A New History of Old Texas

Triumph and Tragedy, Tolerance and Toughness

16 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Post-script to Brandon Seale's podcast "A New History of Old San Antonio."This is the audio from my October 2024 SA PechaKucha talk, th...

The Battlefield(s) of Medina?

06 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We found another site. But so did someone else. And there's a rumored fourth site out there as well now? What in the name of Miguel Menchaca&apos...

Emergence

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 14 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.Contrary to popular usage, an “Apocalypse” isn't an ending. In Greek it means...

Bronco Apaches

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 13 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.The United States dispenses with the pretense of Native American sovereignty and adopt...

El día de los gritos

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 12 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.All pretense of accommodation with Native Americans disappears in the 1870’s. Lipane...

Grass Will Not Grow on the Path between Us

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 11 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.The Lipan Apaches become proxies for a Texian guerilla war against northern Mexico, un...

Fidelity to the Texian

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 10 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.No Native Texan captured Anglo-Texians’ hearts like Lipan Captain Flacco the Younger...

Unshared Sovereignty

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 9 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.In the turmoil of the War for Mexican independence, Lipan Captain Cuelgas de Castro eme...

The Unbroken

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 8 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.Pressed on all sides by European and native rivals, the Lipanes never should have survi...

Indios Bárbaros

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 7 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.Spanish army officers prove reluctant to change their mindset, however, even as the Lip...

San Sabá

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 6 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.In the course of a single generation, Spanish policy toward Lipan Apaches shifts from a...

Lipanes at Last

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 5 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.Following the great peace of 1749, San Antonio becomes the great outlet for native Nort...

Changing Woman

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 4 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.A new Spanish outpost on the San Antonio River represents an opportunity and a threat t...

Apache Empire

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 3 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.Thanks to the horse, Plains Apaches expand their influence over an increasingly broad s...

Alliance and Advantage

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 2 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.Proto-Apaches, Jumanos, and Puebloans vie for control of the Texas Plains in the face o...

The Whirlwind

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 1 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.Killer-of-Enemies teaches the proto-Apaches, the “Nde,” how to treat with the peopl...

The Last Lipanes

01 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Intro to Brandon Seale's podcast on the Lipan Apaches.Despite centuries of conflict with Spanish, Mexican, Texan, United States, and native rival...

The Conscience of a Republic

21 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 6 of Brandon Seale's podcast (in collaboration with Art Martínez de Vara) on the life and times of José Francisco Ruíz.José Francisco...

The Die is Cast

14 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 5 of Brandon Seale's podcast (in collaboration with Art Martínez de Vara) on the life and times of José Francisco Ruíz.For the fourth ...

Immigrants and Indians

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 4 of Brandon Seale's podcast (in collaboration with Art Martínez de Vara) on the life and times of José Francisco Ruíz.1820's Eas...

The Impossible Peace

30 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 3 of Brandon Seale's podcast (in collaboration with Art Martínez de Vara) on the life and times of José Francisco Ruíz.If there was an...

Comancheros in Exile

23 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 2 of Brandon Seale's podcast (in collaboration with Art Martínez de Vara) on the life and times of José Francisco Ruíz.José Francisco...

Blood in the Sand

16 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 1 of Brandon Seale's podcast (in collaboration with Art Martínez de Vara) on the life and times of José Francisco Ruíz.The Battle of M...

The Man for Texas

09 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Intro to Brandon Seale's podcast (in collaboration with Art Martínez de Vara) on the life and times of José Francisco Ruíz. José Francisco Ru...

When Texanity Fails. And When it Doesn't.

17 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 11 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History.Winter Storm Uri. Texas's unique legal system. And Juneteenth. All tog...

The Texas Love Triangle

10 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 10 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History.Southwest Airlines was born of a uniquely Texan model of regulation and a u...

The Integrated Circuit

03 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 9 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History.Jack Kilby's integrated circuit set off the "Second Industrial Rev...

Making Texas Cool

27 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 8 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History.Texas's first true industrial "cluster" might have been ice-m...

Spindletop

20 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 7 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History.Anthony Lucas's gusher at Spindletop marked "a new era of civiliza...

The Iron Horse in Texas

13 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 6 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History.Railroads made Texans wealthier than they had ever been. They brought labor-...

