There are more facts in C. Herndon Williams’ “True Tales of the Texas Frontier” than there are rings on shells of a dozen armadillos.
Williams takes the reader on an epic 42-thousand-year journey of the Lone Star State dating back to when early man was deep sea fishing off the coast and Mammoths roamed the Texas plains. Williams informs us that their fossils have been found in 123 of the 254 counties in Texas. For good measure, he tells us that 10,000 years ago the Gulf beach was at least 40 miles farther out than it is today.
But, what makes Williams’ book interesting is his reporting of the development of Texas frontier from the Spanish Colonial Period, which started in 1519, to becoming a part of the United States in 1848. When Texas became a part of the United States, it signaled the end of the Texas frontier era.
Williams peppers his writing with many illustrations and photographs, the most important of which could be the reproduction of the 1519 Pineda Map of the Gulf Coast.
If he has one fault it is that he did not cover the settlement of South Texas by the Spanish sufficiently.
Other than that he documents eight centuries of the Texas frontier unveiling a list of interesting characters and a sea of facts any Texas historian will enjoy reading or comparing to findings by other historians and authors.
Williams does a very good job of concisely covering the state’s Native American population, in particular the Karankawa, a tribe that roamed from the Gulf Coast to Central Texas and was considered warlike by most of the settlers who encountered them. But, the author counters that they were “peaceful” at home in spite of the general image of them as cannibals that has persisted in Texas lore. They were also known as “dog lovers” by other Texas tribes and they had a “secret name” they would never reveal. But, ironically, when Spanish and other European settlers arrived they would take a Spanish or French name. This is not documented, but came from stories handed down by the Spanish and Anglo settlers.
More than 600 tribes roamed Texas at one time and the Native American population was estimated at 350,000 to 1 million, according to Williams’ findings. The Karankawa were among the smaller tribes — totaling at most 8,000 — but their presence was felt because they refused to change their ways and assimilate to the ways of the Spanish and Anglo settlers. Williams reports that 80-90 percent of that population succumbed to disease brought by the European settlers.
Among the most interesting accounts in the book is his report on the “The Cemetery: Last Relic of St. Mary’s of Aransas” near what is now Bayside. St. Mary’s, founded in 1850, was once a major port on the Texas coast. It is the resting place for some of the early pioneer families of the area as well as the founding families of Bayside. The earliest headstone dates to 1860.
As Williams settles down to tell frontier stories, the fact seems to roll off the letters like flapjacks on a scorching griddle.
The first European baby born in Texas was French, in 1685.
The mission and presidio in Goliad moved three times.
The Texas Declaration of Independence was written in one day.
Mules were better than oxen to traverse the frontier, but mules hated water crossings.
There was a lot of “luck” involved in the Texans’ victory in San Jacinto.
The Old South Plantation Lifestyle was strong in what is now Brazoria County.
There was too much spitting in the Republic of Texas.
The Devil’s Rope marked the end of the Texas Frontier.
Read these and many other interesting tidbits in Williams’ short but interesting book. Your senses will be titillated by the prose of this author much like the coyote on the prowl for his next meal in the Texas brush.
C. Herndon Williams lives in Bayside, on the site of the abandoned St. Mary’s of Aransas. He was born and raised in Houston. In the course of his research, he found that his three names (Calvit, Herndon and Williams) all came from pioneer ancestors who played significant roles in Texas in the frontier period from 1822 to 1860. After a career as an environmental chemist, Williams retired to Bayside he began his career as a writer and wrong historical column for area newspapers. He is a member of the Refugio County Historical Commission and the Bayside Historical Society and is the editor of its historical journal the “Baysider.” His first book was “Texas Gulf Coast Stories:” published in 2010.
The History Press – Charleston, S.C.