Raised the son of a Methodist circuit-riding minister, Wesley Clark Dodson had just begun establishing himself as a civic-minded architect in Alabama when the outbreak of the Civil War dramatically altered his life. He fought with the 40th Alabama Infantry Regiment and emerged from the war disabled. In 1866, unable to find work as an architect in ......
Is there a better way to spend a Texas afternoon than outdoors on a trail and then sitting back to relax with a cold one? Authors Jay Maddock and Debra Kellstedt would say there isn't. Texas Hikes and Brews: A Rambler's Guide to a Perfect Day presents twenty-four different hiking itineraries throughout the Lone Star State, each coupled with an ......
Spindletop. The word conjures images of Texas oil: roustabouts, roughnecks, oil barons, and endless rows of wooden derricks. The discovery of oil at Spindletop in 1901 revolutionized the oil and drilling industry in the United States: before Spindletop's seventy thousand barrels of oil a day, no other well in the United States had produced more ......
More than fifty years ago, John R. Erickson took a vow of discipline. Every day, he would retreat to some quiet place and write for four hours. For nearly as many years, readers have eagerly awaited the fruits of those labors, whether they be in the form of Hank the Cowdog installments or other books on ranching and the writing life in Texas.Small ......
Snakes inspire extreme reactions. Love or hate these limbless reptiles, almost everyone is fascinated by them. Although snakes are widespread and frequently encountered, they may be more misunderstood than any other group of animals. From giant rattlesnakes to mating dances, there are dozens of myths and misconceptions about snakes. In Secrets of ......
The history of the Mexican Army's activity in the Texas Revolution is well documented but often hidden away. Many important primary sources have been lost or destroyed, but an impressive amount of period documentation has survived. And yet many of these handwritten, Spanish documents have been shelved in the back rooms of museums and libraries ......
Characterizing San Antonio's five Spanish colonial-era missions as "sites of memory," author and historian Joel Daniel Kitchens explores how and why Spain built the missions, what happened to the missions after the Spanish colonizers left, and how and why the missions came to weigh so heavily in American imagination and identity, even into the ......
Texas during the Civil War period is often viewed through the lenses of military tactics and the state's role in the Confederacy. But what was life like for the families who endured wartime separation? How did women ensure stability at home while their husbands, fathers, and brothers were ordered away to risk their lives? How did families remain ......
For almost five decades, the band known as Riders in the Sky ("America's Favorite Cowboys") has entertained and delighted audiences in Nashville and throughout the United States with their mixture of quirky sendups of the silver-screen Western and their "faultless, evocative instrumentation, perfect harmony, fantasy, and humor." Remarkably, the ......
