A RESPONSE TO 9/11
With the approach of the 9/11 anniversary, I am drawn to that terrible time and the horror that all of us felt as we watched the world change. At first, as I pored over every published word, I kept thinking of the previous February when we took four grandchildren to New York and enjoyed a […]
A LONG WAY HOME
As promised, I have stepped away momentarily from my usual historical fiction and offer a story that has been nagging at me since 9/11. A LONG WAY HOME is ready for reading. Here is the blurb: Meredith Haggerty survives years of her husband’s abuse by harboring a plan to escape when she can make […]
The Oblate Fathers of the Rio Grande
The Oblate Fathers arrived in Texas in 1849 to serve as missionaries, and soon became known to Mexican ranchers in the Rio Grande Valley as the “Cavalry of Christ.” The padres, young men from the big cities in France, wore an Oblate cross over their plain black, ankle-length, long-sleeved soutanes (cassocks). In addition to mastering […]
Sam Robertson, Visionary
The railroad and visionaries like Sam Robertson deserve much of the credit for development of the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Before arrival of the railroad, the Valley was a no man’s land. Towns such as Brownsville and Matamoros, Mexico, relied on the Rio Grande and the Gulf of Mexico for access to the outside […]
SPANISH SETTLEMENT IN TEXAS
Recently, I wrote about New Spain official’s sudden interest in Texas after they received word in 1685 that the Frenchman René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle landed a colony on Texas soil. For the next four years the Spanish Colonial government sent eleven–five by sea and six by land–expeditions in search of the intruders. […]
OBLATE FATHERS OF THE RIO GRANDE
Known as the horseback “Cavalry of Christ” to Mexican ranchers along Texas’ lower Rio Grande Valley, the Oblate Fathers arrived in 1849 to serve as Texas missionaries. The padres, young men from large cities in France, wore plain black soutanes resembling ankle-length, long-sleeved dresses with an Oblate cross hung around their necks. Experiencing a steep […]