Hawk Banks

Revised Edition. The seven month period from the fall of 1835 to the spring of 1836 was a pivotal period in the history of Texas. At the outset of the Texas Revolution settlers faced a myriad of life threatening dangers in this untamed region. This is the story of seven persons drawn into the revolution, forcing them to make choices that would forever change each of them and in so doing, alter the course of Texas history.

Scotsman Hank MacElrae has brought his wife Julie and son Auggey to Texas to build a better life. Bostonian Hawk Banks has haphazardly joined the Texas Rangers under the erroneous impression that fighting Indians promises to be adventurous. Nate Tucker arrives in Nacogdoches from Kentucky, where he befriends the enigmatic horned toad named Mephistopheles. Francisco de la Garza is still in his teens when General Santa Anna sweeps into his village of Zacatecas and conscripts him into the Mexican Army that is headed for Texas. Antonia Perez has migrated from Monclova to San Antonio to escape the reaches of the Mexican government. Little do these seven settlers know that they are about to be swept into a revolution, one that will become the defining event in Texas history, and that each of them will play a pivotal role in the outcome.

At the outset of hostilities Hank leaves Julie and Auggey behind and joins the Revolutionary Army of Texas. Hank is introduced to the enigmatic Hawk Banks, who is never boring, ever brilliant, living on the edge, and winning in the end - emerging as a revolutionary legend. The friendship that develops between Hank and Hawk is intricate, highly unorthodox, at times hilarious, and ultimately pivotal to the outcome of the Revolution.

The harsh realities of life eventually affect each and every settler, as they are beset with revolutionary battles, run-ins with the infamous Comanche Buffalo Hump, and encounters with death and destruction on the plains of Texas. As the story rushes to the climactic conclusion, an intricate series of events brings the main characters together at the pivotal conflict of the Texas Revolution – the Battle of San Jacinto. Each settler will play a seminal role in the birth of a nation.