The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 67, July 1963 - April, 1964 Page: 618

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

terpretation, or correcting old errors. It is a well written, exciting,
introduction to the men who made early 'Texas history.
CHARLES A. BACARISSE
University of Houston
Watterson Folk of Bastrop County, Texas. By Deed L. Vest. Waco
(Texian Press), 1963. Pp. x+287. Illustrations, bibliography,
appendices, index. $7.50.
Deed L. Vest, the author of this book, is an associate professor
at St. Mary's University at San Antonio. He was trained at
Schreiner Institute, Southwest Texas State College, and St. Mary's
and has written two other books, Business Communications and
A Century of Light: The History of Braham Lodge No. 226, A.F.
d A.M. of La Vernia, Wilson County, Texas.
The name Bastrop is one which rings long and true in the
annals of the Texas past. Just as Baron de Bastrop met Moses
Austin at a critical point in history, so has Bastrop County, named
in his honor, been ever-present to assist the cause of the Lone
Star. Known as Mina when Texas belonged to Mexico, the name
was changed to Bastrop when it became one of the original
counties of the Republic of Texas. Historic though it is, its past
has remained too neglected by the writer of history. Vest appears
to have alleviated that situation somewhat. His work is limited
only by the bounds he set for himself-the area encompassed by
Cedar, Walnut, Piney, and Sandy creeks.
His book, he wrote, "is the story of a dozen or so families and
many individuals who journeyed to the frontier, lived near one
another, attended the same schools, and worshipped in the same
churches." The families Vest includes-Watterson, Eastland, Wolf-
enberger, Corbell, Dawson, Osborne, Breeding, Glasscock, and
others-all have a familiar feel in the "Lost Pine" country, as the
family names are still prominent.
In his opening chapter Vest lays the groundwork explaining
the terms of colonization for those who chose to join Stephen F.
Austin and Samuel May Williams in their "Little Colony." Vest
gives a solid, readable account of "whence they came" as well as
their mode of transportation. But the central theme of his book
is what they did after their arrival in Watterson Community. One
who reads Vest's accounts of these families is singularly struck by

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