March 7, 2023

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The Friends of the Texas Historical Commission partners with the Texas Historical Commission to preserve and promote the real places and real stories of Texas, including our state historic sites.?Register now for upcoming free online programs that tell these stories.?

The Problem of Slavery in Mexican Texas

By the late 1810s, a global revolution in cotton had remade the U.S.-Mexico border, bringing wealth and waves of Americans to the Gulf Coast while also devastating the lives and villages of Mexicans in Texas. In response, Mexico threw open its northern territories to American farmers in hopes that cotton could bring prosperity to the region. Following Stephen F. Austin, thousands of Anglo Americans poured into Texas?but their efforts to bring slavery with them (as the engine that made 19th-century cotton so profitable) sparked pitched battles across Mexico. An alliance of Anglos and Mexicans in Texas came together to defend slavery against abolitionists in the Mexican government, beginning a series of fights that shaped Texas in powerful ways during the road to the Texas Revolution.

Join us to hear about this fascinating part of Texas history from Dr. Andrew J. Torget, historian of 19th-century North America at the University of North Texas, where he holds the University Distinguished Teaching Professorship. An award-winning speaker, he has been featured at Harvard, Stanford, Rice, Duke, Johns Hopkins, and the Library of Congress.?

Big Bend Archeological Studies

Join us for this fascinating talk detailing the highlights the latest archeological findings from Center for Big Bend Studies (CBBS) projects and our current understanding of deep human history in the Big Bend region. Over the last five years, CBBS has worked to establish the presence of an early human record in deeply stratified sites. These efforts have produced evidence of a rich Indigenous history of adaptation to the ever-changing Chihuahuan Desert. This talk will cover recent archeological findings, the importance of this research, and future opportunities for students and researchers with the Center for Big Bend Studies.

Connect with Bryon Schroeder, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Big Bend Studies, as he explains his ongoing excavations at several of the large rockshelters and caves in the Big Bend region. Bryon holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Montana in 2015, where he focused on high-altitude hunter-gatherer sites in the Wind River Range of Wyoming.

Additional Events at State Historic Sites

• Mar. 10-11, 14-18: Country Living: In a Dugout, Charles and Mary Ann Goodnight Ranch, Goodnight
• Mar. 11-12:?Pins & Needles, Barrington Plantation, Washington
• Mar. 11:?Foraging San Jacinto, San Jacinto Battleground, La Porte
• Mar. 11:?Runaway Scrape Escape, Star of the Republic Museum, Washington
• Mar. 11-19: Spring Break on the Bluff, Kreische Brewery, La Grange
• Mar. 13-17:?Spring Break Hands-on-History, Washington-on-the-Brazos, Washington
• Mar. 14-16:?Build Your Own Terrarium, Sam Bell Maxey House, Paris
• Mar. 14-18:?Hands on History, Casa Navarro, San Antonio
• Mar. 15:?Spring Break at Mr. Sam's Farm?Goats & Gardening, Sam Rayburn House, Bonham