Texas for Newcomers: Snapshots of Heroes

By John Wilhite and Magda Wilhite

Texas for Newcomers: Snapshots of Heroes, written by a Texan, proud of his heritage, portrays the passion of Texas history in the form of a family album with anecdotes, poetry and illustrations to form Snapshots of some of the events, places and people who were there during the Texas revolution as it may have been seen through their own eyes and sometimes, in their own words. Rather than presenting the dry recitation of historical events, Texas for Newcomers: Snapshots of heroes presents the lore of Texas in an excitingly different format and brings the passion of its history to life for the newcomer to this great state as well as a reminder to the Texas born of the legacy that is theirs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Aug 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491700334

John Wilhite

John Wilhite is a native son of Texas who has lived on three continents and has travelled all over the world from a very young age. John has a deep seated love for his country, and throughout his travels, has never lost sight of his Texas roots or his love for the state of his birth. A student of history, John Wilhite has steeped himself in the history and lore of his native state and has come home to Texas, settling in the Dallas/Ft Worth Metroplex, to explore Texas and to write. Texas for Newcomers: Snapshots of Heroes, beautifully illustrated by his wife Magda, an artist in her own right, is his first book on Texas.

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Copyright © 2013 by John Wilhite.

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ISBN: 978-1-4917-0032-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-0033-4 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013913169

iUniverse rev. date: 07/30/2013

Contents

America Has Heroes

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

The Muse of Anahuac

Disturbances

The Army Came to Claim a Cannon

Come and Take It

A Church in San Antonio

San Fernando’s Bell

Spreading the Alarm

Questions for Jim

A Line is Drawn

The Line

The Alamo

Enrique Esparza

An Echo of Freedom

Goliad

The Statue and the Mound

The Runaway Scrape

Houston’s Choice

The Which Way Tree

On the Banks of the San Jacinto

San Jacinto’s Soldier

The Worst—And The Best

Dilue

Texas Today

Texas Lament

To Mom—I hope you’re watching—and to Dad, my first hero.

America Has Heroes

America has heroes,

   And heroes are rare.

It’s never been said

   We have heroes to spare.

We all have Washington,

   Who never told a lie.

We all know Paul Revere—

   Spreading news upon the fly.

The North has General Grant

   And Sherman to the sea.

The South has Stonewall Jackson

   And beloved General Lee.

Texas has her heroes, too.

   Their legends have grown long.

Valiant folk in a violent land,

   They had to all be strong.

Preface

The poems in Texas for Newcomers: Snapshots of Heroes were written over many years and grew out of my love for Texas and my wonder at the travails of individuals who actually experienced the upheavals of the struggle for Texas independence. What those heroes, young and old, endured, and some of the decisions that they made and the passion with which they made them are almost unimaginable today. Texas for Newcomers: Snapshots of Heroes is a book about that passion that is such an important part of Texas History and contains more than poetry about individuals and events, yet it all still revolves around snapshots of heroes who were there and who witnessed it all.

Presented in the fashion of a family photo album, Texas for Newcomers: Snapshots of Heroes provides Snapshots in anecdotes, verse, and drawings of places, events, and people. The illustrations and anecdotes are placed so that dates and perspectives are provided for the poetry so that the flavor and the lore of what was wrought in the Texas Revolution may be preserved and, hopefully, enjoyed by newcomer as well as native.

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