Name: Big Spring and Howard County
Brand: Tammy Burrow Schrecengost
SKU: 9780738520599
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Big Spring and Howard County

9780738520599

$24.99

While Native Americans had been visiting the oasis at the cross roads of the Comanche War Trail for hundreds of years, Captain Randolph Marcy was the first White man to "discover" the springs on October 3, 1849. Settlers moved their families to the area, and the region quickly developed into a ranching and farming community. Captured here in over 200 vintage images are the trials and triumphs of settlers and residents to build a life in Big Spring and the towns of Howard County.

As the first settlers began setting up stakes in the region, a tent city was built at the springs while awaiting the arrival of a railway. Once the train was in service, Big Spring began to develop more permanent dwellings; schools, churches, and a newspaper were established, followed quickly by the building of hotels and banks and the formation of a local government. Featured here are over 150 years of the region's residents, homes, and social events, covering the many towns and communities of the County such as Forsan, Coahoma, Lomax, Elbow, Garden City, Knott, Vealmoor, Ackerly, and Vincent.

Rio Grande Sniper Killings, The

9781467153430

$23.99

Untangle the complex conspiracy that led to the tragic deaths of Charlotte Kay Elliott and Kevin Edwin Frase on the banks of the Rio Grande. On the night of July 13, 1980, a hitman fired a high-powered rifle into the crowd at Pepe's On the River, an outdoor bar in Mission, Texas. He missed his target, a witness in the Loop 360 drug case, but killed two young bystanders. While state court prosecutions for capital murder inexplicably faltered, a federal court gave the assassin a life sentence for attempted murder of a grand jury witness. A member of the judge's staff who was present throughout the trial, author John W. Primomo revisits the dramatic twists and turns surrounding this murder on the Rio Grande.

Seminole

9780738585390

$24.99

Seminole got its name from former slaves who escaped Southern plantations in the early 1800s and fled to the swamps of Florida. They lived alongside Seminole Indians and later came to be known as Black Seminoles. Renowned for excellent tracking abilities, they eventually served as guides for the Shafter expedition to West Texas in the mid-1870s, which opened the region. In a shallow draw on the prairie, the Black Seminoles discovered water wells dug by the Comanche. The "Seminole Wells" demonstrated the area's livability. Settlers arrived a few decades later, and by 1905, Gaines County and its county seat were established. This small town became Seminole. Ranching was the area's first industry, but it was eclipsed in the 1920s with the discovery of oil. Today, Seminole is a thriving multicultural farming and oil-producing center with excellent schools, a booming economy, and the friendliest people around.

Waco

9781467115520

$24.99

The story of Waco's modern era starts with a disaster and ends with rebirth. In 1953, a record-setting tornado swept through the city's downtown, killing 114 people and destroying a century's worth of original buildings. From the devastation came an ambitious urban renewal project, an explosion in suburban developments, and several cycles of waning and revitalization in the downtown area. Baylor University's steady growth in academic excellence and national exposure kept the city on the map. The images in this book detail the milestones and memories of a proud city founded in the 1840s, and they highlight achievements both personal and civic.

Mission

9780738571485

$24.99

Mission is named for the chapel built at La Lomita ("little hill") on a former Spanish land grant. During the 1850s, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate began serving the ranches between Brownsville and Roma. La Lomita was a resting place midway through their 100-mile circuit. In 1908, developers John J. Conway and James W. Hoit bought land from the Oblate Fathers and established the town of Mission, just north of La Lomita. They advertised throughout the Midwest, and soon farmers arrived by rail, wagon, and automobile. Through the efforts of Nebraskan John H. Shary, the citrus industry flourished, and Mission became renowned for its grapefruit. Three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry, baseball great Leo Najo, and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient José M. Lopez have all lived in Mission. Their tradition of leadership continues within the fields of medicine, education, military service, and ecotourism.

