The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 40, July 1936 - April, 1937 Page: 77

Book Reviews and Notices

ings in which Austin served as a member of the territorial legis-
lature of Missouri, the Old Stone Fort at Nacogdoches, the
Governor's Palace and the missions at San Antonio, Austin's house
at San Felipe (from the collection of Dr. William E. Howard of
Dallas), the National Palace and various churches and cathedrals
in Mexico, the Inquisition prison which lodged Austin as a pris-
oner in 1834, various buildings connected with Austin's mission
to the United States during the Texas revolution, the Peach Point
home and gateway, and finally the new main building of the
University of Texas which may typify the realization of Austin's,
vision of an educational institution near the foot of the mountains
on the Colorado River. The book is in every way worthy of Austin
and the artist and ought to contribute to the fame and appreciation
of both. EUGENE C. BARKER.
Charles Goodnight, Cowman and Plainsman. By J. Evetts Haley.
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1936. Pages xv, 485,,
map, and a hundred illustrations by H. D. Bugbee. Price,
$3.50.)
This is a brave story gallantly told. The gifted author of The
XIT Ranch of Texas has written another book that is bound to
rank as a classic in the literature of the range industry and western
life during the middle years of the nineteenth century. Picking
up its subject in 1845, when Charles Goodnight was riding bare-
back to Texas at the age of nine, the book follows the career of
the greatest cattle man in western history to his death in 1929E
at the age of ninety-three, planning work "years in advance,
which he felt sure there was still time to do."
Goodnight, at the age of twenty, established his first ranch on
the open range in the Brazos valley west of Weatherford. In
partnership with a step-brother, he was then managing a herd
of cattle on shares, and drew four calves for his share of the crop
at the end of the first year. During the turbulent years of the
Civil War, he served as scout and guide under "Jack" Cureton
and "Sul" Ross in the frontier rangers. In 1866 he began his
notable career as a driver and trader with the daring drive across
the waterless plain from the Concho to the Horsehead Crossing