I was requested by some of the ladies to put a piece of cotton in my ears,"" wrote Ann Raney Coleman, describing her experiences in a ditch during the Civil War while Yankee shells exploded around her, ""but this I declined to do as I would rather hear all that was going on.""

Such charmingly understated comments abound in Victorian Lady on the Texas Frontier, the journal of a spunky girl who left England with her mother and sister to come to Texas in 1832. Anne Raney Coleman had a knack for being in the center of the action: the early preparations for the Texas struggle for independence, the Runaway Scrape, and the Federal attack on the Texas Gulf Coast in the Civil War. While boarding with Jane Long, ""the Mother of Texas,"" Mrs. Coleman associated with the McNeels and other leaders of the province, and she wrote of her experiences in a clear, energetic style - painting her characters sharply and with decided opinions about them all.

A welcome series of intimate glimpses of life in Texas from 1832 to 1887."" - Southwest Review

""Victorian Lady captures the tragedy and the indomitable spirit of 19th century Texas."" - East Texas Historical Association

""One leaves the book with the impression of an indomitable lady. The careful editing and extensive footnotes make this volume useful also for local history."" - Journal of American History

C. Richard King was Professor of Journalism at the University of Texas. He wrote extensively on southwestern American history.