An illustrated history of Abilene, Texas paired with histories of the local companies

In the 1950s, history teacher Julia Kathryn Garrett of Fort Worth began collecting stories from old-timers and pioneers whose memory or knowledge reached back to the early days of the city. For fifteen summer vacations she worked from morning to night on her book, creating an anecdotal chronicle of the early years of the city that began as a fort on the Trinity River in 1849. She closed her history with events a quarter of a century later, when Fort Worth was poised on the edge of growth, ready to become a modern city with the 1876 arrival of the railroad. First published in 1972 and reprinted by TCU Press in 1996.

The Franco-Texan Land Company was formed, ostensibly, by the French bondholders of the Memphis, El Paso, and Pacific Railroad in an attempt to salvage their investments through sale of lands in the railroad's Texas land grant. Most of the land company's wealth, however, went into the pockets of unscrupulous local managers and directors, and another railroad eventually built a road across Texas along the Memphis, El Paso, and Pacific right of way. Despite their unsavory histories, the land company and its railroad parent played an important part in the development of Northwest Texas. Virginia Taylor's account of their activities furthers the study of the role of land companies in the settlement of the United States and adds interesting sidelights on one of the immigrant groups that left the imprint of Europe on frontier Texas.

Authoritative guide to everything in print about lawmen and the lawless—from Billy the Kid to the painted ladies of frontier cow towns. Nearly 2,500 entries, taken from newspapers, court records, and more.

Spellman now presents the first full-length biography of this enigmatic man.".