Historic Tales of the Llano Estacado - Paperback

by David J. Murrah (Author), Paul H. Carlson (Author)

The distinctive high mesa straddling West Texas and Eastern New Mexico creates a vista that is equal parts sprawling lore and big blue sky. From Lubbock, the area's informal capital, to the farthest reaches of the staked plains known as the Llano Estacado, the land and its inhabitants trace a tradition of tenacity through numberless cycles of dust storms and drought. In 1887, a bison hunter observed antelope, sand crane and coyote alike crowding together to drink from the same wet-weather lake. A similarly odd assortment of characters shared and shaped the region's heritage, although neighborliness has occasionally been strained by incidents like the 1903 Fence Cutting War. David Murrah and Paul Carlson have collected some three dozen vignettes that stretch across the uncharted terrain of the tableland's past.

Author Biography

Paul H. Carlson, PhD, is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and the Philosophical Society of Texas. As emeritus professor of history at Texas Tech University, he is the author of numerous books and articles and editor of others. A Fellow of both the Texas State Historical Association and the West Texas Historical Association, he is also the recipient of several university teaching awards. He lives with his wife, Ellen, in Ransom Canyon at the very edge of the Llano Estacado. David J. Murrah, PhD, is a museum and historical consultant. He served for twenty-five years as archivist and director of the Southwest Collection at Texas Tech University before entering the museum exhibit/design field with Southwest Museum Services of Houston. He has written or edited six books and numerous articles on Texas history and is a Fellow of both the Texas State Historical Association and the West Texas Historical Association. A native of the high plains (Gruver, Texas), he and his wife, Ann, now live on the Texas coast at Rockport.