Once again, through a boy's eyes, Ralph Jackson sees a winter sky darkened with geese and ducks, a kitchen stove glowing with cheerful warmth, Aunt May strolling in her flower garden, moonlight filtering through treetops to cast patches of white light on a sandy woodland road. Again he catches odors once so familiar: of a mysterious attic, of burning salt grass in late summer, of mountain streams with their fresh green smell, of dark-roast coffee and of slab bacon sizzling in the pan. He hear...

One of the most sought-after criminals of the Depression era, Ralph Fults began his career of crime at the improbable age of fourteen. At nineteen he met Clyde Barrow in a Texas prison, and the two men together founded what would later be known as the Barrow gang. Running with Bonnie and Clyde is the story of Fults's experiences in the Texas criminal underworld between the years 1925 and 1935 and the gripping account of his involvement with the Barrow gang, particularly its notori...

The Panhandle�s first railroad, the Southern Kansas Railway of Texas, was constructed in 1886. Reaching Amarillo in 1889, the railway pulled cars filled with immigrant families and their belongings. The settlers were farmers from the east and south who came west to find water and cheap land. George Tyng, an adventurous fortune seeker, began leasing ranch land in 1887. A rail station was constructed, and Tyng eventually settled on the name �Pampa,� a South American word that means �plains.�...

To reach the Port of Houston's Turning Basin, a ship must travel 50 miles along a narrow and twisting channel that passes through Galveston Bay, the San Jacinto River, and Buffalo Bayou. Despite this improbable location, Houston has the world's largest landlocked port. Measured by annual tonnage shipped, the Port of Houston is the second-largest port in the United States. Its docks, wharves, and facilities cover more than 25 miles. The port starts its second century as a seaport in 2014. I...

The story of the Tohono O’odham peoples offers an important account of assimilation. Bifurcated by a border demarcating Mexico and the United States that was imposed on them after the Gadsden Purchase in 1853, the Tohono O’odham lived at the edge of two empires. Although they were often invisible to the majority cultures of the region, they attracted the attention of reformers and government officials in the United States, who were determined to “assimilate” native peoples into “American s...

Pioneer Doctor is the story of a half-century of medical practice, from the early days in Oklahoma Territory to metropolitan conditions. Lewis J. Moorman, M.D., once told a patient who apologized for calling him out late at night, “You must remember, I started with a team of Indian ponies twenty miles from a railroad.”Moorman’s experiences run the gamut of human ills and situations—of childbirth in a barn loft, the “faith healer” who infected a whole community with an “itc...

Despite the odds of Indian raids, the Civil War, and one man's feud, Weatherford began as a small frontier settlement in the mid-1800s, and quickly grew into a bustling West Texas county seat known for its Victorian beauty, home-grown peaches, and small-town charm. Images of courthouse construction and early pioneering families are among the first glimpses into Weatherford's fascinating history. Other highlights include the development of downtown, forgotten changes to the square, the firs...

A favorite destination of visitors to the Texas coast, Corpus Christi is a midsize city that manages to be both cosmopolitan and provincial, networked and local. It is an indispensable provider of urban services to South Texas, as well as a port of international significance. Its industries and military bases and, increasingly, its coastal research institutes give it a range of connections throughout North America. Despite these advantages, however, Corpus Christi has never made it into th...

South of Phoenix�s South Mountain, west of Interstate 10, north of the Gila River Indian Community, and east of Arizona state land lies the picturesque village of Ahwatukee-Foothills, home to some 87,000 people. Its proximity to adjacent cities, cultural centers, shopping, and dining combines with these natural boundaries to give the area its beautiful topography, sense of peaceful isolation, and high desirability as a great place to live, work, and play. But long before there was a freewa...

The Oklahoma Cowboy Band was the first western string band in the nation to broadcast over the radio and appear on vaudeville, drawing large audiences throughout the Midwest and Northeast. The band began in Ripley as Billy McGinty's Cowboy Band and first played over radio station KFRU in Bristow in May 1925. Billy McGinty was a Rough Rider with Theodore Roosevelt and performed in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. The public responded to the broadcast of his band with a steady stream of telegr...

Capt. B. B. Paddock was one of the most prolific authors on Texas history. His writings are probably the most complete and best balanced ones. This book covers the history of the Texas Northwest and especially the history of the Fort Worth Region. This is volume one out of two.

When George Lynn Cross arrived to teach botany at the University of Oklahoma in the summer of 1934, racial segregation was so strong in Norman that no African American dared remain within the city limits after sundown. Almost ten years later when Cross became president of the university, the full extent of Oklahoma’s segregation laws came sharply into focus.This book is President Cross’s story of the events leading to the desegregation of the University of Oklahoma in 1948, with th...