This book is an economic history of Texas at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1875, Texas was an agrarian state with limited industry. A generation later, agriculture was heavily commercialized, thousands of miles of railroads carried people and goods around the state, and urban populations increased rapidly. Even before the Spindletop gusher that irrevocably changed the state’s future, Texas had already moved far from its days as a Mexican and American frontier.

• Preface
• Foreword
• I. A Frontier Economy
• II. The Railroad Comes to Texas
• III. Breaking New Ground
• IV. Cotton, “Big Money Crop”
• V. Fencing the Range
• VI. An Era of Bewilderment
• VII. Grangers Have a Try
• VIII. The Farmers’ Alliance
• IX. Farmers Get Their Railroad Commission
• X. Hired Hands—Then the Labor Union
• XI. Migratory Industry Settles Down
• XII. The Big Change
• Appendix
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index