Camp Bowie Boulevard

9781467130493

$24.99

In the early 1890s, Humphrey Barker Chamberlin installed a lifeline to his namesake suburb west of the city. A trolley connected to Arlington Heights Boulevard at the Trinity River's Clear Fork and chugged across prairie land to reach Chamberlin Arlington Heights. Camp Bowie, a soldiers' city, sprawled over both sides of the road from 1917 until 1919. At the Great War's end, the stretch west of present-day University Drive became the commemorative Camp Bowie Boulevard. The 1920s brought twin ribbons of cordovan-colored brick pavement, the prestige of inclusion in the Bankhead Highway network, and westering developers of another elite village: Ridglea. Midway through the Great Depression, the Will Rogers complex arose on a farm tract, visible from the thoroughfare, to host Texas Centennial celebrations and a special livestock exposition. Museums began claiming adjacent space in the 1950s. By the second decade of the 21st century, Camp Bowie Boulevard bisected a built environment both modern and historic.

Hutchinson County

9781467108584

$23.99

Hutchinson County is in the center of the High Plains in the Texas Panhandle. Home to diverse native vegetation and abundant wildlife, the fertile plains to the north and the deep canyons of the Canadian River valley in the south define this land of contrasts. Ancient Native American culture thrived along the river for centuries. Plains tribes still dominated the region until the imperialist idea of manifest destiny became the law of the land, leading to westward expansion during the 19th century. Some of the early participants in this expansion used the Canadian River as a natural highway as they mapped the Texas Panhandle. Hutchinson County was established in 1876, and ranchers and farmers created a prosperous economy. By 1901, most of the county was an agricultural community, but the discovery of oil in 1921 drastically changed the lifestyles of those who lived there--and made their futures even brighter. Today, oil, cattle, and crops still dominate the local economy. Hard work and tenacity remain distinctive characteristics of those who reside in the area.

Stephenville Yellow Jacket Football

9780738584935

$24.99

In Texas, high school football is king. If pigskin passion is no less intense among college and professional fans, enthusiasm for the schoolboy sport is more democratically spread throughout towns and communities, small and large. Almost any young man can play if he's willing to pay the price, work hard, and bring a bit of local, regional, or statewide glory to his hometown. Stephenville High School is one among an elite group of Texas football schools that has achieved at the highest level. The traditional rivalry games against Dublin and Breckenridge in the 1920s through the 1940s have evolved into heavily attended matchups with seven-time state champion Brownwood and, most recently, three-time state champion Aledo. From Joe Brown and Jim Mobley's powerhouse teams of the 1930s to Mike Murphy's 1952 regional qualifying squad, the Yellow Jackets have contended with the best in Texas. With four state championships, Art Briles made the 1990s a "Decade of Dominance" for Stephenville High School. Yellow Jacket football fever remains alive and well, promising to remain so long into the indefinite future.

Lake Travis's South Shore

9781467132527

$24.99

The Colorado River, running through Austin, Texas, and the area now referred to as Lake Travis, has always been a beautiful place to live. The early settlers found it suitable for farming and ranching--until it rained. The rain soaked up soil, and water upstream often engorged the land and washed out everything in its path. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal created agencies that constructed hydroelectric dams for the Tennessee Valley Authority, and those were used as blueprints for the Lower Colorado River Authority. The ground-breaking for the Mansfield Dam took place on February 19, 1937, and the dam was completed in 1942, providing power and flood control for the area. The dam created Lake Travis and brought about a new recreational industry. Boat docks, lodges, and parks sprang up along the newly created lake, and they are still enjoyed today.

Texas Oil and Gas

9781467130219

$24.99

Texas Oil and Gas documents in postcards the rapid growth of the Texas petroleum industry from its beginnings near Corsicana in the 1890s through the next several decades of oil booms throughout the state. The young 20th century opened with the Lucas Gusher at Spindletop in 1901. Thousands rushed from the oilfields of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia to find work and riches. Continued drilling success along the Texas Gulf Coast transformed Houston into a major city and the Beaumont area into a major petrochemical center. Through the 1910s and 1920s, oil booms occurred in North Texas, the Panhandle, Central Texas, and West Texas. The giant East Texas oilfield, the second largest North American oilfield to Alaska's North Slope, was discovered in 1930. Texas oil replaced coal as fuel for the nation's railroads and provided fuel for our military in two world wars.

