For the Love of Texas. Tell Me about the Colonists!

99 Pages·2013·1.67 MB·English

by  Talk to me in Korean, Betsy Christian, George Christian, Chris A. Gruszka, et al.The History Press, INC, The History Press, Young Adult NonfictionHistoryLanguage(s): EnglishOn sale date: 25.07.2013Street date: 09.07.2013

Published by The History Press Charleston, SC 29403
www.historypress.net
Copyright © 2013 by Betsy and George Christian All rights reserved
First published 2013
e-book edition 2013
ISBN 978.1.62584.614.3
Library of Congress CIP data applied for.
print edition ISBN 978.1.62619.159.4
Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without
guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all
liability in connection with the use of this book.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without
prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
articles and reviews
To George, Kathryn, Sarah and Leah, our historically curious
children.
Without the occasion to read aloud history books to you, the
opportunity to write these books might not have occurred. Thank
you for being receptive, probing and questioning. We are very proud
of you.
—Mom and Dad
CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. The “Old Americans”—And We Mean Old!
2. Here Come the Native Americans
3. The First Texans
4. Apache Invasion!
5. Europe, Meet Texas
6. If At First You Don’t Succeed
7. Missions and Mayhem
8. A Whole New Ballgame
9. Shaking Up the Comanchería
10. Who’s the New Kid?
11. Something Important
12. Trouble in Paradise
13. Best-Laid Plans
14. Mexican Troubles
15. No Picnic
16. Hard Times
17. A Rough-and-Tumble Life
18. Fighting for Your Life
19. Hard Truths
Notes
Bibliography
About the Authors
PREFACE
How is history written? What if you were asked to write a factual account of
what happened at your house last Sunday? Would you write from the same
perspective as your mother, brother or neighbor? Did they experience things the
same way you did? Might you or they write about facts that would make them
look better or leave out something embarrassing or hard to talk about?
Who gets to decide which account gets picked as “official” history? A
teacher, historian, school board…the federal government? If all accounts are
factual, shouldn’t all “histories” be the same? Then why aren’t they?
When you read history, you have to use your brain and think about why the
author decided to include some stuff and not other stuff. And of course, you
should make sure the history you’re reading is from a credible source. But even
so, you should always be careful about taking at face value somebody else’s
opinion about what is important (including ours!).
This book is well researched, that’s for sure, but it only covers a portion of
what happened to the Texas colonists. There are infinite other stories and
perspectives that can be told about this subject, but we’re leaving it up to you to
find out about those and write your own book. Even if you don’t have a book in
you, maybe this book will help you to find out more about something that
interests you, whether for a school project or just because you like to learn. Most
of all, we hope this book encourages you to look at history as somebody’s real
life story, not just a long list of facts people can look up for themselves. For
history to happen, real people have to live through it. And that’s what this book
is really about.
P.S. About all the little numbers in this book (just so you know, they’re called
endnotes), feel free to ignore them. But if something really interests you, like
maybe something you want to research for a school paper, the numbers
coordinate in the back of the book with the original sources where we found the
information.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many thanks for the early encouragement and editing assistance of Carol
Dawson. To Chris Gruszka of See Gru Ink and Animation, thank you for the
spot-on illustrations and generosity of time and talent. And thanks to H.W.
Brands, who inspired this book with his engaging style of historical writing. The
younger market deserves similar publications that are well-researched yet
attractive to non-academics. Finally, we appreciate and acknowledge the life
work of T.R. Fehrenbach, whose thorough research and dedication to Texas
history stands the test of time while accommodating new historical discoveries.
Chapter 1
THE “OLD AMERICANS”—AND WE MEAN
OLD!
It’s not a trick—this book really is about the Texas colonists, the group of people
who left their native countries and came to the land that is now called Texas to
establish a new settlement. But to understand the full picture, you need to know
about the Paleoamericans, the Amerinds and the Native Americans who first
inhabited Texas. The good news is that the story of the Native Americans is full
of action and quirky facts.
To get started understanding Texas history, take your mind back tens of
thousands of years ago and imagine the first hunter-gatherers making their way
to North America. Archaeologists once thought that the first Americans arrived
via the land bridge between Asia and present-day Alaska. You read that right—
1
Asia used to be connected to North America by a narrow stretch of land. A
person could walk from Asia to Alaska—go figure that one. These immigrants,
who filtered down the unglaciated valleys into the High Plains, lived in the
Pleistocene era, or the last Ice Age, which ended almost twelve thousand years
ago. They are called the Paleoamericans, or “Old Americans.” Recent evidence
suggests that other Paleoamericans came to America the same way many
modern immigrants did: by boat. Some made their way down the Pacific coast
into South America, while others may have landed on the Atlantic coast. All of
this started happening as far back as fifteen thousand years ago, about one
thousand years earlier than scientists used to think. So, while all the later
colonists mentioned in the rest of this book mostly came from Europe, the first
American dwellers originated for the most part in Asia. In fact, scientists
working with DNA evidence have linked most (but not all) of today’s Native