The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 9, July 1905 - April, 1906 Page: 226

                                
226

Texas Historical Association Quarterly.

Rise and Fall of the Mission San Saba, to which is appended a
Brief History of the Bowie or Almagres Mine, also a Sketch of
Summerland and its Builders, by John W. Hunter (Mason, Texas)
is a commendable pamphlet devoted to local history. The brochure
was prepared as a souvenir of the Confederate Veterans' reunion
held in July, 1905, at Menardville, which is near the site of Mis-
sion San Saba.
Mr. Hunter, who until recently has been editor of a newspaper,
has a much better style and a much better historical sense than
is commonly the case with writers of local histories. His general
knowledge of the history of Mission San Saba is quite extensive,
and in this pamphlet he has brought together more information
about the subject, it is believed, than can be found in any other
single account in English. He seems to have had access to a num-
ber of rare works, some of them not commonly known even to spe-
cial students of Texas history. While the major portion of his
account of the mission's history is quoted verbatim from Bonilla
and Bancroft, he has supplemented these authorities in some places
with valuable and detailed information. The value of these con-
tributions is impaired, however, by the writer's failure at a num-
ber of critical points, to cite his authorities. He claims to have
"just grounds" for believing that the San Saba Mission was
founded many years before the date given by Bonilla and Morfi
(1756), but he gives no hint as to what these grounds are or where
he gets his information. The essay contains some contradictory
statements of fact that are puzzling and which mar its general
effectiveness. The pamphlet contains a diagram of the mission.
Part two is a sketch of the mine known by the Spaniards as Los
Almagres and in modern times as the Bowie Mine. Mr. Hunter
submits testimony going to show "that the Almagres mine was dis-
covered; that it was immensely rich; that its location is on the
San Saba River, not distant from the present site of the old mis-
sion." In this, as in the former essay, he seems to have had access
to considerable material not commonly known or easily accessible.
The third part of the pamphlet, "Summerland," is a much less
serious piece of historical work than the foregoing, and although
it contains important facts in modern local history, it bears evi-
dence of having been written to please a popular audience rather
than to instruct.                                         H. E. B.