Any books on the progressive history of the Hill Country?

[carpetbagger]

Something that covers Meusebach, the freethinkers, the unionists, the Turnvereiners? Most people around here (I live in San Antonio) are completely ignorant regarding who actually founded the towns of the region.

For those unfamiliar with this, the Texas Hill Country was largely founded by German settlers in the mid-19th C. Some of the communities, especially Comfort, Sisterdale, Boerne, and parts of the Fischer-Miller Grant to the north, were populated by farmer-intellectuals transplanted from Germany, who at least for a while supported a local culture dominated by romantic liberalism.

I've read Death on the Nueces, which covers the massacre of Unionist German-Americans fleeing for Mexico during the Civil War, but I've not seen anything comprehensive.

[Gman]

1. Try checking with the Institute of Texan Cultures downtown

they have a ton of information and may be able to point you in the right direction. Also, if you're really ambitious, you may want to check the UT library in Austin.

[efhmc]

2. I do not know how this fits into what you want but there is a book on the

Germans in that area that fled rather than serve in the War Between the States. I gave a copy of it to a friend many yaears ago but do not remember the title.

[napi21]

3. Hi rasmell, I have a funny story for you.

I lived in San Antonio for six years, in Stone Oak. My boss lived in Boerne. He can to the US from Germany at 12 yrs old, and didn't speak any english. He told me he learned mainly from comic books and the help of his classmates. Anyway, he was shopping in a small store in Boerne, and a local lady was complaining to the owner about the mean, nasty and illerate foreigners who moved in around there, but she was speaking German. She of course didn't realize this other customer would understand what she was saying. She was shocked, and slunk away in shame when my boss responded to her in her native language.

I don't know anything about the history of the Hill Country, but there are still at least some German decendants there who have a lot of pride in their heritage.

San Antonio is a nice place to live. Hope you enjoy it.

[GR]

4. Made In Texas Has Quite A Bit About That....I'd Recommend It...

fyi

[gumby]

5. As an occasional Texan

I enjoyed the Texas history I learned in "Made In
Texas, George W. Bush and the Southern Takeover of American Politics" by Michael Lind. The check-out person recommended this book when he saw the others I was buying by Gore Vidal and David Brock. I always wondered if I was supposed to notice a connection?

I'm sure the "history" is limited, but I found this book an informative and interesting read.