Comanche Superfood

06 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 5 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History.From "terraqueous machines" (??) to air conditioning prototypes to...

"Peacemaker"

29 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 4 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History.Samuel Colt certainly benefitted from the association of his revolving pisto...

The Republic of Cotton

22 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 3 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History.When they hosted the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936, Dallas boosters ha...

The Font of Texas Government

15 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 2 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History.When Don Juan de Oñate crossed the Rio Grande on May 4, 1598 at a spot whic...

Don't Mess with Texas [Horsemen]

08 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 1 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History.The return of the horse to the North American continent and its domesticatio...

Season 5: The Engines of Texanity

08 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Intro to Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History.I've come to worry that "History" (capital-H) focuses too much on...

Cabeza de Vaca as Interpreter of Lower Pecos Rock Art

01 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Post-Script to Brandon Seale's podcast on Cabeza de Vaca.From a speech I gave at the Witte Museum in San Antonio, this is my attempt to argue tha...

Connecting the Dots

26 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is a speech I gave recently to the San Antonio Conservation Society about our Battlefield of Medina search with American Veterans Archaeological ...

Autonomy Within a Tradition

25 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Post-script to Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.Maybe the reason that Texans are so vocal about their "independence...

Digging Medina

26 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 13 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.The boots hit the ground and the shovels start turning dirt. Listen along fo...

Y todo para que?

16 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 17 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.Was there really ever a "Republic of the Rio Grande"? And what ...

The Republic of the Sierra Madre

09 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 16 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.Fiery San Antonian José María Carvajal refuses to give up the dream of ...

The Concessions of Camargo

02 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 15 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.Antonio Canales lays down his sword...and emerges as the new kingmaker of...

Rescuing Zapata

23 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 14 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.The normally reserved Antonio Canales throws everything he has at Central...

The Battle of Morelos

16 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 13 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.Frustrated with Antonio Canales, Antonio Zapata breaks away from the Rio ...

Desperate Measures

09 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 12 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.Just days after declaring the formation of a new "provisional govern...

The Casa Blanca Articles of Convention

02 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 11 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.The text of the "Casa Blanca Articles of Convention," as transc...

The Republic of the Northern Border

26 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 10 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.On January 26th, 1840, the Republic of the Rio Grande was formed. Or rath...

The Battle of Alcantra

19 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 9 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.Under the command of Antonio Zapata, Antonio Canales and José María Carb...

The Kingdom of Zapata

12 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 8 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.Antonio Zapata - the "mulato" son of a domestic servant and a co...

Zapata Unleashed

05 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 7 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.In one of the most remarkable campaigns in Mexican military history, Anton...

Order and Disorder on the New Border

29 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 6 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.Antonio Zapata comes over to the side of the Federalist insurgents... and ...

The Federalist Revolts

22 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 5 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.After the failed "Texas campaign" of 1836, the Mexican centralis...

The Constitution of 1824

15 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 4 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.Antonio Zapata emerges as one of the most promising young leaders of newly...

Mexican Independence

08 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 3 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.As Antonio Zapata grows into manhood, his unique talents become clear to a...

Young Zapata

08 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 2 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.Young Antonio Zapata is born in Revilla, Nuevo Santander, the son of a dom...

Las Villas del Norte

08 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 1 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande.In the 1750's, Carrizo Indians living in the lower Rio Grande Valley ...

The Republic of the Rio Grande

25 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From 1838 to 1840, the people of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas fought against the Mexican central government for their independence. They fough...

The Gospel According to Cabeza de Vaca

21 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 25 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.What the legacy of the four old Narváez expeditionaries in the New World a...

The "Ideal" Conquest

17 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 24 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How the four expeditionaries translated their gospel into terms their Nativ...

Four Horsemen

14 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 23 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.What the four expeditionaries found when they were reunited with their coun...

Crossing the Divide

10 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 22 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How the four expeditionaries crossed the Continental Divide. How they re-co...

The Arrowhead

07 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 21 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How Cabeza de Vaca removed an arrowhead from the beating heart of an ailing...

All Things to All People

03 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 20 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.What clues Native Americans left as to how they viewed the four expeditiona...

The Inexplicable Turn

31 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 19 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How the four expeditionaries came to within a few weeks’ march of the Rio...

