Interwoven: A Pioneer Chronicle

by Sallie Reynolds Matthews, E. M. "Buck" Schiwetz (Illustrator)

Sallie Reynolds Matthews wrote Interwoven for her children, not realizing that her modest account of family history would become a classic frontier memoir from a woman's perspective. This is a book about pioneering on the Brazos in the years following the Civil War, during the era of Texas's Cattle Empire. It's a story about two families who built ranches in West Texas and intermarried to form a dynasty. And woven into this chronicle of the plains is the story of Sallie Reynolds the girl and Mrs. Sallie Reynolds Matthews the young wife and mother as Texas entered the twentieth century.

Sallie Reynolds Matthews writes from the perspective of a woman intent upon embodying the strength and gentleness required of a wife and business partner. She describes traveling by wagon through the wilds, encountering Indians, and setting up housekeeping with little more than buckets, blankets, and cast-iron cookpots. Tragedy and illness often visited the interwoven Matthews and Reynolds families, but those who settled on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River—the Lambshead range—put down roots that tornadoes, droughts, Indians, and disease could not dislodge. As her memoirs so clearly show, Sallie Reynolds Matthews had an intelligence, warmth, and zest for life that nourished her family through difficult times.

Genres: Memoir, History, Nonfiction

248 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1936

About the author

Sallie Reynolds was born on May 23, 1861, during a period on the prairie frontier when settlers were almost nomadic and building material was as scarce as trees. Her family moved around Texas, frequently living near the Matthews family, whom they had known in Alabama before both families headed to Texas. In 1867, the first marriage between a Reynolds and a Matthews formally sealed the informal bond between the clans. Four more Reynolds siblings married into the Matthews family, including Sallie Ann and John Matthew on Christmas Day 1876. She was 15. They had nine children together.

Later in life, Mrs. Matthews wrote an autobiographical account of life on the Texas frontier, intended for her children. Published two years before her death, Interwoven: A Pioneer Chronicle far exceeded these modest ambitions and became a classic reference on West Texas pioneer life and customs. The work was later used as the basis for the Fort Griffin Fandangle, and partially reprinted in 1961 under the title True Tales of the Frontier.

In 1981, Matthews was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

Reviews

[Linda_G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I asppreciated the descriptions of East Texas, life on the Texas frontier. Wonder nature details. Also interesting observations on relations with Indians and African Americans.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

First hand account of what being a pioneer in West Texas was like during the post Civil War years. Plenty of familiar events are recounted in a kind of scatter shot way. The true value of this book is derived from the authenticity in which the author speaks. I was a little bored during the constant weddings and births. I could hardly keep her relations straight. But this is a book that was not written for the amateur Texas history enthusiast. It was written for her progeny who presumably gave a hoot when Jack Texas married double plus cousin Mattie Albany. Sprinkled throughout are totally engaging anecdotes. The writing throughout is crisp and homey. A worthwhile read. Charlie Siringo is more fun, but Sallie Reynolds has more soul.

[Michiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saying that this book was OK, does not mean it was bad. It was just OK. The author, Sallie Reynolds Matthews, tells us of her childhood and young adulthood in west Texas shortly after the Civil War. We get a great feel of how thing were back then. I am sure I would have really liked her in person.

However, often there is a whole lot of writing about nothing much in particular, or else huge swathes of time pass in one sentence. Basically, the chronicle has no real focus. It is just a litany of where she has lived and what it was like.

It's great for getting a feel for the place and time, but that's about it.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Factual stream-of-consciousness recollections of growing up on the Texas frontier in the latter half of the 19th century. The only time Sallie displayed any emotion was when she recounted the death of her first child. Perhaps the dispassionate tone of the book is why this book did not resonate with me. Perhaps of interest to those researching Texas history.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A most interesting tale of true Texas history in the Albany-Weatherford area. Includes a contemporary's version of the Goodnight-Loving trail drive where Loving died and his body was brought back to Weatherford for burial as used by McMurtry in Lonesome Dove.

[Lara Pearson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historically interesting while meandering without a story.