BOUNTY AND DONATION LAND GRANTS OF TEXAS, 1835 – 1888.

Austin & London: University of Texas Press. xiii,894pp. Index. Bibliography Glossary. Foreword by Ralph W. Steen. Dark green cloth, title in silver on spine. Clean, near fine copy. The dust jacket shows some edgewear most noticeably at the spine ends, overall, good+. First edition. Jenkins, BTB 144: “This work is the most important published guide to early military service records in Texas.” Hobart Huson: “…is a basic thorough and scholarly contribution to researchers of Texas history as well as to the legal profession--- of permanent value.” The history of Texas is largely the history of Texas land. From the earliest days, settlers were attracted to it because of the promise of cheap land, and this promise of free land motivated many of the volunteer soldiers to come fight for Texas independence. This volume presents in alphabetical order the name of each original grantee of a bounty or donation, number of acres, county where located, date of warrant or certificate, military service of which it was granted, date, and number of patient, and General Land Office file where the original papers are preserved. A bounty was a land grant made for military  service, promised in advance of service as an inducement for enlistment. A donation was a grant for service already rendered which had not been promised. Valuable for anyone interested in the Texas public land system, the military historian of the Republic of Texas, and the genealogist.