{"product_id":"wrangling-pelicans-military-life-in-texas-presidios-hardback-9781477332801","title":"Wrangling Pelicans; Military Life in Texas Presidios (Hardback) 9781477332801","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eWrangling Pelicans\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eMilitary Life in Texas Presidios\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eTim Seiter (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781477332801, University of Texas Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 25 November 2025\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e288 pages, 1 b\u0026amp;w photo\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.454 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA richly detailed history of daily life for colonial Spanish soldiers surviving on the eighteenth-century Texas Gulf Coast.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1775, Spanish King Carlos III ordered the capture of American pelicans for his wildlife park in Madrid. The command went to the only Spanish fort on the Texas coast-Presidio Nuestra SeÑora de Loreto de la BahÍa in present-day Goliad. But the overworked soldiers stationed at the fort had little interest indulging a king an ocean away. Their days were consumed with guarding their community against powerful Indigenous peoples and managing the demands of frontier life. The royal order went ignored.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eWrangling Pelicans\u003c\/i\u003e brings to life the world of Presidio La BahÍa’s Hispano soldiers, whose duties ranged from heated warfare to high-stakes diplomacy, while their leisure pursuits included courtship, card playing, and cockfighting. It highlights the lives of presidio women and reveals the ways the Spanish legal system was used by and against the soldiers as they continually negotiated their roles within the empire and their community. Although they were agents of the Spanish crown, soldiers at times defied their king and even their captain as they found ways to assert their autonomy. Offering a fresh perspective on colonial Texas, \u003ci\u003eWrangling Pelicans\u003c\/i\u003e recreates the complexities of life at the empire’s edge, where survival mattered more than royal decrees.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e List of Maps and Figures \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Introduction \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 1. Perspiring Walls and Incessant Insects: Environment and Education \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 2. Strangling La BahÍ\u003cbr\u003ea: Supply Lines and Smuggling \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 3. The Work Seldom Ceases: Duties and Defense \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 4. A Poultice of Lion Fat Fomentations: Manpower and Medicine \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 5. A Most Dangerous and Desirable Profession: Desertion and Death \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 6. La BahÍ\u003cbr\u003ea Vice: Cockfighting and Card Playing \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 7. How Best to Retrieve Stolen Horses: Diplomacy and Disobedience \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 8. Suffocating under Animal Skins: Insubordination and Incarceration \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Chapter 9. SeÑ\u003cbr\u003eora TreviÑ\u003cbr\u003eo: Courtship and Conjugality \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Epilogue \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Acknowledgments \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Notes \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Index \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"University of Texas Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52591021883672,"sku":"9781477332801","price":30.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/wrangling-pelicans-military-life-in-texas-presidios-hardback-9781477332801","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}