WEDNESDAY WAS INDEED A SPECIAL DAY for Tom Linton. The Texas City-based author teamed up with co-author Chris O’Shea Roper and longtime friend and illustrator Joseph A. Hoover to introduce his latest project, Legacy of the Early Gulf Coast Cowboys, an eye-opening read about three different sets of Cowboys who arrived in the area long before Stephen F. Austin first laid his roots into what would become the state of Texas.
The day was also intertwined with a presentation of a replica of the cattle brand of Calvin Bell, an original founder of the 1867 Settlement in West Texas City. The original branding iron, which was donated by Felicia Taylor – one of Bell’s descendants – is currently on display at the Smithsonian African Museum in Washington, D.C.
Bell’s cattle brand was the first to be registered to an African-American in Galveston County. It is quite possible that the cattle brand was the first in the state of Texas to be registered to an African-American.
The journey of the Bells, along with the Butlers and Hobgoods that would become the foundation of the community that would eventually become La Marque, is well-established in the book. Each came from tribesmen from northwestern Africa, an area where farming was minimal due to the heat in the region but was where cattle thrived.
Forced into slavery, some of the farmers migrated to the Gulf Coast via North Carolina. Although the region was a poor place to produce cotton, it was a godsend for producing cattle, playing right into the strengths of the farmers.
Among those in attendance at the event, which was held at the Texas City Museum, was Rodeo Hall of Famer Harold Cash, who grew up and still resides in the Settlement. Cash also spoke briefly and touched on how he would like to develop a Hall of Fame in Galveston County for African-American rodeo riders.
“I tell stories,” said Linton. “I’m not much of a writer, but I am fortunate to have Chris, who has an amazing way of turning my ideas into words.”
O’Shea Roper talked about how Linton first came to her with the project that led to the book. “He came with a box of notes, files and hard drives,” she said. “I asked him, ‘what is this?’ and he told me this is the book I was talking about.”
For Hoover, who grew up on watching classic cowboys on television, the experience of participating in producing the book was a revelation.
“I realized that we weren’t all Gene Autry and Roy Rogers,” he said.
Hoover has an extensive presence in the book, contributing most of the over 100 illustrations in it.
The book also takes a look at the Celtic Scots, who were forced out of their land during the peak of the Industrial Age. Like the farmers of northwestern Africa, the Scots also found their home on the Gulf Coast because of their ability to raise cattle.
Well-versed in cattle as well, the Acadians of Nova Scotia began their path to the Gulf Coast when their refusal to take an oath to the British led to the LeGrand Derangement (1755-1764), the forced removal of the Acadians from Canada to France. Many of them were eventually recruited by the Spanish government to migrate to what is now Louisiana.
“I had talked about writing a book for many years,” said Linton. “This book brings to light a piece of Texas history that had gone unnoticed for such a long time.”
The book can be purchased at leaguecityhistoricshoopes.com.
