They Slept Upon Their Rifles


Book Description

The story of the Captain Robert H. Kuykendall family in America and the entry of the family with the Anglo Settlement into Mexican/Texas in Stephen F. Austin's Colony in 1821. Includes Allied families - Early, Hardin, Moore, Shannon and Swift Includes the Kuykendalls from Texas in the Civil War Includes the Texas Kuykendall Death Records from 1903-2000 The Kuykendall family roots go deeper in Texas than most oak trees. This book is a family history, but it's also the history of Texas. -MIKE COX Austin, Texas In They Slept Upon Their Rifles, sixth-generation Texan, Marshall Kuykendall, introduces the newcomer to what University of Texas historian Walter Prescott Webb called the "high adventure" of researching the past. To one who knows and loves Texas history, he introduces us to the Kuykendall clan, rooted deeply in Texas (the Old 300) and American history. It is a great and compelling story. -RON TYLER Former Director, Texas State Historical Association Few American families can tell a story that covers ten generations as they moved from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The Hardemans and the Polks come readily to mind, but none have had a chronicler who tells their story with the verve, candor, and humor that characterizes this account. -AL LOWMAN Past president of the Texas State Historical Association"




The Texas Rangers


Book Description

Texas writer/historian Mike Cox explores the inception and rise of the famed Texas Rangers. Starting in 1821 with just a handful of men, the Rangers' first purpose was to keep settlers safe from the feared and gruesome Karankawa Indians, a cannibalistic tribe that wandered the Texas territory. As the influx of settlers grew, the attacks increased and it became clear that a much larger, better trained force was necessary. From their tumultuous beginning to their decades of fighting outlaws, Comanche, Mexican soldados and banditos, as well as Union soldiers, the Texas Rangers became one of the fiercest law enforcement groups in America. In a land as spread-out and sparsely populated as the west itself, the Rangers had unique law-enforcement responsibilities and challenges. The story of the Texas Rangers is as controversial as it is heroic. Often accused of vigilante-style racism and murder, they enforced the law with a heavy hand. But above all they were perhaps the defining force for the stabilization and the creation of Texas. From Stephen Austin in the early days through the Civil War, the first eighty years of the Texas Rangers is nothing less then phenomenal, and the efforts put forth in those days set the foundation for the Texas Rangers that keep Texas safe today. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.




Reminiscences of the Civil War


Book Description

"For many years I have been urged to place on record my reminiscences of the war between the States. In undertaking the task now, it is not my purpose to attempt a comprehensive description of that great struggle, nor an elaborate analysis of the momentous interests and issues involved. The time may not have arrived for a full and fair history of that most interesting period in the Republic's life. The man capable of writing it with entire justice to both sides is perhaps yet unborn. He may appear, however, at a future day, fully equipped for the great work. If endowed with the requisite breadth and clearness of view, with inflexible mental integrity and absolute freedom from all bias, he will produce the most instructive and thrilling record in the world's deathless annals, and cannot fail to make a contribution of measureless value to the American people and to the cause of free government throughout the world ... I have also recorded in this volume a large number of those characteristic and thrilling incidents which illustrate a unique and hitherto unwritten phase of the war, the story of which should not be lost, because it is luminous with the noblest lessons. Many of these incidents came under my own observation"--Introduction.







Legends of the West


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Founders


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Originally published: New York: Emily Bestler Books/Atria, 2012.




Gunfight


Book Description

A former firearms executive pulls back the curtain on America's multibillion-dollar gun industry, exposing how it fostered extremism and racism, radicalizing the nation and bringing cultural division to a boiling point. As an avid hunter, outdoorsman, and conservationist–all things that the firearms industry was built on–Ryan Busse chased a childhood dream and built a successful career selling millions of firearms for one of America’s most popular gun companies. But blinded by the promise of massive profits, the gun industry abandoned its self-imposed decency in favor of hardline conservatism and McCarthyesque internal policing, sowing irreparable division in our politics and society. That drove Busse to do something few other gun executives have done: he's ending his 30-year career in the industry to show us how and why we got here. Gunfight is an insider’s call-out of a wild, secretive, and critically important industry. It shows us how America's gun industry shifted from prioritizing safety and ethics to one that is addicted to fear, conspiracy, intolerance, and secrecy. It recounts Busse's personal transformation and shows how authoritarianism spreads in the guise of freedom, how voicing one's conscience becomes an act of treason in a culture that demands sameness and loyalty. Gunfight offers a valuable perspective as the nation struggles to choose between armed violence or healing.







The Leisure Hour


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