Ector County, Texas: 125 Years of History

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Historical Publishing Network of San Antonio has just gone to press with Ector County, Texas: 125 Years of History by Glenn Justice. The 192-page coffee table sized book, tells the story of Ector County from its earliest days with the July 1881 arrival of Texas and Pacific track construction crews at the site of the future city of Odessa.  Known for a time as Milepost 296 somebody named the place Wells Point and a tiny trackside tent city got its start. Wells Point became known as Odessa in 1885 when the community got its first post office. In 1891 Ector County became formally organized with the village of Odessa being named the county seat. Odessa existed a small cow town and rail shipping point until 1926 when Josh Cosden struck oil in the western part of the county. From that time until the end of the twentieth century Ector County wells have produced some two billion barrels of oil. Ector County, Texas: 125 Years of History chronicles Ector County’s fascinating past with superb historic photographs.

ISBN# 9781935377580.  Free shipping, hardback edition is $34.95 plus $3.06 Texas sales tax  (for Texas residents) for a total 38.01.

If you wish to pay by check make your check for 38.01 payable to Rimrock Press, 14339 Oak Ave., Millersview, Texas 76862.

Little Known History of the Texas Big Bend:
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The 1535 arrival of Cabeza De Vaca at the junction of the Rio Grande and Rio Conchos marked the dawn of historic times in the Texas Big Bend. Beginning with Cabeza De Vaca, Glenn Justice traces Spanish accounts of the Jumano Indians and their remarkable chief Juan Sabeata.

 Next the author ventures into the mid-nineteenth century when Don Milton Favor carved out a Big Bend cattle empire in the Chinati Mountains by constructing forts to defend this ranch from Apache and Comanche raiders. John Spencer's discovery of silver ore in the Chinati Mountains at the end of the Civil War set in motion silver mining at Shafter. Homesteaders poured into the Big Bend and the cattle industry took hold.

 In 1910, a bloody civil war broke out in Mexico and a bandit turned revolutionary named Pancho Villa took up arms. For the next decade, Big Bend residents found themselves on the front lines of a terrible war that claimed the lives of as many as a million Mexicans. Villa's bold raid on Columbus, New Mexico in March 1916 started a reign of terror in the Big Bend. On Christmas Day 1917, Mexican raiders attacked the Brite Ranch. Less than a month later, a troop of Eighth Cavalry accompanied by a group of Texas Rangers retaliated for the Brite Raid by burning the village of Porvenir, Texas to the ground, killing fifteen of its inhabitants.

Using previously undiscovered primary sources, including declassified military documents from the National Archives and private papers, Glenn Justice takes a fresh view of the fascinating history of the Texas Big Bend. A native of West Texas, Glenn Justice has written extensively about the Big Bend borderlands.

Revolution on the Rio Grande: Mexican Raids and Army Pursuits, 1916-1919 (Southwestern Studies, No 95)
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During the years 1910-1920, as many as a million Mexican citizens lost their lives in the first great revolution of the 20th Century. This bloody civil war did not confine itself to Mexico but spilled over into the United States, occasionally diverting American newspaper headlines from the Great War in Europe. In March 1916, Pancho Villa boldly raided the tiny border town of Columbus, New Mexico. On Christmas Day, 1917, the Brite Ranch in western Presidio County, Texas became the target of Mexican raiders. In January, 1918, the Eighth U.S. Cavalry and a group of Texas Rangers and ranchers retaliated for the Brite Ranch raid and burned the village of Porvenir, Texas, to the ground, killing fifteen of its inhabitants. Violence escalated at the Neville Ranch, at Pilares, Chihuahua, and elsewhere in the Big Bend. Using previously undiscovered sources, including military records and private papers, Glenn Justice, in his Revolution on the Rio Grande takes a fresh view of these border raids and retaliations. His account of the massacre at Porvenir and the U. S. reprisal at Pilares has not been fully told before.

Odessa: An Illustrated History
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"SOLD OUT and out of print. Check with Amazon or Barnes and Noble Used and Out of Print, they might be able to locate a few copies."

This 119-page hardcover chronicles the history of Odessa, Texas. Written by West Texas historian Glenn Justice, the book begins with a look at the ancient sea that once covered the Permian Basin. It moves on to deal with the great Permian Basin oil field and the growth of the oil patch city of Odessa that sprang from a ranch community born with the coming of the railroad in the 1880's. The book contains over 100 rare historical photographs and an index.

Cattle and Dudes: A Family History of the Prude Ranch 1897-1997
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When Andrew Prude purchased three sections of land in Jeff Davis County, Texas in 1897, little did he realize that a century later his cattle ranch would be one of the most widely known dude ranches in Texas. This 210-page history written by Glenn Justice tells the story of how a 19th century cattle ranch survived the hard times of the Great Depression by taking in guests growing into today's popular tourist attraction. The soft cover book contains many historic photographs and is fully documented.