The First American Ponzi Scheme

27 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 18 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How Estevan prepared the way for his companions as they crossed the Rio Gra...

Mala Cosa

24 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 17 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.When the expeditionaries came to question their medicine. How they came to ...

Signs and Wonders

20 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 16 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How the expeditionaries' cures became increasingly challenging. How th...

Tests of Faith

17 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 15 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How the four castaways became medicine men. How they performed their "...

The Great Escape

13 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 14 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How prickly pears brought the four old expeditionaries together. How they g...

The Utility of Belief

10 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 13 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How Cabeza de Vaca was separated from Castillo, Dorantes, and Estevan. How ...

The Great Tunal

06 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 12 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How the peoples of South Texas differed from those of the upper Texas coast...

Faith the Size of a Pecan

03 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 11 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How Alonso Castillo, Andrés Dorantes, and Esteban had made their way down ...

He Who Has a Why

30 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 10 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How Cabeza de Vaca decided to leave Galveston Island. How his companion, Lo...

Out of Slavery

27 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 9 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How the Native population of Galveston Island was decimated. The expeditiona...

Castaways

23 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 8 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How Cabeza de Vaca and his companions were reunited with some of their fello...

Naked in the New World

20 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 7 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How the expeditionaries debated what to do in the face of 100 armed "Ca...

The Island of Ill-Fate (aka, Galveston)

16 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 6 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How the conquistadors became castaways on Galveston Island. How the natives ...

The Gulf

13 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 5 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How the Narváez expeditionaries returned to the Gulf of Mexico. How the Gul...

Apalache

09 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 4 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How the Narváez expeditionaries "conquered" Apalache. And then ha...

A Land So Strange

06 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 3 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How the Narváez expeditionaries marched on their Floridian Tenochtitlán. A...

Missing the Mark

06 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 2 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How the Narváez expeditionaries missed their target by a mere 1,000 miles. ...

The Sons of 1492

06 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 1 of Brandon Seale's podcast on Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca.How Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca and 600 others came to the New World under ...

Season 3 - Cabeza de Vaca

25 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Back in the first episode of the first season of this podcast series, I begged someone to make a movie about the wanderings of Alvar Núñez Cabeza de...

Is this the Battlefield of Medina?

26 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 12 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.The trauma of 1813 stuck with Tejanos…and it emboldened them. What lessons...

The Most Important Primary Account of the Battle of Medina

19 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Supplement to Episode 11 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.Sometime in the 1820's or 30's, an anonymous survivo...

Terror in Texas (Explicit)

19 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 11 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.(WARNING: This episode contains graphic language and descriptions of Spanish...

The Battle of Medina Revisited

05 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 10 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.After a year of research and interviews, we sum up everything we’ve learne...

Artifacts at Last!

22 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 9 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.On August 4, 1813, after months of plotting, José Álvarez de Toledo persona...

The Battle of Alazán Creek

08 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 8 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.After the Republican victory at the Battle of Rosillo and Texans’ bold decl...

The Original Texas Declaration of Independence

01 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Supplement to Episode 7 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.For the first time that I know of, we present here the original...

The Free and Independent State of Texas

24 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 7 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.On April 6, 1813, Texas declared its independence, having momentarily rid the...

The Battle of Rosillo

10 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 6 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.In February of 1813, Spanish Royalist forces under Texas Governor Manuel Salc...

The March on Goliad

27 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 5 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.In 7th grade Texas history textbooks, Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara figures onl...

José Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara

13 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 4 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.Before Father Miguel Hidalgo was captured by Royalist forces in March of 1811...

The Governor Returns

29 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 3 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.After capturing Father Miguel Hidalgo, Texas Royalist Governor Manuel Salcedo...

The Casas Revolt

15 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 2 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.On September 16, 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla unleashed a cry of pr...

The Roads to Revolution

01 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 1 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.Texas in 1800 was defined by its isolation, which Tejanos felt all the more a...

Season 2 - Finding Medina

04 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The first season of this podcast described the Battle of Medina as having taken place “somewhere in the area between modern-day Lytle, Somerset, and...

The Past is Present

05 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The past lives in San Antonio.Selected BibliographyAlessio Robles, Vito. Coahuila y Texas en la época colonial (1978).De La Teja, Jesús F., ed. A...