LA REUNION, A French Settlement in Texas, by W. J. and Margaret F. Hammond, is the story of one of the great romantic attempts to settle Texas. It is also the failure of several hundred Europeans to realize their dreams.
This venture was led by Victor Prosper Considerant who headed a group of several hundred colonists that came to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in 1855 to establish La Reunion a few miles west of Dallas, Texas.
Considerant intended this colony to be an experiment. However, those who joined him thought in terms of actual accomplishments. Most of the colonists were college graduates. Many of them were professional people who were successful in European countries. They knew nothing of Texas Frontier life and were not prepared for the heavy demands the climate would make upon their existence. Even though these factors contributed to the disintegration of the colony and experiment, the chief reason for failure was the contrast of this socialistic dream with an unlimited capitalism.
While La Reunion is a product of historical research, the authors have related the story in an interesting, brisk style. The gathering of all footnotes on specific pages instead of placing them at the bottom of each page will be found to be more convenient in research.
Transcriber’s Notes
- Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.
- Corrected a few palpable typos.
- In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.