Texas, 1865

Real history, considered with more than a glancing thought, tends to be intricate, complicated and rich; at this level of scrutiny there's really something in it for everyone. Take Texas in the second half of 1865. American Civil War coming to a formal close. Confederacy collapses. US troops (white and black, foot soldiers and cavalry) arrive. Juneteenth, slavery is terminated. Ongoing war in Mexico between imperial and republican forces. Comanches and other tribal groups and bands, and large buffalo herds. Frontier women, farmers, taverns, drinking and gambling. What a mix!

On the map above, upper left is the main setting for Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo / The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966/1967).

Just to give an idea of how complicated the scene in Texas was in 1865, here's a snippet from Thomas North's Five Years in Texas: or, What You Did Not Hear During the War from January 1861 to January 1866 (p. 193):

"The German population of Texas were generally understood to have Union sympathies, and were therefore cordially hated by original Texans."* 

*("Original Texans" meaning mostly Anglo people who'd immigrated to Texas maybe twenty years before the Germans, who in turn began coming to Texas starting in the 1830s and 1840s. The term "Original Texans" linguistically neatly erases or ignores prior and current Hispanic and Native American inhabitants.)

"We were riding one day into the country with a genuine [i.e. Anglo] Texan, and coming to a heavy German settlement, he called our attention to their fine farms and substantial improvements, and said, 'See the Germans squatted everywhere on the best lands in our State. I'll tell you what I would do if in my power. I would compel them to leave the rich land and go to the sand hills and sand prairies. I don't think they have any business on these lands, and right under the noses of the better class of citizens.'" (North, 1871, page 193).

The more things change . . . Just substitute "Germans" with some other immigrant group and you hear the same complaints in 2011.

Even 1865 slang still holds water: "That the Indians fought in ambush, and made many of the whites bite the dust." (North, 1871, page 193).

Today's Rune: Opening.