Adult probation evolved in the United States as a result of the suspended sentence concept. As a result of a lack of follow through when an individual obtained a suspended sentence, there was no “checks and balances” to monitor whether an individual completed the guidelines set forth. As time progressed, it became apparent a more cohesive and monitored system was needed. Thus, an energetic and motivated individual, John Augustus, started the concept of probation by taking it upon himself to assist in the rehabilitative process of individuals charged with criminal behavior. Subsequent to his death, the concept of probation was embraced by his advocates who lobbied legislatively in order to enact probation laws that would oversee the success of probationers. It wasn’t until the 1950’s that the counties in the state of Texas took it upon themselves to enact their own system of monitoring of probationers. Over time the states have guided their probation concepts from evidence based research. Juvenile probation in the United States didn’t gain a solid foundation until the end of the 19th century with the development of the first juvenile court in Illinois. It took this country time to understand that juveniles were different than adults mentally; therefore, there would need to be a separation of juveniles from adults from being subjected to the same punishments as adults. The approach in dealing with juveniles was more grounded in treatment rather than in punishment. In the state of Texas, the focus for juvenile probation was based on different approaches based on the areas within the state. The juvenile system has gone through the due process era to its current state of the evidence based research. This thesis will provide the reader an overview of the history of the development of probation in the United States and in the State of Texas, specifically in the two largest counties in Texas. This thesis will go into detail in how probation came into existence to where it is in its current state.

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In 1906, C. W. Post, founder of the Postum Cereal Company, began implementing his plan for creating an agricultural colony in Garza County on the Southern High Plains of Texas. A central component of the colony was the town of Post, namesake of its creator. Through the Double U Company, C. W. Post laid out the town plat, built residences and business houses, a modern hospital, and the Postex Cotton Mill. Many buildings associated with the town’s origin survive alongside later buildings that reflect subsequent periods of Post’s development. This professional report relates the findings of a survey of Post, Texas utilizing field photography and historic research of primary and secondary sources to identify, document, and describe historic buildings. The report’s historic overview of the town supported assessment of building significance and analysis of field data yielded identification of building integrity. Assessment of the significance and integrity data found the town did still include properties possessing qualities that met requirements for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. Additionally, the information in the report may contribute to other local or regional heritage or preservation projects. / text

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This dissertation describes the various military outposts on the Texas frontier between 1866 and 1886. It is arranged geographically, with each chapter covering a major fort or geographical area and the smaller posts associated with it. Official military records and government reports serve as the primary sources of data. In 1866 when the United States Army returned to the defense of Texas after four years of civil war, the state's frontier lay open to depredations from several Indian tribes and from lawless elements in Mexico. The army responded to those attacks by establishing several lines of major forts to protect the various danger areas of the frontier. To extend its control and protection to remote, vulnerable, or strategically important points within its jurisdiction, each major fort established outposts. Two main categories of outposts existed in Texas, subposts and picket stations. Subposts served as permanent scouting camps or guarded strategic points or lines of communication. Picket stations protected outlying locations, such as stage stations, that were particularly vulnerable to attack. Because Indians raiding in Texas usually operated in fairly small groups, garrisons at outposts were similarly small. Company-sized detachments generally garrisoned subposts, and picket stations seldom held more than a dozen troops, often fewer. The army used outposts haphazardly during the first few years after the Civil War. Commanders developed standard tactics for outpost garrisons, but they failed to form a comprehensive strategy incorporating a series of outposts in the plan to pacify a particular region until the late 1870s. At that time, Colonel Benjamin Grierson and others began forming a systematic network of outposts in far West Texas. Concentrating his outposts at the region's few water sources, Grierson was able to use those posts as an effective part of a strategy that eventually brought an end to danger from Apaches in that part of the state.

