Rise and Fall of the Mission San Saba, to which is appended a Brief History of the Bowie or Almagres Mine, also a Sketch of Summerland and its Builders , by John W. Hunter (Mason, Texas) is a commendable pamphlet devoted to local history. The brochure was prepared as a souvenir of the Confederate Veterans' reunion held in July, 1905, at Menardville, which is near the site of Mission San Saba.

Mr. Hunter, who until recently has been editor of a newspaper, has a much better style and a much better historical sense than is commonly the case with writers of local histories. His general knowledge of the history of Mission San Saba is quite extensive, and in this pamphlet he has brought together more information about the subject, it is believed, than can be found in any other single account in English. He seems to have had access to a number of rare works, some of them not commonly known even to special students of Texas history. While the major portion of his account of the mission's history is quoted verbatim from Bonilla and Bancroft, he has supplemented these authorities in some places with valuable and detailed information. The value of these contributions is impaired, however, by the writer's failure at a number of critical points, to cite his authorities. He claims to have “just grounds” for believing that the San Saba Mission was founded many years before the date given by Bonilla and Morfi (1756), but he gives no hint as to what these grounds are or where he gets his information. The essay contains some contradictory statements of fact that are puzzling and which mar its general effectiveness. The pamphlet contains a diagram of the mission.

Part two is a sketch of the mine known by the Spaniards as Los Almagres and in modern times as the Bowie Mine. Mr. Hunter submits testimony going to show “that the Almagres mine was discovered; that it was immensely rich; that its location is on the San Saba River, not distant from the present site of the old mission.” In this, as in the former essay, he seems to have had access to considerable material not commonly known or easily accessible.

The third part of the pamphlet, “Summerland,” is a much less serious piece of historical work than the foregoing, and although it contains important facts in modern local history, it bears evidence of having been written to please a popular audience rather than to instruct.

H. E. B.

How to cite:
"Rise and Fall of the Mission San Saba, to which is appended a Brief History of the Bowie or Almagres Mine, also a Sketch of Summerland and its Builders", Volume 009, Number 3, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, Page . http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v009/n3/review_24.html
[Accessed Tue Dec 2 17:51:21 CST 2008]