A Hill Country Paradise?

A Hill Country Paradise? PDF Author: Elaine Perkins
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1475924585
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
In the mid-1800s, land speculators said that Western Travis County in Texas would be a paradise, a perfect place to grow crops, raise livestock, and build a life. Settlers were seduced by such stories, and many of them including a large segment of German immigrants made their way to this promised land. What they found was, for the most part, an arid area of cedar trees, poor soil, rocks, and snakes. Still, these hardy people carved out a good life for themselves, making the best of what they had, and their descendents continue to live in the area today. Historian and Travis County resident Elaine Perkins relates the tales of these settlers in A Hill Country Paradise, a moving testament to the pioneer spirit that made this place prosperous. From the earliest settlers through two world wars, Perkins reveals the tragedies and triumphs of those who made the county their home. This historical record brings this Texas county's past to life, recalling residents fighting for the Confederacy in the Civil War, breaking ground for a new homestead, rustling cattle, taking advantage of burgeoning business opportunities, squabbling, and heralding the arrival of electricity. Vivid details, solid research, and an intriguing narrative make A Hill Country Paradise not only educational, but also entertaining, securing the memory of this county's past for future generations.

A Hill Country Paradise?

A Hill Country Paradise? PDF Author: Elaine Perkins
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781475924602
Category : Texas
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In the mid-1800s, land speculators said that Western Travis County in Texas would be a paradise, a perfect place to grow crops, raise livestock, and build a life. Settlers were seduced by such stories, and many of them including a large segment of German immigrants made their way to this promised land. What they found was, for the most part, an arid area of cedar trees, poor soil, rocks, and snakes. Still, these hardy people carved out a good life for themselves, making the best of what they had, and their descendents continue to live in the area today. Historian and Travis County resident Elaine Perkins relates the tales of these settlers in A Hill Country Paradise, a moving testament to the pioneer spirit that made this place prosperous. From the earliest settlers through two world wars, Perkins reveals the tragedies and triumphs of those who made the county their home. This historical record brings this Texas county's past to life, recalling residents fighting for the Confederacy in the Civil War, breaking ground for a new homestead, rustling cattle, taking advantage of burgeoning business opportunities, squabbling, and heralding the arrival of electricity. Vivid details, solid research, and an intriguing narrative make A Hill Country Paradise not only educational, but also entertaining, securing the memory of this county's past for future generations.

A Paradise Called Texas

A Paradise Called Texas PDF Author: Janice Jordan Shefelman
Publisher: Eakin Press
ISBN: 9781940130651
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description
Bluebonnet Award Nominee. - Searching for a better life, Mina, Papa, and Mama left their German fatherland aboard the brig Margaretha, bound for Texas. They had been told it was the paradise of North America, but when Mina steps onto the desolate beach at Indian Point on a cold December day in 1845, she wants to go back to Germany and Opa's cozy house in the village of Wehrestedt. But go on they must. In spite of mama's tragic death, Mina and Papa push inland with the Kaufmann family to the Texas hill country. There Mina encounters an Indian chief and his young daughter, Amaya, whose help she needs when Papa falls ill. Based on her ancestors' immigration to Texas, Janice Shefelman tells of a journey into the wilderness that is filled with hardship, tragedy and adventure . . . young readers will glimpse a fascinating view of what life in early Texas was like for German settlers.Texas

Hacking Whiskey

Hacking Whiskey PDF Author: Aaron Goldfarb
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780999661246
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Hacking Whiskey is the opposite of stuffy, preachy books on how to drink whiskey "the right way." Aaron Goldfarb, the writer behind the most googled article about infinity bottles, has gathered all the whiskey hacks to help readers turn average whiskey into a better-tasting spirit, and have fun while doing it.

A New Star in the Texas Sky

A New Star in the Texas Sky PDF Author: Alice Lockmiller
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1329052501
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 165

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Book Description
Andy Patterson is a 15 year old Saddle-making apprentice in Austin Texas, in 1886. The Capitol Building is being built nearby by stone cutters from Scotland. Someone is stealing the rancher's cattle. Can Andy help his family and neighbors?

Historical Agriculture and Soil Erosion in the Upper Mississippi Valley Hill Country

Historical Agriculture and Soil Erosion in the Upper Mississippi Valley Hill Country PDF Author: Stanley W. Trimble
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1466555750
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
"This thought-provoking book demonstrates how processes of landscape transformation, usually illustrated only in simplified or idealized form, play out over time in real, complex landscapes. Trimble illustrates how a simple landscape disturbance, generated in this case by agriculture, can spread an astonishing variety of altered hydrologic and sedi

Oak Hill Country Club

Oak Hill Country Club PDF Author: Sal Maiorana
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 162584493X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 191

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Book Description
In 1901, Oak Hill Country Club opened on the Genesee River. There were only nine holes, and the clubhouse was a converted farmhouse, but for the members, it was a haven. In the 1920s, the club moved to Pittsford, where world-famous architect Donald Ross built two eighteen-hole courses. A stately Tudor-style clubhouse was added, and in 1949, Oak Hill's reputation as one of the best courses in America was cemented when the USGA held the U.S. Amateur here. Golfing greats like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods have competed in such tournaments as the 1956 and 1968 U.S. Open, the 2003 and 2013 PGA Championship and the 2008 Senior PGA Championship. Visit the most exciting moments on the legendary East Course and the history of one of America's most historic golf meccas.