This study examines the efforts of Radicals (Republicans) to establish a state-wide public school system in Texas between 1870 and 1873. Primary sources cover the chronological fringes of the period being examined. This study follows a chronological narrative with the four chapters examining first, educational trends in the southern states and Texas prior to Reconstruction, followed by examination of the Radical system in Texas, and, finally, its destruction by Conservative Texans. The final chapter focuses on immediate and long range results of Radical education. In examining the Radical educational program, an attempt has been made to dispel ideas popularly held by present-day Texans who believe that the Radical school program was simply another "carpetbagger" scheme for raiding the state treasury and building Radical patronage. This paper contends that the Radicals established as good a public school system as could be created at the time, and that it was administered in an honest and efficient manner. The system was destroyed by politicians and a grass roots revolt of taxpayers who had no faith in its methods, goals, or administrators.

The following chapters attempt to show the work that has been done toward restoration, preservation, and marking of historic spots in Texas by patriotic societies, individuals, civic groups, the Centennial Commission, and other agencies. It has not been the purpose of the writer to go into details regarding every one of the sites and individual markers, especially in instances in which several of the same type were erected. In such cases a general description of the markers is given, together with a general idea of the type of inscription that appears on them. Since so much was done by the Centennial Commission, more attention has been devoted to its activities than to those of other organizations unable to carry out such an extensive program...in many instances it has been necessary to rely upon information from magazines, newspapers, Chamber of Commerce bulletins, pamphlets, and personal letters, because of lack of recorded materials. The information obtained, however, has been weighed and carefully compared with other sources on the same subject until its authenticity is assured.

The Texas Ranger tradition of over twenty-five years of frontier defense influenced the methods by which Texans provided for frontier defense, 1861-1865. The elements that guarded the Texas frontier during the war combined organizational policies that characterized previous Texas military experience and held the frontier together in marked contrast to its rapid collapse at the Confederacy's end. The first attempt to guard the Indian frontier during the Civil War was by the Texas Mounted Rifles, a regiment patterned after the Rangers, who replaced the United States troops forced out of the state by the Confederates. By the spring of 1862 the Frontier Regiment, a unit funded at state expense, replaced the Texas Mounted Rifles and assumed responsibility for frontier defense during 1862 and 1863. By mid-1863 the question of frontier defense for Texas was not so clearly defined as in the war's early days. Then, the Indian threat was the only responsibility, but the magnitude of Civil War widened the scope of frontier protection. From late 1863 until the war's end, frontier defense went hand in hand with protecting frontier Texans from a foe as deadly as Indians—themselves. The massed bands of deserters, Union sympathizers, and criminals that accumulated on the frontier came to dominate the activities of the ensuing organizations of frontier defense. Any treatment of frontier protection in Texas during the Civil War depends largely on the wealth of source material found in the Texas State Library. Of particular value is the extensive Adjutant General's Records, including the muster rolls for numerous companies organized for frontier defense. The Barker Texas History Center contains a number of valuable collections, particularly the Barry Papers and the Burleson Papers. The author found two collections to be most revealing on aspects of frontier defense, 1863-1865: the William Quayle Papers, University of Alabama, and the Bourland Papers, Library of Congress. As always, the Official Records is indispensible for any military analysis of the American Civil War.

The study challenges many traditional stereotypes of Texas during Reconstruction. Contrary to what Democrats charged, the Davis government did not levy exorbitant taxes. Radical taxes seemed high in comparison to antebellum taxes, because antebellum governments had financed operations with indemnity bonds, but they were not high in comparison to taxes in other states. Radical taxes constituted only 1.77 percent of the assessed value of property in Texas, which was lower than the average for the United States and about the same for other states undergoing Reconstruction. In Texas most of the tax increases during Reconstruction were made necessary by the Civil War and the increase in population. The tax increases paid for state and local governments, frontier and local protection, public buildings, internal improvements, and public schools. Edmund J. Davis, Radical governor, contributed significantly to Texas government when he attempted to focus attention on reforming the tax system,limiting state expenses to state income, limiting state aid for railroad companies, and protecting the public from railroad company abuses.