This is one of a seris of twelve book in a series by James Otis that features dramatic stories of American pioneer children. It is written in an easy-to-read style and tells the story of a young man who homesteads with his parents in North Texas during the 1840's. His family raises sheep and deals with a number of difficulties including a severe flood, an attack by wild boars, and complicated relations with suspected smugglers. Events in Texas leading up to the Mexican-American War are portrayed from the point of view of an American pioneer family and are told with personality and passion that will hold the interest of younger children. Show All     Download:     PDF       EPUB

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The author of this series of stories for children has endeavored simply to show why and how the descendants of the early colonists fought their way through the wilderness in search of new homes. The several narratives deal with the struggles of those adventurous people who forced their way westward, ever westward, whether in hope of gain or in answer to "the call of the wild," and who, in so doing, wrote their names with their blood across this country of ours from the Ohio to the Columbia.

To excite in the hearts of the young people of this land a desire to know more regarding the building up of this great nation, and at the same time to entertain in such a manner as may stimulate to noble deeds, is the real aim of these stories. In them there is nothing of romance, but only a careful, truthful record of the part played by children in the great battles with those forces, human as well as natural, which, for so long a time, held a vast portion of this broad ,land against the advance of home seekers.

With the knowledge of what has been done by our own people in our own land, surely there is no reason why one should resort to fiction in order to depict scenes of heroism, daring, and sublime disregard of suffering in nearly every form.

Books Consulted in Writing
Philip of Texas