Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. xiv, 345 pages; 24 cm

Summary

1. During the turbulent years of the Civil War and Reconstruction, a squall of violence and lawlessness swept through the Nueces Strip and the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas. Cattle rustlers, regular troops, and Texas Rangers, as well as Civil War deserters and other characters of questionable reputation, clashed with Mexicans, Germans, and Indians over unionism, race, livestock, land, and national sovereignty, among other issues. In A Crooked River, Michael L. Collins presents a rousing narrative of these events that reflects perspectives of people on both sides of the Rio Grande. Retracing a path first opened by historian Walter Prescott Webb, A Crooked River reveals parts of the tale that Webb never told. Collins brings a cross-cultural perspective to the role of the Texas Rangers in the continuing strife along the border during the late nineteenth century. He draws on many rare and obscure sources to chronicle the incidents of the period, bringing unprecedented depth and detail to such episodes as the "skinning wars," the raids on El Remolino and Las Cuevas, and the attack on Nuecestown. Along the way, he dispels many entrenched legends of Texas history--in particular, the long-held belief that almost all of the era's cattle thieves were Mexican. A balanced and thorough reevaluation, A Crooked River adds a new dimension to the history of the racial and cultural conflict that defined the border region and that still echoes today.

Subject

1. American Civil War (1861-1865)
2. Reconstruction (United States : 1865-1877)
3. 1800-1899
4. Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877) > Texas
5. Frontier and pioneer life > Texas, South
6. Frontier and pioneer life > Texas > Lower Rio Grande Valley
7. Culture conflict > Texas > Lower Rio Grande Valley > History > 19th century
8. Culture conflict
9. Frontier and pioneer life
10. International relations
11. Lower Rio Grande Valley (Tex.) > History > 19th century
12. Texas > History > Civil War, 1861-1865
13. Texas, South > Relations > Mexico
14. Mexico > Relations > Texas, South
15. Mexico
16. Texas
17. Texas > Lower Rio Grande Valley
18. Texas, South
19. United States

Genre/Form

1. History.

Contents

1. Prologue: thieves of Bagdad -- The Devil's horsemen -- Old Rip returns -- Escaping Reconstruction -- Skinning wars -- Robb's commission -- Mackenzie's Raiders -- McNelly's Rangers -- Texas Devils -- Crossing the Jordan -- Catching Hell -- Epilogue: postscripts from Purgatory.

Call number

1. JFE 18-4561

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references and index.

Author

1. Collins, Michael L., 1950- author.

Title

1. A crooked river : rustlers, rangers, and regulars on the lower Rio Grande, 1861-1877 / Michael L. Collins.

Publisher

1. Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, [2018]

Type of content

1. text

Type of medium

1. unmediated

Type of carrier

1. volume

Bibliography

1. Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chronological term

1. 1800-1899

LCCN

1. 2017041392

ISBN

1. 9780806160085 hardcover ; alkaline paper
2. 080616008X hardcover ; alkaline paper

Research call number

1. JFE 18-4561