16. Texas History before Annexation to the United States (1519-1845)
Barker, Nancy Nichols, ed. The French Legation in Texas. Vol. 1: Recognition, Rupture, and Reconciliation; Vol. 2: Mission Miscarried. Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1971-1973. (Documents relating to the diplomatic relations between France and the Republic of Texas between 1838 and 1846, the majority authored by Alphonse Dubois de Saligny, French chargé d’affaires to the Republic. Index [which is in Vol. 2) shows that the documents deal with other aspects of Texas history during the era of the Republic, as well as French-Texan diplomacy.) RGC: F 390 .B335 1971-
Berlandier, Jean Louis. Journey to Mexico during the Years 1826 to 1834. Translated by Sheila M. Ohlendort, Josette M. Bigelow, and Mary M. Standifer. 2 vols. Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1980. (Has been called “the best scientific study of Texas during the colonial period.” Much about the Anglo-American settlers and their towns, farms, and ranches.) NRG, RGC: F 1213 .B4713
Bollaert, William. William Bollaert’s Texas. Edited by W. Eugene Hollon and Ruth Lapham Butler. (The American Exploration and Travel Series.) Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1956. (Texas during the time of the Republic. Good picture of social life in Texas just prior to annexation.) NRG: F 390 .B682 1956
Castañeda, Carlos, ed. The Mexican Side of the Texan Revolution. New York: Arno Press, 1975. (Contents: Writings by Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, R. Martinez Caro, V. Filisola, J. Urrea, and J. M. Tornel y Mendivil.) RGC, RVS: F 390 .C317 1976
Celiz, Francisco. Diary of the Alarcon Expedition into Texas: 1718-1719. Translated by Fritz Leo Hoffmann. Los Angeles: Quivira Society, 1935. (Records founding of San Antonio and the mission of the Alamo. Author was a priest from Coahuila in New Spain [Mexico].) EVC: F 389 .C33 1935
Chapa, Juan Bautista. Texas and Northeastern Mexico, 1630-1690. Edited by William C. Foster. Translated by Ned f. Brierley. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997. PIN: F 1316 .C4613 1997
Chariton, Wallace O. 100 Days in Texas: The Alamo Letters. Plano, Tex.: Wordware Publishing Co., 1990. (Documents relating to the Texas Revolution between December 2, 1835 and March 17, 1836. Most, but not all, are letters. While the focus is on the defence of the Alamo, there is much information on other aspects of the Texan struggle for independence.) NRG, RVS: F 390 .C47 1990
De Boer, Marvin E., comp. Destiny by Choice: The Inaugural Addresses of the Governors of Texas. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1992. NRG, RGC, RVS: Reference J 87 .T415 1992
Dubois de Saligny, Alphonse. Alphonse in Austin: Being Excerpts from the Official Letters Written to the French Foreign Ministry, with Diverse Notes Concerning the Pig War. Selected and translated by Katherine Hart. Austin: Encino Press, 1967. NRG, RGC: F 390 .D82 (Both copies are 1-day reserve items. Ask at Circulation Desk.)
Duval, John C. The Adventures of Big Foot Wallace, the Texas Ranger and Hunter. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1966. (“Well-written account of a fascinating Texas Ranger and hero.” Collaborative effort between Wallace and Duval, who were close friends. “The work contains dramatizations and some downright fiction.” Account of Mier Expedition generally reliable.) NRG, RGC: F 390 .W25 1966
Edward, David B. History of Texas; or, The Emigrant’s, Farmer’s and Politicians’s Guide to the Character, Climate, Soil, and Productions of that Country: Arranged Geographically from Personal Observation and Experience. With a new introduction by Margaret S. Henson. Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1993. (Reprint of 1836 ed. Author, born in Scotland, came to Texas in 1830. Critical of Anglo-Texans. Many documents, full and extracts, from Mexican laws and regulations concerning colonization, justice, and trade. Full text of Mexican Constitution of 1824.) CYP, EVC, PIN: F 389 .E25 1990
Filisola, Vicente. Memoirs for the History of the War in Texas. Translated by Wallace Woolsey. 2 vols. Austin: Eakin Press, 1985, 1987. (Abridgement of the original work, written in 1848-1849. General Filisola was second in command to General Antonio López de Santa Anna in the Texas campaign of 1836. Written in the third person. The primary source aspect begins with Chapter 26 of Volume I.) NRG, RVS: F 390 .F4913 1985
Glass, Anthony. Journal of an Indian Trader: Anthony Glass and the Texas Trading Frontier, 1790-1810. Edited by Dan L. Flores. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1985. RGC: F 389 .G52 A33 1985
Goeth, Ottilie Fuchs. Memoirs of a Texas Pioneer Grandmother, 1805-1915. Burnet, Tex.: Eakin Press, 1982. NRG, RGC: F 392 .T47 G6313 1982
Gray, William F. From Virginia to Texas, 1835: Diary of Wm. F. Gray, Giving Details of His Journey to Texas and Return in 1835-1836 and Second Journey to Texas in 1837. Houston, Tex.: Fletcher Young, 1965. (Gray attended the Convention at Washington-on-the Brazos in March 1836. Interesting characterizations of leading Texans of the era.) CYP: F 390 .G77.
