RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 10, 2006
KINSEARCHING
by
Marleta Childs
P. O. Box 6825
LUBBOCK, TX 79493-6825
[email protected]
Are you interested in learning about the history of the
Spanish Borderlands? If you are, then you will want to read SPANISH
ACTIVITIES ON THE LOWER TRINITY RIVER: 1746 - 1771 by Herbert Eugene Bolton,
one of the foremost historians of the region. Originally published in The
Southwestern Historical Quarterly in 1913, the classic article is being
reprinted separately for the first time.
Although Spain claimed vast lands in the New World, the Spanish crown was slow to populate much of its putative territory. Texas is one example of a colony claimed but left virtually unpopulated and ungoverned for well over two centuries. French encroachment, however, gave impetus to Spain's turning more attention to eastern Texas. Since the nearby settlement of Natchitoches had been established in Louisiana by France in 1714, the Lower Trinity became a center early on for hunters, traders, and other Frenchmen from Louisiana. Because the Sabine River did not serve as a boundary to halt people from moving back and forth, Anglo-Americans began increasingly to cross the Sabine into Texas during the latter years of the eighteenth century.
Since the Lower Trinity River flows through or borders the Texas counties of Anderson, Chambers, Ellis, Freestone, Henderson, Houston, Kaufman, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Montgomery, Navarro, Polk, San Jacinto, Trinity, and Walker, the author offers data on the history of a very large part of what became the Lone Star State. Also greatly impacted was Louisiana's history. Based upon original manuscript sources, Bolton's scholarly SPANISH ACTIVITIES ON THE LOWER TRINITY RIVER: 1746 - 1771 remains the seminal statement on the subject.
The 42-page book (order item # TR 2) has soft covers, enlarged print, and footnotes. It costs $18.50 plus $1.50 for shipping; for a speedier delivery by DHL, purchasers should add $7.50 total for shipping. Customers from areas outside the United States should contact Provincial Press for cost of shipping. To the basic price of the book, Louisiana residents are obliged to add four percent sales tax while Evangeline Parish residents should add a five percent sales tax.
Provincial Press accepts credit card purchases only via its web-site catalog provided in cooperation with Pay Pal in a safe and secure environment. Pay Pal may be used by members and non-members alike.
SPANISH ACTIVITIES ON THE LOWER TRINITY RIVER: 1746 - 1771 may be ordered from Provincial Press, 1067 Rock Pit Road, Ville Platte, LA 70586-9266 (e-mail [email protected]; website www.provincialpress.us). Please allow two to three weeks for delivery.
Just as the Sabine River did not prevent individuals from traveling back and forth in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the vast expanse of Texas did not stop later generations from visiting. Before the convenience of airplanes, the trips, of course, took much longer. Although the lengthy journeys were not made often, relatives and friends managed to get together. For example, a member of the NOONER family in far East Texas and the WINDER family in far West Texas did see each other. Information about a visit can be found on page six of the August 12, 1943 issue of the West Texas newspaper, Cochran County Headlight (Volume 3, number 27), published in Morton: "Miss Mamie Nooner of Nacogdoches, has been visiting her uncle, J. L. Winder and family the past few days."
A paper copy (referred to as a "hard" copy) of the 1943 Cochran County Headlight issue is a recent addition to the large collection of microfilmed and hard copy newspapers at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library. The archives/library building is located on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX.
Bonnie Bright Johannes, 5594 North 10th, Apt. 103, Fresno, CA 93710-6586 (e-mail: [email protected]) would appreciate information on Wiley N. BOWEN, born in 1812 in South Carolina. He resided in Hopkins Co., TX, 1850-1880. Who were his parents and siblings?