A Journey Through Texas

by Frederick Law Olmsted

Before he became America's foremost landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903) was by turns a surveyor, merchant seaman, farmer, magazine publisher, and traveling newspaper correspondent. In 1856–57 he took a saddle trip through Texas to see the country and report on its lands and peoples. His description of the Lone Star State on the eve of the Civil War remains one of the best accounts of the American West ever published. Unvarnished by sentiment or myth making, based on firsthand observations, and backed with statistical research, Olmsted's narrative captures the manners, foods, entertainments, and conversations of the Texans, as well as their housing, agriculture, business, exotic animals, changeable weather, and the pervasive influence of slavery.

 

Back and forth from the Sabine to the Rio Grande, through San Augustine, Nacogdoches, San Marcos, San Antonio, Neu-Braunfels, Fredericksburg, Lavaca, Indianola, Goliad, Castroville, La Grange, Houston, Harrisburg, and Beaumont, Olmsted rode and questioned and listened and reported. Texas was then already a multiethnic and multiracial state, where Americans, Germans, Mexicans, Africans, and Indians of numerous tribes mixed uneasily. Olmsted interviewed planters, scouts, innkeepers, bartenders, housewives, drovers, loafers, Indian chiefs, priests, runaway slaves, and emigrants and refugees from every part of the known world—most of whom had "gone to Texas" looking for a fresh start. He also observed the breathtaking arrival of spring on the prairie and the starry nights that seemed to prove the truth of the German saying “The sky seems nearer in Texas.”

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Travel, American History, Memoir, Historical, Westerns

539 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1857

About the author

Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903)

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting history seeing Texas from a horse, meeting all sorts of people. The author seemed to feel sorry for black slaves, yet seemed to have a terrible opinion of natives and said they should be driven out, or killed. The German population was larger than I expected and they seemed to be the most industrious.

[Chrissie]

************************

*Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted by Justin Martin 5 stars

Books by Olmsted:
*The Cotton Kingdom: A Traveller's Observations on Cotton and Slavery in the American Slave States, 1853-1861 TBR
*A Journey through Texas: Or a Saddle-Trip on the Southwestern Frontier TBR

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read not only about Texas but the people of 1857.

[Abby Turner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Historically interesting but very slow and very poorly written grammatically.

[Daniel Cullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

As you likely know, the author was well-known figure of great accomplishment in mid-19th cent. America. In this short travelogue there is no mention of his many accomplishments but a keen focus on the tumultous times in Texas during the 1850's. His keen eye, apt descriptions, and personal humility made this book a joy for me to read. I love books which are basically long postcards which describe places or times unknown to me and that fits this book to a 'T'. I'd love to find more books like it!

[Richard Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know that I’ve ever read a contemporaneous first-hand account of life in the frontier West as interesting and well-written as this. I found it spell-binding, and I didn’t want it to end. Frederick Law Olmstead is better known for his storied life as a landscape architect, but as was often the case in that era, he did a lot of other things in his formative career, including serving as a traveling correspondent for the forerunner to the New York Times.

Olmstead and his brother journeyed by horseback in 1854 through the settled regions of Texas, even taking a brief detour into Mexico. Ostensibly Olmstead set out to show the economic folly of slavery, which he succeeded in doing, but his moral repugnance at slavery also showed through, even if it was a bit muted. Olmstead was no fiery abolitionist, and I suppose he helps illustrate the broad continuum that characterized public opposition to slavery then – from staunch abolitionism/total integration of the races, to “end slavery because it’s wrong, but black people will never be the equal of whites so can we just send them to another country to live?” It’s unfortunate that his enlightened thinking of the time didn’t extend to indigenous people (many of whom he met during his travels), whom he characterized as animals. He’s not too kind on the Mexican people he meets, either. Whom does he particularly heap scorn on? Residents of eastern Texas, who come across as ignorant, shiftless, and cruel. Whom does he really admire? The German immigrants that founded cities like New Braunfels.

When not sleeping under the stars, Olmstead and his brother often stayed in people’s homes (or barns), subsisting largely on the generosity of strangers (even those east-Texas boors), and his encounters with the locals provide some of the most fascinating glimpses into life in that particular time and place. From cattle roundups to horse rustling, this book has it all. Highly recommended for history buffs and Texans. My only complaint is that the version I read was from a pop-up digital printer profiting off this public-domain work. The book was attractively packaged and had quality binding, but the text was riddled with annoying typos that I suspect were not part of the original manuscript.

