I've run across the most interesting accounts in early Texas history that you would not expect at all given the usual top-down narrative. Here are some examples, and it pays to search for a most suitable version from your library or online source (bookseller or sometimes avail in audio or free with expired copyright).
1500's Cabeza de Vaca memoirs of being longterm shipwrecked in Texas. I read the book, but this example may be an equivalent free audiobook: https://archive.org/details/journey_of_cabeza_de_vaca_sa_librivox
This is a quite sympathetic Spaniard who wants more positive relations with Indians than his bosses. He makes first encounters from Florida to Mexico, but sees the dark side when stuck with a near starving tribe hemmed in by enemy tribes around Galveston. He accidently appears to bring "dead" (comatose) indians back to life, so as a medicine man is given permission to cross the honeycomb of tribal war boundaries back to freedom.
1800ish The Extraordinary Double Life of General James Wilkinson, by Andro Linklater. A right hand man of George Washington and sort of for Pres. Jefferson, but he was a Spanish spy! He was made governor of the Louisiana territory that comprises much of the present US midwest, yet he sabotaged possible expansions south near or towards Texas which may have been welcomed by those residents. Spain bolstered their feeble presence in Texas as a result but failed to quash the (leaked) Lewis and Clark expedition which could have halted US moves to the west.
1830ish With Santa Anna in Texas: A Personal Narrative of the Revolution by de la Pena. The first half is spellbinding with him admiring how the "enemy immigrants" have transformed desolate Texas into modern productive farms and ranches. The second half is suspected to be a fake (the wormholes don't extend from vol 1 to 2) with a weird spin on the Alamo battle, etc.
P.S even a Sam Houston bio can put the Texas war for independence in a surprising light. Ordered troops to relocate from the Alamo which looked so clearly indefensible... but nobody obeyed. His final victory appeared a defeat that put his head in hands... until Santa Anna was taken by chance as a hostage. He didn't want slavery, while most original Spanish residents wanted to emulate rich Natchez slaveholders. BTW Santa Anna later tricks the US into letting him out of exile to help defuse (actually expand) the Mexi war as noted below.
1840ish The Training Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848 by Dugard. Or you can go into free onlne memoirs of Grant and Sherman where Hispanic parts are more interesting than their civil war parts. They were peaceniks, unhappy with any more than defensive border skirmishes! They had many serendipitous encounters, sometimes being treated as liberators of towns where the Mexican army couldn't defend them from overwhelming Indian raids. They hated the Texas Rangers who made revenge raids on civvies, yet couldn't punish them due to a loophole in Army regulations.
1500's Cabeza de Vaca memoirs of being longterm shipwrecked in Texas. I read the book, but this example may be an equivalent free audiobook: https://archive.org/details/journey_of_cabeza_de_vaca_sa_librivox
This is a quite sympathetic Spaniard who wants more positive relations with Indians than his bosses. He makes first encounters from Florida to Mexico, but sees the dark side when stuck with a near starving tribe hemmed in by enemy tribes around Galveston. He accidently appears to bring "dead" (comatose) indians back to life, so as a medicine man is given permission to cross the honeycomb of tribal war boundaries back to freedom.
1800ish The Extraordinary Double Life of General James Wilkinson, by Andro Linklater. A right hand man of George Washington and sort of for Pres. Jefferson, but he was a Spanish spy! He was made governor of the Louisiana territory that comprises much of the present US midwest, yet he sabotaged possible expansions south near or towards Texas which may have been welcomed by those residents. Spain bolstered their feeble presence in Texas as a result but failed to quash the (leaked) Lewis and Clark expedition which could have halted US moves to the west.
1830ish With Santa Anna in Texas: A Personal Narrative of the Revolution by de la Pena. The first half is spellbinding with him admiring how the "enemy immigrants" have transformed desolate Texas into modern productive farms and ranches. The second half is suspected to be a fake (the wormholes don't extend from vol 1 to 2) with a weird spin on the Alamo battle, etc.
P.S even a Sam Houston bio can put the Texas war for independence in a surprising light. Ordered troops to relocate from the Alamo which looked so clearly indefensible... but nobody obeyed. His final victory appeared a defeat that put his head in hands... until Santa Anna was taken by chance as a hostage. He didn't want slavery, while most original Spanish residents wanted to emulate rich Natchez slaveholders. BTW Santa Anna later tricks the US into letting him out of exile to help defuse (actually expand) the Mexi war as noted below.
1840ish The Training Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848 by Dugard. Or you can go into free onlne memoirs of Grant and Sherman where Hispanic parts are more interesting than their civil war parts. They were peaceniks, unhappy with any more than defensive border skirmishes! They had many serendipitous encounters, sometimes being treated as liberators of towns where the Mexican army couldn't defend them from overwhelming Indian raids. They hated the Texas Rangers who made revenge raids on civvies, yet couldn't punish them due to a loophole in Army regulations.