The Nacogdoches Archives are not the product of a single agency or office, but are instead an assembled collection of records produced during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries by political and military officials representing the Spanish and Mexican governments; this collection was preserved at Nacogdoches from the colonial era until 1850 when it was transferred to the Texas Secretary of State's custody. Record types include correspondence, decrees, and reports of Spanish colonial and Mexican government officials; correspondence and reports of military and political officials stationed within the Province (later the State) of Coahuila y Texas; municipal records of Nacogdoches and the vicinity; censuses (padrones); election records (elecciones); and documents such as entrance certificates and certificates of citizenship.

All but a few records of the Nacogdoches Archives are in Spanish; a sizable portion was translated into English from the 1920s through the 1950s by Texas historian Robert B. Blake. These bound translations, which are available in the Archives, provide the content in the description below. It should be noted, however, that the order of the Blake translations does not always match the current arrangement of the Nacogdoches Archives, which were reprocessed in the 1980s around the time of their microfilming. Contact staff for further assistance if the finding aids below do not help in your search.

(Sources: Nacogdoches Archives, Handbook of Texas Online, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/lcn01, accessed April 20, 2012; A Guide to Genealogical Resources in the Texas State Archives, Texas State Library and Archives Commission, 1984.)

Records that mention Indians with some frequency include the reports and correspondence produced by the respective head officials at the Nacogdoches military post and the presidio at San Antonio de Bexar. These reports, which list the visitors received at these posts daily, note the arrival and departure of bands of specific Indian tribes and the sorts of gifts received from, or goods exchanged with, the colonists and military personnel. Some letters exchanged between these two heads and the governor of the province also describe the challenges faced in maintaining, or creating, amicable relations with tribes influenced by either American interests or the attitudes of more combative tribes; certain documents also note the officials' efforts to accommodate newly-arrived bands of Indians moving westward from the United States after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. This correspondence, listed in the Blake transcripts as Spanish Archives and Bexar Archives, provides a helpful and specific look at events resulting from general political developments in both New Spain/Mexico and America.

Certain documents also provide a glimpse as to how Indians living in the Nacogdoches region were regarded from a legal perspective. A criminal code drafted in 1783 by military commander Captain Antonio Gil Ybarbo made the sale of liquor to Indians a criminal offense due to the adverse effects they were said to exhibit as a result of drinking alcohol. Another legal item, a proclamation issued by the Commandant General of the Province in 1804, ordered all citizens and Indians to carry weapons when travelling due to the threat of outlaws and raiders; the allowed weaponry was listed according to socioeconomic class with Indians being allowed to possess a bow with arrows or a lance.

A few censuses, directly or indirectly, note the presence of Native American tribes in the Nacogdoches region. For instance, the 1796 census includes several foreigners of American or European extraction as having the position of Indian trader with tribes such as the Bidai, the Texas, and the Teguacante. The 1835 census enumerates groups of Choctaw and Huonna Indians who settled on certain tracts of land in the Teneha region of Nacogdoches.

Nacogdoches Archives Database, online at https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/nacogdoches.html

The Indian Papers of Texas and the Southwest (edited by Dorman Winfrey and James Day, published by Pemberton Press, 1966) also known as the Texas Indian Papers (TIP), is a compilation of transcribed documents from the Texas State Archives focusing on Native American tribes and affairs in Texas during much of the nineteenth century and into the early decades of the twentieth. The record types include correspondence, administrative and financial reports, council minutes, treaties, legislative resolutions, speeches, sales invoices, official appointments of agents, accounts, among others. These writings, chronologically arranged, provide a rich sense of the historical, economic, and political circumstances that led to instances of collaboration, but also frequent conflict, between the native tribes of Texas and the white settlers and leaders who successively claimed possession of the land and its resources under the political aegis of Mexico, the Republic of Texas, and eventually, the United States.

The records making up this collection were used by historians, students, and the general public for some decades during the twentieth century until 1959 when State Archivist Dorman Winfrey and others associated with the State Library and Archives were given the opportunity to compile and edit the TIP for publication in five volumes.

Note: The description below applies only to the first two volumes of the TIP.

Volume 1 covers the years 1825 to 1843, a period that saw, with respect to the settlers in Texas, the transition from Mexican rule to self-governance. The first document in the TIP, a passport issued in 1825 by Stephen F. Austin to a Lipan Apache chief for the purpose of moving safely through the province, is indicative of the efforts by some whites to coexist with the Indian tribes who had lived in the region long before their migration (Note: Virtually all documents in the TIP are individually numbered, with a very few instances of multiple documents being considered as a unit; in this guide, some items thought to be of exceptional interest will be alluded to in parenthesis by their given number). Following this initial item, a series of letters exchanged between provincial officials within the State of Coahuila y Texas during the early 1830s details the granting of land in the vicinity of Nacogdoches to the Cherokee; these letters are succeeded by later correspondence narrating conflicts between the tribe and new settlers on their land.

The provenance of the records then shifts from Mexican agencies to that of the newly-declared Republic of Texas toward the end of 1835. A series of documents consisting of official appointments, instructions, and treaties (4-8) shows the efforts of the provisional government to adopt conciliatory relations with the Cherokee and other tribes; Sam Houston, John Forbes, and John Cameron, for instance, were appointed as Commissioners by the provisional governor in order to engage in the making of a treaty with the Cherokee (broadly conceived as a collective of associated tribes), so as to guarantee their lands and establish political and economic amity between them and the new Republic.

Documents from 1837 and 1838 begin to bear on commonplaces within the TIP and Texas history in general. A letter addressed to Sam Houston on depredations committed by Indians on white settlements (12) is illustrative of later occurrences included in this and other volumes. Treaties made during these years with the Tonkawa, the Lipan Apache, and the Comanche (15, 16, 22, and 27) attest to repeated, mutual efforts of members within the new government and the respective tribes to live amicably. These records in particular are valuable in acknowledging the common conditions by which the parties were expected to abide, such as the mutual cessation of violence and unrest, the appointing of an Indian agent to each tribe that would act as a mediator between it and Texas, and the respecting of land boundaries on both sides. With respect to the treaties, which often took considerable time to organize and commence, bills of sale and drafts on government enumerate the gifts and monies given as presents to those tribes that maintained good relations, and agreed to treaties with Texas (these record types are present throughout the TIP). Another valuable item from this biennium reflecting thematic and historical commonplaces is the Report of the Standing Committee on Indian Affairs (14), a document which contains ethnographic information on tribes thought to be either hostile or friendly to Texas, as well as a formal nullification of the treaty signed between Houston and Forbes and the Cherokee in 1836.

The material included in the TIP from 1839 consists mainly of letters, reports, and proclamations that center on the conflicts existing between Texas and Indians, and the efforts made by the then-current President of the Republic, Mirabeau Lamar, to mitigate them through the removal of tribes from Texas. A prime instance of this is shown by Lamar's letter to Chief Bowles (34), the leader of the Cherokee, in which the former first upbraids the latter for removing an Indian agent from his people's settlement; the document goes on to assert that the treaty made between Texas and the Cherokee in 1836 is null and that the tribe has no claim to political sovereignty or land in the Republic. It further notes that the administration plans to remove the Cherokee to the Red River at some future time, but the means and manner depend upon how peacefully the tribe accepts its temporary status within Texas. Lamar's letter is representative of other records from this year which record instances of warfare between tribes and Texan military outfits, appointments of Indian agents tasked to remove the Shawnee and the Cherokee from Texas (36), and tenuous relations between citizens and neighboring tribes.

