When you think of early Texas history, you think of freedom fighters at the Alamo and rugged cowboys riding the plains. You usually don’t think too much about slavery in the Lone Star State.  Although slavery existed in Texas only from the second decade of the 19th century to the close of the Civil War, the majority of early settlers came to Texas from other Southern states. When they moved westward, they brought their slaves with them. When the Federal Writers’ Project sent interviewers across Texas to find former slaves and document what their lives were like during slavery, they filed over 590 slave narratives, the largest collection of any state.  The 28 selections in  I Was Born in Slavery  show that Texas slaves had their own distinctive voices, often colored by their Western culture. Lu Lee, who lived in what was then Cook County, describes seeing Indians pass by the house every day, observing droves of wild horses, and watching wolves grab “a big, good-sized calf in small time.” James Cape, interviewed in Fort Worth, speaks affectionately about his favorite horse and tells about working as a cowhand for a cattle rustler before escaping to Missouri to work on Jesse James’s farm. Sam Jones Washington, a slave on a ranch along the Colorado River, describes how he once diverted a cattle stampede. He ends his description by saying that “if them cattle stamp you to death, Gabriel sho’ blow the horn for you then!” Along with descriptions of the frontier, the words of these slaves provide poignant insights into what it was like to live as a slave in this area. Through their voices, we are given a moving glimpse into an important part of American history. Andrew Waters is a writer and former editor. A native North Carolinian, he graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Honors in Creative Writing and received a graduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is the executive director of the Spartanburg Area Conservancy in Spartanburg, SC. Andrew Waters is a writer and former editor. A native North Carolinian, he graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Honors in Creative Writing and received a graduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is the executive director of the Spartanburg Area Conservancy in Spartanburg, SC. When I's old 'nough to set on the hoss, they learnt me to ride, tendin' hosses. 'Twas the first work that I do that I can 'members. When I's old 'nough I works herdin' hosses and helps drives them, here, there and ever'wheres. 'Cause I's a good hoss rider, they uses me all the time gwine after hosses. I goes with 'em to Mexico. . . . I's free after the War. . . . I goes to Gonzales County and gits a job doin' cowboy work fo' Marster Ross herdin' cattle. There's where I's lucky fo' not gittin' in jail or gits hanged. . . .I's in the town and the man Ross comes to me and says, "I understand that you's a good cowhand." He hires me and takes me ways out. Twarn't no house fo' miles. We comes to the ranch with cattle, and I goes to work. After I workin' awhile, I wonder how come they bring in such fine steers so often. . . . I 'members Marster Bob Houston tells 'bout cattle rustlers and how they gits hanged when they gits caught. I says, "Ho, ho, that's how come them fine steers and that's why they gets chased." I knows then that I have to leave that place, 'cause if the owner of them fine steers finds where this place am, we all gits hanged sho. . . . I sneaks away and was a-settin' on the bench front of a place when 'long comes a white man. He's tall, had dark hair and was a fine-lookin' man. He says to me, "Are you a cowhand?" I tells him, "I is," and told him how I worked for Marster Bob. He says, "I wants a hand on my farm in Missouri." I tells him, "I wants the job pow'ful bad." He says, "Come with me." That man tells me his name was James and he takes me to his farm where I tend to cattle and hosses for three years. He pays me well. He gives me mo' money than I earns. I learnt afterwards his name was Jesse James and that he was the outlaw. After three years I leaves, not 'cause I learnt he outlaws, but 'cause I's lonesome fo' Texas.