Account of the Indian Wars on the Texas frontier during the 1870's.

First Crossing recounts an adventure of epic proportions -- in equal parts romantic, historically significant and compelling. It is the story of Canada's most famous explorer, Alexander Mackenzie, who in 1793 became the first person to cross the continent of North America north of Mexico. With a mix of wonderfully readable text, historical and contemporary photographs, and archival maps and illustrations, here is fresh insight into what drove Mackenzie to undertake his dramatic and dangerous quest for the Pacific Ocean, and how his daring secured Canada's legacy.

"This lucid, thoughtful synthesis makes excellent sense of the dense web that international organizations have spun around the globe over the last two centuries. Above all, by highlighting their role in relation to states and by assessing their performance, this volume provides a welcome introduction to a prime feature of our globalized world."---Michael H. Hunt, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "The author has written a balanced, fair introduction to the modern history of international organizations. While the survey of the League of Nations is well done, the book really comes alive with its analysis of the United Nations. The final chapter, surveying recent UN operations, is excellent. A World Beyond Borders is an effective resource for undergraduate students of international relations."---George Egerton, University of British Columbia There were only a few international organizations at the start of the twentieth century. By the end of the century, there were thousands at the heart of the international system involved in all aspects of international relations, including peacekeeping, disarmament, peace resolution, human rights, diplomacy, and environmentalism. This short book examines how international organizations became the major legal, moral, and cultural forces that they are today. For easy reference, the appendices consist of the Covenant of the League of Nations, The Charter of the United Nations, and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The book also includes a list of League of Nations members and United Nations members, diagrams of the structure of the General Assembly and the organs of the UN, and a list of UN peacekeeping missions.

Written in accessible prose that includes a synthesis of recent scholarship, this revised edition delves into the social impact of being an African-American soldier in the 19th century.

A must read for anyone with an interest in the far Southwest or Native American history.

During the turbulent years of the Civil War and Reconstruction, a squall of violence and lawlessness swept through the Nueces Strip and the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas. Cattle rustlers, regular troops, and Texas Rangers, as well as Civil War deserters and other characters of questionable reputation, clashed with Mexicans, Germans, and Indians over unionism, race, livestock, land, and national sovereignty, among other issues. In A Crooked River, Michael L. Collins presents a rousing narrative of these events that reflects perspectives of people on both sides of the Rio Grande. Retracing a path first opened by historian Walter Prescott Webb, A Crooked River reveals parts of the tale that Webb never told. Collins brings a cross-cultural perspective to the role of the Texas Rangers in the continuing strife along the border during the late nineteenth century. He draws on many rare and obscure sources to chronicle the incidents of the period, bringing unprecedented depth and detail to such episodes as the “skinning wars,” the raids on El Remolino and Las Cuevas, and the attack on Nuecestown. Along the way, he dispels many entrenched legends of Texas history—in particular, the long-held belief that almost all of the era’s cattle thieves were Mexican. A balanced and thorough reevaluation, A Crooked River adds a new dimension to the history of the racial and cultural conflict that defined the border region and that still echoes today.