Records from 1840 and 1841 contain similar material on Indian depredations; the maintenance, or restoration, of good relations between certain tribes and the Texas government; and financial records relating to the expenses of, and credits to, Indian agents. One document in particular is noteworthy: an act signed by Lamar in January of 1840 authorizing a surveyor to measure and apportion pieces of land for the Alabama and Coushatta tribes to live on for some time into the future; an additional section of this act also provided for the eventual creation of a 30-square-mile reserve on the frontier in which friendly Indians could live until the time came for their removal (75).

Documents from 1842 also contain reports and letters of ongoing conflict between white settlers and Indians, as well as recorded efforts toward peace between those parties and also inter-tribally. Sam Houston, who succeeded Lamar as president in December of 1841, is an occasional correspondent in appointing Indian agents to work with tribes on the frontier; a letter sent to him from these agents during the fall notes their meetings with various tribes wishing for a future treaty with Texas (111).

Records from 1843 begin with drafts on the government made by Indian agents and officials, including Houston, in preparation for a council at Tehuacana Creek between Texas and various tribes. This council, which took place between March 28-31, is recorded extensively through minutes (122-123), which first note the presence of the Indian Commissioners representing Texas and the United States, their translators, and then names the several tribes that also took part (the Delaware, the Shawnee, the Caddo, the Wichita, and so on). The bulk of the council minutes are devoted to transcriptions of speeches by both Texas and Indian representatives which acknowledge the common desire for peace amidst the expansion of American and Texan interests. It concludes with a signed, mutual agreement toward the conditional cessation of hostilities and unrest between Texas and the Indians.

Other documents from this year include correspondence, drafts on government by Indian agents and interpreters, and formal proclamations and peace treaties between Texas and various tribes. Some letters from June sent by Joseph Eldredge, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, to Houston narrate the former's efforts to seek the migratory Comanche for a council; these records are followed by an armistice enacted in August between Texas and the Comanche to cease hostilities until the making of a permanent treaty (170-171, 184). A proclamation made by Houston in September and ratified by the senate in January of the following year notes the signing of a peace treaty between Texas and the tribes involved at the council in March (204); this document observes the formal cessation of war and depredation between the parties, the appointment of Indian agents to work with the tribes, the mutual exchange of prisoners on both sides, the avowal of due justice in cases of murder or stealing, and the authority of the President to send aid of varying kinds to tribes as needed. A final, significant document near the end of the first volume of the TIP is a letter sent in December from Eldredge to Houston which tells of the former's considerable efforts in finding and then meeting with the leader of the Comanche, Pah-hah-yuco, in order to facilitate a future council where a treaty could be made and signed; this first-person document, along with others written by agents within the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is quite vivid in showing the constant journeying and extensive time involved in their work.

Volume Two of the Texas Indian Papers contains material from 1844 and 1845, the last two years in which Texas was an independent republic. Beginning with records documenting the expenditures of the Indian Bureau and the appointing of new agents, a letter sent in March of 1844 from the Comanche chief Mopechucope to Sam Houston continues the earlier theme of efforts toward peace between Indian tribes and Texas (9). This letter praises the previous year's accomplishments between the involved parties, while noting that many of the Comanche bands were dispersed north and would not be available for a council until the fall. Succeeding correspondence from Thomas Western, the new Superintendent of Indian Affairs, to Houston later that spring tells of the extensive preparations made in acquiring goods to host the tribes involved in initial councils at Tehuacana Creek (13-16); the minutes of these meetings contain agreements by both Texan and Indian leaders on the mutual desire for peace and the need for the Comanche to be involved in the future treaty (27-29). Other records of interest include the transcription of a treaty signed by the Anadarko tribe and the United States, as well as correspondence from Western on preparations made during September for the impending Grand Council with the Comanche and other tribes.

This meeting, which is recorded in minutes, took place between October 7 and 9 at Tehuacana Creek and featured Houston and the leaders of the Comanche as the primary representatives of the two sides (75-76). Houston's opening remarks on mending the strained relationship between Texas and Indians are indicative of the sentiments subsequently expressed by the chiefs of the various tribes. The translating of the proposed treaty to the Indians is then followed by an extended dialogue between Houston and the Comanche war chief, Pochanaquarhip, on the boundaries of the designated hunting ground; the latter's disagreement on this topic leads to those lines being stricken from the treaty before he and other tribal leaders agree to the other terms of the document. This treaty of October 9, 1844, which is transcribed in full with all the signers' names, formalizes the peaceful relations between Texas and the eleven tribes present, allows the Indians to live and hunt in their grounds without disturbance from white settlers (and vice versa), establishes trading between the two sides, allows for the President to assist the Indians with tradesmen and teachers as needed, allows for the mutual exchange of prisoners, and arranges for an annual meeting between the parties.

Some other notable material from this year includes correspondence on the opening of trading houses for Indian commerce, a series of letters and a formal proclamation concerning the kidnapping and needed recovery of a pair of white siblings by Indians, a report made by the agent of the Alabama-Coushatta on unwarranted settling of white farmers on land given to the Indians, and a summary of the year's events concerning Indian relations from Thomas Western to the new President, Anson Jones.

Records from 1845 continue in the vein of the previous year's documents. Talks, or transcribed speeches, from the Comanche, Caddo, and Ioni chiefs that were sent to Western, evoke their satisfaction with the recently signed treaty conditions. Some of these talks were responded to by Western and Jones, who also made clear their desires for peace with the tribes and urged the leaders and their members, despite instances of depredation by some, to live peacefully with whites. Significant amounts of correspondence center on the impending council in September between Texas and the tribes that had signed the treaty at Tehuacana Creek; other topics of interest include the prohibition on selling alcohol to Indians, depredations made by members of the Waco against the whites and other Indian tribes, the entrance of United States troops to aid Texas in defending the frontier against Mexico, and the related transition of Texas from an independent republic to statehood.

As with previous treaties in the TIP, the council between Texas and the Indian tribes which took place between September 20th and 25th is extensively recorded through meeting minutes, consisting of a roll of the associated parties, as well as transcriptions of individual speeches made by leaders of both sides, and the distributing of presents to tribal leaders (300). A significant topic mentioned by one of the Indian Commissioners is the imminent annexation of Texas to the United States; while nothing more is said at the council, a letter sent beforehand from Western to the Commissioners in early September reminds the men not to speak of the unknown consequences that could result from the shift in responsibilities for land and Indian affairs (313).

Following the council, related correspondence intimates the changing political and historical landscape in Texas. One letter from the Commissioners to President Jones in late September mentions an agreement made by the Tonkawa and Lipan Apache to live within the grounds of the Comanche (330); another from a Comanche agent to Thomas Western notes the movement of white settlers into the tribe's territory, an incident that could incite war (364). The minutes of a council held between the Commissioners and leaders of the Waco, Tawakoni, Keechi, and Wichita in November contains references from one of the Texans that the Indians will have to learn agricultural means of subsistence due to the decreasing amount of wildlife (367). Additional correspondence and meeting minutes taken from a council with Comanche leaders during late 1845 indicate the tenuous peace efforts by Texas agents and various tribes as the republic and the Indians soon became subject to a greater political entity.

Circulating copies of the The Indian Papers of Texas and the Southwest, edited by Dorman Winfrey and James Day, Pemberton Press, 1966, are available in the Texas State Library (each volume has an index which is searchable by both name and place).

None.

