Saturday, October 5th, 2:00-4:00 p.m.

Legacy of the Early Gulf Coast Cowboys
by Chris O’Shea Roper and Tom Linton

Galveston Bookshop will host a book signing on Saturday, October 5th, 2:00-4:00 p.m. with returning authors Chris O’Shea Roper and Tom Linton and their look into the origins of the cowboy mythos, by way of the early cattlemen of the Texas Gulf Coast.

The story of the original cowboys of the Gulf Coast salt-grass prairies began long before Stephen F. Austin established a colony in the area and invited settlers to join him. It began with dispossessed farmers and nomadic cattle herders from as far away as Scotland, Nova Scotia, and Africa.

These cowboys and cattlemen lived a life far removed from the glamorous accounts that Hollywood would have us believe. Originally, their trail drives took them east to New Orleans during the Civil War years, and later north along trails with names like Chisolm. It has even been said that the mystique of the cowboy of the Wild Wild West owes its existence to these cowboys of the Wild Wild East.

Many of them – with names like Broussard, Butler, Campbell, Dick, and White – established farms and ranches that grew into family enterprises that make up the fabric of these coastal-prairie communities today. Some of the formerly enslaved also established homesteads in an area now preserved as The 1867 Settlement.

This book blends historical research into the origins of these men and women, with personal anecdotes and stories from their descendants to create a very readable tale.

Chris and Tom are also authors of the book Water is for Fighting Over: A Compilation of Articles on Water Resource Management in Texas.