Books
February 1, 1994
Waco Untold
Four quickie Branch Davidian books reveal that the full story has yet to come out.
Texas History
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Texas History
February 1, 1994
The Twilight of the Texas Rangers
Are the legendary lawmen necessary? Yes, but their inability to grapple with the modern world threatens to make them irrelevant.
Politics & Policy
January 1, 1994
ASKed Out
My third year organizing the JFK assassination conference was one year too many.
Music
December 1, 1993
Lucken Back
Twenty years later, Jerry Jeff Walker returns to the town his music put on the map.
Texas History
November 1, 1993
The Unknown Hero
Happy two-hundredth birthday, Stephen F. Austin. You were the Father of Texas—and more.
Texas History
June 1, 1993
One Last Shot
Decades after his family controlled Galveston’s liquor and gambling, 89-year-old Vic Maceo is clinging to his gangster past—and to his pistol.
Texas History
May 31, 1993
David Koresh and the Myth of the Alamo
He was no William Barrett Travis, but in many ways, the leader of the Brand Davidians was an archetypal Texan to the end.
Texas History
March 1, 1993
Sam the Man
His wives! His lives! A bountiful birthday guide to Sam Houston, Texas’ ultimate hero.
Texas History
March 1, 1993
Indian Takers
All across Texas, vandals are searching for ancient treasures by looting Indian campgrounds—including the one on my family’s ranch.
Texas History
March 1, 1993
Low Steaks
How a cut of meat from the wrong side of the street rose to culinary stardom, plus a guide to Texas’ most authentic fajitas.
Texas History
November 1, 1992
Cowboy Texas Randall
Old-timers around Canon recall that in 1959, when Harry Wheeler erected the seven-ton concrete-and-stucco cowboy outside his trading post and curio shop, he had to bring in a truck and crane from a local drilling company to set the big galoot on his feet. Towering over U.S. 60, Tex Randall
Texas History
September 30, 1992
Screen Gem
Bigger than life, drive-in movies defined America’s giddy age of hula hoops, poodle skirts, and blue suede shoes.
Texas History
September 30, 1992
House Arrest
THE HOME OF SAM HOUSTON’S WIDOW, Margaret Lea Houston, and their eight children is for sale. A shrine of Texana, the 1830’s Greek Revival classic in the tiny hamlet of Independence comes complete with a Houston family heirloom piano that is said to render a ghostly “Come to the Bower,”
Music
September 30, 1992
O Janis
Janis Joplin’s life was about music, rebellion, and excess—but she was influenced most by her tormented relationship with the people and spirit of Port Arthur.
Texas History
August 31, 1992
Johnny’s Round Top
Johnny’s Round Top cafe had a colorful history that spanned more than fifty years before the restaurant went out of business in 1989. Built by a franchiser who was partial to rotating roofs that looked like circus tents, the Round Top in Big Spring was one of a modest chain
Texas History
August 31, 1992
Farewell to Cracker Eden
Memories of growing up (and growing up restless) in working-class Oak Cliff.
Texas History
August 1, 1992
Masquerader of the Lost Ark
Who came first—Indiana Jones of Hollywood or Vendyl Jones of Arlington, the archaeologist who has spent years trying to dig up the fabled Ark of the Covenant?
Texas History
April 1, 1992
Hard Rock
It chopped, it scraped, it cut, it carved! Texas’ own Alibates flint helped civilize a continent.
Texas History
March 1, 1992
Deutsch Treat
An ethnic club’s new home brings a touch of Germany to San Antonio.
Film & TV
December 1, 1991
Can Hollywood Solve JFK’s Murder?
Director Oliver Stone may not be sure who did it or how, but he is sure he knows why.
Texas History
September 30, 1991
Benny and the Boys
Sure, they were gangsters, but they were our gangsters.
Texas History
June 1, 1991
Peach Dreams
Summertime is warm-and-fuzzy season for fans of Texas’ favorite fruit.
Music
February 1, 1991
Yo, Y’all
Carrollton’s Vanilla Ice is the country’s coolest rapper, and several other Texas acts are hot on his heels.
Texas History
January 1, 1991
Highway 1
Retracing the trail that tamed the Texas wilderness—the Camino Real.