This collection consists of Lamar's voluminous correspondence, state papers, editorials, poems, and his fragmentary histories of Texas and Mexico and biographies of prominent regional figures such as Moses and Stephen F. Austin, Santa Anna, Lorenzo de Zavala, among others. Also included in the papers are historical manuscripts written mostly by his contemporaries and collected by him as source material for the above efforts, as well as papers produced and collected by Lamar's descendants.

Note: This collection does not have an internal finding aid other than the calendar first published in 1914 which was revised and expanded for republication in 1982. The calendar does have an index which can be searched by subject and name.

Correspondence from or to Lamar, as well as those items written by his contemporaries and included in the papers, generally depict the difficult relationship between Texas and Indian tribes. A speech given by Lamar in June 1840 defending the aims of his administration reflects his staunch view that Indians were worthy of expulsion from the young Republic; an address made in 1839 called for companies of volunteers to protect the frontier against the threat of Indians. Letters sent to Lamar by private citizens, as well as military and political officials before, during, and after his term contain narrations of depredations by Indians, requests for aid against hostile tribes, plans for a military colony in west Texas to guard the frontier against Indian invasions, and also recommendations that peaceful tribes align themselves with Texas against its enemies.

Some correspondence shows the conciliatory efforts of other notable Republic-era figures such as Sam Houston toward Indians; one letter written in 1837 to Chief Bowles, the chief of the Cherokee, notes a desire to meet with him and leaders of other tribes in order to promote better relations between Texas and Indians. Other noteworthy documents in the Papers include two histories/ethnologies written roughly in the 1830s and 1840s which provide information on the Comanche tribe's religion, culture, political structure, patterns of migration, and lifeways.

Calendar of the papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, compiled and edited by Michael R. Green, Texas State Library, 1982 (a non-circulating copy is in the reference section of the Archives Reading Room; a circulating copy is also available in the State Library).

NOTE: This collection is still being processed; this entry's information is incomplete.

The documents comprising this collection consist largely of Sam Houston's correspondence; they were inherited by Andrew Jackson Houston, who kept them until his death. Other record types include reports, resolutions, proclamations, affidavits, depositions and other court documents, broadsides, speeches, invitations, receipts, drawings, and maps. Topics include Sam Houston's Texas-era careers, the Texas Revolution, Texas politics during the Republic era, the pre-Civil War era of statehood, annexation, secession, Indians, land claims, financial affairs, appointments, and personal friendships. About 4,870 items make up the papers.

The correspondence mentioning Native American affairs is often concerned with maintaining amiable and honest relations between Texas and Indian tribes. Some letters written by, or to, Houston early in the Republic era impress the need for treaties; other letters sent to Indian leaders ask them and their tribes to remain allied with Texas against Mexico. There are some other items of note, including a Texas Senate resolution from 1837 stating that the previous year's treaty made by Houston and Forbes, acting for Texas, with the Cherokee Indians had been declared null and void. Stemming from Sam Houston's second term as President of the Republic of Texas is a copy of the legislative act which created the Bureau of Indian Affairs; this document provides useful information for understanding the functions and organization of that agency, as well as the responsibilities of its agents and superintendent. Finally, a series of letters from 1844 note the difficult circumstances in the then-new settlement of Corpus Christi as its citizenry struggled against Indian incursions and pled to Houston for aid.

Card catalog (Papers are arranged chronologically and indexed by name); a database will eventually be available on the Texas State Library and Archives Commission website.

Executive record books were created to preserve a permanent record of the official acts and proceedings of the presidents of the Republic of Texas, and the governors of the state of Texas, whether through correspondence, addresses and messages, proclamations, etc.

Each constitution of the State of Texas has required the Texas Secretary of State to keep a fair register of all official acts and proceedings of the Texas Governor and to provide these to the legislature when required. Types of records contained in executive record books include correspondence (mostly outgoing) of the Presidents of the Republic of Texas and Governors of the state, primarily with other Texas and U.S. officials; inaugural addresses; executive messages; Indian treaties; proclamations; appointments and resignations; passports; pardons and remissions; extraditions; rewards; reports of state agencies; etc. Some Department of State (later Secretary of State) records are also present, consisting primarily of election returns, plus a couple of annual reports. These records comprise the executive record books maintained by the Texas Secretary of State, dating 1835-1917.

Microfilm reel 3472 contains three peace treaties the Republic of Texas respectively signed with two bands of the Tonkawa tribe and with the Lipan Apache during the late 1830s. Each treaty documents mutual wishes for peace and amity, the designating of an Indian agent for the purposes of business and diplomacy between the specified tribe and the Republic, the cessation of depredations and violence against each other, and the use of deliberate justice in the event of such occurrences. With respect to the second band of Tonkawa, one article in their treaty notes the requirement of an annual meeting between their chiefs and the President of the Republic each October.

These treaties have corresponding transcriptions in Volume 1 of the Texas Indian Papers on pages 28-29 (first band of Tonkawa), 30-32 (Lipan Apache), and 46-48 (second of band of Tonkawa).

An EAD finding aid is available on the Texas Archival Resources Online website - http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/30057/tsl-30057.html

The biennial reports were produced by the Adjutant General's Department in the mid-to-late 19th century for the purpose of documenting to the Governor the missions undertaken by its various organizations, the manpower quotas for each branch, financial and material expenditures within the department, and the muster rolls for the various units stationed throughout Texas.

Biennial reports produced by the Adjutant General's Department during the 1870s and 1880s are of interest in providing documentary evidence of still-existing hostilities between Texas militia forces and Indian tribes, most of which had largely been (or were being) relocated to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).

The Report of 1872 contains information under the heading Frontier Forces on this unit's efforts to combat the occasional incursions by Sioux, Comanche, and Kiowa warriors into northern Texas counties; a related note is made of the Lipan Apache and Kickapoo, both said to enter southwest Texas from Mexico by crossing the Rio Grande. Supplementing these reports is an exhibit, or table, naming those counties affected by the depredations and noting the resulting losses of life and property within each. Due to such incidents, this report also acknowledges the formation of the Minute Men organization within the Adjutant General's Department.

The Report for 1874 is similar in noting an extended battle between Frontier Forces and Indians that lasted for several hours, ending in the latter's defeat. An exhibit is also provided in this report that lists various skirmishes with Indians and occasional instances of recovered property.

Finally, a Special Report from 1884 provides considerable detail through an initial statement by the Adjutant General on the crimes committed by Indians and Mexicans from 1865 to 1882; this information is used to justify the increased spending for frontier forces. His text is followed by numerous exhibits, one of which documents depredations in various counties between 1865 and 1875 as well as the losses of life and property to Texans; other exhibits consist of individual summaries of battles and skirmishes between frontier forces and Indians from the 1860s through the early 1880s.

Note: The Biennial Reports are only a sampling of the Native American-related material present in the various series representing the records produced by the Adjutant General's Department. The series devoted to departmental correspondence contains letters, telegrams, and postal cards, chronologically arranged, that contain references to depredations and scouting reports. Correspondence to the Adjutant General from the 1870s and for most of the 1880s has been indexed; most outgoing letters sent by this office have also been indexed in the Letter books and letterpress subseries. An EAD finding aid is available on the Texas Archival Resources Online website - http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/30004/tsl-30004.html

The Frontier Battalion records series also contain individual subseries consisting of scouting reports and monthly reports; both subseries contain further instances of conflicts and skirmishes with Indians. These records date from 1874 to 1901; some items are undated. An EAD finding aid is available on the Texas Archival Resources Online website - http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/30027/tsl-30027.html

A finding aid is not needed to access these biennial reports, which are available for use in the Texas State Library and Archives; contact staff for assistance.

