Promotional Information

"Dunt's firsthand observations of German and other settlements in pre-Revolutionary Texas are extremely valuable, and made more so by his efforts to explain to Germans matters that might seem ordinary and thus literally unremarkable to North Americans." -- James E. Crisp, Professor of History, North Carolina State University, and author of Sleuthing the Alamo: Davy Crockett's Last Stand and Other Mysteries of the Texas Revolution "Vivid reports on everyday life in the first Texas settlements... Texans specifically will find this documentation of the earliest years of development toward the Republic of Texas to be of interest. There is also a large population of German Texans ... no longer conversant in German, who will welcome this publication... Dunt's book will take its place at the very beginning of the chronological list of similar works and will help us to understand the influence his reports on Texas, as well as his advice to the Germans planning to come to the area, really had." -- Meredith McClain, Associate Professor of German Emeritus and founding director of the Southwest Center for German Studies at Texas Tech University and of the TTU Center in Quedlinburg, Germany

Table of Contents

• An Introduction (James C. Kearney and Geir Bentzen)
• Journey to Texas, including Information about This Country, for Germans Intending to Go to America (Detlef Dunt, translated by Anders Saustrup)
  • Preface
  • Introduction
  • Departure from Oldenburg for New York by way of Bremerhaven, with Pertinent Observations. Report of a Letter from an Oldenburg Man in Texas. Description of New York, etc.
  • Departure from New York for New Orleans. Description of This City. Observation on the Most Essential Needs of the Colonist in Texas.
  • Travel from New Orleans to Brazoria in Texas. Staying There and at Varner’s Creek; Departure for San Felipe and Mill Creek. Observations Concerning These Localities.
  • Further Observations Concerning Texas. Report on the Most Essential Parts of the Colonization Law and the Constitutional Acts.
  • Some Observations Concerning the Quality of the Soil and the Procedures Followed in Agriculture and Horticulture.
  • The Author’s Return Trip to Germany.
  • Postscript
• Appendix 1: Louise Ernst Stöhr (Anders Saustrup)
• Appendix 2: Caroline Ernst von Hinueber (Anders Saustrup)
• Appendix 3: Wolters-Achenbach (Anders Saustrup)
• Appendix 4: Nomenclature of Measures, Weights, Currency, and Other Terms of Designation (Anders Saustrup)
• Early German Literature about Texas and Detlef Dunt’s Place in It: A Bibliographical Essay (James C. Kearney)
• Chronological Bibliography of Nineteenth-Century German Works That Discuss or Mention Texas (James C. Kearney)

About the Author

The late Anders Saustrup was one of the foremost experts about German immigration to Texas in the 1800s. He served as Senior Editor of the Handbook of Texas, as well as a historical editor of James Michener’s novel Texas.

James C. Kearney has published two previous books, Nassau Plantation: The Evolution of a Texas German Slave Plantation and Friedrichsburg: A Novel, which won the Summerfield G. Roberts Award from the Sons of the Republic of Texas.

Geir Bentzen is an independent historian. This is his first book.

Reviews

This long-awaited English translation of Dunt’s writings is a major addition to German Texas immigration studies. . . . The introduction to the translation lays a strong context for the book . . . [and] Kearney’s closing bibliographical essay of early German literature is a most-hoped-for addition to German immigration studies.
*Journal of Southern History*