A New History of Old Texas

I shared some remarks at Béxar County’s kickoff event for America 250, and I thought I’d publish them here...thanks to Mari Tamez and the Bexar Heritage Center for pulling this together.

www.BrandonSeale.com

Post-script to Brandon Seale's podcast "A New History of Old San Antonio."

This is the audio from my October 2024 SA PechaKucha talk, the video of which you can find on YouTube as well. As a summary of my thoughts after thinking deeply about San Antonio and early Texas history for the last decade, I'm pretty happy with it. But I'll admit that it's a little incomplete.

BTW, the punchline (which you can't see in the audio version) is the picture of the Alamo that I throw on the screen at the end...the "two-sided tactical miscalculation that we turned into the most celebrated defeat in American history."

www.BrandonSeale.com

We found another site. But so did someone else. And there's a rumored fourth site out there as well now? What in the name of Miguel Menchaca's ghost is going on?

Image: Martin Gonzalez, Atascosa County Historical Commission. Photo by Jessica Phelps, , SA Express-News, April 29, 2024.

www.BrandonSeale.com

Episode 14 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.

Contrary to popular usage, an “Apocalypse” isn't an ending. In Greek it means an “unveiling," an "uncovering," a “revelation.” But what have we really revealed about the most powerful, most unconquerable, most exceptional people in Texas history?

Selected Bibliography
Alonso, Gorka. Apachería.
Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Indian Southwest, 1580-1830: Ethnogenesis and Reinvention (1999).
Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Conquest of Texas (2019).
Baddour, Dylan. “Labeled ‘Hispanic,’” Texas Observer, May/June 2022, July 6, 2022.
Britten, Thomas A. The Lipan Apaches: People of Wind and Lightning (2011).
González Dávila, José Medina. ¿Qué significa ser apache en el siglo XXI?: Continuidad y cambio de los lipanes en Texas (2018).
Lipan Apache Band of Texas – Lipan Apache Band of Texas Claim as a Sovereign Nation
Maestas, Enrique G. M. (2003). Culture and History of Native American Peoples of South Texas. University of Texas at Austin, PhD Dissertation.
Minor, Nancy M. The Light Gray People: An Ethno-History of the Lipan Apaches of Texas and Northern Mexico (2009).
Minor, Nancy M. Turning Adversity to Advantage: A History of the Lipan Apaches of Texas and Northern Mexico, 1700-1900 (2009).
Opler, Morris E. Myths and Legends of the Lipan Apache Indians (1940).
Robinson, Sherry. I Fought a Good Fight: A History of the Lipan Apaches (2013).
Smith, F. Todd. From Dominance to Disappearance: The Indians of Texas and the Near Southwest, 1786-1859 (2005).

www.BrandonSeale.com

Episode 13 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.

The United States dispenses with the pretense of Native American sovereignty and adopts a policy of forced assimilation. Mexico waxes poetic about the “cosmic race” while sending airplanes to track down "Apaches broncos” living free in the mountains. The Lipan Apaches avoid the reservation by dispersing and using the reservation system to project their power and spread their religious ceremonies to the native communities of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Chihuahua, and Coahuila.

Selected Bibliography
Alonso, Gorka. Apachería.
Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Indian Southwest, 1580-1830: Ethnogenesis and Reinvention (1999).
Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Conquest of Texas (2019).
Baddour, Dylan. “Labeled ‘Hispanic,’” Texas Observer, May/June 2022, July 6, 2022.
Britten, Thomas A. The Lipan Apaches: People of Wind and Lightning (2011).
González Dávila, José Medina. ¿Qué significa ser apache en el siglo XXI?: Continuidad y cambio de los lipanes en Texas (2018).
Lipan Apache Band of Texas – Lipan Apache Band of Texas Claim as a Sovereign Nation
Maestas, Enrique G. M. (2003). Culture and History of Native American Peoples of South Texas. University of Texas at Austin, PhD Dissertation.
Minor, Nancy M. The Light Gray People: An Ethno-History of the Lipan Apaches of Texas and Northern Mexico (2009).
Minor, Nancy M. Turning Adversity to Advantage: A History of the Lipan Apaches of Texas and Northern Mexico, 1700-1900 (2009).
Opler, Morris E. Myths and Legends of the Lipan Apache Indians (1940).
Robinson, Sherry. I Fought a Good Fight: A History of the Lipan Apaches (2013).
Smith, F. Todd. From Dominance to Disappearance: The Indians of Texas and the Near Southwest, 1786-1859 (2005).

www.BrandonSeale.com

Episode 12 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.

