El Fuerte del Cibolo, an eighteenth century Spanish fort, was situated in the big middle of the ninety-mile-long Alamo-La Bahia Corridor, a veritable seedbed of history and culture in Texas.

In today’s Texas, with its growing urban populations and big-city lifestyles, it is worth remembering that in 1850 only 10 percent of Texans lived in towns with as many as 100 people. The rest—of many ethnic and racial groups—lived off the land, which was blessedly suited to a profitable variety of crops and livestock and also provided an abundance of wildlife free for the taking. In Texas Roots, C. Allan Jones reminds us that the economic wealth of modern Texas arose from its agricultural heritage, a rich mixture of practices and traditions including: · Caddo hunting, gathering, gardening, and farming · Irrigated agriculture at Spanish missions · Hispanic ranching · Slave-based plantations · Small-scale farmers and ranchers Through time, people adapted the agricultural technologies, laws, and customs of New Spain, Mexico, Europe, and the South to their own practical, institutional, and legal needs. The result was a particularly Texan system that would serve as the foundation for the state’s economic strength after the Civil War. Texas Roots shines a bright light on our relationship and connection with the land, bringing alive an aspect of the Texas history that contributed immeasurably to the state’s identity and prosperity.

This history of the Lipan Apaches, from archeological evidence to the present, tells the story of some of the least known, least understood people in the Southwest. These plains buffalo hunters and traders were one of the first groups to acquire horses, and with this advantage they expanded from the Panhandle across Texas and into Coahuila, coming into conflict with the Comanches. Robinson tracks the Lipans from their earliest interactions with Spaniards and kindred Apache groups through later alliances and to their love-hate relationships with Mexicans, Texas colonists, Texas Rangers, and the US Army.

Hispanic culture is woven into all aspects of Texas life, from mission-style architecture to the highly popular Tex-Mex cuisine, from ranching and rodeo traditions to the Catholic religion. So common are these Hispanic influences, in fact, that they have been widely accepted as a part of everyone's heritage, comfortingly familiar and distinctively Texan. This new edition of Hispanic Texas contains all the guidebook entries of the original volume in a compact format perfect for taking along on trips throughout the state. Entries are arranged by region: San Antonio and South Texas Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley El Paso and Trans-Pecos Texas Austin and Central Texas Houston and Southeast Texas Dallas and North Texas Lubbock and the Plains Within each region, a city-by-city listing details the historic and modern sites and structures that bear Hispanic influence. Descriptions of local festivals and events, public art, museums, natural areas, and scenic drives enhance the entries, which are also profusely illustrated with historic and modern photographs and other illustrations.

Winner, 2019 Summerfield G. Robert Award, sponsored by The Sons of the Republic of Texas Faces of Béxar showcases the finest work of Jesús F. de la Teja, a foremost authority on Spanish colonial Mexico and Texas through the Republic. These essays trace the arc of the author’s career over a quarter of a century. A new bibliographic essay on early San Antonio and Texas history rounds out the collection, showing where Tejano history has been, is now, and where it might go in the future. For de la Teja, the Tejano experience in San Antonio is a case study of a community in transition, one moved by forces within and without. From its beginnings as an imperial outpost to becoming the center of another, newer empire—itself in transition—the social, political, and military history of San Antonio was central to Texas history, to say nothing of the larger contexts of Mexican and American history. Faces of Béxar explores this and more, including San Antonio's origins as a military settlement, the community's economic ties to Saltillo, its role in the fight for Mexican independence, and the motivations of Tejanos for joining Anglo Texans in the struggle for independence. Taken together, Faces of Béxar stands to be a milestone in the growing literature on Tejano history.

A beautifully written history of the development of San Antonio in colonial Texas.

Winner, Presidio La Bahia Award, 2004 San Antonio Conservation Society Citation, 2005 La familia de León was one of the foundation stones on which Texas was built. Martín de León and his wife Patricia de la Garza left a comfortable life in Mexico for the hardships and uncertainties of the Texas frontier in 1801. Together, they established family ranches in South Texas and, in 1824, the town of Victoria and the de León colony on the Guadalupe River (along with Stephen F. Austin's colony, the only completely successful colonization effort in Texas). They and their descendents survived and prospered under four governments, as the society in which they lived evolved from autocratic to republican and the economy from which they drew their livelihood changed from one of mercantile control to one characterized by capitalistic investments. Combining the storytelling flair of a novelist with a scholar's concern for the facts, Ana Carolina Castillo Crimm here recounts the history of three generations of the de León family. She follows Martín and Patricia from their beginnings in Mexico through the establishment of the family ranches in Texas and the founding of the de León colony and the town of Victoria. Then she details how, after Martín's death in 1834, Patricia and her children endured the Texas Revolution, exile in New Orleans and Mexico, expropriation of their lands, and, after returning to Texas, years of legal battles to regain their property. Representative of the experiences of many Tejanos whose stories have yet to be written, the history of the de León family is the story of the Tejano settlers of Texas.

Karnes County's history is rich in folklore, tall tales, real-life feuds, and even an outlaw or two. Declared a county in 1854, it was named after Henry Karnes, a heroic peace negotiator and early Texas Ranger. Despite struggles along the way, the county has survived due to its strong and sturdy pioneers who came from many countries, including the first Polish community to arrive in the United States. From those beginnings and the desire to take advantage of the good ranch and farming lands, the county grew into a great area to raise a family. The local school districts have excellent standards, boasting high ratings in every area and even a state championship football team in Falls City that won the 1A division in 2010. Furthermore, the latest boom in oil and gas drilling is bringing a growth surge that is expected to continue for quite some time.

In Sutherland Springs, Texas, Richard B. McCaslin explores the rise and fall of this rural community near San Antonio primarily through the lens of its aspirations to become a resort spa town, because of its mineral water springs, around the turn of the twentieth century. Texas real estate developers, initially more interested in oil, brought Sutherland Springs to its peak as a resort in the early twentieth century, but failed to transform the farming settlement into a resort town. The decline in water tables during the late twentieth century reduced the mineral water flows, and the town faded. Sutherland Springs’s history thus provides great insights into the importance of water in shaping settlement. Beyond the story of resort spa aspirations lies a history of the community and its people itself. McCaslin provides a complete history of Sutherland Springs from early settlement through Civil War and into the twentieth century, its agricultural and oil-drilling exploits alongside its mineral water appeal, as well as a complete community history of the various settlers and owners of the springs/hotel.