The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 28, July 1924 - April, 1925 Page: 90
344 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
long been known and minutely verified and documented. Finally,
their memories may not be completely trustworthy, either from
wilful bias, or unconscious prejudice and lapses.
Now here is the usefulness of the amateur historians, far and
wide in Texas. They have heard the stories of old men and
women. They have read almost all that is written down on
Texas history, both the established facts, and the conclusions
from these facts by trained historians, and untrained. And they
have pondered over the mysteries. Let them sift the known
from the unknown. They must simply ask pertinent questions,
and if necessary, impertinent. They must find out the truth
or the half-truth, or the hundredth of the truth that these
memories of old men and women contain. They must compare
their findings with the written records, and never accept the
well-known for the unknown. All this will be opening wider
the windows and doors to our house of Texas history.
The officers and members of the Historical Association have
been very kind to me, and very appreciative and exceedingly
helpful in my Quixotic assaults upon the mysteriius windmills
of Texas history. Though, my windmills are pretty much mine
alone. It does not seem supremely important to regular his-
torians whether William Barrett Travis was red-headed or not.
Now, to the dramatist, the psychological implications of this
fact are almost endless. But the mystery of the Alamo is still
an unsolved problem to us all, professional or amateur, artist
or historian. Why did they do it? No one knows. Well, then,
the red hair of Travis, taken in connection with other estab-
lished facts, is one of the keys to Travis's character; and
Travis's character is one key, but not the only one, to the mys-
tery of the Alamo. The characters of Crockett, Bowie, and
Bonham are keys of equal or almost equal importance. And so
the recent contention that Travis was a foundling, were it estab-
lished, which I say most emphatically it was not, would recolor
my whole conception of that mighty Alamo catastrophe.
The officers of this Association, individually and severally,
have urged me to give some account of my various adventures
charging the windmill mysteries of Texas history. Perhaps
when the account is richer I may do so. But it seems to me
now more important to urge my fellow amateur historians to
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 28, July 1924 - April, 1925, periodical, 1925; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101087/m1/94/?rotate=270: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.