Politics & Policy
December 1, 1990
“I Was Mandarin . . .”
Clues left behind by a former Dallas cop convinced his son that he killed President Kennedy—but that’s just the beginning of the mystery.
Texas History
November 1, 1990
The Island in Winter
Discover the charms of Galveston off-season, when the only visitors are you, the gulls, and the ghosts.
Texas History
November 1, 1990
Vanishing Texas
Searching for tourist courts, fillin’ stations, and other relics of a Texas that is no more.
Texas History
August 1, 1990
The Big Blow
On September 8, 1900, a devastating hurricane blasted Galveston, changing life on the Island forever.
Feature
April 30, 1990
Wouldn’t You Like To Be a Pepper Too?
A Dublin bottler is the only one in Texas who’s still sweet on traditional Dr. Pepper.
Texas History
January 1, 1990
Texas Primer: The Windmill
But for this ever-so-practical invention, Texas history as we know it would be gone with the wind.
Texas History
November 1, 1989
Cowboy Songs
Five favorites from the wide-open spaces, in words and pictures.
Texas History
October 1, 1989
Old Salts and Ancient Mariners
In which a landlubber chronicles the saga of getting his sea legs aboard the good ship Elissa.
Sports
September 30, 1989
Texas Primer: The Herkie Jump
Three cheers for Lawrence Herkimer and his leap to fame.
Texas History
April 30, 1989
Texas Primer: The Runaway Scrape
In early 1836, after the fall of the Alamo, a small episode in Texas history revealed an aspect of our character we’d just as soon forget.
Texas History
February 1, 1989
The Lost Tribe
They were the classic Texas Indians—fierce, majestic, and free. Today’s Comanches find their lives defined by legends and bitter truths.
Politics & Policy
January 1, 1989
Behind the Lines
The case against conspiracy.
Texas History
November 1, 1988
Compadres de la Revolución
Though the leaders of Mexico’s revolution all lived short and violent lives, a handful of those who rode with them have survived to a ripe old age in Texas.
Music
September 30, 1988
The Good, The Bad, and The Country
In the small world of country’s New Traditionalism, George Strait and Steve Earle still manage to be worlds apart.
Style & Design
September 1, 1988
Hot Pots
How did bluebonnets and cacti get that glazed look?
Texas History
July 31, 1988
Salado Days
Where the heck is Salado, and why are world-famous intellectuals flocking there?
Texas History
May 31, 1988
Texas Primer: Juneteenth
It began in 1865 as a joyous celebration of emancipation. Today young black Texans find the holiday overshadowed by more immediate concerns.
Texas History
May 1, 1988
Texas Primer: Texas Guinan
She started out as a wide-eyed Waco cowgirl and ended up a New York speakeasy queen.
Texas History
April 1, 1988
Texas Primer: The Bowie Knife
Whether a frontiersman needed to skin a bear, chop wood, or fight in a due, Jim Bowie’s weapon was the tool of choice.
Politics & Policy
April 1, 1988
Behind the Lines
Conover Hunt and the Sixth Floor Museum.
Texas History
March 1, 1988
Texas in the Blood!
Descendants of famous Texans like Sam Houston and Davy Crockett don’t even try to fill their forefathers’ shoes. They just do their best to keep them polished.
Music
February 1, 1988
With Strings Attached
Willie Nelson’s true love may have a body that’s worse for the wear, but woe to the man who tries to pick it up.
Texas History
August 31, 1987
A Texan Looks at Lyndon
On the eve of the 1964 national elections, Texas historian J. Evetts Haley published a scathing attack on President Lyndon B. Johnson. The book sold seven million copies, but Johnson still won the race.
Texas History
June 1, 1987
Sombreros of the Gods?
For centuries, scientists have searched for the answers to the mystery of Nosehenge. Now—for the first time—the startling truth.
Texas History
February 1, 1987
The Empress of Fort Worth
Anne Bass married one of the richest men in America. With his money and her ambition she became an important cultural force in Fort Worth and New York. Life was perfect. Then her husband left her.
Texas History
February 1, 1987
Texas Primer: The Rose Window
The secrets of love seen through a glass, clearly.