Where Liberty Dwells: True Texas Tales (1)

Explorers and Indians. Soldiers and generals. Oil barons and ranchers. Outlaws, gunslingers, war heroes, and even journalists. All are bound together by a single common denominator--Texas. This delightful romp through the history of the Lone Star state begins 317 years before the first white European male washed ashore near Galveston Island, and winds up with the settlement of the High Plains. Within these pages are little-known stories not only involving well-known heroes, but unknown players who contributed to and changed the history of Texas. Every child in Texas has heard of Cabeza de Vaca, but few know how he survived among the Indians for eight years. Sam Houston, William Barret Travis, and Ben Milam are examined carefully, and Juan Davis Bradburn, General James Wilkinson, and Jane McManus Storm are introduced. John Warne Gates brings barbed wire, and later, oil, into the mix. Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, the greatest Indian fighter of all time, is followed as he chases Comanche across the Texas Panhandle. Richard King and Charles Goodnight develop gigantic ranches in different ends of the state. Reading like an adventure novel, Where Liberty Dwells: True Texas Tales provides a good, close look at the fun that was had by the rugged men and women who created Texas.