All pretense of accommodation with Native Americans disappears in the 1870’s. Lipanes are pursued equally and openly by American and Mexican forces on both sides of the border. One-by-one, they see their old native rivals picked off and carted off to reservations. But the Lipan Apaches refuse to play the doomed savage. After a brutal massacre by US Army troops at their sacred El Remolino site, they declare “war with the whole world.”

Selected Bibliography
Alonso, Gorka. Apachería.
Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Indian Southwest, 1580-1830: Ethnogenesis and Reinvention (1999).
Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Conquest of Texas (2019).
Baddour, Dylan. “Labeled ‘Hispanic,’” Texas Observer, May/June 2022, July 6, 2022.
Britten, Thomas A. The Lipan Apaches: People of Wind and Lightning (2011).
González Dávila, José Medina. ¿Qué significa ser apache en el siglo XXI?: Continuidad y cambio de los lipanes en Texas (2018).
Lipan Apache Band of Texas – Lipan Apache Band of Texas Claim as a Sovereign Nation
Maestas, Enrique G. M. (2003). Culture and History of Native American Peoples of South Texas. University of Texas at Austin, PhD Dissertation.
Minor, Nancy M. The Light Gray People: An Ethno-History of the Lipan Apaches of Texas and Northern Mexico (2009).
Minor, Nancy M. Turning Adversity to Advantage: A History of the Lipan Apaches of Texas and Northern Mexico, 1700-1900 (2009).
Opler, Morris E. Myths and Legends of the Lipan Apache Indians (1940).
Robinson, Sherry. I Fought a Good Fight: A History of the Lipan Apaches (2013).
Smith, F. Todd. From Dominance to Disappearance: The Indians of Texas and the Near Southwest, 1786-1859 (2005).

www.BrandonSeale.com

Episode 11 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.

The Lipan Apaches become proxies for a Texian guerilla war against northern Mexico, until Texian policies cut them off from their lands and their livelihoods. Ever adaptable, the Lipanes flip the script, relocating to their old haunts in Mexico and raiding Texas property. The Texas-Mexico border itself – and the freedom it offers – becomes an artifact of enduring Lipan resistance during these years. The annexation of Texas, however, unbalances the playing field in an oddly legalistic way.

Selected Bibliography
Alonso, Gorka. Apachería.
Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Indian Southwest, 1580-1830: Ethnogenesis and Reinvention (1999).
Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Conquest of Texas (2019).
Baddour, Dylan. “Labeled ‘Hispanic,’” Texas Observer, May/June 2022, July 6, 2022.
Britten, Thomas A. The Lipan Apaches: People of Wind and Lightning (2011).
González Dávila, José Medina. ¿Qué significa ser apache en el siglo XXI?: Continuidad y cambio de los lipanes en Texas (2018).
Lipan Apache Band of Texas – Lipan Apache Band of Texas Claim as a Sovereign Nation
Maestas, Enrique G. M. (2003). Culture and History of Native American Peoples of South Texas. University of Texas at Austin, PhD Dissertation.
Minor, Nancy M. The Light Gray People: An Ethno-History of the Lipan Apaches of Texas and Northern Mexico (2009).
Minor, Nancy M. Turning Adversity to Advantage: A History of the Lipan Apaches of Texas and Northern Mexico, 1700-1900 (2009).
Opler, Morris E. Myths and Legends of the Lipan Apache Indians (1940).
Robinson, Sherry. I Fought a Good Fight: A History of the Lipan Apaches (2013).
Smith, F. Todd. From Dominance to Disappearance: The Indians of Texas and the Near Southwest, 1786-1859 (2005).

www.BrandonSeale.com

Episode 10 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.

No Native Texan captured Anglo-Texians’ hearts like Lipan Captain Flacco the Younger. His exploits as a Texas Ranger and his people’s defense of Texas’ borders against Mexico make him the darling of Texas newspapers. Texas newspapers fail to distinguish, however, between hostile native Texans and Lipanes living in their midst. And Lipan wealth becomes an irresistible target of Texian raiding and retaliation.

Painting of Flacco the Younger by Jay Hester, available online.

