Alamo Bookshelf 7: Jim Bowie, Alamo Soldier & Gregorio Esparza

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I find most Alamo related books irresistible, but usually pass on the juveniles, because in most cases they offer no new information or insight. But there are exceptions, and here are three notables . . .

JIM BOWIE, FRONTIER LEGEND, ALAMO HERO by J.R. Edmondson (2003)
In an earlier post, I mentioned that the best Bowie bio to date is technically a juvenile. Well, this is it. But aside from the way it’s packaged and marketed, there’s nothing juvenile about it. J.R. Edmondson is one of the foremost authorities on Big Jim, and the author of two other books I’ve much enjoyed (one of those is a study of the Sandbar Fight, the incident that made Bowie famous). He’s also the closest thing we have to a modern-day Bowie, having portrayed him in many venues over the years, including several TV documentaries. Anyone seriously interested in the real-life Bowie needs this book in his library.

ALAMO SOLDIER, THE STORY OF PEACEFUL MITCHELL by R.L Templeton (1976)
What makes this one special is the subject. Napoleon Bonaparte Mitchell was one of the many unsung defenders of the Alamo, one of those guys who sacrificed every bit as much as Crockett, Travis and Bowie, but is now little more than a name on the list of dead. Though it looks like a biography, this book is actually a full-length historical novel recounting Mitchell’s journey to the Alamo and his experiences during the siege. Templeton says he became interested in Mitchell’s story while doing research for a book on another young defender. How much of the story told here is supported by that research and how much is pure imagination is unclear. Templeton presents Mitchell as a young man of 17, while Bill Groneman’s book Alamo Defenders lists his age as 32. I have to believe Groneman.

GREGORIO ESPARZA, ALAMO DEFENDER by William R. Chemerka (2009)
Alamo Journal Editor Bill Chemerka is the author of several fine Alamo related books and knows the subject matter as well as anyone alive. Gregorio Esparza is of special interest because he was one of several Tejano defenders who chose to fight for his freedom alongside his more recently emigrated neighbors. Esparza’s story is better documented than most, because he had his family with him inside the Alamo’s walls, and they survived the battle. His son Enrique, eight years old at the time, was interviewed late in life, providing rare first-hand testimony regarding his father and the other defenders during the siege. Chemerka weaves the facts into a compelling story, giving us new insight into the conflicts faced by Esparza and other Tejanos in the weeks leading up to the battle, and the sacrifice they made for what they believed in.

Alamo Bookshelf 6: With Santa Anna in Texas, How Did Davy Die? & Defense of a Legend

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WITH SANTA ANNA IN TEXAS by Jose Enrique de la Pena (1975, 1997)
In 1955, at the height of the Davy Crockett Craze, this tattered manuscript conveniently surfaced in a Mexico City flea market. The document was purported to be a diary kept by one of Santa Anna’s officers on his campaign into Texas. The manuscript made only one reference to David Crockett, on paper remarkably different from the rest, and in remarkably different handwriting. Still, when the first English translation was published in 1975, that single page ignited a battle that still rages. That Crockett passage, you see, claims that Davy, along with several other defenders, was captured and executed at the order of Santa Anna. 

HOW DID DAVY DIE? by Dan Kilgore (1978)
This slim volume, published when the debunking of American heroes was becoming all the rage, fired the flames of the controversy by rehashing the de la Pena tale and presenting as corroborative “evidence” several other questionable Mexican accounts. Some say that a few defenders surrendered to Mexican troops, and at least one contains a hearsay tale that a man named “Cwockey” may have been among them. Taken alone these other accounts were worthless, but those choosing to believe the de la Pena story elevated them to the level of gospels.  In response to this book, Kilgore, along with Carmen Perry (translator of the “diary”), received death threats.

DEFENSE OF A LEGEND by Bill Groneman (1994)
The voice of reason fought back in this, one of my all-time favorite Alamo books. Bill Groneman demonstrated that the de la Pena manuscript, far from being a “diary” was at best a researched memoir. The page concerning Crockett, if not an outright forgery, was clearly added later, the result not of de la Pena’s first hand knowledge, but gleaned from newspaper accounts surfacing after the Battle of San Jacinto (in which Texas won independence) and intended to inflame American public opinion against Mexico. Groneman points out that several first hand accounts, by witnesses who actually knew Crockett, support the notion that he died fighting.

