Texas Roots: Agriculture and Rural Life before the Civil War

C. Allan Jones
Softcover, 227 pages
ISBN: 1-58544-429-4

The economic wealth of modern Texas arose from its agricultural heritage, a rich mixture of practices and traditions including Caddo hunting, gathering, gardening and farming; irrigated agriculture at Spanish missions; Hispanic ranching; slave-based plantations; and small-scale farmers and ranchers. As people adapted the agricultural technologies, laws and customs of New Spain, Mexico, Europe and the South to their own needs, the result was a particularly Texan system that served as the foundation for the state’s economic strength after the Civil War.