Mesquite

9781467133579

$24.99

The story of Mesquite, Texas, is a story of an east Dallas County settlement that became first a depot town on the Texas & Pacific Railroad, then a "Boomtown USA" suburban city. Recently, and not alone among other aging American Southwest suburbs, it has become an urban center facing cultural, social, and educational challenges, as well as economic decline.

San Antonio's Churches

9780738585369

$24.99

The towns that the Spaniards of colonial Mexico planted on their northern frontier were organized around the ideal of a close interaction between church, missionary outreach, and military. San Antonio was the most successful realization of this dream in Texas. The pattern of this tripartite approach has continued to shape the rich culture of the city down to the present. With this selection of photos, San Antonio's Churches takes a snapshot visit back through religious development throughout the three centuries of San Antonio's history.

Pflugerville

9781467128292

$24.99

The Henry Pfluger Sr. family emigrated from Germany, eventually homesteading on the Blackland Prairie northeast of Austin in the early 1850s. As families grew and more people settled in the area, a post office named Pflugerville was established in 1893. By 1965, the century-old agricultural community was ready to incorporate. From that point, it has grown from a city of a few hundred residents to one of the fastest growing areas in the country. To track this transition over the past 50 years, this book chronicles the extraordinary growth of the population, schools, services, events, robust business centers, and spirit of volunteerism. Preserving the quality of life in Pflugerville has always been a common goal of the community.

Hidalgo County

9780738507729

$24.99

Hidalgo County, located in the heart of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, is a contentious land of impossible contrasts: tropical sunsets and swaying palm trees, rare birds and javelina, cactus and mesquite, soft breezes and broiling sunshine-and hurricanes. Spanish colonists settled here in 1749, receiving huge land grants in exchange for their labor and their loneliness. One hundred years later, a Scotsman named McAllen came to work in a riverfront store, and stayed to found a dynasty. Between 1900 and 1940, more immigrants arrived to build railroads and towns, turn brush land into farmland, and create a unique cultural environment. Hidalgo County illustrates the rapid development of this environmental and cultural crossroads at the beginning of the 20th century. River boats and oxcarts gave way to railroads and the Model T. Tent cities became thriving towns with business districts, homes, schools, churches, and agricultural industries. The changes experienced-and created-by the hardy pioneers who struggled to survive are chronicled here. The courage, stamina, and optimism of these brave souls inspire us a century later in Hidalgo County.

Austin's Travis Heights Neighborhood

9781467129862

$23.99

The Travis Heights neighborhood in Austin, Texas, is comprised of three developments: the Swisher Addition, Fairview Park, and Travis Heights. Each of those three is unique. Fairview Park was designed to be an elegant Victorian suburb. The Swisher Addition developed as a thriving commercial district. The Travis Heights subdivision was the most successful residential development in the area and overshadowed the others. Travis Heights is known for its parks that run the length of the neighborhood. The history of Travis Heights is about the evolution of a neighborhood influenced by location and by its landscape.

Texas Lawmen, 1900-1940

9781609494520

$29.99

Lawlessness in Texas did not end with the close of the cowboy era. It just evolved, swapping horses and pistols for cars and semiautomatics. From Patrolman "Newt" Stewart, killed by a group of servicemen in February 1900, to Whitesboro chief of police William Thomas "Will" Miller, run down by a vehicle in the line of duty in 1940, Ron DeLord and Cliff Caldwell present a comprehensive chronicle of the brave--and some not so brave--peace officers who laid down their lives in the service of the State of Texas in the first half of the twentieth century.