[Ocean G · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author of this book is a New Yorker (who designed Central Park) and took a trip to Texas, Mexico, and surrounding areas in the 1850s and documented his travels. This book is everything you could want and more. An outside gives his honest opinion of the people, places and of course the prejudices of the place. The prejudices are obviously on the side of the Southern white Americans, but also the author's, which become evident.

However, the author (and his brother) are very much against slavery, and you see their impression of slaveholders go from low to extremely low, especially after encountering the Germans, who tend to be against slavery (and are surprisingly many). I found myself going through Google and Google maps to follow along, so I was very happy to hear about the book "Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide", wherein someone follows along the same itinerary, giving an update on everything covered in this book. I look forward to reading that as well.

Also very interesting to read about crossing the border into Mexico, and seeing how race relations differed there (they pretended to be German, since they felt it was dangerous to be American there, given the acrimony). Their encounters with native Americans at the time were interesting as well, and I found myself wishing there had been more.


A very pleasant surprise to have found this book, and I'm amazed it isn't more well-known.


https://4201mass.blogspot.com/

[Jaime Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating read for history buffs. Having an account of what my home stare was like right before the Civil War is amazing. Since he was not a Texas, he reports things as he sees them, without rose-colored glasses. He interviewed many types of people and when to places as varied as Houston to Fredericksburg and, of course, the Alamo. It is very detailed and would probably be dry to someone who is not keenly interested in Texas history.

[Richard Haynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A totally enjoyable read. Took me back to 1972 (showing my age) when I was a student at East Tennessee State University in the History department and I took a course called Spanish Borderlands. I loved this history of a rich and diverse part of the United States called Texas.
This recorded journal about a trip into this region offers the reader a slice of the time before the Civil War. Learned much about the way of life and the people visited by these travelers.

[Michael Earney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and informative

A friend recommended this Olmstead chronicle and it has been well worth the reading. An immigrant to the USA (New York and Texas) some 50 years ago, I am still intrigued by the American Experiment that weaves a nation of people from all the world's sources--still a vast work-in-progress.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the challenge of reading the republished book that was written for newspaper readers in 1856 and 1857. Glad for Google to help me understand many of the references. The meanings of many words have changed as well as some sentence structure. He examined the landscape and the people he met. Great historical read.

[Steven Gripp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not for the faint of heart. Written on the road in 1856 Texas, Olmsted vividly depicts the landscape and its inhabitants. If you’re from Texas, you’ll be familiar with the historical depictions of the cities and terrain. If you’re not, be ready for some “colorful” descriptions of the locals. Knowing the history, you see a deep traditional purview of the state in its vast space.

[Margaret Gulinson · Rating 1 out of 5]

A waste of time

It is hard to imagine a more arrogant, condescending attitude than this writer exhibits. Hard to believe anything he writes because he is so smugly superior to any one he encounters. Sound like someone you’d like to have a conversation with?

[Vince Pillig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good description the Texas in the 1850s

Very detailed description of Texas , towns and villages . Author details cost of goods ranching farming etc. also gives good description of populations and the way people lived .

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Glimpse of the Texas of 1857

I liked the first-hand observations of pre-Civil War Texas. Many physical and societal aspects of the region are described. Somewhat dry reading, and a map would have been helpful.

[Gary Rudduck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prewar history way out west.

I was nearly able to see ,and, smell the prairie as my great grandfather's may once have. Wordy yet sublime.

[Betty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really did not like what I read in this book. Makes me sick how peopled treated blacks and indians.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A Journey Through Texas" is a travel narrative of brothers Frank Law and John Hull Olmsted, from Staten Island. Recommended for Texans curious about Texas history and for historians curious about Texas. And a few Louisianans. Otherwise please disregard some rating stars.

Proud Texans: beware that the brothers, despite their essentially positive and energetic spirit, were annoyed at much of what they saw, ate and endured, but they looked for accomplishment and potential everywhere, and the account is not without humor. And they found much to like, particularly traveling west into hill country, with its German immigrants and settlements, and reaching prairies yet further west.

Not highest rated only because it incorporates particulars on the economics of agriculture and commodities like cotton and slaves, and also some lobbying against slavery, however timely and persuasive in 1854 (and responsive to their commission from the New York [Daily] Times).

The Olmsteds were in Texas on horseback midwinter into late spring. They didn't get far north (above about 32º latitude, roughly Nacogdoches) or far west (past about 24º longitude, roughly Eagle Pass and today's San Angelo). But continuing west risked a bad death on the dry and mostly unpopulated Texas plains. They do relate some contemporary observations of others who had traveled further west, much of that occupied or menaced by native Americans, still a threat even where the brothers ventured. They describe some of southwestern Louisiana from the journey back home. The book has a good map.

