The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970 Page: 134

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

he was a man of integrity, intelligence, and patriotism, courageous,
concerned with the welfare of his troops, and an able organizer and
administrator. The tragedy of Bragg, according to the author, was
that he might well have rendered greater services for the Confed-
erate war effort and won the gratitude of the southern people, if
Jefferson Davis had used him where he was best fitted by nature and
experience to serve. It is McWhiney's belief that General Bragg "had
characteristics which the Confederacy needed desperately but used
inadequately." According to many of Bragg's contemporaries, how-
ever, and to most historians, including McWhiney, he was lacking
in talent for field command.
The book is a valuable addition to the history of the Civil War
era. The style is interesting, the fourteen maps are helpful, and
the bibliography and documentation are all that could be desired.
Baylor University JEFFERSON DAVIS BRAGG
Land Commissioner Charles Rogan and the Mineral Classification
of Texas Public School Lands. By Octavia F. Rogan. (Austin:
San Felipe Press, 1968. Pp. xii+i26. Illustrations, appendix,
bibliography, index. $6.95.)
This well-documented book related the three major contributions
to Texas and its Permanent Public School Fund made by Commis-
sioner Charles Rogan who, appointed commissioner on May 15, 1899,
by Governor Joseph D. Sayres, served until January io, 1903. Charles
Rogan graduated from the first class of Texas A8M College in 1879,
studied law at Harvard, and was county judge of Brown County from
December, 1892, to January, 1897.
Under Spain, Mexico, and until 1866 under Texas, all minerals
were reserved to the sovereign. An argument over a salt mine caused
a provision to be inserted into the Constitution of 1866, and retained
in the 1876 Constitution, releasing all mineral rights to the land-
owner. An 1883 School Land Sales Act reserved minerals on school
lands sold, but an act of 1895 released them on past sales but reserved
minerals on future sales. However, on June 26, 19O1, the Texas Su-
preme Court, in Schendell v. Rogan, held that only if the lands were
marked "mineral" at the time of sale did the state retain mineral
rights.
At this point Commissioner Rogan took quick action. He im-
mediately began to write on Land Office records under "Classification"

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