Recollections of Early Texas

Memoirs of John Holland Jenkins

John Holmes Jenkins

• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN:
  9780292770379
• eBook ISBN:
  9780292788602
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

"[A] firsthand account by one who measured up to the demands of danger and hardships and lived to write about it . . . Invaluable . . . Well documented." — Library Journal
 
As a teenager in the 1950s, John Holmes Jenkins set to work on collecting and editing his great-great-grandfather's writings about his experiences on the Texas frontier. John Holland Jenkins joined General Sam Houston's army at age thirteen after losing his stepfather at the Alamo. In addition to fighting the Mexicans, he faced peril from Indian warriors as well as the everyday difficulties of pioneer life. His reports on the events of the time were included in newspapers with very small readerships—and, his descendant would discover, were sometimes used word-for-word in respected history textbooks without any credit given to the source. This volume includes these memoirs of the Texas Republic and early statehood, along with illustrations, notes, biographical sketches, a bibliography, and an index.
 
"Fascinating . . . A commendable job." — The New York Times
 
"[These reminiscences] light up for whoever will read the earliest days of early English-speaking Texas." —J. Frank Dobie, from the foreword

Index

Index

Achlin, Christopher: in Battle of Salado, 100; wounded by Indians, 195–198; biographical sketch, 239

Adkinson (friend of Hornsbys): killed by Indians, 143–144

Alamo Mission: Gonzales men die in, 37–38; John Cook killed in, 242; Cunningham attempts to reach, 243

Alcantra, Battle of: Jordan fights in, 109n.

Aldridge, Martha: marries William Jenkins, 255

Alexander, Amos: killed by Indians, 21–22; biographical sketch, 239–240

Alexander, Amos, Jr.: killed by Indians, 239–240

Alexander, Hannah: husband and son killed, 239–240

Alexander, Jerome B.: killed in Dawson Massacre, 131

Alexander, Lyman W.: father and brother killed, 239–240

Alexander, Sam: Santa Fe men stay in home of, 130; son killed, 131; Morgan stays in home of, 141

Alley (with supply boat): killed by Karankawas, 160

Alleyton, Texas: Cunningham lives in, 244

Alsbury, William W.: interpreter on Santa Fe Expedition, 126–127

Ampudia, Pedro: leads Mexican force, 108–110; taunts Texas soldiers, 133–134

Anahuac, Battle of: Hicks wounded in, 81

Anderson, John D.: finds Coleman girls, 57n.

Anderson, Joseph: in ranger service, 183–184

Andrews, Micah: serves in Mina Volunteers, 36n.

Andrews, Richard: Manlove buys land from, 258

Angelina County, Texas: Indian fights in, 16

Anton Chico, New Mexico: Santa Fe men stop in, 124

Archive War (1842): 107, 245

Arnold, Hayden: Harvey serves under, 252

Austin, Stephen F.: obtains grant for colony, 5n.

Austin, Texas: sends volunteers to fight Comanches, 61n.; in Archive War, 95, 107; McLeod starts from, 120–121; scene of Indian depredations, 162ff.; buffalo hunt near, 205–206; Harrell builds first house on site of, 252

Austin State Hospital for the Insane: Indian fight on site of, 163n.

Bacon, Sumner: preaches in Bastrop, 26

Bahalle, Carra: in Texas Revolution, 155

Baker (near Onion Creek): Indians visit home of, 76

Bandera Pass, Battle of: Neill participates in, 155n.; Dunn wounded in, 196n.; Achlin wounded in, 239

Barber, James: killed in Battle of Mier, 134

Barnett, Dr. George W.: joins Coleman at Parker’s Fort, 23n.

Barrett, Don Carlos: member of Mina Committee of Safety and Correspondence, 258

Barton, Baker: killed by Indians, 225–226

Barton, Benjamin: moves to Texas, 3n.

Barton, Elisha: moves to Texas, 3n.; after Second Runaway Scrape, 49

Barton, P...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Page
• Frontispiece
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Contents
• Illustrations
• I. Austin’s Little Colony
• II. Valuable Additions Arrive
• III. Mexican Invasion
• IV. Brushy Creek and Plum Creek
• V. Comanches, Caddoes, and Cherokees
• VI. More Mexican Trouble
• VII. The Mier Expedition
• VIII. The Texan Santa Fe Expedition
• IX. People of Note
• X. Recollections at Random
• XI. In All Fairness
• XII. Hunting and Social Life
• XIII. From the Sublime to the Ridiculous
• XIV. In Conclusion
• Biographical Notes
• Bibliography
• Notes
• Index