James O. Breeden

A Long Ride in Texas is the diary of John Riddell during his travels through the wild land which was Central Texas in 1839. Riddell was engaged to undertake a survey as part of the search for the lost San Saba silver mine of Texas legend. Unfortunately, Riddell did not find the silver mine, but he did take some interesting notes on the geology, flora, and fauna of central Texas.

Riddell was a botanist, geologist, and medical doctor who lived in New Orleans. His diary is the earliest record of Central Texas made by a trained scientist, predating even Ferdinand Roemer. Riddell and a companion accompanied a group of surveyors who were to survey the county line between Bexar and Bastrop counties. This group and a military escort trace their way from San Antonio, across the Edwards Plateau, back past Enchanted Rock and then on to Austin. The diary abruptly ends before Dr. Riddell returns to Louisiana, but the description of his journey is interesting nonetheless.

The various adventures include a description of 1839 travel from Houston to San Antonio, a fight with a Comanche war party (second-hand - the good Doctor stayed to guard the camp), hunting on the Texas frontier, and accidental shootings. Riddell's first love was botany, which is evident from the description of plants he came across during his travels. However, he also made many notes on other aspects of Texas' natural environment. For example, he notes that bears were very common in Central Texas at the time. In fact, a large part of the group's diet was composed of bear meat. To avoid attracting unwanted attention from the ever-present Comanches, Mexicans in the party used lances and lariats to hunt the bears.

Breeden has done an excellent job of preserving Riddell's text while keeping the whole readable and informative. Breeden has left many of Riddell's misspellings, which give the account flavor and has included numerous footnotes to support and clarify Riddell's observations. He has also included a report written by Riddell on the geology of the Trinity Country (north of Houston), which was published by the American Journal of Science and Arts in 1839. A brief biography of Riddell, well footnoted, is included at the beginning of the book and lends a great deal of insight to the man making this journey.

Overall, this is a short, but interesting view of early Texas. The description of the Hill Country before settlement is very interesting as is the description of San Antonio. The footnotes are extensive and extremely helpful, going so far as to attempt to match people mentioned in Riddell's manuscript to Texas tax rolls. A short read, but very useful for research, in my opinion.… (més)