Much has since been written on this issue, and intelligent people have argued eloquently on both sides, but nothing has been proven. Historians who acknowledge the question is in dispute have my respect, while those who flat-out claim that Davy was captured or surrendered - without addressing evidence to the contrary - get my spiritual-Texan dander up.

Alamo Bookshelf 5: 13 Days to Glory, Bowie's Lost Mine & A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett

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13 DAYS TO GLORY - Lon Tinkle (1958)

This second book-length work devoted to the Alamo is an even better read than the first (see Alamo Bookshelf 3) by John Myers Myers. Tinkle adds new details and new anecdotes, and puts faces on more of the characters in this real-life drama. This book was the basis of the not-so-hot 1987 TV movie featuring James Arness as Jim Bowie, Brian Keith as Crockett (yech!) and Alec Baldwin as William Barrett Travis. An early mass-market paperback edition was titled simply The Alamo.

A NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF DAVID CROCKETT by Himself (1834)
This 1987 Bison paperback is one of many editions of this work. Whichever you happen to pick up, you really can’t go wrong. The plain-speaking narration was unusual for its day (except perhaps to readers of Ben Franklin), and for colloquial humor it was something of a precursor to the work of Mark Twain. Had there been a NY Times Bestseller list in 1834, it would have been near the top. Though this truly is Davy’s own story, it was edited and corrected by a friend.

BOWIE’S LOST MINE - Dr. M. E. Francis (1954)
This slim volume was the first of several books recounting Jim Bowie’s hunt for the abandoned San Saba silver mine, once operated by the Spanish in the Texas hill country. According to legend, Bowie lived among the Lipan Apaches for a time and eventually learned the secret of its location. He then led an expedition to find the mine, but his party of ten was trapped in a day-long battle with a force of 164 Indians. The battle was real, but the rest is still a matter of debate.

Alamo Bookshelf 4: Texans in Revolt, After the Alamo & James Bowie, The Life of a Bravo

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TEXANS IN REVOLT - Alwyn Barr (1990)
The Alamo battle of 1836 is so famous it overshadows the battle of 1835, known as the Battle of San Antonio, when Texians fought street-by-street through the town, ousted a force of Mexican soldiers from the Alamo and sent them packing. The embarrassed Mexican commander, General Cos, was Santa Anna’s brother-in-law, which went a long way towards motivating Santa Anna to lead his army north to crush the upstart rebels. Also covers the Battle of Conception, where Jim Bowie was in co-command.

AFTER THE ALAMO - Robert Scott (2000)
After reading the book above and finding what happened before the Alamo, you’ll be ready for the rest of the story. Among other stories, this tells of Col. James Walker Fannin and the 300-odd men in the mission of Goliad (90 miles from the Alamo) who retreated, surrendered and were foully executed by one of Santa Anna's generals. The happy ending winds up at the Battle of San Jacinto (pictured on cover), where Sam Houston’s rag-tag army whips the Mexicans, captures Santa Anna and wins independence for Texas.

JAMES BOWIE, THE LIFE OF A BRAVO -  C. L. Douglas (1944)
Hard facts about Big Jim Bowie are hard to come by, and this was the first attempt at a biography. Much of the book is admittedly based on legends, but is plenty danged entertaining anyway. Far as I know, this is the first and only edition of this book. 65 years later, there has still been only one other adult Bowie biography, and the only really authoritative book on his life is technically a juvenile.

Alamo Bookshelf 3: The Alamo, Tall Tales of Davy Crockett & Exploring the Alamo Legends

 
THE ALAMO - John Myers Myers (1948)
A groundbreaking work: The first book-length study, with chapters on events leading up the battle and on all the major players. Still a good read, due to Myers’ easy going style, but an amazing amount of new information has surfaced in the past sixty years. It would be interesting to compare this to A Line in the Sand (Alamo Bookshelf 1), to see what’s changed and what’s remained the same. This book has gone through many printings and editions. Pictured here is a fairly recent paperback edition.

