In 1912 author James T. DeShields dedicated his Border Wars of
Texas to "The Sons and Daughters of Those Noble Pioneer Fathers
and Mothers who . . . battled so bravely for supremacy and . . . made
possible all the glorious blessings that have followed," and herein
are the accounts of the early battles of those advancing pioneers as
they relentingly encroached across the borders of the territories which
the Indians believed to be theirs.
DeShields' work, which used Texas' earliest historical sources such
as John Henry Brown, John W. Wilbarger, and Henderson King
Yoakum, is made invaluable by his extensive use of other primary
source material such as his numerous turn-of-the-century interviews
and correspondence with early Texas Rangers and frontiersmen who
were yet living. Many of his accounts are found nowhere else in
publications of Texas history and thus provide fresh insights into the
history of Texas' wars against the Indians.
Despite his view of Texas history as one in which the ultimate
victory of the dauntless Anglo pioneer over the savage Indian was
both predetermined and inevitable, DeShields' work retains a
humanistic viewpoint, supporting Houston's conciliatory Indian
policies of total destruction or expulsion. Regardless of DeShields'
personal sympathies, the conflicts between the pioneer and Indian
warring factions were bloody and savage, and DeShields superbly
documents the savagery.
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JAMES T. DESHIELDS (1861–1948) grew up in Bell County, Texas,
during a period when many frontier conditions still prevailed. At
Salado College and Baylor University he began his extensive
collection of manuscripts, books, and paintings of Texas history.
His numerous articles and books gained him great popularity in the
early decades of the twentieth century.
What people are saying about this book
"A must for the Texana collector or any general reader."—Amarillo
News Globe
Other Frontier Titles
