Hoofs of wild beasts treaded heavily on the prairies of what would become Jackson, Cass, and Bates Counties in Missouri. The trails left behind led the animals to death by area Indians. In turn, death came to the Indian on the same trail, by the eastern settlers, and these dusty trails led the carnal man to murder and destruction. In no other place is it more evident, than in these western Missouri counties, of neighbor killing neighbor, during the Civil War. As boundless prairies became lawless,. men were killed in cold blood on their own farms, and in their own towns the churches filled with hatred toward one another. Countless women were left widowed, children left fatherless and homeless during the Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas Border. Austin, Missouri: Where I Call Home details the lives of families, past and present, residing in the small villages of southern Cass County, Missouri. Included are two diaries of Union soldiers take us from Missouri - Kansas border conflicts to the battlefield in Gettysburg. The rich history of the people of Cass County, was silenced when they were put to rest in the silent city known as Austin Cemetery. Now, their legacy speaks loudly for the first time, documented in the history of where they called home. Step back to a boy's simple life in Missouri and to a little girl's terrorizing childhood days in England during WW II. Relive the history of the Missouri farm, where the author lived for 60 years, this was the scene where the creeks and river were her playground which once flowed with the blood of man. Much has been written of the devastation of the Civil War on our home land, but the process that mended the heart has been overlooked, until now. God chose the charred and blood stained land in and around the town of Austin, Cass County, Missouri to bring healing through a simple bowl of beans.

Established in Waco in 1968, the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum honors the iconic Texas Rangers, a service which has existed, in one form or another, since 1823. They have become legendary symbols of Texas and the American West. Thirty-one Rangers, with lives spanning more than two centuries, have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame. In The Ranger Ideal Volume 1: Texas Rangers in the Hall of Fame, 1823-1861, Darren L. Ivey presents capsule biographies of the seven inductees who served Texas before the Civil War. He begins with Stephen F. Austin, “the Father of Texas,” who laid the foundations of the Ranger service, and then covers John C. Hays, Ben McCulloch, Samuel H. Walker, William A. A. “Bigfoot” Wallace, John S. Ford, and Lawrence Sul Ross. Using primary records and reliable secondary sources, and rejecting apocryphal tales, The Ranger Ideal presents the true stories of these intrepid men who fought to tame a land with gallantry, grit, and guns. This Volume 1 is the first of a planned three-volume series covering all of the Texas Rangers inducted in the Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco, Texas.

The story of Moses Austin, founder of the American lead industry and the person who opened the way for Anglo-American settlement in Spanish Texas.

The story of the blending of diverse cultures in a land rich in resources and beauty is an extraordinary one. In this account, the pioneer hunters, trappers, and traders who roamed the Ozark hills and the boatmen who traded on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers take their place beside the small coterie of St. Louisans whose wealth and influence enabled them to dominate the region politically and economically. Especially appealing for many readers will be the attention Foley gives to common Missourians, to the status of women and blacks, and to Indian-white relations.