THE TALL TALES OF DAVY CROCKETT (1987)
A reprinting, in facsimile, of three complete Crockett almanacs purportedly published in Nashville from 1839-1841, with an introduction by Michael A. Lofaro. No one knows where these almanacs were really published, or by whom, but they’re full of great woodcuts and wacky stories. Beware! Even though the pages are slightly larger than the originals, the type is tiny and sometimes spotty. Bring your magnifying glass. Of the several books reprinting stuff from Davy’s almanacs, this is one of the easiest to find.

EXPLORING THE ALAMO LEGENDS - Wallace O. Chariton (1990)
I like this guy. He’s a true Texan, with the guts to say what he thinks and the humor to make it go down easy. He wrote at least two other books on the Alamo, and all are among my favorites. This one delivers his take on over a dozen Alamo mysteries, legends and controversies. How did Davy and the other heroes die? Did Sam Houston really order Bowie to blow the place up? Did Travis really draw the line in the sand? Did one man really refuse to cross it? Wally gives us the straight skinny.

Alamo Bookshelf 2: Alamo Anthology, Gentleman from the Cane & The Alamo: An Epic

ALAMO ANTHOLOGY edited by William R. Chemerka (2005)
Since 1986, The Alamo Journal, under the steady hand of Bill Chemerka, has been the leading edge of Alamo scholarship. I've been a subscriber for several years, but wish like heck I'd been getting it from the beginning. This volume collects 11 outstanding articles from the Journal, running the gamut from Crockett, Travis and Bowie to Santa Anna and the the Mexican Army. If I had my way, the mag's entire run would be collected in book form, but this is a great start.

DAVY CROCKETT, GENTLEMAN FROM THE CANE by James C Kelly and Frederick S. Voss (1986)
This book catalogs an exhibition that graced the National Portrait Gallery and the Tennessee Statue Museum in 1986, the 200th anniversary of Crockett's birth (Dang! I missed it.) Featured are such treasures as two of Davy's rifles, a bench he made for a courthouse, a gold watch he carried to Texas, and representations of six portraits done from life.

THE ALAMO, AN EPIC by Michael Lind (1997)
This is an amazing achievement. A truly epic poem, in the Iliad and Odyssey tradition, consisting of 858 7-line stanzas that cover the Alamo story in great and authentic detail. If Lind doesn't have something to say about every known defender, I hope I may be shot. I haven't read the whole thing, but those passages I've perused are nicely done. I suspect it would be best appreciated read aloud.

Alamo Bookshelf 1: A Line in the Sand, In the Footsteps of Davy Crockett & The Blazing Dawn

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As each new year begins, I'm reminded that March 6 is fast approaching, and my thoughts turn to Texas and the events of that date in 1836. I usually take the opportunity to pull a book or two off my Alamo bookshelf for a refresher course in Texas history. Well, this year I'm doing something different. I'm going to pull all the books off that shelf, both fiction and non-fiction, and present sort of a survey of the field. Here's the first batch:

A LINE IN THE SAND by Randy Roberts and James S. Olsen (2001)
If you're going to read just one book about the Alamo, this is it. And if you're going to read a lot of them, this is the place to start. This book presents a clear and detailed picture of the issues on both sides of the conflict, delivers a striking picture of the battle itself and sweeps on into the present, discussing the impact of Walt Disney and John Wayne and introducing some of the current controversies. An intelligent and well-written book.


IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF DAVY CROCKETT by Randell Jones (2006)
This travelogue traces Davy's footsteps from Tennessee to Texas, providing a picture of what Crockett saw then, and what's left for us to see today, complete with photographs. As a boy, Davy ventured east as far as Baltimore, and the Creek War took him south into Alabama, Mississippi and Spanish Florida. And of course his policking took him to Washington, Philadelphia and points north. It's all here, and all mighty interesting.


THE BLAZING DAWN by James Wakefield Burke (1975)
Heck, they can't all be good. This "tempestuous saga of the Alamo", titled Devil on the Wall in hardcover (1987), is much more at home between the covers of this sleazy paperback. I like the concept - a historical novel weaving the separate stories of Crockett, Bowie and Travis into one as they come together at the Alamo. But the cover blurb pretty much says it all. "A brawling, lusty epic . . . the story of three giant heroes and their daring women."  It's heavy on smut and light on history, much like the author's attempt at writing a Crockett biography (to be discussed later).