Bøger udgivet af TEXAS ST HISTORICAL ASSN

In the first detailed study of its kind, Col. (Ret.) Thomas T. "Ty" Smith, known for his extensive research and writing on the U.S. Army in Texas, presents an in-depth examination of the civilian employees of the army in the nineteenth century. Under the Double Eagle: Citizen Employees of the U.S. Army on the Texas Frontier, 1846-1899 reflects the fact that citizens employed by the frontier army in Texas came under the impact of two symbolic eagles. The first was the eagle impressed into gilt buttons on the uniforms of the army officers for whom they labored. The second was the double eagle twenty-dollar gold piece they often received at the pay table, especially in the antebellum era, when all army wages were paid in hard coin rather than paper. Those two eagles had a lasting impact on the Texas frontier. Between 1846 and 1899, the U.S. Army in Texas issued more than $4 million in wages to citizen employees. Smith offers a detailed accounting of these wages, but his primary interest is in the people. After an introductory essay providing an overview, historical context, and demographic profiles, the author examines post by post the 111 army forts, camps, and stations documenting a civilian employee. He provides a brief history of each post, the names of the individuals employed, and where possible the position, wage, and length of employment. Altogether Smith names 1,721 army employees, and sample biographies demonstrate the diversity of the characters involved. Included among these employees are 309 civilian physicians. In the appendix, Smith offers biographies of 180 of these contract doctors who greatly contributed to the advance of medicine in Texas. This work will be of importance to historians, to the general public with an interest in Texas history or Texas medicine, and especially genealogists.

"Beasley's Vaqueros presents the life and work of South Texas artist Ricardo M. Beasley, whose vibrant pen-and-ink sketches captured the world of vaquero life in South Texas. Despite having lived much of his life after World War II, Beasley's art and words capture a world in which people and events from decades before his time are just as immediate-perhaps even more so-than events of the present day. More than just a testament to the talents of a singular, self-taught artist, Beasley's Vaqueros is a record of vaquero life in South Texas that spans the centuries"--