.M37 1995 976.4-dc20 94-23279 CIP I BN 0-19-509246-5 (trade ed.)

I BN 0-19-509247-3 0ibrary ed.) 987654321 Printed in Hong Kong on acid-free paper

011 the col/er: circa 1929.

irwlar Cowboy, by Mary Anita Bonner,

Frontispiece: owboy from the XIT ranch in the Texa Panhandle gather around the chuck \ agon for a meal. Title page: West ide ,'vlai11 Plaza, Sa,, A11to11io, Texas, by

W. . M. amuel 1849.

Co11te11ts page: A · 50 bill printed by the Republic of Texa in 1840.

Contents

7

Chapter One I The Native A111erica11s and the Laud

2I

Chapter Til'o I Texas and Spai11

41

Chapter Three I 17ze Lme Star: Natio11 aud State

65

Chapter Four I Tize Last Froutier

85

Chapter Five I 17,e Develop111e11t L?f Modem Texas

109

Chapter Six I Texas and the World

130

Chronology

132

M11se11111s a11d Historic Sites in Texas

13 5

Further Readi11"-«

140

Index

Artist Jea11 Louis n,eodorc Ge11tilz painted the or(l!i11al version ofthis romanticized view of a 110111adic llldian tribe's camp i11 1844. How­ ever, this version of the pai11ti11i dates Jro111 1896, lon,R qfter the last Native A111erica11s /,ad hfr Texas.

The Native Americans and the Land

L

ate 111 1982 archaeologist Wayne

Alaska. drifted southward, and e,·entually

Young discovered three severed

pursued prehistoric bison for food on the

finger bones protmdmg from the

lush prairies of the Texas plains. At the to,,·n

soil at a highway construction site

of Plainview in West Texas archaeologists

near the small town of Leander in central

have studied a long, narro,,· site ,,·here 100

Texas. Since 1970 the Texas government

ancient buffalo skeletons ,,·ere piled up

had required the highway department to

with bones a foot deep mi.xed together ,,·ith

investigate historical places before the con­

flint tools and projectile points. It is thought

stmction of roads could begin. This time

that Paleo-Indians smTounded a herd and

high,Yay workers had sliced open an an­

slaughtered it, or perhaps scared the bison

cient Indian burial ground. Inches away

into a gully, where they killed the animals

from the fingers, Young discovered the

within a short time.

skull and skeleton of a woman who had

1310\vingsand near Midland exposed bits

been about five feet three inches in height

of another Paleo-Indian skeleton in 1953.

and who had died when she was around 30

and in 1970 the fossilized bones of a 30- to

years old. She was buried lying on her right

..J.0-year-old man and a 12-year-old child

side, with her head resting on her hands and

were found beneath a rock ledge near

her legs drawn up near her chest. In the pit

Waco. The man and child had been bm;ed

with the skeleton were a grinding stone and

much like Leann, but they by on their left

a fossil shark's tooth that may have been part

sides. with their heads resting on turtle

of a necklace.

shells. With them the