House of Faith or Enchanted Forest?

House of Faith or Enchanted Forest? PDF Author: Charles W. Hedrick
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1606080067
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 117

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Book Description
Since The Renaissance of the fourteenth through seventeenth centuries, and particularly since the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century, the ancient creeds of faith have been under serious fire, and the struggle has not gone well for popular religion in America. The rapid advances made by the physical sciences in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the corresponding reliance on scientific accomplishments in American life have been matched by the growing influence of reason in the way Americans think about religion. Except for pockets of resistance, these developments have negatively influenced the practical role of traditional religion in American life. These essaysùpublished over a twenty-year period as newspaper editorials addressed to the general publicùconfront popular beliefs and morals with the challenge of human reason. At issue in this meeting of faith and reason is nothing less than the nature of religion in the twenty-first century. Will faith embrace reason to create a House where both dwell in harmony or will faith ignore the claims of reason and continue to live in an Enchanted Forest? Each essay, written in the practical language of the streets, attempts to dialogue with the general reader and gently provoke critical thinking on sensitive issues of belief. "Charles Hedrick is a scholar who has come clean. From the 'buckle on the Bible Belt' comes this honest, intelligent, and creative reflection on the struggle between reason (and/or science) and personal faith. Charlie's reminder to take our personal absolute truths (house of faith) a little less seriously and enjoy the diversity of thought and experience (enchanted forest) is practical, powerful, and incredibly timely."-Glenna S. Jackson, Professor, Department of Religion and Philosophy at Otterbein College "House of Faith or Enchanted Forest? is a personal and lively journey along the path of faith and doubt. Charles Hedrick poses deep questions that for centuries have haunted philosophers, historians, and theologians alike. This book awakens and celebrates critical thinking yet remains warmly accessible and resolutely honest. Anyone who wishes to re-think life's great questions in light of the changing face of Christianity will find joy in reading this book. Here is an excellent resource for discussion groups, book clubs, and inquiring individuals."-David Galston, Director of the Eternal Spring learning Centre, Hamilton, Ontario "Charlie Hedrick asks a lot of questions in this provocative collection of short essays. One specific question that, perhaps, sums up the others, 'Can a critical thinker also be a person of traditional religious faith?' Spanning a wide range of topics, Hedrick offers readers challenging questions to ponder, rather than easy answers to swallow. Yet, by pondering such questions, careful readers will find themselves closer to honest answers than they were before they read this helpful book."-J. Bradley Chance, Professor and Chair, Department of Religion, William Jewell College

The Cedar Choppers

The Cedar Choppers PDF Author: Ken Roberts
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1623496071
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
At the low-water bridge below Tom Miller Dam, west of downtown Austin, during the summer of his tenth or eleventh year, Ken Roberts had his first encounter with cedar choppers. On his way to the bridge for a leisurely afternoon of fishing, he suddenly found himself facing a group of boys who clearly came from a different place and culture than the middle-class, suburban community he was accustomed to. Rather, “. . . they looked hard—tanned, skinny, dirty. These were not kids you would see in Austin.” When Roberts’s fishing companion curtly refused the strangers’ offer to sell them a stringer of bluegills, the three boys went away, only to reappear moments later, one of them carrying a club. Roberts and his friend made a hasty retreat. This encounter provoked in the author the question, “Who are these people?” The Cedar Choppers: Life on the Edge of Nothing is his thoughtful, entertaining, and informative answer. Based on oral history interviews with several generations of cedar choppers and those who knew them, this book weaves together the lively, gritty story of these largely Scots-Irish migrants with roots in Appalachia who settled on the west side of the Balcones Fault during the mid-nineteenth century, subsisting mainly on hunting, trapping, moonshining, and, by the early twentieth century, cutting, transporting, and selling cedar fence posts and charcoal. The emergence of Austin as a major metropolitan area, especially after the 1950s, soon brought the cedar choppers and their hillbilly lifestyle into direct confrontation with the gentrified urban population east of the Balcones Fault. This clash of cultures, which provided the setting for Roberts’s encounter as a young boy, propels this first book-length treatment of the cedar choppers, their clans, their culture and mores, and their longing for a way of life that is rapidly disappearing.

The Resurrection of Booger Mapes

The Resurrection of Booger Mapes PDF Author: John D. Ferguson
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1462824331
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
...For the umpteenth time this morning, the thin man with wary eyes pours another cup of coffee and returns to his seat at the dinette table. He performs the task for something to do, just like the sip he takes from the cup, more for action than thirst. There is nothing unfamiliar about, but he studies the air before his face with intensity. His gaze moves from the checkered oilskin tablecloth to the pale light of the only kitchen window and back again. Through a deep mental fog he sees neither. He is lost in thought. The thump of frying pan on the stove top makes him jump. Rina has come into the kitchen without him even noticing, and is now bustling about the kitchen doing cooking things with a familiar ease and her peculiar habit of humming to herself when pleasantly occupied. Her back is straight, hips full and fi rm, and buttocks tightly packed into the confi nes of denim jeans. With the unnerving second sense of some women, she glances over her shoulder with a knowing smile...