From Jamestown to Texas

More about the book

The rugged character and indomitable spirit of the early pioneers in Stephen F. Austin’s Texas colony stemmed from a turbulent past. Beginning in the early 1600s, their courageous ancestors ventured westward, fleeing religious and political oppression in search of freedom and a better life. Many carried stories of struggles in Londonderry, Ireland, during the great siege, as well as memories of massacres and clan rivalries from the times of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce in Scotland. They also recalled the tribulations of Martin Luther and the religious divide with the Catholic Church. More recently, they remembered their parents' involvement in the American Revolution, with vivid recollections of dramatic events akin to those in the film "The Patriot," where their fathers fought alongside the Swamp Fox, Francis Marion. These pioneers identified with figures like Travis, Crockett, Houston, and Andrew Jackson. Many were Scots-Irish and German immigrants on a westward trek to claim a special prize—Texas—reflecting America’s Manifest Destiny. This narrative chronicles the intrepid pioneers and their ancestors who cleared land, farmed, battled Native Americans, and overcame the elements to forge the nation we know today.