John J. Linn's reminiscences are well known to Texas history scholars, but less familiar to general readers. The book is one of the first-person reflections on early Texas that has the hallmarks of both authenticity and personal interpretation. Writtenin 1883 by an octogenarian who had been an early trader, merchant, and soldier based in and around Victoria,[1] the text begins with Austin's colony and chronicles the state's vicissitudes through the revolution, statehood and the Civil War.

Read the words of the people who were there. Read the first-hand stories of Goliad, the Alamo, San Jacinto and more. Read the letters, articles and reports that brought the first news from the Republic of Texas. Read all of it, intertwined with the reminiscences of John Linn-industrious merchant, alcalde of Victoria, quartermaster to the Texas revolutionary army and vigorous participant in the creation of the new Republic. Linn had a viewpoint, and he doesn't hesitate to make it known. His praise of Sam Houston is remarkable for its exuberance. Though he explicitly denies the title of historian, he does not hesitate to criticize historians who he feels got it wrong. Linn's personality pours through his words, making for a rollicking good read. There is an authenticity to Linn's narrative that cannot be found in tightly groomed re-tellings written in the 20th and 21st centuries. Linn was there. He lived it. He felt it. This is the sort of book that leaves a lasting impression.

Details Texas during the Reconstruction and contains biographies of prominent lawyers during the period.

“[A] firsthand account by one who measured up to the demands of danger and hardships and lived to write about it . . . Invaluable . . . Well documented.” —Library Journal As a teenager in the 1950s, John Holmes Jenkins set to work on collecting and editing his great-great-grandfather’s writings about his experiences on the Texas frontier. John Holland Jenkins joined General Sam Houston’s army at age thirteen after losing his stepfather at the Alamo. In addition to fighting the Mexicans, he faced peril from Indian warriors as well as the everyday difficulties of pioneer life. His reports on the events of the time were included in newspapers with very small readerships—and, his descendant would discover, were sometimes used word-for-word in respected history textbooks without any credit given to the source. This volume includes these memoirs of the Texas Republic and early statehood, along with illustrations, notes, biographical sketches, a bibliography, and an index. “Fascinating . . . A commendable job.” —The New York Times “[These reminiscences] light up for whoever will read the earliest days of early English-speaking Texas.” —J. Frank Dobie, from the foreword