Robert G. CarterOn the Border with Mackenzie; or, Winning West Texas from the Comanches (Volume 23) (Fred H. and Ella Mae Moore Texas History Reprint Series)

This is a thick book of memories of a U. S. Army officer involved in the fighting with Comanches close to the Llano Estacado of Texas. It impacts us because a great deal of the action took place very close to where we live.

Carter not only presents a history but a complete description of the lifestyle of the period. I would suggest if one is not familiar with Texas geography that a map is a handy reference tool. A good read and a must for anyone interested in Texas History.

At any given time, I am reading three or four books, each at different paces. For example, right now I have "Einsteins Dreams" in the living room for quiet reflective reading, "History of the United States of America During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson" for the train in my commute to downtown Chicago and kept "On the Border with Mackenzie" for reading at the gym while on the elliptical.I have always been intrigued by native american culture and in fact have a large arrowhead / artifact collection having grown up in the country next to a claimed Pottawatomie village in downstate Illinois.I daresay that I put the other two books down as I got into "On the Border with Mackenzie" and spent all my free time reading it until finishing. This is a very easy book to read. Some other reviews suggest the writing style is antiquated and hard to read. I don't see it that way.Robert Carter lived in the latter half of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century. His writing style is from that era and is by no means hard to read. Due to my interest in "the taming of the West", I read "Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition" eg the handwritten journals. Now that is a bit more challenging.The reason this book is so good is because it is Captain Carter's first person accounting of these events that Mackenzie was the leader of. Sure he wrote it in his "golden years", but here is an accounting of military excellence and an insight into pure and uncompromising character that is so rare in today's world, but yet still exists in our fighting men.I am a big fan of the first person accounts and I always give these hero authors leeway in their writing styles because it is doubtful that these people aspired to being writers themselves. More often, they have been asked to commit significant history to posterity before it is lost forever.Another good example of this is the book "The Life of Billy Dixon", which technically was written by Billy Dixon's wife, but is clearly a recording of actual conversations and interviews with a non-writer.In any case, I am not clear how anyone could fully comprehend General Mackenzie Texas campaigns without reading this book and seeing the strategies Mackenzie employed through the eyes of one of his closest and most dependable officers.Like Lewis and Clark, Carter and Mackenzie are some of the true heroes upon whose backs our country was built and indeed are part of the Fabric of America.

I only rated it a 4 star because it was not edited well. I found his 1st hand stories of Fort Richardson and Griffin amazing. It is so interesting reading 1st hand accounts of someone actually involved in the events. Includes lots of details I never realized that soldiers experienced. Carter had an amazing life and lucky for us he kept a good detailed journal to use for this book. The story about the deserters from Fort Richardson was exciting as was his involvement in the Warren Wagon Train massacre. I have visited many of the sites Carter describes in the book but they take on a whole new significance after reading Carter's stories. This is a must read for anyone interested in Jack, Parker or surrounding counties.

I read only history as I have not time (nor that much interest) in novels. History is so much more interesting than fiction. Also loving details of action and the great characters preceding us I find this book great in all the fascination of these hero’s lives.Thanks-

I love this era of history, and books like this and On The Border With Crook because they give me the nitty gritty of life and the campaigns of the Army then. You will learn so much about the frontier life of both soldiers and settlers in West Texas. Not much glamour, but simply the tenacious attention to duty.

While there is extraneous material throughout the book that seems tedious while reading it also gives the reader a great deal of historical information. Political correctness would no longer allow us to understand the actual attitudes of folk of that period. First person accounts, even when the writer seems to be blessed with a very high opinion of his part, is more informative than we might otherwise read.

Surpassed the run of the mill history of the high plains. One can almost feel like they are experiencing the life and times as if there.