All Texans, or their ancestors, started as something else. The 
families that came here molded the state and were molded by it. 
Anne H. Sutherland explores just how the experiences of two of 
the early Anglo land-grant families—the Robertsons and the 
Sutherlands—shaped Texas events and how the families handed 
down those experiences from one generation to another, 
transforming two Scots-Irish families into what in hindsight we have 
branded Anglo-Texans.

    The story of these two pioneering families, told through their 
letters, poems, diaries, and oral histories, embodies western 
expansion and political upheaval. Settling in central and southeast 
Texas, these families struggled to build a new Texas and make a life 
for their children. The Texas Revolution and the Civil War acted as 
catalysts for the emergence of their Texan identity.

    A unique blend of family and Texas history, Sutherland's book 
positions personal stories as windows of insight into Texan identity. 
She peels back the layers of family tradition and textbook history to 
show how her forebears experienced the transforming events of the 
settlement of Texas and its war for independence.

    As new generations emerged, each contributed its own anecdotes 
and historical context from the time period. By placing the families 
within Texas history, Sutherland effectively and innovatively traces 
identity from the early nineteenth century to today. As settlers in the 
western wilderness, the Robertsons, the Sutherlands, and others like 
them actively shaped Texas, even as they were changed themselves.

_________________________________________________________

ANNE H. SUTHERLAND has conducted extensive research on 
Roma Gypsies, ethnic groups in Belize, and identity and culture in 
Texas. She acted as writer and director for the BBC film series 
adaptation of her book Face Values: Some Anthropological Themes. 
She earned her Ph.D. in social anthropology from Oxford University 
and is currently a professor at the University of California–Riverside.


Number Twenty-five: Elma Dill Russell Spencer Series in the 
West and Southwest


What people are saying about this book

"Treat yourself to this collection of fascinating information drawn 
from the written records and oral tradition of these multigenerational 
families of Texans."—East Texas Historical Journal, Fall 2007

"Sterling Robertson and his descendents, who had a strong hand 
in shaping early Texas, don't need an epic motion picture or a John 
Wayne to tell their stories—they've got Anne Sutherland! I'm so glad 
her story is now a formal part of Texas history. Let's rewrite the 
textbooks!"—Mary Gordon Spence, author, Finding Magic in the 
Mundane

"As a deeply rooted Texan of six generations of the Sutherland-
Robertson family, I find Anne Sutherland's book so authentic and 
compelling. Most early Texas families contained heroes and 
hoodlums and were full of the hand-me-down stories of both. 
Readers will be amused and appalled at the grits required to survive 
and shape this remarkable state."—Liz Carpenter, author and 
former White House Press Secretary
 
" . . . offers a wonderful collection of stories about real people 
and ideas about a real place. It changes the way that we see 
history and helps us to see our own families and ourselves in the 
constantly changing images of the past."—Jack Weatherford, 
DeWitt Wallace Professor of Anthropology, Macalester College