None.

Records consist of personal papers, 1860-1928, from Captain John James Dix (1826-1910) and family descendants. The papers of Captain Dix include scattered business and family correspondence, military records, historical accounts and letterpress volumes. Military records include quartermaster supply invoices and a muster roll of Dix's company in the Frontier Regiment. There are two historical accounts handwritten by Dix on Indians and Indian raids in south and west Texas covering the period from 1846 to the 1880s. There is also a handwritten biography of Captain Dix, about 1907, possibly autobiographical. There are eleven letterpress volumes covering the business activities of Dix as a land agent. Letterpress volumes are dated 1872-1886 and 1898-1906, arranged chronologically. Many of the letters are illegible due to the ink fading and blurring.

The two handwritten historical sketches on Native American-white conflicts contain accounts of battles between the two populations. The shorter document has sections of pages missing, thus limiting its unity and comprehensibility; passages from it, however, appear almost verbatim in the second, longer document, perhaps indicating that these were working drafts. This second manuscript more clearly depicts skirmishes between Texas/American military forces and various tribes, including the Lipan Apache, the Carancahua, and the Comanche during the mid-nineteenth century.

An EAD finding aid is available on the Texas Archival Resources Online website - http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/40074/tsl-40074.html

These records consist of minutes from the Texas Board of Criminal Justice and its predecessors, scattered administrative correspondence of the director, outgoing correspondence from the prison administration during the 1880s, monthly reports from the early 1880s, policy files and manuals, training materials, files from the Ruiz litigation, reports from the Research and Development Division, records of guards and other employees from the early 20th century, convict ledgers, conduct registers, other ledgers containing statistical data by classes of convicts, escape records, photographs, materials from the Texas Prison Rodeo, a few legal documents, scattered maps and blueprints, audio cassette tapes from the Carrasco hostage incident, and copies of The Echo, the prison newspaper.

Topics include administration of the prison system, construction of new prisons, inmate classification, industries, rehabilitation of inmates, escapes, training received by guards, changes resulting from the Ruiz litigation, and the Texas Prison Rodeo. Issues of concern to the inmates are largely reflected in The Echo. Of special interest in these records is the information on individual convicts, later known as inmates, dating back to 1849. Descriptions of convicts, basic information about their background, and details of their crime and sentence can be found in the series Convict record ledgers. Where the convicts served their time (at Huntsville, prison farms, railroad camps, etc.), punishments, and when they were released can be found in the series Conduct registers. A large collection of photographs provides visual documentation of some aspects of prison life, including views of buildings, personnel, inmates in class or at work, inmates at recreation, and numerous images from the Texas Prison Rodeo, some dating back to the 1930s.

The Convict record ledgers have entries for Santanta and Big Tree, two Kiowa chiefs who were tried and convicted for murder as a result of a raid on white traders at Salt Creek Prairie, Texas in May of 1871. The entries note each man's name and tribal status, convict number, the county in which he was tried, and a brief description under the heading “Remarks” that tells of the inmate's outcome with respect to their incarceration (i.e. Escaped, Discharged, Died, Pardoned). Although Big Tree and Santanta were sentenced to life in prison at the State Penitentiary, they were released in 1873, apparently in an effort to improve U.S.-Indian relations. While Big Tree maintained the conditions of his parole by not taking part in raids or any such related activities, Santanta did not and returned to the State Penitentiary the following year. In October of 1878 he committed suicide. This incident is noted in the Conduct register, which has an entry for Santanta, and briefly explains some of the above material.

An EAD finding aid is available on the Texas Archival Resources Online website - http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/20127/tsl-20127.html

These records are the research files and writings of James Sylestine. They reflect historical and contemporary topics concerning the Alabama-Coushatta tribes and the reservation, including early interaction with white men, establishment of the reservation, tribal land claims, state and federal legislation affecting the tribes and/or the reservation, state and federal trusteeship of the tribes, religion, including the work of early missionaries and establishment of the Indian Presbyterian Church, folklore, education on the reservation and in off-reservation schools, alcohol and health problems of the tribes, housing, tribal politics, military service of tribal members, oil and gas revenue, increasing the self-sufficiency of the tribes, and current issues facing other Indian tribes.

Record formats include published and unpublished reports (some written by Sylestine, others by various authors): theses; correspondence; bylaws and charter of the Alabama-Coushatta tribes; minutes of Council meetings; articles, clippings, brochures and other printed materials; transcripts of historical documents; biographical sketches of several individuals; maps and sketches of the reservation; transcripts of deeds; Attorney General opinions; church records; census rolls; copies of legislation; and reel-to-reel tapes of songs recorded in 1932 and stories told in 1962 by tribal members. Digitized copies of the tapes are available for research use.

The majority of the collection pertains to the Alabama and Coushatta tribes (Sylestine often uses their traditional names, Albamo and Kossati, in his writings); some folders contain material with general Native American subject matter.

Several folders contain formal articles and publications by non-Alabama-Coushatta (A-C) writers and scholars. Topics include the tribes' westward trek from Alabama to eastern Texas from the seventeenth through the early nineteenth centuries; the A-C contribution to the Confederate cause during the Civil War (a separate document lists the names of some of those involved); the change in architecture on the reservation from traditional edifices to distinctly modern, Western buildings; and an ethnographic study from 1937 detailing the cultural and religious significance of A-C music and storytelling (two tales told by Chief Charlie Thompson are translated). More recent material of this type includes an educational study from 1983 that details the socio-historical struggle of tribal students to succeed in mainstream schools, and provides recommended solutions for bettering academic achievement among A-C students.

One folder contains newspaper clippings from the 1980s; these items are valuable in rendering the shifting historical, political, and economic fortunes of the Alabama-Coushatta during that decade. The primary instance is their struggle to maintain their unique political status as a sovereign people. Following prior, yet significant, events involving tribal members and state officials, a damaging (though ultimately overturned) opinion rendered in 1983 by then-Attorney General Jim Mattox argued that the A-C reservation did not legally exist due to the non-existence of a treaty with the state that would otherwise have granted the A-C its sovereign political status and allocated state monies and resources. Newspaper articles and correspondence narrate the efforts of the A-C and their various supporters such as Superintendent Tony Byars, their lawyer Don Miller of the Native American Rights Fund, and Texas congressman Ralph Yarborough and Governor Price Daniel, all of whom aided the tribe in eventually regaining federal trusteeship in 1987. A related folder, Opinion of the Attorney General, contains some letters Sylestine wrote to Attorney General Jim Mattox concerning his opinion, as well as material that further provides historical context for the Attorney General's judgment.

Another topical example includes the strained relationship the A-C had with the Texas Indian Commission (TIC) during the late 1970s and early 1980s, specifically with the one-time tribal superintendent-turned-TIC Executive Director, Walt Broemer. A group of articles from 1979 tells of the TIC's firing of the tribal superintendent Fulton Battise, who was of A-C descent, and the eventual vote by tribal members for Broemer to be removed from the Commission due to his perceived paternalistic role regarding the tribe and its efforts toward self-sufficiency.

