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Last update: 12 Apr 2009

Welcome

Welcome to the this web site, a repository for bits and pieces of Texas culture. Of course I will start the collection with items from my own family for good reasons; we're interesting, the material is readily accessible to me and it is a region that has been historically neglected. The initial material is from south Texas, however I hope to get contributions from all regions of Texas's rich past. Of particular interest are letters, photos, court documents, journals, certificates, wills, the stuff of ordinary people going about the business of wresting a living in the frontier. No myths; no legends just ordinary folks, for in the final analysis, it is the ordinary settler doing ordinary things under extraordinary circumstances that permanently forged the frontier. The ultimate goal of this project is to create a window through which we can see what it was like to be a Texan in the different eras. Once again, welcome to the site and I hope you enjoy it.

Hernán A. Contreras

Letters, court documents, wills, inventories, personal journals, photographs, drawings, receipts, certificates, etc. These documents will be organized by date and geographical location. Note: Many of the documents are in Spanish. As time permits I will provide translations.

Old and new photographs of family and friends.

Old and new photographs of historic Rio Grande City.

Tejano settlers in South Texas suffered unprecedented violence during the Border Wars (1910-1919) that went far beyond the violence of a frontier life. The Hispanic settler not only had to contend with bandits, rustlers, smugglers, gun runner but with Texas Rangers who indiscriminately killed thousands with impunity making this era truly a reign of terror.

Research papers, book review, essays and themes.

Fiction showing aspects of Texas lives.

Jokes and humorous stories that make fun of ourselves. Many of these jokes are bilingual and a play on words and hence, by their very nature, not translatable. Do not take any of these jokes seriously -- the intent is good natured.

Genealogy combined with the history of family, friends and others as captured in documents and photographs