The rugged character and indomitable spirit of the early pioneers of Stephen F. Austins Texas colony had their roots in a turbulent, distant past. From the early 1600s, their courageous ancestors had pushed westward, leaving the European shores to carve out a new nation from the wilderness. They fled religious and political oppression in search of a better life in which freedom was of supreme importance. Many came with tales of their former struggles in Londonderry, Ireland during the great siege, of terrible massacres and clan rivalries in the times of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland. They vividly remembered the tribulations of Martin Luther and the deadly religious split with the Catholic Church. More recently, memories of their parents participation in the American Revolution, of dramatic, true life scenes such as depicted in the movie The Patriot filled their minds, their fathers having ridden along side of the wily Swamp Fox, Francis Marion. These pioneers associated themselves with men like Travis, Crockett, Houston and Andrew Jackson. Many of these early trailblazers were Scots-Irish and German immigrants. They were on a westward trek to grasp a special prize, to seal Americas Manifest Destiny. And that prize they sought was Texas. From Jamestown to Texas is the story of these intrepid pioneers and their ancestors who cleared and farmed the land, who fought the Indians, battled the elements, and carved out this wonderful country that we have today.

They packed up their Bibles and left behind them a life that had been filled with turmoil, peril and oppression. The horizon ahead of them to the west, that new Promised Land of Stephen F. Austin called Texas, was their destination. T.H. Farenbach summed it up best in his book

In 1611, ten-year-old Elizabeth continues a journal of her experiences living in Jamestown, as her brother Caleb rejoins the family, a new strict governor comes to the colony, and her father considers remarriage. Simultaneous.

Vol. 3: A supplement, edited by Eldon Stephen Branda. Includes bibliographical references.