With respect to the religious life of the Alabama-Coushatta, material pertaining to both the traditional and Christian forms of worship is present. In some of his unpublished texts, Sylestine phonetically transcribed Albamo chants (some are given translations) as well as superstitions, and explained their respective purposes in preventing or curing sickness; some traditional stories of the tribe in both draft and final form are also included. With regard to Christianity, Sylestine provided his own historical perspective on the advent and growth of Presbyterianism among the A-C in several papers, some of which were published; other folders contain biographical material on the most prominent minister, Caleb Chambers, and his wife, Mary Emma. One folder devoted to the Chambers' correspondence reveals the couple's efforts (and those of their circle) to gain state appropriations and administrative representation for the A-C during the 1920s and 1930s. Another notable item pertaining to the tribe's Christianity is the inclusion of a complete membership roll for the reservation's church, dating from the 1950s.

Sylestine also wrote some historical pieces on the Alabama-Coushatta. The first tells of the tribes' westward trek to Texas during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and their eventual meeting with Sam Houston during the Texian Revolution, an encounter which later secured them a home within the bounds of their present-day reservation. Another piece, The Death of Chief Sunkee, tells of the passing of the last chief within the tribe to hold political power just before the initiation of the present form of government (i.e. the tribal council) under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.

Other folders contain material relating to various institutions or persons figuring in the history of the Alabama-Coushatta reservation. One titled Biennial Reports of State Board of Control contains the said publications from the 1930s which detail the efforts of the first state agency to aid the A-C during this decade. Another contains minutes from tribal council meetings during the 1950s which were recorded by Sylestine in the role of secretary; discussion topics include the (non-)necessity of federal aid, the importance of retaining the ceremonial position of chief, and the voting right of the Coushatta in Alabama political affairs. Several folders contain copies of the Superintendent's monthly reports dating from the 1950s and 1960s.

With respect to the Coushatta (Kossati), which was at one time a tribe distinct from the Alabama, material produced by Sylestine and others provides useful historical and cultural data toward learning about its settling in Texas. One article by Sylestine details the histories and westward movements of two bands of Coushatta originally based in Louisiana, both of which eventually migrated to Texas and settled near the Alabama; this document also describes the friction that existed between the two peoples during the early decades of the twentieth century. A genealogy of the Kossati tribe dating from the turn of the twentieth century is also present, as are a pamphlet and postcards depicting the Louisiana band of Kossati. In similar fashion, a folder on the Oklahoma Albamo contains records such as tribal rolls and census data.

Finally, documents concerning Sylestine's own life and his correspondence are included in this collection. Biographical material is represented through newspaper articles from the 1950s which tell of his military service during World War II and his later studies as a seminary student. Various folders contain his correspondence to local, state, and federal officials and leaders (among them, Attorney General Jim Mattox, Comptroller Bob Bullock, Governor Mark White, and President Ronald Reagan). A folder contains newspaper clippings and articles on, as well as Sylestine's reaction to, the occupation of Alcatraz Island by Native American activists during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

An EAD finding aid is available on the Texas Archival Resources Online website - http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/40072/tsl-40072.html

This series consists of several groups of records produced by the members of the Texas State Board of Control. Types of materials present include incoming and outgoing correspondence of the Board chair, Board members, or the secretary of the Board; memoranda; monthly or other reports from divisions of the Board; audit and status reports from eleemosynary institutions and state agencies; statistical compilations; parole statements from the state juvenile schools; copies of Board minutes and orders; copies of minutes from other agencies; copies of legislation; press releases; questionnaires and survey results; invoices; brochures and other printed material; photographs; building specifications; plats; and stenographer's shorthand notebooks. Dates covered are 1885-1890, 1917-1953 and undated, with the bulk dating 1920-1953.

The records reflect the routine activities of the Board, with letters concerning administration, appointments, patient admittance, transfers, paroles, and discharges at the state juvenile schools and state eleemosynary institutions; construction and maintenance of state facilities; and purchasing, budget, and appropriation concerns of state institutions and agencies. Other topics include the establishment of the State Department of Public Welfare; administration of the Alabama-Coushatta Reservation; investigations at eleemosynary institutions; the establishment and early operations of agencies taking over operations of the juvenile schools and other eleemosynary institutions; the establishment of several eleemosynary institutions; among others.

Records related to Native Americans, date from 1939 to 1949 and consist of correspondence between the respective superintendents of the Alabama-Coushatta reservation, members of the Board of Control, and state and federal officials, as well as monthly reports submitted by the superintendent to the Board. The records provide detailed evidence of the tribe's slowly improving fortunes with the assistance of the state and federal governments.

Material from the end of 1939 through 1942 consists of correspondence between the then-superintendent, Rex Corley and various Board of Control members, as well as monthly reports from the Superintendent and staff at the reservation's school and clinic. These records are valuable in documenting efforts made by teachers and vocational staff to educate children through instruction in English and other subjects. Letters from Corley also describe the difficult living conditions on the reservation during the winter of 1940 that were exacerbated by a lack of immunization among tribal members during a measles outbreak. Some correspondence mentions efforts of the Board members, Corley, and his staff to expand the livelihood of the Alabama-Coushatta by introducing the raising of livestock and the growing of vegetables on the reservation.

Records from 1943 seem to exist only for September and afterward, but contain significant data relating to initial efforts by Corley and the Board members to campaign for construction of a highway and trading post through the reservation in the hope of attracting public interest in, and revenue for, the Alabama-Coushatta. Other correspondence notes the resignation of Corley as superintendent and the installation of his replacement, Judge J. B. Randolph, at the beginning of November.

Randolph's correspondence and reports from early 1944 note in detail many difficulties in superintending the Alabama-Coushatta reservation; among them, the challenge in providing adequate education to children with limited funding and staff, as well as the need for better roads in order to travel for official or emergency purposes. His letters of the spring and summer to the Board and to neighboring Polk County officials evince his desire to obtain better educational opportunities for Alabama-Coushatta students despite reluctance from other parties. Additional correspondence from this year further points to Randolph's efforts to aid the economy of the tribe through efforts at developing a timber management program.

Documents from 1945 relate continuing efforts of the superintendent and the Board to improve the welfare of the Alabama-Coushatta through funding for a bus that eventually transported students to nearby public schools; some correspondence also addresses prevalent social problems on the reservation, vandalism and excessive alcohol consumption among them. Other significant events near the close of the year include the repeated, but legally tangled, efforts to start the timber management program and the resignation of Randolph as superintendent.

Correspondence and reports between Randolph's successors and Board members during 1946 and into 1947 are concerned with prevailing issues of economic development through the timber management project and material self-sufficiency through the growing of crops and livestock. Successes among the Alabama-Coushatta are also noted, namely, their opportunities for engaging with the outside community through events such as high school basketball games and nearby social events. One dire event occurring in November of 1946, the loss of the tribal hospital through a fire, points to the ongoing issues of inadequate transportation and financial resources within the reservation, as tribal members had to be driven to nearby cities for medical care.

Material sent between the reservation superintendent, the Board, and associated parties from 1947 through 1949 notes further improvements and new problems for the reservation. The former includes the construction and opening of a new hospital; the latter, brewing conflict with taxpayers in nearby school districts not willing to pay for the education of Alabama-Coushatta students, an issue that would only grow as the years passed. Finally, some correspondence is related to the impending shift in responsibility of the Alabama-Coushatta reservation from the Board of Control to the Texas Board for State Hospitals and Special Schools.

An EAD finding aid is available on the Texas Archival Resources Online website - http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/20171/tsl-20171.html

Types of records include specifications for construction projects undertaken by the Texas State Board of Control that were sent out on bid (bid proposals), blueprints, original contracts, bonds, deeds and easements, reports, legislative bills, correspondence, contractor's estimates, receipts, job orders, and photographs.

