The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 92, July 1988 - April, 1989 Page: 48
682 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
In spite of a growing family and efforts to establish myself in the
legal profession, I nevertheless began to accumulate and read books
focused upon this migration, particularly those relating to Texas his-
tory. These volumes required more shelf space in our living room,
crowding out the Book-of-the-Month Club selections.
As a result of this reading I became totally converted to the opinion
espoused so forcefully by Dr. Webb, that history is high adventure and
that an understanding of our past, present, and future flows, for the
most part, from a study and understanding of history.
Dr. Webb was a great teacher and writer, but basically he was an idea
man. Out of his research and experiences he developed many hypothe-
ses and subhypotheses upon which most of his writings and speeches
were based. The meaning of the Great Plains, the effect of the desert
upon the West, the function of history, and the importance of water are
a few of his preoccupations that quickly come to mind. In his classes,
his writings, and many of his speeches, Dr. Webb appeared to enjoy
telling the story of how the hypothesis underlying his book The Great
Plains hit him like a streak of lightning one particular day at one par-
ticular moment. In the classroom he challenged and urged students to
develop out of their reading and experiences their own ideas and hy-
potheses to explain and understand the events of history-past, pres-
ent, and future.
Particularly from his speeches, a collection of which I was able to ac-
quire early on, the "hypothesis search" idea was engraved in my mind.
From time to time I find myself struggling to put together and massage
given facts and events out of Texas's past into hypotheses or theories
that might give me a better insight into the influence of this mass of
facts and events upon Texas's present, and a basis to speculate as to its
future. Many of these ideas did not pass the test of further examination
and thought. But there is one hypothesis, if the idea can be so digni-
fied, and a subhypothesis that further thought and study have only
strengthened. The hypothesis is that the territory we now know as the
state of Texas, together with its people, has been the single greatest
contributor to the establishment of the United States as a world power.
The subhypothesis is that the Mexican War of 1846-1848, which was
triggered by the annexation of Texas, has had the greatest influence
upon the underlying and long-term strength of this nation of all the
wars in which our country has been engaged, except for the American
Revolution of 1776. I realize that some may dismiss my hypothesis as
being a layman's Texas-size exaggeration.
We do not have the time, nor is this the occasion or forum, to defend
my hypothesis. I would point out in passing, however, that the Louisi-
ana Purchase and the early nineteenth-century explorations of the un-
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 92, July 1988 - April, 1989, periodical, 1989; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101212/m1/75/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.