Tag: Julia Robb

  • The Ghosts In My Life

    by Julia Robb Reading one of my novels will take you on a ride through a supernatural theme park. That might seem odd because neither novel is about the supernatural. Scalp Mountain is an historical novel set on the Texas frontier in 1876. Saint of the Burning Heart is about relationships between Anglos and Hispanics…

  • The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez

    Gregorio Cortez and his brother Romaldo were working as ranch hands at the W.A. Thulmeyer ranch in Karnes County one day when they saw County Sheriff W.T. Morris and his deputies riding toward them. It was June 12, 1901, and life for Cortez would never be the same. Within five minutes Cortez, 25, became a…

  • The Voters “can go to hell and I will go to Texas.” David Crockett

    by Julia Robb   . . David Crockett Don’t call him Davy. David’s political enemies called him “Davy” to make him seem boyish. They never convinced anybody. Dying at the Alamo was just the final scene in David’s dramatic and impressive life. David Crockett was six-foot and handsome, an expert shot with his rifles (he…

  • Jack Hays and The Wild Texas Rangers

    by Julia Robb In 1840, Texas Ranger Captain Jack Hays and twenty of his men tracked down two hundred Comanches herding stolen horses. Hays said, “Yonder are the Indians, boys, and yonder are our horses. The Indians are pretty strong. But we can whip them. What do you say?” The Rangers charged, killed the Comanche…

  • When Congressmen Carried Guns

    by Julia Robb In 1832, Sam Houston stood in the U.S. of Representatives, on trial for attacking Ohio Representative William Stanbery. It was a headline trial. Sam Houston, a six-foot-two, good-looking Tennessean, was already famous. While Houston defended himself, a woman in the balcony threw him a bouquet of flowers and cried “I would rather…

  • Texas Feuds flourished on the lawless frontier: The Regulators and the Moderators and The Mason County War.

    On Nov. 13, 1843, Peter Whetstone walked from a store located on the square in Marshall, Texas and met his death. Whetstone donated the land Marshall was built on. Didn’t help. A “Regulator” leader who believed Whetstone was a “Moderator,” followed him outside and shot him in the back. Whetstone–one of my multiple-great uncles–entered the…

  • HOW TEXAS WENT DOWN IN FLAMES

    by Julia Robb . Sam Houston told us not to do it. And Houston was the sitting governor when he opposed Texas joining the Confederacy, as well as hero of San Jacinto, twice President of the Republic of Texas and a former U.S. (TX) senator. Joining the Confederacy would ruin the state, Houston warned, then…

  • When Are We Going to Forgive?

    by Julia Robb I’ve been writing about Texas history for the Heart of Texas Blog because it’s important for Texans to know how the past shaped our culture. If you stick with me in the coming weeks, I’ll tell you all I can about the good, the bad and the ugly. In the meantime, I’m…

  • Texas and the Comanche Nation

    by Julia Robb Matilda Lockhart’s nose may not have started the Comanche wars in Texas, but it’s fair to say the condition of Matilda’s nose escalated the Comanche war from skirmishes to a furnace of death and destruction. And the Comanche wars created Texas culture. If we are a tough-minded people, it’s because Texans fought…

  • My dear fellow Texans: A personal letter to everyone who reads this website

    by Julia Robb I’m writing this message to you in the form of a letter because it is very personal to me. My blog, “The Real Reason Texas Rebelled Against Mexico,” was printed yesterday in the Heart of Texas Blog. In the last paragraph, I wrote Hispanic Texans fought with Anglo Texans against dictator Santa…

  • The Real Reasons Texas rebelled against Mexico

    by Julia Robb Critics blast Texas for rebelling against Mexico in 1835. Oh, the poor Mexicans! The Texans stole their land! They don’t know what they’re talking about. The Mexican government invited Anglo-Americans to settle in Mexico to help develop Mexico economically. Mexican officials also wanted settlers as a living shield between the northern Mexican…

  • William Barrett Travis and his Critics

    by Julia Robb   Texas has a problem. The wimps of this world hate courage. And because so many intellectuals are wimps, they pour contempt on Texas, on Texas heroes and our history. Small people tear down big ones, especially when the bigger souls are dead and can’t fight back. Faced with the Mexican army,…