A New History of Old Texas

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 uniquely Texan appreciation for the challenges of distance. More than that, however, it came to represent Texan ascendancy onto the national political and economic scene, in ways that discomforted the old coastal centers of power, and found them agit...

Episode 9 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History. Jack Kilby's integrated circuit set off the "Second Industrial Revolution" and I want to believe that it was the product of Texans' finely-tuned attention to energy density, going back to the likes of Gail Borden and every plains Indian that ever sat a horse. And yet, is the integrated circuit perhaps a...

Episode 8 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History. Texas's first true industrial "cluster" might have been ice-making. In the twentieth century, Texans lead the way in applying the science of refrigeration to human comfort and notched many significant firsts in the history of air conditioning. Most Texans' first experience with air conditioning was in mo...

Episode 7 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History. Anthony Lucas's gusher at Spindletop marked "a new era of civilization," yet was the product of the humility, persistence, and practical genius of three Waco-area farm boys. Oil rapidly transformed the Texas economy from stubbornly agrarian and colonial into a first-world industrial power. For the first time...

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-saving and efficiency improving implements like riding plows, threshers, mechanical harvesters, and soon, tractors, which collectively lifted the standard of living of most Texans far beyond anything their parents could have imagined. And Texans hat...

Episode 5 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History. From "terraqueous machines" (??) to air conditioning prototypes to "condensed milk," Gail Borden was nineteenth century Texas's most prolific inventor. And yet he may owe the inspiration for his most successful inventions to a form of Comanche "superfood," developed with a uniquely Texan a...

Episode 4 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History. Samuel Colt certainly benefitted from the association of his revolving pistol with the state that most found widespread application for it use. And Texans, by and large, returned the love, coming to believe that "God made man, but Samuel Colt made them equal."  Did the Colt Revolver blaze the trail for Anglo immig...

Episode 3 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Engines of Texas History. When they hosted the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936, Dallas boosters had good reason to rename their football stadium and associated bowl game based on a bad pun. The "Cotton Bowl" was a nod to the unmatched roll that "King Cotton" had played in shaping the demographics and politics of Texas, where...

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 which he called “ El Paso del Rio del Norte”, he didn’t just bring with him the horses that would redraw the map of Native Texas. He brought with him the Spanish model of self-government centered on a locally-managed flood irrigation system that still se...

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 individuals and ideologies. Individuals and ideologies can move history, no doubt…but just as often, I’ve come to believe, they ride historical waves, rather than make them. Every now and then, however, some invention, some innovation, or just some...

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 domestication by people of the Texas plains redrew the map of Native North America and defined the spheres of influence of European colonial empires for three centuries. It led to the formation of highly decentralized, individualistic frontier societies that ei...

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 that we can actually hear the themes of the famed Lower Pecos Rock Art expressed by Cabeza de Vaca in his attempt to take on the role of a "spirit guide" for the native Americans who joined him on his journey. If true, this would be compellin...

This is a speech I gave recently to the San Antonio Conservation Society about our Battlefield of Medina search with American Veterans Archaeological Recovery . Jump to 34:38 for the big reveal, and the connection we discovered between our finds and the "Blue Wing Body" found in 1968. www. BrandonSeale.com

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" is because they have a different notion of what it means to be independent. And maybe the reason they're so loud about it is because they've been trying  - without success apparently! - to explain their notion of "independence&...

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 for an (extended) account of our first season of archaeologic digs in search of the Battlefield of Medina with our partners from American Veterans Archaeological Recovery . Go to @54:20 if you don't have the patience for the whole build-up. A spe...

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 to make of the legacy of Antonio Zapata. Image available on the Internet: https://laotraesquina.mx/2020/02/19/un-guerrero-viejo-sumergido-en-el-agua, retrieved 10/15/2021 Selected Bibliography Anna, Timothy E. Forging Mexico: 1821-1835  (1998). Casa...

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 a northeastern Mexican republic, only to be defeated by his old commander, Antonio Canales. Carvajal - and his reputation - recover in the turmoil of the French Intervention, however, and he rises to his own moment in the sun as the regional hegemon o...

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 northeastern Mexico. Photo of Brandon Seale at the approximate location of Zapata's last stand, Morelos, Coahuila. Selected Bibliography Anna, Timothy E. Forging Mexico: 1821-1835  (1998). Casa Blanca Articles of Convention De la Garza, Lorenz...

Episode 14 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande. The normally reserved Antonio Canales throws everything he has at Centralist General Mariano Arista in a desperate bid to rescue his estranged brother-in-arms, Antonio Zapata. Photo: "Zapata's Defeat" inset from Arista's Campaign map, 1840, courtesy Benson Latin American Collection, LLILAS Benson Lati...

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 Grande Federalist Army...and rides into an ambush in Santa Rita de Morelos! Photo: Battle of Morelos campaign medal, photo courtesy of Art Martinez de Vara. Selected Bibliography Anna, Timothy E. Forging Mexico: 1821-1835  (1998). Casa Blanca Articl...

Episode 12 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande. Just days after declaring the formation of a new "provisional government of the northern border," Federalist commander Antonio Canales opens up communications with Centralist General Mariano Arista to surrender! Antonio Zapata finds out...and the rift grows between the two Rio Granders. Photo Courtesy of the Re...

Episode 11 of Brandon Seale's podcast on the Republic of the Rio Grande. The text of the "Casa Blanca Articles of Convention," as transcribed by Professor Stan Green, and as translated by Brandon Seale, with comments from Professor Green and Lic. Jacqueline Pasquel. Photo: Canales's call to convention, photo courtesy of the Republic of the Rio Grande Museum, Laredo, TX. Casa Bl...

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 rather, the "provisional government for the northern border" was declared. Commentators then and podcasters now consider whether there is in fact a difference between these two ideas. Photo courtesy of the Republic of the Rio Grande Museum, La...

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 Carbajal, the Rio Grande Federalists win their greatest battle to-date. Yet diplomatic recognition eludes them, as a new Centralist opponent emerges with a knack for the public relations game – General Mariano Arista. Selected Bibliography Anna, Timothy E...

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 cowboy - establishes himself as the kingmaker over Northeastern Mexico. And led by San Antonian José María Carvajal, the Rio Grande Federalists call on some old allies in the fight against Centralism - the Texians. Selected Bibliography Anna, Timothy...