Hardin, Stephen L., comp. Lone Star: The Republic of Texas, 1836-1846. Carlisle, MA: Discovery Enterprises, Ltd., 1998. (Excerpts from eyewitness accounts written by persons who lived in Texas during the period. Includes writings by political leaders, soldiers, pioneer women, slaves, etc.) CYP, NRG, RGC, RVS
Holley, Mary Austin. Texas. Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1991. (Reprint of 1836 ed. Part emigrant guide, part history, part document collection. Many important documents printed related to Mexican and revolutionary eras.) CYP: F 389 .H763 1990.
Houstoun, Matilda. Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, or Yachting in the New World. Austin, Tex.: W. Thomas Taylor Book Publishers, 1991. (Written by a wealthy Englishwoman who visited Texas in 1842 in her husband’s private yacht. Only saw Galveston-Houston area. Pictures Texas as a land of promise and Texans as a much maligned people. Observations on social life in the Republic, on traveling conditions, climate, slavery, etc. ) RVS: F 390 .H88 1991
Hunter, Robert Hancock. Narrative of Robert Hancock Hunter, 1813-1902: From His Arrival in Texas, 1822, through the Battle of San Jacinto. Mesquite, Tex: Ide, 1982. RVS: F 389 .H87 1982
Jackson, Jack, ed. Imaginary Kingdom: Texas as Seen by the Rivera and Rubî Military Expeditions, 1727 and 1767. With annotations by William C. Foster. Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1995. (Primary sources documents relating to these expeditions. Portions of the book are secondary source essays.) NRG, RGC: F 389 .R58 1995
Jenkins, John Holland. Recollections of Early Texas: The Memoirs of John Holland Jenkins. Edited by John Holmes Jenkins, III. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1987. (Author was in Houston’s army in the Revolution and later served in the Texas Rangers. Fought in last battle of the Civil War.) NRG, RGC: F 390 .J4 1987
Jones, Anson. Memoranda and Official Correspondence Relating to the Republic of Texas, its History and Annexation. New York: Arno Press, 1973. NRG, PIN, RGC: F 390 .J76 1973. (Other copies, with different publishers and publication dates are also at NRG and RGC.)
