The Spanish Borderlands

In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt addressed the American Historical Association to call for American history to be written as compelling stories of literary quality. Editor Allen Johnson of Yale University responded by publishing the Chronicles of America series: 50 succinct volumes on regional and thematic American history. These books, intended for secondary schools and college students, are expository works of American history composed by competent historians in the 1920's, well before the special pleading and upending of social norms typical of histories after 1970. This series is focused on the mainstream of American political life and leadership from its initial volumes on Native Americans and European colonists to its final volumes on Woodrow Wilson, Canada, and the Hispanic Republics to our South. Volume #23 of the series, The Spanish Borderlands by Herbert Bolton, is the account of the first Spanish explorers and settlers of what later became the United States. It covers the exploration and settlement of Florida, Texas, California, and the Spanish administration of French Louisiana. The adventure, shipwreck, conquest, and often brutal encounters with natives and European rivals makes this account engaging and of enduring interest. Herbert Bolton was a world-renowned authority on Spanish-America in his day, authored nearly one-hundred books, and won the Bancroft Prize for his 1949 biography of Coronado. This work has been formatted and reprinted for Tall Men Books. It is not a facsimile reprint.