Before he became America's foremost landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) was by turns a surveyor, merchant seaman, farmer, magazine publisher, and traveling newspaper correspondent. In 1856-57 he took a saddle trip through Texas to see the country and report on its lands and peoples. His description of the Lone Star State on the eve of the Civil War remains one of the best accounts of the American West ever published. Unvarnished by sentiment or myth making, based on firsthand observations, and backed with ...
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Before he became America's foremost landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) was by turns a surveyor, merchant seaman, farmer, magazine publisher, and traveling newspaper correspondent. In 1856-57 he took a saddle trip through Texas to see the country and report on its lands and peoples. His description of the Lone Star State on the eve of the Civil War remains one of the best accounts of the American West ever published. Unvarnished by sentiment or myth making, based on firsthand observations, and backed with statistical research, Olmsted's narrative captures the manners, foods, entertainments, and conversations of the Texans, as well as their housing, agriculture, business, exotic animals, changeable weather, and the pervasive influence of slavery. Back and forth from the Sabine to the Rio Grande, through San Augustine, Nacogdoches, San Marcos, San Antonio, Neu-Braunfels, Fredericksburg, Lavaca, Indianola, Goliad, Castroville, La Grange, Houston, Harrisburg, and Beaumont, Olmsted rode and questioned and listened and reported. Texas was then already a multiethnic and multiracial state, where Americans, Germans, Mexicans, Africans, and Indians of numerous tribes mixed uneasily. Olmsted interviewed planters, scouts, innkeepers, bartenders, housewives, drovers, loafers, Indian chiefs, priests, runaway slaves, and emigrants and refugees from every part of the known world-most of whom had "gone to Texas" looking for a fresh start. He also observed the breathtaking arrival of spring on the prairie and the starry nights that seemed to prove the truth of the German saying "The sky seems nearer in Texas."
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Add this copy of A Journey Through Texas: Or a Saddle-Trip on the to cart. $8.27, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2004 by Bison Books.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of A Journey Through Texas: Or a Saddle-Trip on the to cart. $8.27, very good condition, Sold by HPB Inc. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2004 by BISON BOOKS.
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Very Good. 0803286201. This book is in very good condition; no remainder marks. It does have some cover shelfwear. Inside pages are clean.; 5.5 X 1.5 X 8 inches; 539 pages.
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New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 539 p. Contains: Unspecified. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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ONe of the best accounts of early travel I've read for quite a while! This beautifully written book sums up Olmsted's very perceptive view of the flaws of slavery . Slavery, he was convinced, was not only dehumanizing to the slaves, but resulted in poor agricultural practices that degraded otherwise fine land. Crop rotation was seldom if ever used. Furthermore, a slave-based economy reduced initiative in land owners, who saw no reason to modernize their farming practices or attitudes toward a "lower class" of humanity, i.e. slaves.
Much more could be said here about this very enlightening book. which also contains humor -- a smart but sometimes recalcitrant mule, Mr. Brown, and a favored dog, Judy. Read it and see!
Varalagom
Sep 3, 2009
Rare Look at a Young Texas
The author was writing a series of newspaper articles in the 1850's for 'The New York Times' concerning a first-hand account of slavery in the Southern States (later to become a famous book entitled "The Cotton Kingdom"). His remarkable saddle journey through a wide area of Texas, not yet 10 years old as a State of the Union, took him from the north all the way into Mexico, and back. It's a fascinating look at how Texans lived during those times. A true and entertaining read, especially for the history buff!
