The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 105, July 2001 - April, 2002 Page: 345
741 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Collection
a regular column for the Dallas Morning News, published last year by the
University of North Texas Press in a volume titled Viewpoints of Stanley
Marcus.
Plans are subject to change, of course, but First Lady Laura Bush, who
founded the festival when she was the First Lady of Texas, will be on hand
to open the festival. Both Goetzmann and Marcus will be present to visit
with friends and to sign their books, along with dozens of other authors,
including Linda Hudson, author of the recent TSHA publication, Mistress
of Manifest Destiny: A Biography ofJane McManus Storm Cazneau, 1807- 878,
so plan to attend the sixth annual Texas Book Festival on November 17
and 18 at the Capitol.
Robert Samuel Weddle was enrolled in the Spanish knightly order of Is-
abel la Cat61lica on August 27, 2001. I had the privilege of being in Bon-
ham for the ceremony, which may be unique in modern Texas history.
A knight is a rara avis in Texas. Although the history of Spanish Texas
inevitably includes noblemen, they were few and doomed. In modern
times, people with titles of nobility from European governments have
been about as common in Texas as penguins-a few here and there, pre-
served unnaturally. A clutch of Frenchmen, a couple of Italians, some en-
terprising Germans, the odd Englishman whose desire for adventure or
lucre brought him to the Western frontier. When he got here, he was gen-
erally a poor fit.
British nobles had their effect on ranching in nineteenth-century
Texas. This conjunction of the quintessentially Texan occupation with
British nobility indirectly helped to build the Texas Capitol. Otherwise, it
was often farcical. According to the New Handbook of Texas, the second
Baron Tweedmouth's youngest brother, Archibald John Marjoribanks,
ran the absurdly spelled Rocking Chair Ranche in the Panhandle in the
188os. His relationship with the locals was not warm. "The high-handed
extravagance and arrogance of the British investors caused considerable
resentment among the cowhands and other area residents. Throughout
his ten-year stay at the ranch, the 'Honourable Archie' never mingled or
rode with the cowboys." Residents of the area looked upon "Nobility's
Ranche" with scorn.
My search has turned up no connection of Spanish nobility to Texas
ranchers between the time of the few relict nobles that may have been
around in the Republic of Texas and the present-except for Bob Wed-
dle. Weddle's "day job," as he once called it, is raising Angus cattle in
Fannin County. His scholarly vocation has been to tell the story of Span-
ish Texas and the "Spanish Sea," the Gulf of Mexico in the colonial era.2001
345
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 105, July 2001 - April, 2002, periodical, 2002; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101222/m1/375/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.