From Quakers to Cowboys

From Quakers to Cowboys--the Journey The author set out to solve a mystery-why did the Quaker Evans family leave Wales in the 17th century to come to the American colonies and how did they end up being Baptist cowboys in Texas by the 19th century. The book also includes some lesser known but fascinating stories of American history that occurred during the past four centuries in the areas where the Evans family lived.The book begins with the lives of the Evans family in Wales and what it was like to be persecuted for Quaker beliefs. It follows them to America and describes their rustic lives in the colonies. Within a couple of generations, a grandson of a Quaker minister is fighting for the freedom of the colonies in the Revolutionary War. The adventurous Musgrove Evans (II) starts a town in the Michigan wilderness, then moves his family to Texas while it is still controlled by Mexico. Mexico is imposing quickly changing rules on the intrepid Anglos coming in as settlers. The Texians rebel, and one conflict after another envelops the Evans family. They are involved in the Battle of the Alamo, the Battle of San Jacinto, an expedition attempting to free American prisoners in Mexico, battles with Indians in Utah Territory, politics in California, and fighting on opposite sides during the Civil War. Texas is involved in intermittent conflicts with the Territory of New Mexico. We learn how the Civil War affected New Mexico and California. There are stories about the lives of William Evans and his son George who are living in the days of the wild West in the 1800s. George had already run into cattle thieves and lynchings while still a young teen-ager, so he had led a remarkable life even before he put his young family in a covered wagon and coaxed hundreds of longhorn cattle to walk for months on a journey that went more than half way across Texas, and included frightening stampedes in the middle of the night. The Evans and Means families traveled in covered wagons to the Davis Mountains in West Texas when no fences corralled the land. The book includes stories about how the Civil War affected Fort Davis, how camels came to be there, and Buffalo Soldiers. There are tales about Indian battles and outlaws from both sides of the border. The author included many stories from her grandfather, Will Evans, who lived them. He described in vivid and colorful detail the lives of ranch families in the latter part of the 1800s and the early 1900s. He loved his life as a cowboy and told what it was like. He painted wonderful verbal pictures of the interesting characters who added spice and humor to daily life. In those days when vicious predators were numerous, hunting was an important part of the ranchers' lives and there are stories about exciting encounters with bears and panthers. There was spirituality too and the ranch families started the Bloys Cowboy Camp Meeting because churches were too far away. This book includes its history, funny incidents and scary incidents, and why people love it still. There are also stories that describe the arrival of the railroad, and the challenges when the first automobiles and homesteaders came on the scene and changed the lives of the cowboys forever.