The Civil War on the Rio Grande, 1846-1876 (Elma Dill Russell Spencer Series in the West and Southwest)

2020, Texas Historical Commission's Governor's Award for Historic Preservation was awarded to the Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools (CHAPS) at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. This book grew out of the CHAPS program. 

Runner-up, 2019 Texas Old Missions and Forts Restoration Book Award, sponsored by the Texas Old Missions and Forts Restoration Association (TOMFRA)

Long known as a place of cross-border intrigue, the Rio Grande’s unique role in the history of the American Civil War has been largely forgotten or overlooked. Few know of the dramatic events that took place here or the complex history of ethnic tensions and international intrigue and the clash of colorful characters that marked the unfolding and aftermath of the Civil War in the Lone Star State.

To understand the American Civil War in Texas also requires an understanding of the history of Mexico. The Civil War on the Rio Grande focuses on the region’s forced annexation from Mexico in 1848 through the Civil War and Reconstruction. In a very real sense, the Lower Rio Grande Valley was a microcosm not only of the United States but also of increasing globalization as revealed by the intersections of races, cultures, economic forces, historical dynamics, and individual destinies.

As a companion to Blue and Gray on the Border: The Rio Grande Valley Civil War Trail, this volume provides the scholarly backbone to a larger public history project exploring three decades of ethnic conflict, shifting international alliances, and competing economic proxies at the border. The Civil War on the Rio Grande, 1846–1876 makes a groundbreaking contribution not only to the history of a Texas region in transition but also to the larger history of a nation at war with itself.

ROSEANN BACHA-GARZA serves as program manager for the Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools (CHAPS) Program at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She (with Miller and Skowronek) is the coauthor of Blue and Gray on the Border: The Rio Grande Valley Civil War Trail and coeditor of The Native American Peoples of South Texas. She resides in McAllen, Texas. CHRISTOPHER L. MILLER is professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and associate director of the CHAPS Program. He is the author of Prophetic Worlds: Indians and Whites on the Columbia Plateau. He resides in Edinburg, Texas. RUSSELL K. SKOWRONEK, professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, is the founding director of the CHAPS Program. He is the author of X Marks the Spot: The Archaeology of Piracy and HMS Fowey Lost . . . and Found! He resides in McAllen, Texas.