The French in Texas
The French in Texas
History, Migration, Culture
2005 — San Antonio Conservation Society Citation
Original articles that explore the French presence and influence on Texas history, arts, education, religion, and business.
The flag of France is one of the six flags that have flown over Texas, but all that many people know about the French presence in Texas is the ill-fated explorer Cavelier de La Salle, fabled pirate Jean Laffite, or Cajun music and food. Yet the French have made lasting contributions to Texas history and culture that deserve to be widely known and appreciated. In this book, François Lagarde and thirteen other experts present original articles that explore the French presence and influence on Texas history, arts, education, religion, and business from the arrival of La Salle in 1685 to 2002.
Each article covers an important figure or event in the France-Texas story. The historical articles thoroughly investigate early French colonists and explorers, the French pirates and privateers, the Bonapartists of Champ-d'Asile, the French at the Alamo, Dubois de Saligny and French recognition of the Republic of Texas, the nineteenth-century utopists of Icaria and Reunion, and the French Catholic missions. Other articles deal with French immigration in Texas, including the founding of Castroville, Cajuns in Texas, and the French economic presence in Texas today (the first such study ever published). The remaining articles look at painters Théodore and Marie Gentilz, sculptor Raoul Josset, French architecture in Texas, French travelers from Théodore Pavie to Simone de Beauvoir who have written on Texas, and the French heritage in Texas education. More than seventy color and black-and-white illustrations complement the text.
This book ranks as the best overall study of the French experience in Texas ever assembled. It will be useful to both specialists and general readers curious about the many French accomplishments and failures in Texas.
- Introduction, François Lagarde
- 1. The Wreck of Ships and Dreams: A New Look at the Explorer La Salle, Robert S. Weddle
- 2. Exploring the Texas Coast: Bellisle, Béranger, and La Harpe, 1719-1721, Robert S. Weddle and Patricia R. Lemée
- 3. Ambivalent Successes and Successful Failures: St. Denis, Aguayo, and Juan Rodriguez, Patricia R. Lemée
- 4. Athanase de Mézières and the French in Texas, 1750-1803, F. Todd Smith
- 5. French Pirates and Privateers in Texas, R. Dale Olson
- 6. Champ d'Asile, Texas, Betje Black Klier
- 7. Heroes, Villains, Merchants, and Priests: The Alamo's Frenchmen, Betje Black Klier
- 8. Diplomacy, Commerce, and Colonization: Saligny and the Republic, François Lagarde
- 9. Grounds for Emigration: Alsace at the Time of Henri Castro, Janine Erny
- 10. Henri Castro and Castroville: Alsatian History and Heritage, Wayne M. Ahr
- 11. French Catholic Missions: Propagation and Enterprise, François Lagarde
- 12. Birth, Stock, and Work: French Immigration in Texas, François Lagarde
- 13. French Artists in Texas, Martha Utterback
- 14. Eugénie Lavender, née Aubanel: A Romantic on the Frontier, Martha Utterback
- 15. Building Utopia in the Promised Land: Icarians and Fourierists in Texas, Jonathan Beecher
- 16. Is There French Architecture in Texas? Richard Cleary
- 17. The Enduring Legacy of the French to Education in Texas, Ann Marie Caldwell
- 18. French Travelers in Texas: Identity, Myth, and Meaning from Joutel to Butor, Alexandra Wettlaufer
- 19. "Grand Texas": The Cajun Migration to Texas, Carl Brasseaux
- 20. Raoul Josset and the Texas Centennial, François Lagarde
- 21. Global Culture: French Economic Presence in Texas, Summer 2001, François Lagarde
- 22. Epilogue, François Lagarde
- Selected Bibliography
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Index
