Frontier Texas: History of a Borderland to 1880.

Frontier Texas: History of a Borderland to 1880. By Robert F. Pace and Donald S. Frazier. (Abilene, Tex.: State House Press, c. 2004. Pp. 272. $19.95, ISBN 1-880510-83-9.)

Histories of the American West are often written as sweeping narratives that gloss over local environmental, political, and economic factors in favor of all-encompassing arguments. Frontier Texas: History. of a Borderland to 1880 instead offers a regionally specific history of the cultural collisions that took place on the harsh West Texas plains through 1880.

West Texas was characterized by conflict, whether it was between Jumanos and Apaches, Spaniards and Comanches, or Anglo-Texans against everyone else. All humans "had to develop perserverance, toughness, and determination" to survive in the region (p. 13). Each group utilized technology to gain the upper hand against its adversaries. For instance, during the eighteenth century, the Comanches obtained horses from the Spanish and then used them to gain advantages over the Apaches and eventually over the Spanish themselves.

"Texians" remained militarily inferior to the Comanches until the mid-nineteenth century when the U.S. government built forts along the frontier (p. 40). During the Civil War the forts lay abandoned and the line of Comanche control moved hundreds of miles eastward. After the war's end, the U.S. army and buffalo hide hunters targeted the Indians' horses and food supplies and set the stage for the cattle kingdom.

In the early nineteenth century determined men could acquire a herd by roping wild longhorn stock. By 1846 the first cattle drive had occurred, and "between 1866 and 1880 more than 4.2 million head of cattle were driven" north (p. 186). By the late 1880s, barbed wire, windmills, and private property laws had ended the open range. The days of the brawling cow towns that had been established in the region were also numbered. Prostitution, gambling, and the reign of notorious figures like John Wesley Hardin began to disappear, as the railroads brought families and civilization. Technology had finally tamed the Texas frontier, at least so it seemed in 1880.

This is not an academic book, and it does not state a thesis. Although it has a bibliography, it does not contain any source citations. Frontier Texas is written to inspire people to visit the historical attraction of the same name in Abilene, Texas, and it fulfills this purpose well. Critics could argue that it reads like a Turnerian narrative writ small. Women appear as pioneer wives or captives, African Americans show up only as exceptions, Native Americans appear as either noble savages or murderers, while Latinos/Latinas are virtually excluded.

However, the book is written in a lively style and is filled with interesting tidbits of Texas frontier history placed within a broader context. It is organized chronologically through the use of vignettes that introduce interesting personalities and events. Frontier Texas is an excellent read for all audiences. Academics should beware--this book makes history fun.

BYRON PEARSON

West Texas A&M University