Historian will speak on Sam Houston, leadership

Bill O'Neal
 speaker for Cass County Genealogical Society
Bill O'Neal speaker for Cass County Genealogical Society

A historian with statewide Texas and American West credentials will speak to the March 12 meeting of the Cass County Genealogical Society.

Texas state historian Bill O'Neal's topic for the society will be Gen. Sam Houston and a study in leadership.

O'Neal retired in 2011 as professor of history at Panola College in Carthage, Texas, after 42 years of teaching.

He has written some 40 books and 300 articles and book reviews on the American West, especially on gunfighters, lawmen and ghost towns. But he has also included research and writings on Texas artists and children's books such as one on the first Thanksgiving held in Texas. His writing on baseball has included a study of the Texas League.

His research on Sam Houston included travel to the sites of Houston's life from Virginia to Tennessee to Oklahoma, Alabama and many locations in Texas.

An example of his research included remarks before the West Texas History Association in 2010 on the Texas Rangers and the Rangers' impact as depicted in film and television.

He found that nearly all western male actors played a Texas Ranger character at least once. The character Lassiter in Zane Grey's "Riders of the Purple Sage" is a Ranger and so is Woodrow Call of Larry McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove." John Wayne appeared as a Ranger in three films, and the Sons of the Pioneers musical group appeared in 101 films, many with Texas Rangers characters.

O'Neal concluded such works has contributed to making the Rangers significant participants in the mythology of the wild west. The Lone Ranger is perhaps the best known example of the Texas Ranger-derived fictional character, drawn his title from having once been a Texas Ranger.

The public is encouraged to attend the 6:30 p.m. meeting in the fellowship hall of Queen City First United Methodist Church. The meeting is free to the public and will include light refreshments and time for a question and answer session with the speaker.

For more information, call 903-796-3081.

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