This series contains material documenting the Board of Control's supervision of a construction project for the building of homes on the Alabama-Coushatta reservation in 1929. Documents include a contract and bond between the Board of Control and the chosen contractors, a bid sheet, as well as building specifications and materials relating to the houses that were eventually constructed.

An EAD finding aid is available on the Texas Archival Resources Online website - http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/20173/tsl-20173.html

The Board for Texas State Hospitals and Special Schools records while managing the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation between 1949 and 1965 consist of correspondence, memos, laws, financial and budget data, excerpts of board minutes, reports, news bulletins and other printed material, agreements, and the bylaws, charter and constitution of the tribes. Dates covered are 1938-1939, 1948-1965, bulk 1956-1964. Topics covered include management of the timber industry on tribal lands, development and operation of reservation enterprises, tourism, education of tribal children, budget and expenditures, rules and regulations, and living conditions on the reservation.

The Board for Texas State Hospitals and Special Schools assumed supervisory responsibilities of the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation from the Board of Control in 1949. Its records for this year and into the early 1950s consist of correspondence between the reservation superintendent, Board members, and state officials. Topics of interest include better funding for the education of Alabama-Coushatta students, development of a timber management program on the reservation to aid the tribal economy, and the efforts by the Superintendent, C.H. Jones, to drive tribal members to faraway Indian hospitals for needed health care. Other items of interest in this interim include published newspaper clippings and magazine articles on the history, culture, and livelihood of the Alabama-Coushatta.

Material from the mid-to-late 1950s mostly consists of correspondence and superintendent's monthly reports. Records from this era show two significant changes concerning the reservation: first, the end of federal recognition and administrative support to the Alabama-Coushatta in 1955; and second, the resignation of C. H. Jones as superintendent in late 1956, who was eventually replaced by Walter Broemer. The latter occurrence in particular is important due to Broemer's active management of the reservation by working with the tribal council to improve the tribe's economic fortunes; an instance of this is shown in letters concerning the creation of the long-desired timber management program.

Correspondence and budget plans from the early 1960s show evidence of Broemer's efforts to expand public education opportunities for tribal youth by asking that state funding pay for their public education, rather than taxpayer monies; several letters from Broemer and other officials during this era are informative in also showing the beginnings of the tribe's tourism enterprise and an initial attempt at leasing reservation land for oil drilling. These economic boons were met with some skepticism within the tribe, as shown by one tribal councilman's letter to the Board in October 1960.

Official correspondence and budget plans from 1964 and 1965 record the newfound economic prosperity on the Alabama-Coushatta Reservation through the construction and eventual opening of its museum, arts and crafts center, and restaurant. Newspaper articles also provide evidence of the general public's interest in the tribes' culture and history in visiting the new tourist complex. One clipping from near the end of 1965 tells of an imminent plan to provide better housing on the reservation through the support of the Public Housing Administration and the newly-created Texas Commission on Indian Affairs, which replaced the Board at the end of the year as the state agency supervising the Alabama-Coushatta.

An EAD finding aid is available on the Texas Archival Resources Online website - http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/20159/tsl-20159.html

None.

This body of records covers the entire existence of the Texas Commission for Indian Affairs and its successor, the Texas Indian Commission (TIC), reflecting the operations of the agency as it worked with the Alabama-Coushatta, the Tigua, and the Kickapoo tribes; with intertribal organizations in the state; and with the Governors Interstate Indian Council; its role in effecting passage of state and federal legislation beneficial to Indians and Indian concerns; and its role in providing information to the public, legislature, Indian organizations, and others on Texas Indians and Indian-related topics.

Records present include correspondence, reports, minutes, legislation, financial materials, clippings, articles, brochures, announcements, notes, and other materials. Dates covered by the material span from 1957 to 1989.

Topics covered in these records include appropriations and other finances; grants; legislation; social and economic issues such as education, alcoholism and other health concerns, housing, economic development and job training, sale of Indian arts and crafts, and tourism; cultural issues such as the burial and exhibition of Indian remains and funerary objects; legal status of Indian lands; recognition of the Kickapoo Indians; restoration of federal trusteeship; continuation of the Texas Indian Commission; and routine administrative tasks.

Meeting minutes from the TCIA/TIC (referred to as the Commission) are among the primary resources in this record group that represent the agency's various roles in aiding Texas Indians. Early records from the mid-1960s reflect meetings largely centered on the Alabama-Coushatta (A-C), which was the sole tribe at this time eligible for state assistance. Some pertinent topics include the Commission's efforts to help the tribe increase revenue through the selling of timber and the expansion of its tourist complex, as well as improving tribal members' access to health care and education. With the formal recognition of the Tigua and the Kickapoo (in 1967 and 1977 respectively) as tribes eligible for state assistance, the Commission's range of responsibilities increased toward helping those populations attain adequate housing, education, health care, and professional training from state and federal programs. Meeting minutes from the 1980s show the Commission's specific involvement in each tribe's affairs through the review of status reports produced by the respective superintendents, budget reports, and proposed changes to existing political, economic, and/or material conditions within each tribe.

Records pertaining to the Tigua include historical sketches, housing reports and projects, employment postings, general correspondence produced by its superintendent and department heads, and tribal council minutes. The material concerning housing is of particular interest in showing the local, state, and federal assistance given to the tribe during the mid-1970s to replace what had been marginal living spaces with a planned community-oriented housing development with a cultural center and educational facility; architectural drawings and prints of the proposed buildings are also included in some folders.

Administrative and financial records from the 1970s and 1980s reveal material on job creation within the tribe, plans by tribal leaders and the superintendent to promote new cultural attractions for greater revenue, as well as a wealth of information relating to the day-to-day operations of the administrative offices in charge of education, housing, drug and alcohol counseling, health care, and tribal enterprises. Tribal council minutes from this time consist mainly of administrative material, with some items of interest pertaining to the Tigua and other Texas tribes' efforts to regain federal recognition and assistance during the mid-1980s; records relating to tribal enrollment are especially noteworthy as the Tigua had to prove its ancestry from a Pueblo tribe in New Mexico. Finally, the superintendent's correspondence and monthly status reports are notable for representing how this official worked with both the tribal council and the Commission to achieve significant aims, the most prominent being the tribe's return to federal trusteeship in 1987.

Material on the Traditional Kickapoo Indians of Texas is of great interest since, of all the collections included in this guide, the Commission's records represent the largest single source of information on the tribe's journey from obscurity to state and federal recognition. Folders labeled Kickapoo Recognition are foundational in providing documents that show the plight of the tribe during the mid-1970s when several of its families were reduced to living under an expressway in Eagle Pass near the Texas-Mexico border due to unique cultural and religious traditions that had not necessitated their having a true home in either country despite legally residing in both for several months of each year.

The Commission's efforts to gain state and federal assistance for this tribe are documented through correspondence, legal opinions, tribal and Commission resolutions, and newspaper articles. One of several significant events detailed is the struggle of the Commission and associated parties to prove to the state and federal governments that the Traditional Kickapoo Indians of Texas was a distinct subgroup of its parent tribe, the Oklahoma Kickapoo, and thus deserving of its own aid and reservation. Another event documented is the protracted effort to gain monies from state, then federal, and finally private sources, for the purchasing of land outside of Eagle Pass on which the Kickapoo could live permanently.

