The Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record, Volume 21, Number 1, November 1985 Page: 71
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THE WELLS COLLECTION OF TEXANA AT LAMAR UNIVERSITY
midst of unity as a state: "the Gulf Coast," "north Texas," "the Texas
hill country," "the Panhandle," "the Big Bend," "the Valley," "the
Chaparral country." The population of the state shows a similar diversity
in its ethnic strains, with the Anglos prevailing in numbers and culture, but
with emigrants, or the descendants of emigrants, from about 35 nations.
These are ingredients for research in our cultural heritage and structure.
A study in anthropology is also afforded by books that present the nature
and life of the Stone Age Indian found in Texas, as well as the motives and
methods of the Spaniard in establishing colonies in north Mexico and Texas.
The history of Texas, especially in the state's early period of coloniza-
tion - its struggle for independence, establishment of the Republic, achieve-
ment of statehood, and service to the Confederacy - is a full and colorful
area of treatment in the collection. History is presented in terms of the lives
of men who have given significant leadership for good or ill. The latter treat-
ment sometimes takes the form of autobiography. Notable in the historical
group are such titles as Memoranda and Official Correspondence relating
to the Republic of Texas, Its History and Annexation, by Anson Jones (1859),
president of the Republic; The Life of Stephen F. Austin, by the late
distinguished Professor of American History at the University of Texas,
Dr. Eugene Barker; an 8-volume edition of The Writings of Sam Houston.
Carl Sandburg's Abraham Lincoln (6 vols.) and Douglas S. Freeman's Robert
E. Lee (4 vols.) complement the study of Texas in the Confederacy.
The folk lore and legendry of Texas are supplements to history in the
interpretation of the people. If Texans today are popularly thought of, far
and wide, as oil-rich millionaires, they were also, not so long ago, envi-
sioned by some as living in an anachronistic environment of cowboys and
Indians, and the wild, wild West of early days. It is true that Texas was
once the gateway to the southwestern frontier - a rough and violent fron-
tier that was not tamed until hostility with the Indians was brought under
control, as late as 1874, and steps toward law and order had discouraged
the desperadoes who had "gone to Texas" (GTT) since the days of the
Republic. The violent early frontier and efforts toward defense and order
are amply treated in the collection. The Indian papers, too, afford research
in a related area.
The Spanish had early brought cattle to Texas, and by the period follow-
ing the Civil War and before the railroads, huge cattle drives were
organized to herd the stock, maybe a thousand miles, to market. The cowboy,
a rugged, independent sort of man who rode the range and coped with the
harsh elements in a hard land, with nothing more than a horse and a rope
to help him, became an American folk hero. His life, his humor, and theNov. 1985]
71
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Texas Gulf Historical Society. The Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record, Volume 21, Number 1, November 1985, periodical, November 1985; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1433656/m1/73/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Gulf Historical Society.