Selected Bibliography
Alonso, Gorka. Apachería.
Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Indian Southwest, 1580-1830: Ethnogenesis and Reinvention (1999).
Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Conquest of Texas (2019).
Baddour, Dylan. “Labeled ‘Hispanic,’” Texas Observer, May/June 2022, July 6, 2022.
Britten, Thomas A. The Lipan Apaches: People of Wind and Lightning (2011).
González Dávila, José Medina. ¿Qué significa ser apache en el siglo XXI?: Continuidad y cambio de los lipanes en Texas (2018).
Lipan Apache Band of Texas – Lipan Apache Band of Texas Claim as a Sovereign Nation
Maestas, Enrique G. M. (2003). Culture and History of Native American Peoples of South Texas. University of Texas at Austin, PhD Dissertation.
Minor, Nancy M. The Light Gray People: An Ethno-History of the Lipan Apaches of Texas and Northern Mexico (2009).
Minor, Nancy M. Turning Adversity to Advantage: A History of the Lipan Apaches of Texas and Northern Mexico, 1700-1900 (2009).
Opler, Morris E. Myths and Legends of the Lipan Apache Indians (1940).
Robinson, Sherry. I Fought a Good Fight: A History of the Lipan Apaches (2013).
Smith, F. Todd. From Dominance to Disappearance: The Indians of Texas and the Near Southwest, 1786-1859 (2005).

www.BrandonSeale.com

Episode 9 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.

In the turmoil of the War for Mexican independence, Lipan Captain Cuelgas de Castro emerges as a beacon of stability in Texas. Perhaps no one saw the Texas geopolitical checkerboard better at this moment. Captain Cuelgas de Castro wins for his people recognition by the new Emperor of Mexico. But it won't be enough to secure true sovereignty for his people.

Selected Bibliography
Alonso, Gorka. Apachería.
Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Indian Southwest, 1580-1830: Ethnogenesis and Reinvention (1999).
Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Conquest of Texas (2019).
Baddour, Dylan. “Labeled ‘Hispanic,’” Texas Observer, May/June 2022, July 6, 2022.
Britten, Thomas A. The Lipan Apaches: People of Wind and Lightning (2011).
González Dávila, José Medina. ¿Qué significa ser apache en el siglo XXI?: Continuidad y cambio de los lipanes en Texas (2018).
Lipan Apache Band of Texas – Lipan Apache Band of Texas Claim as a Sovereign Nation
Maestas, Enrique G. M. (2003). Culture and History of Native American Peoples of South Texas. University of Texas at Austin, PhD Dissertation.
Minor, Nancy M. The Light Gray People: An Ethno-History of the Lipan Apaches of Texas and Northern Mexico (2009).
Minor, Nancy M. Turning Adversity to Advantage: A History of the Lipan Apaches of Texas and Northern Mexico, 1700-1900 (2009).
Opler, Morris E. Myths and Legends of the Lipan Apache Indians (1940).
Robinson, Sherry. I Fought a Good Fight: A History of the Lipan Apaches (2013).
Smith, F. Todd. From Dominance to Disappearance: The Indians of Texas and the Near Southwest, 1786-1859 (2005).

www.BrandonSeale.com

Episode 8 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.

Pressed on all sides by European and native rivals, the Lipanes never should have survived into the nineteenth century. Yet not only had they survived, they had done so with their numbers and their range undiminished. They were wealthier than ever, and more powerful too, and would play a vital role in driving the Spanish out of Texas for good.

Selected Bibliography
Alonso, Gorka. Apachería.
Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Indian Southwest, 1580-1830: Ethnogenesis and Reinvention (1999).
Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Conquest of Texas (2019).
Baddour, Dylan. “Labeled ‘Hispanic,’” Texas Observer, May/June 2022, July 6, 2022.
Britten, Thomas A. The Lipan Apaches: People of Wind and Lightning (2011).
González Dávila, José Medina. ¿Qué significa ser apache en el siglo XXI?: Continuidad y cambio de los lipanes en Texas (2018).
Lipan Apache Band of Texas – Lipan Apache Band of Texas Claim as a Sovereign Nation
Maestas, Enrique G. M. (2003). Culture and History of Native American Peoples of South Texas. University of Texas at Austin, PhD Dissertation.
Minor, Nancy M. The Light Gray People: An Ethno-History of the Lipan Apaches of Texas and Northern Mexico (2009).
Minor, Nancy M. Turning Adversity to Advantage: A History of the Lipan Apaches of Texas and Northern Mexico, 1700-1900 (2009).
Opler, Morris E. Myths and Legends of the Lipan Apache Indians (1940).
Robinson, Sherry. I Fought a Good Fight: A History of the Lipan Apaches (2013).
Smith, F. Todd. From Dominance to Disappearance: The Indians of Texas and the Near Southwest, 1786-1859 (2005).

www.BrandonSeale.com