Cattle Kingdoms: The Coastal Bend Study Tour

Please note: this study tour is fully subscribed. Please email [email protected] to place your name on the waiting list.

The Coastal Bend of South Texas lays claim to some of the most fascinating tales in Texas history. Settlers were drawn to the rich soil and mild climate of these flat plains between the Colorado and the Nueces rivers.

During our four-day study tour we will be accompanied by Stephen Fox and Deborah Liles and will visit Victoria, Goliad, Beeville and Refugio, the portion of the state where missions, presidios and ranches were established. Spanish livestock ranching was introduced there in the eighteenth century. After the Texas Revolution took place in the mid-nineteenth century, Anglo ranchers moved into the area. They began to set up ventures similar to those of the Spaniards and Mexicans, and the new mix further transformed the territory. We will experience the history of this region, visit ranches, meet descendants of some of the ranchers and hear about current efforts to preserve and interpret this legacy.

Departure is on Thursday, November 3, 2022, at 9:00 AM from the parking lot of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church (3471 Westheimer Road, 77027). We will return on Sunday, November 6, by 5:00 PM.

All transportation, guides, entrance fees, meals, receptions and accommodations are included.

Two nights: Hilton Garden Inn in Victoria.

One night: Hampton Inn in Beeville. 

Attire: Comfortable and casual, walking shoes, cowboy hats (optional).

OUR GUIDES

Stephen Fox is a renowned architectural historian who teaches at Rice University and the University of Houston, and is a Fellow of the Anchorage Foundation of Texas. His work is focused on the architecture of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, especially the architecture of Houston and Texas. In his scholarship he examines the ways that architecture engages such social constructs as class identity, cultural distinction, and regional differentiation.

Deborah Liles is an Associate Professor and the W. K. Gordon Endowed Chair in Texas History at Tarleton State University. She is the coeditor of “Women in Civil War Texas: Diversity and Dissidence in the Trans-Mississippi”, and “Texas Women and Ranching: On the Range, at the Rodeo, and in Their Communities”. Both are winners of the Liz Carpenter Award for Best Book on the History of Women; she is also coeditor of “African Americans in Central Texas History: From Slavery to Civil Rights”. She resides in Weatherford, Texas.

Reservations will be made on a first come-first served basis upon receipt of a $500 deposit, the Reservation and Deposit Form, and the signed Release of Claims form.

You may print the forms and email them to [email protected] or send them by mail to:

The Houston Seminar
PO Box 22764
Houston, TX  77227

Travel Registration and Cancellation Policy

Reservations will be made on a first come-first served basis upon receipt of a $500 deposit, the Reservation and Deposit Form, and the signed Release of Claims form. Payment in full is due on September 3, 2022. Reservations received after September 3, 2022, may be accepted if space is available and payment is made in full. Your reservation is not confirmed until you have received written confirmation from the Houston Seminar.

If payment in full for the tour is not made by September 3, 2022, your reservation will be canceled, and your $500 deposit will be forfeited. Should the Houston Seminar cancel the tour for any reason, your deposit and any additional payments will be refunded in full. Should you have to cancel for any reason, you must notify the Houston Seminar in writing. For cancellations before September 3, 2022, all payments, less the $500 deposit, will be refunded. A cancellation between September 3, 2022 and October 3, 2022, will result in the forfeiture of your $500 deposit plus 50% of all other amounts paid. After October 3, 2022, cancellation will result in the forfeiture of 100% of all amounts paid. We recommend that you consider purchasing travel insurance.