Reddit reviews The Evolution of a State, or, Recollections of Old Texas Days (Texas Classics)

Funny. My reading of The Evolution of a State Recollections of Old Texas Days which is a firsthand recollection of early Texas life saw the Mormons as a pro separatist vote in Texas.

It said they had no strong feelings toward the Confederacy's cause, but that they wanted it to succeed so that there was precedent for an independence movement that might allow them their own territory out west. They also apparently voted 'Yes' to Texas secession then moved west soon after the vote. (The author says he voted 'No' and similarly migrated West.)

They actually had windows on their houses, and books.

They also did not own slaves and were hard-working people. Those two things are related, by the way.

Olmsted's Texas Journey is an fascinating book. He took meticulous notes at the end of each day about his interactions with people and the places he's visit.

This is first hand history. Real history. Everyday people kind of history. Want to be a fly on the wall and listen, word for word, as two slaves chew the fat on a river boat heading down the Mississippi towards New Orleans 180 years ago? Read this book.

Then read "Evolution of a State by Noah Smithwick", which is even better.

http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Recollections-Barker-History-Center/dp/0292720459

More first hand accounts of Texas history. The dude was a Texas Ranger in and around Austin in the 1830's, spent a month living in a Comanche camp. He stood in the doorway of a church along a muddy street in San Felipe de Austin in the 1820's as a teenager read Shakespeare by moonlight to a packed house. He helped Texans escape Santa Anna's wrath as a Ranger during the runaway scrape.

Most enjoyable book on Texas history I ever encountered was Smithwick, The Evolution of a State, or, Recollections of Old Texas Days. It gives you a real human insight into the events of 1836 and thereabouts, and is frequently laugh-out-loud funny.