Linn, John J. Reminiscences of Fifty Years in Texas. Austin, Texas: State House Press, 1986. (Reprint of 1883 edition. Irish-born author came to Texas in 1829. Had first-hand knowledge of the General Council of 1835, the Convention of 1836, the Battle of Gonzales, the San Jacinto campaign, the Congress of the Republic of Texas, Indian fighting, etc. Some documents included by Houston and others. Focus is the era of the Texas Revolution and the years of the Republic that followed.) RVS: F 389 .L56 1986
Matovina, Timothy M., comp. The Alamo Remembered: Tejano Accounts and Perspectives. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995. {Contents: All known accounts of the Battle of the Alamo by local Mexican Texans living in San Antonio at the time. First dated, March 11, 1836, the last, April 19, 1914. Most written long after the event.) EVC, NRG, RVS: F 390 .M485 1995
McCutchan, Joseph D. Mier Expedition Diary: A Texas Prisoner’s Account. Edited by Joseph Milton Nance. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1978. RVS: F 390 .M123
Morfi, Juan Agustin. History of Texas, 1673-1779. 2 vols. Edited by Carlos E. Castañeda. Albuquerque, N.M.: Quivira Society, 1935. (Technically, a secondary source, but Father Morfi was a Franciscan missionary who was in Texas and observed the missions there in 1777-78. Provides insights into the life of the missions, villages, and presidios, as well as on Indian tribes. Much of what historians know about eighteenth-century Texas comes from this work. Manuscript probably written between 1778 and 1783.) NRG, RGC: F 389 .M72 1967
Muir, Andrew Forest, ed. Texas in 1837: An Anonymous, Contemporary Narrative. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1986. (Has been called “the best description of the Republic during its first year . . . that has come to light.” RVS: F 390 .T375 1986
Navarro, José Antonio. Defending Mexican Valor in Texas: José Antonio Navarro’s Historical Writings, 1853-1857. Edited by David R. McDonald and Timothy M. Matovina. Austin, Tex.: State House Press, 1995. (Reminiscences of an eyewtiness to the participation of San Antonio Tejanos during the Mexican struggle for independence from Spain in the second decade of the nineteenth century.) F 390 .N3813 1995
Peña, Jose Enrique de la. With Santa Anna in Texas: A Personal Narrative of the Revolution. Translated and edited by Carmen Perry. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1975. (Peña asserts that Crockett surrendered after the Alamo fell, then was executed at Santa Anna’s orders.) CYP, EVC, NRG, PIN, RGC RVS: F 390 .P3313
Roemer, Ferdinand. Texas: With Particular Reference to German Immigration and the Physical Appearance of the Country, Described through Personal Observation. Translated by Oswald Mueller. San Marcos: German-Texas Heritage Society, 1983. (By a German scientist who visited Texas between 1845 and 1847. Writen in 1849. “One of the first scientific investigations of Texas made by someone qualified to do so.”) NRG, RGC: F 391 .R715 1983
Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez de. The Eagle: The Autobiography of Santa Anna. Edited by Ann Fears Crawford. Austin, Tex.: State House Press, 1988. NRG, PIN, RVS F 1232 .S23 A32 1988. (An earlier edition, with different publication data, is at RGC.)
Seguin, Juan N. A Revolution Remembered: The Memoirs and Selected Correspondence of Juan N. Seguin. Edited by Jesus F. de la Teja. Austin, Tex.: State House Press, 1991. RGC, RVS: F 390 .S465 1991
Sheppard, Lorna Geer. An Editor’s View of Early Texas: Texas in the Days of the Republic as Depicted in The Northern Standard. Austin, Tex.: Eakin Press, 1998. (Hybrid source: Author has compiled and commented upon many excerpts from the newspaper [published in Clarksville on the Red River in northeastern Texas]. They were written by editor Charles DeMorse. Chapters on different subjects, including Native Americans, agriculture, immigrants, law and order, rivers of Texas, inner workings of the Republic, love and marriage, relations with Mexico, and annexation to the United States.) EVC: F 390 .S494 1998
Sterne, Adolphus. Hurrah for Texas!: The Diary of Adolphus Sterne, 1838-1851. Edited by Archie P. McDonald. Austin: Eakin Press, 1986. (Diary entries actually begin in 1840. Author a prominent citizen of Nacogdoches. Much about people, politics, daily life, and business.) RVS: F 390 .S83 1986. (An earlier edition, with different publication data, is at EVC and RGC.)
Texas. Constitutional Convention, 1845. Journals of the Convention, Assembled at the City of Austin on the Fourth of July, 1845, for the Purpose of Framing a Constitution for the State of Texas. Austin: Shoal Creek Publishers, 1974. (This is a facsimile reproduction of the 1845 edition.) NRG: JK4825 1845 .A25
Todish, Tim J. and Terry S. Alamo Sourcebook, 1836; A Comprehensive Guide to the Alamo and the Texas Revolution. Austin, Tex: Eakin Press, 1998. (This is a hybrid source. Most of it is a secondary source. Chapter 13, “Through Their Own Eyes: How the Participants Saw the Siege of the Alamo and the Texas Revolution” (pp.136-146), however, is a collection of excerpts from primary sources.) RGC: F 390 .T64 1998
(See also The United States: Federalist Era through 1877)