Books

Interested in obtaining books or booklets containing information about Frio County History and Families? These could be helpful to those of you who are descendants of families that lived in Frio County long ago, but live too far away to access this information at the local Pearsall library.

The booklet, "Frio County, Texas - A History" (148 pages), costs $16.00 (plus shipping costs), and contains mostly "family" history. The booklet, "Historic Frio County, 1871-1971" (80 pages), costs $13.00. (plus shipping costs), and contains mostly County history. Check the following indexes to see the families mentioned in the $16.00 book. (Index A - L) (Index M - Z). If interested e-mail the Pearsall Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber of Commerce phone number is: (830) 334-9414.

If you are interested in obtaining the book From Rattlesnakes to Road Agents: Rough Times on the Frio by Frances Bramlette Farris, try Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com.

In 1869, sixteen-year-old Charley Hester ran away from home in Illinois and headed for Texas. Eventually he made his way to Frio County, where he spent time working on the Hiler Ranch and the Woodward and Oge Ranch. In the 1930s, Warner Brothers used Hester as an adviser during the course of filming the movie Dodge City, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia DeHavilland. Shortly before he died in 1940, Hester dictated a detailed memoir of his adventures as a cowboy, which is now being published into a book titled The True Life Wild West Memoir of a Bush-Popping Cow Waddy. In this memoir, in-depth profiles are provided of Frio County's Caven Woodward, Louis Oge, and William S. Hiler (Hester complimented the man he respectfully referred to as "Mr. Hiler" for having "worked hard and rode far"). For more information on this book, which one reviewer has claimed to be "fast paced, easy to read, full of good humor." Try Nebraska Press if you're interested in purchasing this book containing a bit of Frio County Ranching History.

Early Settlers and Indian Fighters of Southwest Texas by A. J. Sowell, first published in 1900 has a good article about Big Foot Wallace. To find a copy, check used booksellers and the internet (Alibris & Abe Books are two of my favorites).

The Trail Drivers of Texas by Marvin J Hunter contains stories about W.A. Roberts of Frio Town and W.S. Franks, George F. Hindus, W.F. Cude, George F. Hindes, J.B.C. Harkness & W.E. Thompson of Pearsall. Published by University of Texas Press in 1985.

Captain C. B. McKinney: The Law in South Texas by Churck Parsons with Gary P. Fitterer contains stories about Charles Brown McKinney, Texas Ranger, and La Salle, Dimmit and Frio Counties.