1. Chapter 9: Life in Early Texas Section 2: Daily Life on the Frontier

2. Define “self-sufficient”
Bellwork
Define “self-sufficient”

3. Settlers in Texas learned many skills because they had to do so many things for themselves.

4. Frontier Homes
Had to rely on materials on hand
South and West—many Tejanos lived in flat-roofed adobe or stone houses

5. Modern-day replica of a log cabin
Frontier Homes
Jacales—small huts made of sticks and mud
Log cabins built where lumber trees were plentiful
Modern-day replica of a log cabin

6. Frontier Homes
Dogtrot Cabin—log homes with two rooms separated by an open passage; type of shelter found in early settlements

9. Frontier Homes Settlers furnished items in home
Furnishings were simple, sturdy, and handmade
Some furnishings both beautiful and functional—quilts

10. Quilting Bees—quilting groups
Frontier Homes
Quilting Bees—quilting groups

11. Clothing in Early Texas
Settlers used local materials to make clothes
Leather clothing common

12. Clothing in Early Texas
Buckskin—tanned deer hide
Buckskin Clothing

13. Clothing in Early Texas
By the 1830s homespun cotton replaced buckskin
Cotton used for dresses, bonnets, shirts, and suits
Ponchos: cotton blankets with a slit for the head

14. Clothing in Early Texas
Ready-to-wear clothing becomes available as Texas towns grow
Expensive due to shipping costs

15. Clothing in Early Texas
Even after stores began to import ready-to-wear clothing, most Texans continued making their own.

16. Settlers depended on crops, livestock, and wild game
Frontier Foods
Self-reliant for food
Settlers depended on crops, livestock, and wild game

17. Frontier Foods Most settlers grew corn Grew well in Texas
Easy to harvest and prepare, nutritious

18. Frontier Foods Learned to prepare corn from the Native Americans
Roasted or boiled corn on the cob
Made cornmeal—used to make tortillas or corn bread

19. Frontier Foods Corn used for feeding livestock Used for fuel
Even used for items such as back scratchers, bottle stoppers, and fishing floats

20. How is corn being used for fuel today?
Ethanol

21. Frontier Foods Vegetables Wild fruits sometimes available
Pecans grew along many rivers

22. Frontier Foods
Settler’s typical meal: fried meat, cornbread, and black coffee
Common meats: beef, pork, and venison
Fish common around rivers and coastal areas

23. Frontier Foods
Venison—deer meat

24. Religion in Early Texas
Roman Catholicism was the official religion of Mexico

25. Religion in Early Texas
Most settlers in Texas were Protestant and unwilling to change their beliefs
Protestants would publicly declare they supported the Catholic Church, but privately worshipped how they pleased.

26. Religion in Early Texas
No organized Protestant churches existed in Texas under Mexican rule
Protestant activity did occur—traveling preachers, camp meetings, Sunday schools

27. Religion in Early Texas
Thomas J. Pilgrim—organized a Protestant Sunday school in 1829
Mexican officials usually ignored such activity

28. Education on the Frontier
Protestant teachers opened private schools
Frances Trask—opened a boarding school for girls in 1835

29. Education on the Frontier
Education limited to home schooling or small private schools
Wealthy Texans would send children to U.S. schools

30. Education on the Frontier
Coahuila y Texas constitution provided for the creation of a public school system
Few towns had the funds for a school
Capable teachers in short supply

31. Education on the Frontier
1836: Texas had more than 20 schools
Most children did not have access to education
Demands of farm life kept many children in the fields