The Texas Ranch Sisterhood

9781625858481

$29.99 $15.00 Save 50%

Most people may think of ranchers and cowboys as men. But although they are under-chronicled, ranch women work from dark to dark, keeping step with hired hands, brothers, fathers and husbands. They blaze trails through unforgiving scrub. They cook supper and feed bulls. At any given time, they wear the hats-and the gloves-of geologist, veterinarian, lawyer and mechanic. They are fierce and feminine and powerful. Photojournalist and writer Alyssa Banta spent over a year following more than a dozen Texas women through their grueling daily routines, from the messy confines of the working chute to the sprawling reaches of the back pasture. The result of this unprecedented access is an intimate portrait of the challenges and achievements of the ranch women of the Lone Star State, along with the land and livestock that sustain them.

Mexican American Baseball in El Paso

9781467126601

$24.99

Mexican American Baseball in El Paso chronicles the vibrant and colorful history of baseball in the El Paso-Juárez border region. For more than a century, baseball along the border has served as a means of bringing together people of all backgrounds, races, and nationalities, from the fly-by-night teams of the Pancho Villa era to the fabled semiprofessional clubs of the Lower Valley League. For the area's Mexican and Mexican American citizens, storied teams like the Juárez Indios, Fabens Merchants, 1949 Bowie Bears, and El Paso Diablos served as both community rallying points and signposts of cultural identity. From the legendary semiprofessional players of decades past to the most recent major leaguers, this book presents the photographic history of baseball in America's largest border community.

Lake Worth

9780738578620

$24.99

The history of Lake Worth begins in 1909 when two young boys accidentally set a fire that destroyed many buildings in Fort Worth. Fighting the fire nearly drained the city's wells dry, so city leaders reconsidered an earlier suggestion from engineer John Hawley to create a surface reservoir. The enormous hole filled in just three weeks after heavy rains, instead of the predicted three years. Completed in 1914, Lake Worth became the largest reservoir in the Southwest. Fort Worth now had a better water supply, and local beach development brought water recreation to millions and greatly impacted the small community nearby. Through the years, silt and contaminants have infiltrated the lake, and the City of Fort Worth has temporarily stopped the slow process of dredging the lake because of the economy. But the community's collective hope soars with the possibility that the lake and beaches eventually will be restored to their original condition.

Denton

9780738578545

$24.99

Founded in 1857 as the fourth county seat of Denton County, the city of Denton is situated at the top of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex triangle. After the first trains from the Texas and Pacific Railroad and the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railway (the Katy) rolled into town in 1881, Denton developed from a frontier community into a vibrant city. Establishing itself as a center of education in 1890 with the founding of the Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute (now the University of North Texas), the creation of the Girls' Industrial College (now Texas Woman's University) in 1901 further enhanced this image. The city's 150-year history, forged by so many talented people, has provided a strong foundation for its growing economic environment. Today Denton's community spirit resonates through the energy of the city's many diverse events and its lively music scene.

Lost Texas Treasure

9781467151542

$21.99

Track pirate gold and misplaced riches across 168 counties in this comprehensive guide to the lost treasures of Texas.

Countless fortunes have disappeared into the vast expanse of the Lone Star State. The history of the coast is cluttered with shipwrecks like that of the 1554 Spanish fleet. Even when pirates such as Jean Laffite managed to get their ill-gotten gains ashore, their loot vanished just as completely as if it had sunk beneath the waves. Entire mines, including the ventures of Jim Bowie and San Saba Presidio, have been reclaimed by the earth. The unmarked caches of bandits like Jesse James and Pancho Villa still bedevil the dreams of treasure seekers today. W. Craig Gaines reveals what has been lost, what has been found and what remains to be recovered.

Lost Restaurants of El Paso

9781467144872

$21.99

El Paso was a crossroads long before it was a border town, and its restaurant history represents the same intersection of foodways and culinary traditions. When the Ladies' Auxiliary for the YMCA produced El Paso's first known community cookbook in 1898, a number of its recipes appeared in English for the first time. Many of the eateries that supported that variety are now gone, but places like Jaxson's, Griggs and the Central Café changed the city's tastebuds forever. Walk the colonnade of the Hollywood Café or plop down at Bill Parks Bar-B-Q in this collection of standbys served up by the El Paso County Historical Society.

