In today's Texas, with its growing urban populations and big-city lifestyles, it is worth remembering that in 1850 only 10 percent of Texans lived in towns with as many as 100 people. The rest - of various ethnic and racial groups - lived off the land, which was blessedly suited to a profitable variety of crops and livestock and also provided an abundance of wildlife free for the taking. In Texas Roots, C. Allan Jones reminds us that the economic wealth of modern Texas arose from its agricultural heritage, a rich mixture of practices and traditions including: Caddo hunting, gathering, gardening, and farming; Irrigated agriculture at Spanish missions; Hispanic ranching; Slave-based plantations; Small-scale farmers and ranchers; Through time, people adapted the agricultural technologies, laws, and customs of New Spain, Mexico, Europe, and the South to their own practical, institutional, and legal needs. The result was a particularly Texan system that would serve as the foundation for the state's economic strength after the Civil War. Texas Roots spotlights the connection between Texans and the land, bringing alive an aspect of the state's history that contributed immeasurably to its identity and prosperity.
