Staggering: Life and Death on the Texas Frontier at Staggers Point

by Avrel Seale

In 1829, recent arrivals from Ireland began moving to a patch of wilderness near the Brazos River in Mexican Texas. They came seeking freedom and fortune. What they found was malaria, war, the constant threat of gruesome Indian massacres, wolves, panthers — and an abiding happiness that has kept many descendants there to this day. At Staggers Point, near modern-day Bryan, Texas, they collided and coexisted with four other Americans, American Indians, Mexicans, and enslaved African Americans. These families bore witness to the greatest political upheavals of nineteenth century America, and their lives spanned the full range of human experience — from scratching out a living on a primitive frontier; to fleeing and fighting bands of Comanches and other American Indians, the Mexican army, and common criminals; to the joys and sorrows of raising children beyond the reach of civilization. Though they were common pioneers, to us their experiences, their feats, and their very survival are staggering.

212 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 10, 2014

About the author

Avrel Seale is an author of eclectic nonfiction whose books to date span memoir, humor, history, philosophy, unsolved mysteries, religion and spirituality. His most recent work is "With One Hand Tied behind My Brain: A Memoir of Life After Stroke."