The original handwritten manuscript was written in Spanish by the Reverend Santiago Tafolla at the age of 71. Tafolla was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico under Mexican rule; traveled widely in the US; and served in the Texas Indian Wars and the Confederate Army during the Civil War. The memoir offers a rare look at 19th century Texas from the Tejano perspective and is the only known memoir of a Mexican American who served in the Civil War. Tafolla's great-granddaughters Carmen and Laura Tafolla transcribed, translated, and edited the memoir, which was ultimately published as A Life Crossing Borders: Memoir of a Mexican-American Civil War Soldier, by Arté Público Press in 2009.
Additional machine-extracted names mentioned in this issue: Hondo Crouch, Rex Foster, Bobby Gomez, Chris Holzhaus, Dale Jackson, Augie Meyer, John Monfrey, Willie Nelson, Ray Peterson, Douglas Quintet, Doug Sahm, Sammi Smith, John Stuckey, Rusty Wier, Mel Winters.
Prepared for the City of Johnson City with assistance from the National Park Service and the Public History Program/History Department Southwest Texas State University.