No homeseekers were ever plagued with more bad luck than those who followed the Englishman John Charles Beales to southern Texas late in 1834. On the banks of Las Moras Creek, not far from the Rio Grande, they established the colony of Dolores. Among them were the British-born Sarah Ann Horn and her husband and two small sons. For the pretty Sarah Ann, who shared her neighbors' fear of Comanche raids, the year or so in Dolores was a preview of a special hell to come. The threat of an invasion by Santa Anna, an uncongenial climate, a lack of trees for lumber, an unnavigable river, crop...

Cowboy spurs are a pure form of American folk art. Like the cowboy himself, the way spurs developed was molded by their use and the environment of the range, along with a generous dose of individualism and pride. Cowboy Spurs and Their Makers tells the fascinating story of this western art and the artisans and provides a valuable reference for identifying spurs used by riders of Texas and the Southwest.

A visit with contemporary spur maker Jerry Lindley, with pictures of him at work, traces the process and mechanics of hand forging spurs and decorating them by the overlay method....

Ellis P. Bean was a callow youth of seventeen about to embark on a grand odyssey. Philip Nolan, a dashing soldier of fortune invited the young man to join him on an expedition to capture wild mustangs in Texas. Nolan promised Ellis a few months of thrilling excitement, to be capped off by a small fortune in gold coins. The expedition didn t realize until it was too late that they were being stalked by Spanish squadrons of veteran cavalry, for the Spanish rulers of Texas feared Nolan was leading an invading force. After a brief battle, Nolan was killed and the surviving members of the hunting...