Landing a Manuscript and Enjoying the View

130,000 words in 852 typed pages.
862 footnotes, a bibliography with 358 citations, and 8 appendices.

Those are the stats on the manuscript I submitted today for a new book in collaboration with Tom H. Gann. On the anniversary of mankind’s first landing on the moon, July 20th will now be a personal milestone to celebrate.

The working title for the book is Bridles and Biscuits: The Contraband Culture of Spanish East Texas. It examines a period that one author called the last chapter of the Spanish drama in Texas. Antonio Gil Ibarvo was the center of contraband trade in Nacogdoches during that time. The little-known story of his arrest and removal from office is covered in detail. The book also describes the lost Spanish settlement of Bucareli on the Trinity River, where the re-population of Spanish East Texas began after the missions were closed.

In the almost two years since this project began, there has been a COVID-19 pandemic during which key archives were closed. The digital repository for the Bexar Archives, a critical primary source, went dark for months to undertake an unplanned migration to a completely different platform. The resulting learning curve both for the archivists and researchers has been steep. The challenges of research where much of the source material is in Spanish have been aided by translators, online tools, and by squinting at displays of 250-year-old script.

This milestone is not at the level of the moon landing, but I think I will still take some time to enjoy the view from here before shifting gears to the work required to get this thing in print. Next launch……2024.

The book manuscript has landed. Time to enjoy the view.