I've watched the first two installments and can say I find it entertaining. Not being a scholar of Texas history I can't speak to its accuracy, but I do believe they took some artistic license with the geography. One thing I can say is that the Texans (or Tejanos) should be glad that them old boys from Tennessee are as hard headed as the Texans.
Andy
I'm not a Texas history scholar by a long shot and have been enjoying getting a little education on how the state came to be. Strikes me that Santa Ana was his own worst enemy and I wonder how things might have turned out differently had he not executed his POWs but rather treated them with dignity and respect. Some strong characters rooted in that history for sure. Thank goodness for the DVR so I can skip all those annoying commercials.
Where to even begin? There is so little true history involved in Texas Rising, that it makes me cringe to even watch it. You can get more of a history lesson from watching the 2004 Alamo movie than Texas Rising and it had a lot of error in it. The dress, the language of the characters, the leisurely movement of both armies, the physics of the firearms and cannons, the explosions - Good Lord, where to even begin.... I would have expected this out of the Lifetime Channel, but not the History Channel.
I think it's the worst mini-series I have ever seen. Not even close to actual events. Must have been made and directed by someone without any history background about Texas.
They had a chance to a chance to do something really well and blew it.
That period of Texas history is really interesting. They only thing that is anywhere close to factual was the Texas Rangers. All the books I have read show the organization to be made up of men that were brutal, mean, and bullies.
The thing was filmed in Durango, Mexico. I hate the color tinting also. What a waste.
Well, that really is too bad. Lot of people with little knowledge of Texas history will carry away a boat load of false impressions. I wish the writers had been a little more faithful to the true story.
Shoot, Andy
I thought you were referring the what is rapidly becoming mean sea level down here;-)
> I wish the writers had been a little more faithful to the true story.
Precious little history on the History Channel
Although that show where the ice road truckers drive to Las Vegas to pawn their ancient alien artifacts looks pretty historically accurate to me 😉
Sons of Liberty was a huge disappointment.
Two big errors were Sam Adams age and the fact that Gage had been in the colonies since 1755. He was not "brought in".
Texas History
> ...Lot of people with little knowledge of Texas history will carry away a boat load of false impressions...
Not trying to be too awfully cynical, but history itself is probably full of a lot of false impressions, not just Texas.
Particularly in the pre-Republic's early years there was much that occurred that was either never actually recorded correctly or there were simply no survivors. Our Oklahoma State history is full of grand and noble stories that were distilled and spun from the escapades of crooks and speculators with few morals. History is a funny thing. It is always much more romantic to leave posterity with wonderful swashbuckling tales of valor rather than the mundane squalor of human tragedy that actually occurred.
I haven't watched any of it yet. But I'm sure it's an interesting edge-of-the-chair cross between the many movies made about the Alamo and the Lonesome Dove series....without Jones or Duvall.
Texas History
I've done a great deal of historical and genealogical research in the past 40 years. My standard complaint to others is that I have yet to find anyone who will admit their great-great grandmother was a dance hall girl in the Old West era. As I related that complaint to a fellow last year he responded with, "Well, not a dance hall girl. But, my grandmother was a hooker for a few years."
It was refreshing to find someone who not only knew some less-than-prestigious information about his ancestry but was willing to share it.
You have hit the nail on the head about historical writings. They tend to glorify rather than simply relate the dull truth. Too many stories about the relocation by wagon train from somewhere east to somewhere west focus on wild river crossings and shortages of food, water or shelter rather than the mundane report of day after day of slow progress across unsettled expanses. For the most part, any story told came to be taken as the absolute truth. Many children, in fact, who thought their parents were both their biological parents never knew the truth. Many of us, including possibly myself, might discover our lineage doesn't follow the path we have been led to believe. And, based on some documentation from the late 1700's, it is possible I have some distant relatives who definitely don't have blue eyes and fair hair. I don't know that to be true, but I have to consider the possibility.
Jack
I don't mean to wish ill on anyone. But the last engineer I partnered with moved to Houston. After an expensive lawsuit I recouped only a fraction of the money I was owed by him.
Every time Houston floods I fantasize about watching the Weather Channel and seeing a helicopter shot of him precariously perched on top of his damned Lexus...in rushing and rising water.
Sorry, just being honest....
The truth about history
Funny you should mention that.
I had an uncle, great-uncle technically, supposedly a brother to my grandmother. Although everyone in the family loved and included him, he seemed distant at times. Little things I picked up on as a kid, like he always stood away from the rest of the brood in photos and when discussions turned to family stories, he grew quiet.
But he was a nice guy. His wife was pleasant and their one daughter, my mother's cousin, use to whip up some great cobbler at get-togethers. We all liked him, but there was something definitely different about him.
I didn't find out until after his passing that he was no blood relation to the family at all. When my grandmother's family (she was like 6 or 7) came here from Tennessee in buckboards they ran into a family that had floundered on hard times. The father had been hurt (or killed) in an accident with the mules or the wagon. The mother had smaller siblings she was caring for. My "uncle" was their oldest son and was taken on with my great-grandfather's family, with the promise that he would "pull his weight" and "work for his meals". Kinda sad to think you left your parents at the age of 12 or 13 on the side of the road never to see them again.
But he was lucky and the family embraced him. He stuck around and became my "Uncle Johnny". All I ever heard him called by my grandmother was "her brother, Johnny".
