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It is for good reason that J. Frank Dobie is known as the Southwest's master storyteller. With his eye for color and detail, his ear for the rhythm of language and song, and his heart open to the simple truth of folk wisdom and ways, he movingly and unpretentiously spins the tales of our collective heritages. This he does in Tales of Old-Time Texas, a heartwarming array of twenty-eight stories filled with vivid characters, exciting historical episodes, and traditional themes. As Dobie himself says: "Any tale belongs to whoever can best tell it." Here, then, is a collection of the best Texas tales-by the Texan who can best tell them.
Dobie's recollections include such classics in Lone Star State lore as the tale of Jim Bowie's knife, the legend of the Texas bluebonnet, the story of the Wild Woman of the Navidad, and the account of the headless horseman of the mustangs. Other stories in this outstanding collection regale us with odd and interesting characters and events: the stranger of Sabine Pass, the Apache secret of the Guadalupes, the planter who gambled away his bride, and the Robinhooding of Sam Bass. These stories, and many more, make Tales of Old-Time Texas a beloved classic certain to endure for generations.
List of contents
- Introduction
- Part One
- Corn Dodgers and San Jacinto Corn
- The Wild Woman of the Navidad
- The Dream That Saved Wilbarger
- Bigfoot Wallace and the Hickory Nuts
- Jim Bowie's Knife
- The Robinhooding of Sam Bass
- Part Two
- Northers, Drouths and Sandstorms
- Frozen Inside a Buffalo Hide
- The Cold-Nosed Hounds
- Honey in the Rock
- Part Three
- The Texas Bluebonnet
- The Headless Horseman of the Mustangs
- A Ranch on the Nueces Desperate Rides
- The Planter Who Gambled Away His Bride
- Part Four
- The Panther's Scream
- Bears Are Intelligent People
- Old Bill, Confederate Ally
- Part Five
- Colonel Abercrombie's Mole
- The Green Powder Keg In a Drouth Crack
- The Stranger of Sabine Pass
- Longworth's Vicey-versey Map
- Guarded by Rattlesnakes
- The Apache Secret of the Guadalupes
- O. Henry's Treasure Hunt
- Where Did Sam McFarland Cross the Colorado?
- The Mezcla Man
- Notes and Credits
- Index
About the author
By J. Frank Dobie