These two events are interrelated through an opinion written by Attorney General Mark White in 1979 which noted that, under then-recently enacted laws, the state of Texas could not provide funding or resources from the Commission to aid the Kickapoo due to their lack of federal recognition. The efforts made by the Commission's Executive Director, Walter Broemer, and other parties such as the Native American Rights Fund, which legally represented the Kickapoo in their quest for federal recognition, as well as the contributions of private organizations and citizens, are reflected in correspondence and legal resolutions from the early and mid-1980s which trace the many hurdles the tribe faced before its ultimate goal of gained recognition and aid from both federal and state government agencies.

Supplementing the records telling of the above affairs are those documents revealing the Kickapoo effort to govern and sustain itself within contemporary American political, social, and economic contexts; this material is in correspondence, tribal council minutes, and status reports. The Commission's efforts in this regard are shown through its assisting the Kickapoo in creating a tribal council to enact official resolutions, in introducing job training programs to adult members, and in improving tribal members' access to health care and education. Related reports and correspondence reflect social difficulties facing the tribe during the 1980s as Kickapoo children struggled to assimilate within public schools and some older members dealt with substance abuse.

Lastly, a set of records in a folder labeled Kickapoo-Legal Status 89 tells of more recent circumstances in the tribe's history which led it to break off from its parent entity in Oklahoma and rename itself the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas. Correspondence and newspapers clippings from 1989 relate the prevalent economic and legal issues that led to the tribal administrator's controversial creation of a second tribal council; this organization eventually enacted a Bureau of Indian Affairs-sanctioned tribal election that changed the name of the tribe and severed its legal and economic ties with the Oklahoma tribe of Kickapoo.

Material on the Alabama-Coushatta (A-C) is in abundance in the Commission's records and follows the general topics contained within the Tigua- and Kickapoo-centered records. Some correspondence focuses on the unique opportunity facing the tribe in 1972 when Fulton Battise, a tribal member, was chosen to replace Walt Broemer as superintendent who had resigned to become Executive Director of the Commission (then the TCIA). There are also newspaper and magazine articles featuring the extensive tourist attractions set up on the reservation during the late 1960s and early 1970s to encourage visitors; an extensive article published in Texas Highways is of special interest in its focus on the daily life of an A-C family and their reactions to then-current economic developments.

Numerous folders labeled Status Reports and Commissioner's Reports contain copious reports and letters written by A-C officials and Commission members; some issues figuring in these documents include the financial difficulties faced by the tribe during the late 1970s and early 1980s due to significant bookkeeping errors and decreased revenue from its business enterprises, as well as the effort during the mid-1980s to regain federal recognition and aid due to the tribe's uncertain political status within Texas and the virtual cessation of state funding.

An EAD finding aid is available on the Texas Archival Resources Online website - http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/20050/tsl-20050.html

This series consists of photographs, contact sheets, negatives, and slides of prison system activities, dating from about 1911 to about 1985, and undated, bulk about 1965-about 1980. Most of the images are black and white 8 x 10 prints, 5 x 7 prints, or 3 x 5 snapshots. Also present are a few enlargements, up to 16 x 20. Other formats include color 8 x 10 prints, color Polaroids, color snapshots, color and black-and-white negatives and contact sheets, and color and black-and-white slides (most are color). Last are three albums of photographs of black-and-white prints, dating mostly from the 1940s to the 1970s.

Although undated, images of the Alabama-Coushatta reservation present in the collection were probably taken by department staff or contract photographers during the mid-to late 1970s due to the presence of tourist-oriented facilities which were planned and constructed during this decade. Buildings and landmarks photographed include cabins, campsites, carports, picnic grounds with barbecue pits, an arts and crafts building, signage indicating the Indian village, an amphitheater that served as a place for traditional dances and play-staging, and the Red Indian Chief Railroad, which took visitors on a guided tour of the reservation's woodlands and lakes.

An EAD finding aid is available on the Texas Archival Resources Online website - http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/20129/tsl-20129.html

Deeds, abstracts, and deeds of cession of jurisdiction are created to document the legal transfer of property and/or jurisdiction over property to or from the State of Texas.

These records include deeds of cession, general and special warranty deeds, deeds of conveyance, quitclaim deeds, abstracts of title, certificates of title, correspondence, affidavits, statements, certifications, minute orders, maps, plats, field notes, metes and bounds descriptions, bonds (construction, repair work, etc.), warrant receipts, certificates of deposit, resolutions, city ordinances, contracts, bids, specifications, transfers of deed of trust lien, releases of mechanics lien, writs of possession, copies of judgments, condemnation proceedings, attorney general opinion on validity of title, etc.

Records are in three major groups: (1) property deeded to the State of Texas (i.e. for state parks and historical monuments, state universities, the state cemetery, etc.); (2) cessions of jurisdiction by the State of Texas to the United States government (i.e. for military posts, federal correctional institutions, veterans hospitals, customs houses, ordnance works, federal office buildings, the Alabama-Coushatta Indian reservation, national parks, etc.); and (3) property deeded by the State of Texas (mostly relinquishing state title to abandoned rights-of-way).

One folder in this record series contains material documenting the transfer of land (held in trust for the Alabama-Coushatta) from the United States to Texas in 1955. Pertinent records include a letter from a U.S. Department of the Interior official to the Texas Secretary of State concerning the quitclaim deed, a surveyor's report on the dimensions of the property transferred, a copy of the deed, and notarized statements by federal and state parties concerning the legality of the transaction between the United States and Texas.

An EAD finding aid is available on the Texas Archival Resources Online website - http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/30009/tsl-30009.html

None.

TTDA audiovisual material includes photographic slides, transparencies, negatives in various formats, photographic prints, videotape, motion picture film, and audiotape. Two series, Transparencies and Photographic negatives are composed largely of stock images used in advertising campaigns. They also contain images of tourist attractions and accommodations; outdoor scenes and recreational activities; cities, towns, and historic buildings; and festivals and cultural events. Moving image material and Audio material include 10-, 30-, and 60-second Public Service Announcements (PSAs) for television and radio, and elements that were assembled to create these PSAs, including music, jingles, and voice-overs. Additionally, the series Moving image material contains films produced by and for the TTDA and others.

There are two folder units in the TTDA collection that focus on Texas tribes and their involvement in tourism. Part of the material consists of 32 color transparencies which depict the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Village during the late 1970s or 1980s. These show the public watching various dances in the amphitheater, the Red Indian Chief Railroad taking tourists on a tour of the reservation's landscape, and tribal members in traditional dress engaged in various activities such as corn-threshing, weaving, and basket-making. The other part of the collection consists of 96 35mm slides taken at the Tigua cultural center in the late 1970s or 1980s. These items depict tribal members performing dances (some slides show tourists participating as well), the interior of a jewelry shop, and Tigua in traditional dress with pottery. A few slides show unique aspects of the Tigua village, such as their church (the oldest in Texas) and the outdoor ovens, or hornos, in which bread is baked.

An EAD finding aid is available on the Texas Archival Resources Online website - http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/50090/tsl-50090.html

These are records of the Marketing Communications Division, formerly the Publications Division, of the Texas Historical Commission, documenting some of the publishing activities of the Commission in the 1960s and the 1970s, award recognitions, press releases and other public outreach, and the THC's museum conferences and annual meetings. The press releases announce events and projects of the Commission, such as archaeological excavations, new publications, exhibits, preservation or restoration projects, upcoming conferences, and appointments or resignations.

