Midwest Book Review
>From 1899 to 1906, Colonel George Wythe Baylor wrote 52 articles for the El Paso Daily Herald. The articles, ably edited and annotated by Historian Jerry Thompson, range from accounts of the Civil War in El Paso and the Mesilla Valley, to fights with Comanches in North Texas and Victorio's Apaches in the mountains of Chihuahua. Baylor also recalls the ill-fated 1850-1851 Parker H. French Expedition and life in the California gold fields. Also included are biographical sketches of "Don Santiago" Magoffin and Baylor's controversial older brother, Col. John Robert Baylor. Some of Baylor's most valuable writings are his Civil War recollections. These include accounts of the surrender of Federal forces at St. Agustin Springs, New Mexico in 1861, the massacre of Lt. Reuben E. Mays and fourteen Confederates deep in the arid expanses of the Big Bend, and his service as senior aide to Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, the Red River Campaign and an amazingly objective account of how he came to kill Gen. John A. Wharton in the Fannin Hotel in Houston in April 1865. Into The Far, Wild Country also includes extensive annotations and a lengthy biographical introductions as it provides a rare glimpse into the Civil War west of the Mississippi, as well as the violent Texas frontier of the 19th Century. If you can only find the time to read one book on American history this year, Into The Far, Wild Country is that book!
Book Description
From 1899 to 1906, George Wythe Baylor wrote fifty-two articles for the El Paso Daily Herald. These articles, edited and annotated by historian Jerry D. Thompson, provide a rare glimpse into the Civil War west of the Mississippi as well as the violent Texas frontier of the 19th century.
