Dac Crossley's Western Blog

The Third Language of Texas

In my South Texas novels I’ve included the conflict between Hispanic and Anglo cultures. I’m intrigued by the manner in which these two societies brush against one another, remaining separate while sharing values.

My cousin Julian B. reminded me of a third prominent cultural group – the Germans. He’s right. In my childhood German was spoken in parts of the Hill Country. I remember passing through the Fredericksburg, Mason, Brady area and hearing the German language in Cafes.

As I recall it, a half-century ago a bill was introduced into the Texas Legislature that would require all elementary school teachers to be bilingual – in English and Spanish. An amendment added a third language – German. There weren’t that many trilingual teachers available in Texas at the time. The Texas Legislature, ever grabbing at flies.

German was indeed the third language of Texas. An immigration company managed to transplant some of the German proletariat to a new home in Texas, where they would become a market for German manufacture and, perhaps, become a New Germany. The company was poorly managed and soon failed, but it did spark a German settlement at Comal Springs (now New Braunfels).

The immigrants purchased thousands of acres further west in the hill country, right in the middle of the Comanche Indians’ hunting grounds. A second township, Fredericksburg, was established. In a landmark achievement, John Meusebach eventually arranged a peace treaty with the Comanches. The German settlements were secure.

A decade or so ago I sat in a bar in Fredericksburg, Texas, listening to the oom-pah music blasting out across the street. A German tourist entered the bar, attracted by the music and hoping to speak the tongue with someone. No chance! I offered some of my feeble German; we chatted in English. The second language in that bar was Spanish.

My great-grandfather spent a year in a German retirement home, Altenheim, near Comfort, Texas. I visited Altenheim a few years back. No German spoken there. English and Spanish.

The German presence still makes itself felt in Texas through surnames, stone barns, slanted roofs, breweries and sausage. And an attitude.

Now – about those Czechs…

Dac Crossley
February 17, 2014

Happy birthday, Kevan Odabashian.

“Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals.” – Samuel Ullman.

A Sweetheart of the West

Just in time for Valentine' Day -- I'm talking this morning with Celia Yeary, an organizer of Sweethearts of the West.. Celia lives in the beautiful Hill Country of Texas and writes western romance novels, with that special Texas flavor. Check out her web site at: www.celiayeary.com.

Good Morning, Celia, and welcome to Dac's Western Blog. I see that we're both grads of Texas Tech way out in Lubbock. Whatever led you to that lonely part of the State?

An oil company in 1944. I was four years old, the same age as our first car, a 1940 Ford. It was a way out of a small poor farming community in North Texas, just as the war ended. I have two sisters, so Mother and Daddy packed the bare essentials for the five of us into the trunk of that car. We were transient and "homeless" for six years, following oil drilling sites for the company out west. Lord, we lived in everything you can think of that was rented out--even motels, and moved twice a year. In 1950, Daddy was moved to Levelland--about 25 Miles west of Lubbock--Mother set her foot down and told Daddy she wanted to live there so the girls could grow up in one place. He built us a very nice house. There we stayed.

Now you’re in San Marcos, one of the beauty spots in Texas. That river is remarkably diverse, I hear. Are people there working to protect it, and your environment?

Absolutely. The headwaters are right in town. Numerous large springs bubble up from the Edwards Aquifer to form Spring Lake, and from there, the river meanders south. The San Marcos River Foundation is large and run by a group of passionate and dedicated people. Texas State University bought the old Aquarena site, so they have Spring Lake and surrounding area to use as a teaching and research venue, and have preserved everything they can.
There are three endangered species in the river--the Fountain Darter, a tiny fish; the Blind Salamander, a very small almost transparent creature; and a stand of ancient Wild Rice that thrives in the river.
Archeologists have found evidence that the San Marcos River at its head is most likely the oldest continually human populated spot in North America. I believe the evidence comes from a Clovis point. Spanish coins and other artifacts have provided a wonderful history of the river.

And you’re an organizer of Sweethearts of the West, and a writer of Texas romantic novels. What sets a Texas romance novel apart from, say, a southern romance?


Hmm, let's see.
Southerners stay in place--the South. The mindset of Southerners is probably different from the Westerner mindset. Southerners would tend to protect what they have, and might possibly be less open to new ideas and new expansions.
Westerners are just that because they have traveled west. The travelers, the pioneers, and the settlers, would tend to be more open-minded and free of old restraints. Being free of old restraints, they might accept others more readily. Westerners believe in a man's word, and take him at it, too.
One thing they have in common is how they treat a woman, a dog, a horse, or a child--with tenderness, protectiveness, and fairness. But a westerner might see the woman as more of an equal partner--because of the workload, probably.
Now, am I in trouble?

Where do you see the world of publishing headed? Commercial publisher versus self-publication? Paper versus e-book? What’s your personal favorite way to read a novel?

Good question, one that is argued often. As of now, only 10% of books bought and read are eBooks. Yes, we think the eBook revolution has taken over, but no, it has not. The print book is still viable--by the statistics, 90% of books sold everywhere are prints.
The self-publications certainly are surging, and in some arenas, they dominate the market. This will either continue, or there will be a backlash from the reading public. Not all self-pubbed novels are created equal.

Me? I see an eBook as an alternate way to read. I still love to go to my local library, a very big thriving place, not only for books, but it's a learning center. There I look for a "treasure", a new hardback or paperback by a favorite author. And yes, I smell it, and I love to hold it,
and read every word.

I understand you have a new novel coming out. What’s your next project?

My next project is a new series called Trinity Hill Brides. The fictional town of Trinity Hill sits in the middle of the Texas Hill Country in the late 19th Century. The first is Book I: Kathleen.
Also, I'm struggling with a kind of memoir which is anecdotal tales from my childhood. I have enough material, but I don't know how to describe it--it's non-fiction, but how many biographies contain "fictional" memories?

Can Texas politics get any worse?

Oh, sure it can! How long have you been away from Texas, anyway?
Thanks so much for inviting me to your blog.

Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit of Texas

My email: celiayeary@yahoo.com
My website: http://www.celiayeary.com
My blog: http://celiayeary.blogspot.com