This is the story of the “other” Houston. Born in Alabama in 1822, Joshua was the slave of Margaret Lea until she married Sam Houston and moved to Texas in 1840. He served the family as trusted servant, blacksmith, carpenter, architect, wheelwright, and driver, until General Houston freed him in 1862. In telling his story, the authors have emphasized those details which made Joshua unique among slaves: he was taught to read and write, was allowed to keep money he earned, and upon the gener...

Founded before the Civil War, the King and Kenedy Ranches have become legendary for their size, their wealth, and their endless herds of cattle. A major factor in the longevity of these ranches has always been the loyal workforce of vaqueros (Mexican and Mexican American cowboys) and their families. Some of the vaquero families have worked on the ranches through five or six generations.In this book, Jane Clements Monday and Betty Bailey Colley bring together the v...

In this first comprehensive biography of Dr. Arthur Edward Spohn, authors Jane Clements Monday, Frances Brannen Vick, and Charles W. Monday Jr., MD, illuminate the remarkable nineteenth-century story of a trailblazing physician who helped to modernize the practice of medicine in Texas.Arthur Spohn was unusually innovative for the time and exceptionally dedicated to improving medical care. Among his many surgical innovations was the development of a specialized tourniquet for “blood...

Winner, San Antonio Conservation Society Citation, 2011Texas's King Ranch has become legendary for a long list of innovations, the most enduring of which is the development of the first official cattle breed in the Americas, the Santa Gertrudis. Among those who played a crucial role in the breed's success were Librado and Alberto "Beto" Maldonado, master showmen of the King Ranch. A true "bull whisperer," Librado Maldonado developed a method for gentling and traini...

In the summer of 1881, Robert Justus Kleberg rode across the hot, dusty South Texas brush country to the palatial home of Capt. Richard King to consult with the cattle baron about attending to his legal affairs. On that same journey, the young lawyer also first laid eyes on Alice King, “Princess of the Wild Horse Desert.” Neither of their lives would ever be the same.Published for the first time in this book, the love letters written by Kleberg to Alice Gertrudis King provide a gli...