Donald Eugene Chipman - Explorers and Settlers of Spanish Texas

DONALD E. CHIPMAN AND HARRIETT DENISE JOSEPH

Publication of this book was made possible in part by support
from the Pachita Tennant Pike Fund for Latin American Studies

COPYRIGHT 2001 BY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS

All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First edition, 2001

Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work
should be sent to Permissions, University of Texas Press,
P.O. Box 7819, Austin, TX 787137819.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

ISBN 978-0-292-73209-4 (library e-book); ISBN 978-0-292-79315-6 (individual e-book)

Chipman, Donald E.

Explorers and settlers of Spanish Texas / Donald E. Chipman and Harriett Denise Joseph.1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-292-71231-6 (alk. paper)

1. ExplorersTexasBiographyJuvenile literature.
2. PioneersTexasBiographyJuvenile literature.
3. TexasDiscovery and explorationSpanishJuvenile
literature. 4. Frontier and pioneer lifeTexasJuvenile
literature. 5. SpaniardsTexasHistoryJuvenile literature.
6. SpaniardsTexasBiographyJuvenile literature.
7. TexasHistoryTo 1846Juvenile literature.
[1. TexasHistoryTo 1849. 2. TexasBiography.
3. Explorers. 4. PioneersTexas. 5. Frontier and pioneer
lifeTexas.] I. Joseph, Harriett Denise. II. Title.

F389.C438 2001

920.0764dc21

00011596

DOI: 10.7560/712317

Ragged Castaway

Golden Conquistador

The Lady in Blue

Texas Pathfinder

Angry Governor and Man with a Mission

Cavalier and His Bride

Gods Donkey

Chicken War Redeemer

Sinful Captain

Father of South Texas

Troubled Indian Agent

Comanche Peacemaker

Harsh Inspector and Father of East Texas

Rebel Captain and Vengeful Royalist

Pioneer Settlers

Rights and Responsibilities

Explorers and Settlers of Spanish Texas is intended for younger readers. When the authors finished preparation of their work on Notable Men and Women of Spanish Texas, also published by the University of Texas Press, we were reminded of a conversation some years ago with Dr. George B. Ward. George is managing editor of the Southwestern Historical Quarterly and assistant director of the Texas State Historical Association. He is also a good friend. George remarked that in traveling around the state of Texas, one public school teacher after another has asked him why there was so little in print on Texas historyother than textbooksfor adolescents. Teachers who wanted to assign reports on such individuals as Coronado, Cabeza de Vaca, or the Lady in Blue could find little other than adult-level works. Even the great six-volume New Handbook of Texas (1996) is hardly designed for younger readers.

The authors had never tried to write for an audience other than adults. And neither of us was at all certain that we could do it successfully. We began by scanning and reading history textbooks used in the public schools to get a feel for an appropriate level of vocabulary. Next, we tried writing and then rewriting a sample chapter on Cabeza de Vaca. The task proved much more difficult than we had thought it might be. We simplified sentences, reduced the length of paragraphs, and struggled to find an acceptable style of writing.

After polishing a draft, we gave copies to several students in the Brownsville ISD. To our surprise, all of them thought the writing was pretty good and the subject matter interesting. More important, those students made good suggestions, and we took them to heart. We followed by writing a second chapter on Coronado. The new chapter, together with the Cabeza de Vaca chapter, went to a friend and former student who teaches eighth-grade United States history in the Keller ISD. He made photocopies of the two chapters and had his students read them. Those students were especially complimentary of the chapters and remarked that they were well written and interesting. We also asked public school teachers in the Brownsville ISD to read sample chapters, as well as a specialist in reading in the Carrollton/Farmers Branch ISD. Once again, the comments were generally positive. Those students and teachers who were kind enough to donate their time and serve as guinea pigs for Explorers and Settlers of Spanish Texas are gratefully recognized by name in the Acknowledgments.

As an observation, the popularity of biography seems at present to be at an all-time high, with various outlets ranging from television to CD-ROM to the printed page. In the sixteen chapters that make up the text, we have used the biographical approach to Spanish Texas. In this manner, we have tried to humanize the past and to make our readers realize that the past was shaped by individuals who had the same strengths and weaknesses that we ourselves and our leaders have today.

In looking at personalities from Cabeza de Vaca in the early sixteenth century to Joaqun de Arredondo in the early nineteenth century, the reader is exposed to the full span of recorded history in the Spanish period. These men and women of Spanish and French ancestry are an important balance wheel of both Texas and United States history. Many of them walked the land and breathed the air that was North America well before English and Dutch nations colonized it.

The first literature that addressed parts of what later became the United States came from the pen of Alvar Nez Cabeza de Vacathat Great Pedestrian of both North and South America. Don Alvar was the first historian, anthropologist, and geographer of Texas and the Southwest. He was likewise the first merchant and physician-surgeon in the American Southwest. Those are a lot of firsts.

The reader will also learn about many other Spanish and French pioneers in the future Lone Star State. Herein one will find biographical sketches of sixteen men (some famous and some infamous) and of a notable Spanish nun.

The authors are especially pleased to offer adolescent readers a better understanding of women and their contributions to Texas history. Until recently, many of them have remained largely nameless and faceless. We know that they had children, washed and mended clothes, and swept their houses, but those activities are hardly the stuff of interest to readers of any age. And the importance of women as settlers in the colonial period goes far beyond bearing children and housekeeping. By reading the final two chapters in this book, one can learn about the roles, rights, and responsibilities of flesh-and-blood women in early Texas and American history.

Most authors will admit that a lot of credit for their books should go to persons whose names do not appear on the title page, and Explorers and Settlers of Spanish Texas is no exception to that rule. From the beginning, we knew that finding the appropriate level of vocabulary and using different sentence structure for adolescent readers would be a problem. To meet that challenge, it seemed reasonable to have students in our intended range of audience and their teachers read sample chapters. Fortunately, we had contacts through friends and former instructors of Josephs daughter, Lindsey Nicole, who was a student at Pace High School in Brownsville, Texas.

Nicole Joseph and her younger friends, Denise Garza and Gilbert Muro (then at Stell Middle School in Brownsville), read the first chapters on Cabeza de Vaca and Coronado. Their suggestions received serious consideration and led us to rewrite sentences and recast paragraphs. Our genuine thanks are extended to Nicole, Denise, and Gilbert.