Goodfellow Air Force Base

9781467104340

$23.99

Goodfellow Air Force Base is one of the oldest installations in the US Air Force. It was the first of scores of flying training fields established across Texas and Oklahoma during World War II. What qualified San Angelo as the site for the first of the new fields did not, for the most part, distinguish it much from its neighbors. The clear skies and flat, forgiving terrain so desirable in the training of pilots were regional qualities. But San Angelo also had Bob Carr, a former military aviator who spearheaded a local effort to provide land, an important railroad spur, and key utility connections if the new pilot school were built nearby. Over the next eight decades, nurtured by a special relationship between city and base, Goodfellow has distinguished itself by training more than 400,000 pilots, intelligence operators, and firefighters for all the armed forces of the United States.

Texas Bluegrass Legacies

9781467153676

$23.99

Enjoy a breakdown of the Lone Star State’s generational bluegrass harmonies.

From the moment they picked up the radio signal of Bill Monroe’s mandolin, Texans have been enamored with this uniquely American style of music. But the high lonesome sound couldn’t have put down roots without a tradition of mentorship that runs through families and spans generations. Meet the Van Cliburn piano prodigy that became a multi-instrumentalist for Taylor Swift. Travel to the summer bluegrass camp where students develop into teachers. Sit in on a back porch jam session with the Rogers, the Brocks, the Vestals and the Whites. From the state’s first Asian-American bluegrass family to its banjo-building Santa Claus, Jeff Campbell and Braeden Paul set the stage for the stewards of Texas bluegrass.

Evolution of the Texas Plains

9781467154017

$23.99

Accept an invitation to the boundary-pushing heritage of the Texas Plains, from the first American Thanksgiving feast in the 1500s to Amarillo’s iconic seventy-two-ounce steak challenge five hundred years later. Even the limitless horizons of the Panhandle couldn’t contain the notes of musical pioneers like Mac Davis, Bobby Keys and the Velvets. Take a dip in Lubbock’s oldest swimming hole or share a sip with Pinkie Roden, the benevolent bootlegger of West Texas. Keep an eye out for longballs from Justiceburg’s “Stormin’ Norman” Cash and stray bats in Doodlebug Line’s Clarity Tunnel. Join Chuck Lanehart as he tracks the long-standing traditions and unexpected twists of life on the Texas Plains.

Plano

9781467160339

$23.99

Between 1960 and 1970, Plano, Texas experienced a population increase of 384 percent. Enrollment for new students skyrocketed, and the Plano Independent School District soon needed more schools. Plano became more progressive, African American students at Douglass High moved to newly integrated Plano High School. In both 1965 and 1967, the Plano Wildcats won the State Championship in football. In 1971, the Wildcats won the State Championship again, followed by one more in 1977. Herbert Hunt continued to build North Texas housing divisions, planning a 3,959 acre development which allowed for the rise of residential and commercial interests in Plano. By 1975, Plano's last cotton gin closed its doors. The city completed the transition from small farming community to bustling urban center. By the end of the decade, Plano's population exceeded 72,000 citizens. Plano has experienced periodic growth since its founding, in no small part due to the transportation systems that have carved their way through the city. Native American trails, stage coach lines, railways, and highways have intersected this area to support heavy expansion and make Plano what it is today. Plano has transformed from a rural, predominately white community to a diverse international city. In fact more than 25% of Plano residents were born outside of the United States.

The Yellow Rose of Texas

9781467142571

$23.99

The legend of the Yellow Rose of Texas holds an indisputable place in Lone Star culture, tethered to a familiar song that has served as a Civil War marching tune, a pop chart staple and a halftime anthem. Almost two centuries of Texas mythmaking successfully muddled fact with fable in song. The true story of Emily D. West remains mired in dispute and unrecognizable beneath the manipulative tales that grew up around it. The complete truth may never be recovered, but author Lora-Marie Bernard seeks an honest account honoring the grit and determination that brought a free black woman from the abolitionist riots of Connecticut to the thick of a bloody Texas revolution. A Lone Star native who grew up immersed in the Yellow Rose legend, Bernard also traces other stories that legend has obscured, including the connection between Emily D. West and plans for a free black colony in Texas.

