Ranald S. Mackenzie on the Texas Frontier - Softcover

Wallace, Ernest

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0890964874 ISBN 13: 9780890964873

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press, 1993

Synopsis

Once called the "Fighting Colonel" of the Texas frontier, Ranald S. Mackenzie in the brief years of his career through the 1870s and early 1880s secured that land for the surging wave of settlers who turned the wilderness into a place of cattle ranches, productive farms, and prosperous towns. In this classic account of the dashing cavalryman's campaigns, first published in limited numbers in 1965, eminent historian Ernest Wallace brought to life an era of the frontier that continues to intrigue readers.

Mackenzie, after achieving an amazing record during the Civil War, rode onto the unexplored Southern Plains as commander of the 4th Cavalry, assigned to drive the Comanche and Kiowa tribes from their favorite hunting and camping grounds. These campaigns, along with his strikes across the Rio Grande to stop Apaches and Mexican Kickapoos from raiding across the border, won for him the respect and admiration of his superiors and subordinates alike and the plaudits of the Texans of his day.

In eloquent prose, Wallace presented his careful research on Mackenzie's military career in a way that illuminated the period and its ethos. David J. Murrah, in his introduction to the 1993 edition, places this important volume within the corpus of Wallace's work on Texas history. He rightly claims that "the action-filled narrative represents Ernest Wallace at his best."

About this title

About the Author

 DAVID J. MURRAH is well known as a historian of West Texas. A native of Gruver, located in the Texas Panhandle, Murrah has authored or edited six other books, including C.C. Slaughter: Rancher, Banker, Baptist and Lubbock and the South Plains: An Illustrated History. He currently serves as senior historian for Southwest Museum Services in Houston and makes his home on the Texas coast in Rockport.

Reviews

Mackenzie, a Union soldier, distinguished himself in the Civil War before moving west as commander of the Fourth Cavalry. In Texas, he led the move to drive the Comanches and Kiowas off the plains to make room for the coming settlers. This edition of the book, originally published in limited numbers by the West Texas Museum Association in 1965, contains a new introduction on author Wallace. Though the genocide of American Indians is viewed differently today, this volume has a place in all American history collections.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0890964874
• ISBN 13: 9780890964873
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256