Land!

by Davis, Graham

• ISBN13: 9781585441891
• ISBN10: 1585441899
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-08-01
• Publisher: Texas A & M Univ Pr

Summary

The only successful European empresarios in mid-nineteenth-century Mexican Texas - men authorized to bring immigrants to settle the vast spaces of Mexico's northern territories - were Irish. On their land grants, Irish settlers founded Refugio and San Patricio and went on to take active roles in the economic and political development of Texas. It required a hardy spirit and strong ambition to weather the perils that accompanied these opportunities - the long journey, shipwrecks, hostile Indians, injury and disease - and Irish pioneers proved fit for the task. They were not seeking relief from famine or English oppression in their own country. These were vigorous, strong-willed people who possessed the monetary means to remove themselves from their insular surroundings. What they were seeking, and what they obtained, was land.

Author Biography

Graham Davis teaches history and Irish studies as Bath Spa University College in England.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. viii
List of Tables	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. x
Introduction	p. 3
The Province of Texas in Newly Independent Mexico	p. 9
The Context of Emigration: Prefamine Ireland	p. 39
Irish Recruitment and the Settlements of San Patricio and Refugio	p. 72
The Irish and the Texas Revolution, 1835-36	p. 106
The Life of Pioneer Settlers in Texas	p. 154
Ranching Culture and the Texas Cattle King: Thomas O'Connor of Refugio County	p. 195
Conclusion	p. 237
Passenger Lists	p. 241
Land Grantees in San Patricio and Refugio	p. 247
Signers of the Goliad Declaration of Independence	p. 255
Irish Colonists in the Texan Armies	p. 256
Notes	p. 259
Bibliography	p. 283
Index	p. 293
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