Dac Crossley's Western Blog

Crossing the Brazos at Fort Bend

General Santa Ana felt certain that Sam Houston was taking his little army of rebellious “Texicans” across the Sabine River and into Louisiana, United States territory where the Mexican army couldn’t reach them. The Mexican general wanted to capture Houston’s troops and punish them, as he’d punished the rebels at the Alamo a month previously. The Brazos River stood in Santa Ana’s way.

That stream was swollen from springtime rains. Houston’s army had been ferried to eastern bank at the Fort Bend Crossing. The ferry boat now stood moored on the far bank of the Brazos river. What was Santa Ana to do?

He sent his Colonel Juan Nepomuceno Almonte to stand on the riverbank and call across to the ferryman. Almonte’s early education was in New Orleans; he spoke perfect English and easily convinced the ferryman that he was a member of Houston’s army, left behind. When the ferry returned across the Brazos, Santa Ana captured it.

Almonte was destined for a distinguished career as a Mexican diplomat. He’d made an inspection tour of Texas two years previously, and warned the of the brewing rebellion. He had indeed led troops at the battle of the Alamo, and made only terse entries in his diary.

Sam Houston’s Texans defeated the Mexican army at the battle of San Jacinto a few days after Santa Ana crossed the Brazos. After Santa Ana fled the battlefield in disguise, Almonte organized whatever resistance he could manage and made the formal surrender to the wounded Sam Houston. He accompanied Santa Ana into captivity and served as his translator.

Juan Almonte, the son of a Catholic Priest and an Indian woman, rose to high office in Mexico. A life-long conservative, he fought against liberal factions and warned that Mexico might be taken over by the United States if left unchecked. Perhaps he got it backwards?

The town of Almonte, Ontario is named after Juan Almonte but for reasons I don’t understand. Almonte is the only town in Ontario named after a Mexican General. Or so I’ve read.

Dac Crossley
April 18, 2016.

“Soldiers of the Army of the Republic of Texas! I leave you one thought to take with you across the plain of San Jacinto and into the camp of Santa Ana. Remember the Alamo!” – General Sam Houston (according to my mother, Eugenia Baird Crossley).

The World Is Green

Wherever you are – in the Northern Hemisphere – this is the season of rebirth, renewal, and rejoice. When the world turns green again. Winter might be long and dull and brown, but when foliage bursts upon us all that is thrown away.

By now, down in South Texas, green foliage must be concealing the thorns on all that variety of brushy stems. Are the scissor-tails back? Are the shrikes hanging grasshoppers on the barb-wire fences? Any roadrunners navigating the lane in front of you as you drive along? Are the blossoms of the mesquite, the huisache, the retama still intriguing to a barefoot boy?

Here in Georgia our azaleas bloom and become overwhelming. As for me, I rejoice in the many shades of green. The piedmont is a forest, given the chance. On the track to the Cabin on the Ridge, I motor through a green tunnel. April might be my favorite month of the year. Except for June.

If you’re an ecologist as old as I am, “The world is green” has another connotation. Once upon a time three ecologists sat in their easy chairs and proclaimed that, since the world is green, animals shouldn’t ever have to run out of food.

“Pass the donuts, Larry. Thank you, Nelson.”

Dac Crossley
April 12, 2016

“Come fill the cup, and in the fire of Spring, your winter garments of repentance fling…” – Omar the tentmaker.

The Hand of Lou Diamond

Say you get onto the elevator and realize you’re standing right beside a literary agent. You have only a one-floor ride to describe your new novel. So, here’s my “elevator pitch” for The Hand of Lou Diamond.

“When young Nicolette Devereux, an orphan raised in an 1880 San Francisco brothel, is dismissed from a Nashville boarding school she must make her way west armed with only her wits and considerable skill at the game of poker.”

I first met Lottie Deno, famous woman gambler on the Texas frontier, in pages of the novel The Staked Plain by Dallas Journalist Frank X Tolbert. Lottie Deno passed through the frontier forts during the Indian wars, dealing cards in temporary saloons called “Blind Pigs.” Lottie usually won. She kept her cool during gunfights, picking up her winnings while six-guns blazed. She eventually married her gambling partner, quit the saloons and became a church member and doyen in New Mexico society.

So I took Lottie Deno as my inspiration for Nicolette Devereux in The Hand of Lou Diamond. And, believe it or not, the life of young Ida-May DeRyee Crossley, my grandmother, played a part as well. Raised a child of privilege, Ida-May was abruptly thrust into the real world with no preparation for it and a disabled father and a young boy in her care. She rose to the occasion. So did Nicolette Devereux, a.k.a. Lou Diamond.

The publisher of Oak Tree Press has scheduled a release date in June. That’s not too far off, is it? I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime – have you read my other three Oak Tree western novels? Find them at www.oaktreepress.com.

Dac Crossley
April 1, 2016. Happy Birthday, Liz B!!

“Part of the ten million I spent on gambling, part on booze and part on women. The rest I spent foolishly.” – George Raft.