The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 51, July 1947 - April, 1948 Page: 184

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

there arose a Texan way of life that still exists, even in the face of
all the mass promotion and standardization of machine civilization.
The ingredients of the Texas spirit are still there in varying
degrees. The Republic of Texas worked a curious alchemy with its
citizenry, educated and untutored alike. It took the sons and daugh-
ters of Tennessee, the Carolinas, Georgia, Mississippi, New York,
France, and Germany, and set its own ineffaceable stamp on their
souls. The same process is still working in Texas today.
One wonders if Dr. Hogan might not be able to elaborate fur-
ther upon his last statement in another volume, which might
show whether Texas set its stamp upon the people who came
within its borders during World War II.
In recreating the Texas scene from 1836 to 1845, the author
has done an excellent job in assembling and coordinating a
tremendous amount of detailed information from contemporary
sources. These include letters, diaries, governmental archives,
newspapers, pamphlets, books, manuscripts, private collections
of papers, and contemporary court records, not only in Texas
but throughout the United States. New and taller tales are told,
fresh historical incidents related, old camp meeting hymns re-
cited, and early poetry quoted. This well written and beauti-
fully worded record should become a historical gold mine for
teachers, novelists, and all those who enjoy a choice morsel of
Texiana. The Texas Republic may hold the answer to all those
who ask, "Why is a Texan?"
W. C. HOLDEN
Texas Technological College
Boll Weevil: Recollections of the Trinity and Brazos Valley Rail-
way. By J. L. Allhands. Houston (The Anson Jones Press),
1946. Pp. xxxii+279, appendices [48 pages]. Illustrations,
bibliography, index, end map. $3.50.
Honesty compels me to begin this notice with an apology.
Frankly, I am not qualified to give Mr. Allhands' book the re-
view that it deserves. I can only point out some of its varied
qualities. It is not, as the subtitle admits, a history of the T. 8c
B. V.-of its construction, operation, or management, though
first and last it gets around to these topics and to many more.
Perhaps it is rather a personalized account, backed by a good

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