I first started reading the writings of early Texans in order to get a better understanding of what Texas looked like in the 1800s and early 1900s. The more I read, the more fascinated I am at the lives of early explorers and settlers—how they lived, the hardships they endured, and in some cases, how they died. The notion of the “Good Old Days”, at least to my 20th and 21st century eyes, certainly does not apply to life in early Texas.