The Olmsted brothers, in their 30's, one (John) facing death from tuberculosis, were well and widely educated and travelled as well as practical and unpretentious, and their frank perspective as curious and observant visitors over a large area of early Texas is surely unique and valuable. Frank went on to become something of a landscape architect and assisted in the design of New York City's Central Park, among many parks and commissions.

Larry McMurtry's introduction mentions only two other previous accounts, Bartlett's "Personal Narrative" (1854) and Kendall's "Santa Fe Expedition" (1844), which might compete with this for the attention of today's reader.

[Tejas Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was fairly torn on rating this book. There were parts I enjoyed a lot, especially just recording of incidental day-to-day events that occurred on the trail. I liked it less when Olmsted inserted his sociological "insights," which were interesting in their own right but not probably in the way he intended. His viewpoint often reveals many stereotypes and prejudices that are quite telling of the time and day. Something in his favor I found sympathetic was his obvious attempt to present anecdotal evidence against slavery for its negative effects on society. By the end of the book, however, I was just reading to be done, and I thought the last few chapters were repetitive of previously covered information and could/should have been cut by the author or his editor at the time. Evidently the book was originally even much longer than in its final form, but Olmsted was persuaded to trim it down by about half (if I'm recalling correctly).

[Jim Woolwine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully told story of the author's overland discovery of the new state of Texas. As his trip progresses and he sees slave and non-slave agriculture his views on slavery evolve from morbidly curious of the institution to its absolute abomination. Interaction between "Americans," "Mexicans," Native Americans, and the various immigrant communities of Poles, Germans, and French show mutual indifference to suspicion. Olmstead is at ease among all of these communities and linguistically versatile, able to record valuable insights into the settlers' motivations for settling in Texas, to race relations, to their struggles to make a living in a sometimes hostile environment.

Olmstead's prose is surprisingly contemporary. He is sometimes ironic, at times numerous, never cynical. His deep affection for the horses, Mr. Mule, and Jud, the dog, leavens the long passages on soil types and crop production.

[Barrett Doherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Olmsted before designing Central Park was commissioned by the soon-to-be NY Times to travel across the south and report about slavery. In 1856-57 he spent 6 months with his brother taking a saddle trip across the frontier of Texas. With a studied farmers eye he rides throughout the territory noting the farming habits, cultures, mores, landscape, weather, food and entertainment of the young State. Olmsted is an excellent writer and reports on what he sees with extremely little myth-making or eulogizing. It is an excellent first hand account of the American frontier and its attendant collision of cultures, slavery, racism, bigotry, triumphs, treachery, and possibility. A notable book for anyone who is interested in the daily reality of the young American frontier.

[Catherine Carr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This ride along with Frederick Olmsted and his brother, John, feels like a beautiful camping trip under the wide-open, bright, “stars at night” of 1856 Texas. Frederick Olmsted was such a keen observer that I now know how he became the father of landscape architecture. I love all books related to Texas, and this one never disappointed me. The language is a bit archaic, but still is quite readable, and our current prejudices seem trite compared to 1856. Yet I learned so much about what Texas had to offer farmers, merchants, and ranchers, and how both the good and bad of that era created the Texas of today. Not at all perfect, but still my home, my Texas.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent descriptions of economic, social, and political influences in 1850's Texas.

There are obvious transposing errors from the original manuscript and necessarily rely on the familiarity of the reader to the subject material for full understanding. The attention given to slavery is highly interesting and provides the reader with perspectives upon which to develop judgments. It is clearly a book refreshingly devoid of "political correctness ". A sophisticated reader will enjoy this remarkable read.

[Lucy McCoskey · Rating 4 out of 5]

1856 is when this insightful book was written. who knew that the landscape architect responsible for designing Central Park was also a travel writer, sociologist, abolitionist, observer of people/places/conditions
a very interesting snapshot of Texas devoid of the millions of people and developed cities of today.
of course, Olmsted includes Latin names of tress and plants
and so many Germans....

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

On a trip to Texas prior to the American Civil War while on his way to Mexico and back, Olmstead recorded his impressions of the people, geography, and climate of the state. Some of his observations were based on heresy testimony.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prior to the American Civil War, Olmstead traveled through Texas on his way to and from Mexico recording the people and events.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, Excellent, Excellent. I'v read it many times. A smart person's view of the Texas frontier.

[Delia Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was hard to get into, but after a few chapters it got interesting.