Two folders in this series contain material on Texas tribes. The first folder largely consists of newspaper clippings and press releases spanning from late 1969 to 1973 that note the efforts on the part of the Alabama-Coushatta to promote tourism on the reservation. For instance, some documents note the seasonal operating hours of tribal facilities and also publicize new attractions such as the Red Indian Chief Railroad, which took visitors on a scenic tour. Two items from 1973, a letter from then-Chief Fulton Battise to the THC and a detailed plan of future additions to the tribe's tourist complex such as a future amphitheater and an arts and crafts factory, indicate the considerable economic success the tribe had begun to reap from tourism.

The second folder contains material on the Tigua dating from early 1966 to 1971. The documents consist of press releases, newspaper clippings, and magazine articles that describe the tribe's migration from central New Mexico to the El Paso area in the late 17th century, its absorption into the prevailing Mexican- and Anglo-based societies in later centuries, and its eventual rediscovery by academics and city officials in the mid-1960s. The records also acknowledge the tribe's successful campaigns for state and federal recognition (1967 and 1968 respectively) as means to escape its marginal and impoverished circumstances. A couple of clippings from 1971 also recount the Tigua effort to show its culture to the public through the opening of a museum.

An EAD finding aid is available on the Texas Archival Resources Online website - http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/20112/tsl-20112.html

None.

This series consists of correspondence and memoranda of the Office of the General Counsel in the Texas Office of the Governor during the terms of George W. Bush, dating from 1892 to 2000, the bulk dating 1995-2000. The majority of the items are memoranda from the General Counsel or Deputy General Counsel to the Governor, his executive assistants, including Joe Allbaugh, or staff in other divisions of the office, such as Grants, Office of the First Lady, etc.

The memos contain analysis, opinions or advice on a variety of issues handled by the governor's office, including executions, appointments, policy matters, settlements, contracts, grants, deeds, easements, litigation, bond issuance, ethics, legislation, child support, gambling, intern research, cession of state land to the federal government and retrocession of such land back to the state, certification of local workforce development boards, functions attended by the first lady, and education, including school education vouchers and an investigation of the state's higher education system by the U.S. Office of Civil Rights.

Some memos have attachments, including correspondence (usually with state or other governmental bodies), copies of laws and statutes, printouts of the results of on-line legal research, legal documents (largely deeds, easements, land patents, and some contracts), bonds, certifications, and resolutions.

Although numerous memoranda have been removed due to the conditions set forth by the Public Information Act, those that are available for public use illustrate the differences between tribal and state entities concerning the legal and economic conditions by which Indian gaming could persist. While these records are created by the General Counsel to the Governor and contain no tribally-produced material, they are valuable in showing the state's viewpoint with respect to both authorized and prohibited gambling activities on the reservations.

An EAD finding aid is available on the Texas Archival Resources Online website - http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/40082/tsl-40082.html

The Texas State Archives collections contain a multitude of heterogeneous artifacts. There are weapons-type items such as arrow points, spear heads, bullets, and the head of a tomahawk; a print of a painting that depicts the signing of the Meusebach treaty and a cedar chest which housed the 1836 treaty between Texas and the Cherokee Indians; and assorted items, some of which belonged to John Meusebach.

Some of the notable TSLAC artifacts include a print depicting the unbroken Meusebach treaty which was made in 1847 by German immigrants and a band of Comanche Indians; the treaty was later recognized by the United States government. Another notable item, a large cedar box which stored the treaty signed by Sam Houston and John Forbes, representatives for Texas, and the Cherokee Indians in 1836, is also available for viewing. Other items include found Indian arrowheads and spear-points, part of a tomahawk, and an unused bullet shell from the Second Battle of Cabin Creek. Some miscellaneous items include Meusebach's notebook and a metal plate with embossed text used to print his calling card.

The second collection, the Walter Broemer Archives as a Member of the Texas Indian Commission, documents Broemer's work as a member of the Texas Indian Commission during the 1970s and early 1980s; it consists of meeting agendas, budgets, photographs, publications, news releases, newspaper clippings, correspondence, resume, programs, financial records, government records, pamphlets, and color slides. This material dates from 1968 to 1987.

For the TSLAC material, the database containing information on Native American artifacts is currently being updated to reflect new storage locations for held material. Contact staff for assistance.

The artifacts consist of collections at the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center (SHRLRC) in Liberty, Texas, another facility of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. (TSLAC). The artifacts have been accessioned as distinct collections. The oldest consists of a very large assortment of arrowheads, spear points, and pottery shards collected and donated by Andy Kyle; two other collections contain handicrafts made by the Alabama-Coushatta. Finally, two smaller accessions do not contain artifacts, but consist of records produced by, or relating to, Walter Broemer, the one-time Superintendent of the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation who later served as Executive Director of the Texas Indian Commission from 1975 through 1982. Dates covered are about 10,000 B.C.-2000, bulk being about 10,000 to about 1800.

The largest collection at the SHRLRC is the Andy Kyle Indian artifacts collection, which consists of approximately 10,000 Paleo-Indian artifacts (projectile points, pottery fragments, grinding stones, percussion stones, etc.) found in East Texas and assembled by Andy Kyle between 1947 and 1977; these artifacts were received from him by the Texas State Library in the latter year. An addition to this collection was donated in 2003 by Kyle and includes maps pertaining to both his digs and to Indian campsites; weapons such as cane knives and arrowheads; and a grinding stone dating from the seventeenth or eighteenth century.

The Frances Broemer Collection of Alabama-Coushatta Indian Artifacts consists of 165 items handcrafted by members of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe. Included are basketry, pottery, beadwork jewelry, leatherwork, wood carvings, and fabric items. The bulk of the artifacts date from the 1930s through 2000 (one item is dated circa 1890), and were donated between 1993 and 2003 to the SHRLRC by Frances Broemer, wife of Walter Broemer, who served as the tribe's superintendent from 1957 to 1971.

The Alabama-Coushatta Indian Collection, closely related to the above, consists of artifacts (primarily basketry, pottery, and beadwork), photographs, newspaper articles, brochures, programs, invitations, audio-visual material, and a photocopied deed pertaining to the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe and Reservation. These items date from circa 1964 through 1996 and were donated between 1991 and 2000 by various parties.

Two collections not containing artifacts pertain to the Alabama-Coushatta and Walter Broemer's work with them and other Texas Indian tribes. The Frances and Walter Broemer Archives, which has an annotated restriction with the Deed of Gift of being held in trust by the SHRLRC for the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation, consists of photographs, correspondence, publications, manuscripts, brochures, programs, news bulletins, newspaper clippings, maps, and artifacts documenting the history of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe. The material was donated between 1992 and 2004 by Frances and Walter Broemer and dates from 1909 to 1996.

The second collection, the Walter Broemer Archives, documents Broemer's work as a member of the Texas Indian Commission during the 1970s and early 1980s; it consists of meeting agendas, budgets, photographs, publications, news releases, newspaper clippings, correspondence, resume, programs, financial records, government records, pamphlets, and color slides. This material dates from 1968 to 1987.

For the TSLAC material, the database containing information on Native American artifacts is currently being updated to reflect new storage locations for held material. Contact staff for assistance.

The SHRLRC does not have a complete finding aid for any of the collections mentioned; there is an inventory for the Frances Broemer Collection of Alabama-Coushatta Indian Artifacts and an uncompleted draft of a finding aid for the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Collection. Click on the link for contact information: https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/shc/index.html.