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All right, then - my other three novels are about the German settlements in the Texas Hill Country; has anyone outside of Texas ever heard about how 7,000 German immigrants were essentially dumped on the farthest frontier - as one of my characters says "like a basket of unwanted kittens"?
Right then - so they were, in the mid 1840s. My "Adelsverein Trilogy" originally started as one book: Adelsverein - Book One: The Gathering
This tells the story of how the Steinmetz and Richter families signed on with the Mainzer Adelsverein, a quasi-charitable foundation started by a group of high-minded German noblemen to start an entrepreneur colony in Texas. Once arrived in Texas, after a horrific journey, the eldest Steinmetz daughter meets and is courted by a young Texian frontiersman with a dangerous past.
Book Two is Adelsverein - Book Two: The Sowing which carries the story up through the Civil War, which was as tragically eventful in Texas as anywhere else in the South.
The German settlers were Unionists, and very much opposed to chattel slavery... as well as to the draft. Martial law was declared in the Hill Country, and a pro-Confederate lynch gang, known as the 'hangerbande' terrorized those citizens who had been outspoken against secession.
The final volume, Adelsverein - Book Three: The Harvesting carries the story of the Steinmetz, Becker and Richter families through the post-war recovery, and the start of the Texas cattle industry.
Even though the war is over, tragedy still haunts the families; the older generation is passing on, and a generation of children growing to maturity who know nothing but living in America. But Hansi Richter and his sons and nephews have a plan to invest in trailing cattle from Texas to the north, which sets their feet on - as Hansi himself says "a path of gold and silver."
I actually didn't make up very much of the plot, or the cast of secondary characters - the history of the German settlements in Texas was full of totally dramatic happenings and fascinating and eccentric people.
Right then - so they were, in the mid 1840s. My "Adelsverein Trilogy" originally started as one book: Adelsverein - Book One: The Gathering
This tells the story of how the Steinmetz and Richter families signed on with the Mainzer Adelsverein, a quasi-charitable foundation started by a group of high-minded German noblemen to start an entrepreneur colony in Texas. Once arrived in Texas, after a horrific journey, the eldest Steinmetz daughter meets and is courted by a young Texian frontiersman with a dangerous past.
Book Two is Adelsverein - Book Two: The Sowing which carries the story up through the Civil War, which was as tragically eventful in Texas as anywhere else in the South.
The German settlers were Unionists, and very much opposed to chattel slavery... as well as to the draft. Martial law was declared in the Hill Country, and a pro-Confederate lynch gang, known as the 'hangerbande' terrorized those citizens who had been outspoken against secession.
The final volume, Adelsverein - Book Three: The Harvesting carries the story of the Steinmetz, Becker and Richter families through the post-war recovery, and the start of the Texas cattle industry.
Even though the war is over, tragedy still haunts the families; the older generation is passing on, and a generation of children growing to maturity who know nothing but living in America. But Hansi Richter and his sons and nephews have a plan to invest in trailing cattle from Texas to the north, which sets their feet on - as Hansi himself says "a path of gold and silver."
I actually didn't make up very much of the plot, or the cast of secondary characters - the history of the German settlements in Texas was full of totally dramatic happenings and fascinating and eccentric people.
SO, if these are available on Kindle then a person traveling in the area could easily pull up all of the historical stuff... things that did not get a Historical Marker.