Celis Beer

9781467144360

$21.99

"

Celebrate the life and libations of Pierre Celis, the Hoegaargarden legend who resurrected witbier and established Austin's first craft brewery.

A former milkman in the small village of Hoegaargarden, Pierre Celis opened a brewery that brought back the extinct witbier style of Belgium and rejuvenated an Old World tradition throughout Europe. Following a devastating fire in his native country, the godfather of witbier set up shop in Austin. Pierre's passion took fresh shape in the form of Celis Beer and influenced an entire generation of hopheads. His daughter Christine revived the brand in 2017, yet another chapter in a story full of fresh starts to venerable institutions. Jeremy Banas raises a glass to a unmatched brewmaster and his belief that beer makes friendships.

"

Black Cowboys and Early Cattle Drives

9781467153645

$23.99

Dust and Determination

After the Civil War, emancipated slaves who didn’t want to pick cotton or operate an elevator headed west to find work and a new life. Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving drove two thousand longhorns across southern Texas blazing a trail to Bosque Redondo in New Mexico. In 1866, the new Goodnight-Loving Trail was crowded with cattle headed for a government market. By the 1870s, twenty-five percent of the over thirty-five thousand cowboys in the West were black. They were part of trail crews that drove more than twenty-seven million cattle on the Goodnight-Loving Trail, Western Trail, Chisholm Trail and Shawnee Trail. They were paid equally, and their skill and ability brought them earned respect and prestige. Author Nancy Williams recounts their lasting legacy.

Cover image for Black Cowboys and Early Cattle Drives, isbn: 9781467153645

Historic Bridges of Milam County

9781467124911

$24.99

Milam County, located in the heart of Central Texas, is home to 18 historic bridges that were constructed through the years to accommodate the growth of the county. One bridge, Worley Bridge, has been fully restored in a cooperative effort between Milam County and the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT). TXDOT is an important partner in the preservation of these historic structures. Memories of some bridges will be preserved in a bridge park, which is being constructed in Rockdale. Other bridges simply stand in mute testimony to the passing of time and the changing of human needs and habits. This book tells the story of these bridges and their important role in our history. It provides knowledge and understanding of these structures.

The Inspiring Life of Texan Héctor P. García

9781467119016

$21.99

As a Mexican immigrant, Dr. Hector P. Garcia endured discrimination at every stage of his life. He attended segregated schools and was the only Mexican to graduate from the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, in 1940. Garcia's passion for helping others pushed him to advocate for equal rights. After serving in World War II, the doctor worked to help minorities achieve greater access to healthcare, voting rights and education. He started a private practice in Corpus Christi and in 1948 founded the American GI Forum. Cecilia Garcia Akers shares a daughter's perspective on her father's remarkable achievements and sacrifices as an activist and physician.

The Inspiring Life of Texan Héctor P. García

Val Verde County

9780738501284

$24.99

Along the banks of the Rio Grande lies Val Verde County, one of the largest counties in Texas and the only one named for a Civil War battle. Although Del Rio is the county seat, Langtry is more famous as the home of Judge Roy Bean, the famous (as well as
infamous) Law West of the Pecos. Among the many evocative images of the county featured in this new
book are photos of the judge's unique court/saloon. Val Verde County captures the spirit of a region and its people through historic photographs. Most of the topics included are not strictly local in nature:
Pre-Columbian art, United States westward expansion,
the creation of the state of Texas, radio and modern
telecommunications, military history and the Cuban
Missile Crisis, and the oldest continually operating
winery in Texas. From being the oldest archaeological
site in Texas to playing a role in international relations between the United States and Mexico, Val Verde County undoubtedly has a rich and varied history.