This four-generation saga, written with Mickey Herskowitz, begins with Richard Grimes, who became a sea captain at the astonishing age of 21, and made the first of his fortunes carrying passengers from Mystic Seaport, Connecticut, to the West Indies. In 1821, he heard of the land grants being developed in the territory west of New Orleans and the port of Matagorda. It was the final year of Spanish rule, and the Captain began to sail and trade in the waters of what was now known as Mexican Texas, in the heart of the colony granted to Moses Austin. By 1836, he was sailing 2,400 miles to bring...