A Guide to the Frontier Protection Records, 1857-1865

Historical Note

Following an increase in attacks by Native Americans in 1857, the Texas Legislature appealed the United States Congress to create a regiment of Texas mounted volunteers to protect the western Texas frontiers against Native American attacks. The new regiment began defending the borders that year, increasing in size through the efforts of Sam Houston. When Texas seceded from the Union, Texas and the Confederate Army began overseeing the protection of the state’s frontier.

Scope and Contents

Composed of typescripts and Photostats of correspondence and resolutions, the Frontier Protection Records, 1857-1865, document the efforts of government and military officials to raise and maintain a regiment of Texas mounted volunteers to protect the western frontiers of Texas. Primarily dating to the Civil War, the collection illustrates the involvement and activities of presiding Texas governors and legislators, members of the United States and Confederate War Departments, and military officials, including Sam Houston, Edward Clark, Francis Lubbock, Ben McCulloch, D. W. Taylor, and William J. Webb, in protecting the frontiers.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Frontier Protection Records, 1857-1865, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Darla Drace, April 1979.

Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s "History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light" project, 2009-2011.

Detailed Description of the Papers