The Evolution of a State or Recollections of Old Texas Days (Barker Texas History Center Series) [Paperback]

Noah Smithwick (Author)

Book Description

Series: Barker Texas History Center Series | Publication Date: 1983

"I was but a boy in my nineteenth year, and in for adventure when I started out from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, with all my worldly possessions, consisting of a few dollars in money, a change of clothes, and a gun, of course, to seek my fortune in this lazy man's paradise." Noah Smithwick was an old man, blind and near his ninetieth year, when his daughter recorded these words. He had stayed on in "paradise"--Texas--from 1827 to 1861, when his opposition to secession took him to California. The Evolution of a State is his story of these "old Texas days." A blacksmith and a tobacco smuggler, Noah Smithwick made weapons for the Battle of Concepción, and he fought in that battle. With Hensley's company, he chased the Mexican army south of the Rio Grande after the Battle of San Jacinto. Twice he served with the Texas Rangers. In quieter times, he was a postmaster and justice of the peace in little Webber's Prairie. Eyewitness to so much Texas history, Smithwick recounts his life and adventures in a simple, straightforward style, with a wry sense of humor. His keen memory for detail--what the people wore, what they ate, how they worked and played-- vividly evokes the sights, sounds, and smells of the frontier. First published in part by the Dallas Morning News, Smithwick's recollections gained such popularity that they were published in book form, as The Evolution of a State, in 1900. This new edition of a Texas classic makes widely available for the first time in many years this "best of all books dealing with life in early Texas."

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press; 1 edition (1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292720459
• ISBN-13: 978-0292720459
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #972,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eyewitness Account of Early Texas, May 19, 2002

By 

Danny Grizzle (Longview, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Evolution of a State or Recollections of Old Texas Days (Barker Texas History Center Series) (Paperback)

Noah Smithwick's recollections bring to life the early era of Anglo-Texas history. This book is filled with colorful characters and anecdotes, almost a who's who of people behind the place names of modern Texas. No other account matches this densely-packed eyewitness narrative as a color commentary of days before - and after - the Alamo. Against the backdrop of history, this book details many personalities and incidents that are unrecorded elsewhere.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The basic start for early anglo Texas research, March 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Evolution of a State or Recollections of Old Texas Days (Barker Texas History Center Series) (Paperback)

Old Noah provides a somewhat biased insight into the early days of anglo Texas and the Texas Revolution. Unfortunately, old Noah's memory was somewhat moldy when he set his recollections down, conflicting with other contemporary reports of various issues. Nevertheless, this book is probably the first place to commence research in this field and is required reading for anyone who wishes to understand the attitudes and impressions of the period.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good read, but use with caution, April 1, 2004

By 

Peter Stines (Anahuac, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Evolution of a State or Recollections of Old Texas Days (Barker Texas History Center Series) (Hardcover)

Dictated to one of his daughters when he was well past eighty, Noah Smithwick witnessed the panorama of Texas History. From the early days of Austin's Colony to the the aftermath of the Civil War, the text is lively with a dry sense of humor. But the reader is urged to use this book with caution. Some facts don't match up with other documents that were written at the time, instead of years later. (Noah had been banished from Texas in a round-about way. He had made a rifle and loaned it to another settler, who promptly used it to commit a murder.) Smithwick seemed to posess a fair education, which on the Texas frontier was something of an accomplishment. Blacksmith, carpenter, tobacco smuggler, gunsmith, racontour par excellance and even somewhat of a romantic, Smithwick's book is well worth reading.