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"The legends of our people rise like smoke. Sit beside me and learn, for I am Keeper of the Flame."
("Walks Alone" Tickanwatic shaman)
I love Texas; it’s the land of my birth. I love history, so, as you might imagine, I have a particular fondness for Texas history. Jeff Carroll’s Being Texan, revised and expanded from its original 2006 publication, has simply captivated me. By telling a lot of small stories he gives of a great history.
When I try to explain to anyone what I think that history is, I tell them that it is like Seurat’s famous painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Georges_Seurat_-_Un_dimanche_apr%C3%A8s-midi_%C3%A0_l%27%C3%8Ele_de_la_Grande_Jatte.jpg). History is a lot of individual people and events which create a beautify picture when you see them all put together well. That is what Carroll gives us with his book. He does not write a broad, overarching story. What he has written is, instead, the vignettes, the individual dots for us and he trusts his reader to be able to see the picture for themselves. That is what an artist does; he presents his work to his audience and trusts that they will understand what he has given them.
Broken into sections of identifiable periods of Texas history (Mexican Texas and the War of Texas Independence: 1821 – 1836; The Republic of Texas: 1836 – 1846; Early Statehood and the Civil War: 1846 – 1866; etc.) and presented in chronological order, Carroll gives us over a hundred little stories of no more than a few pages. As a fan of Texas history AND a proud “font of useless information” who loves the “footnotes” of history, I have a lot of little stories and bits of information in my head. I look for obscure and little known events. That said, most of the stories which Carroll gives us are brand new to me. Granted, he does tell one of my favorite Texas stories (that of Captain Burton and his “Horse Marines”) and his version of the story of ‘Moses’ Rose leaving the Alamo before the end is the best telling of it that I have ever read; granted he leaves out many of my personal favorites but, then, if he was simply telling me stories I already knew then his book might be nothing more than “bathroom reading”. Carroll, instead, gives us a unique and very personal look at Texas history and taught me many things of which I was previously ignorant; and for that I am thankful to him.
I would have loved to have had this book when I was in school and taking my 7th grade Texas History course but I am WAY too old for that. This book, however, would make a wonderful academic text for that subject today. In fact, Mr. Carroll was, and I believe still is, a college teacher in Texas History. The book includes a ‘Facilitator’s Guide’ and other helpful tools for it to be used in the classroom, even to the point of tying it to the ‘Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills Test’ (TEKS) which all school children here must pass. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have my own hopes that Mr. Carroll will write more companion books to go along with this one and include some of my favorite tales of Texas. Seriously, how can you ever get tired of being regaled with the stories of the Texas Navy capturing Cozumel and Colonel “Rip” Ford leading the Texas forces to victory in the last land battle of the War Between the States… hint, hint.
