The following teaser is from an excellent and extensive article by Steve Campbell for the December 13, 2012 Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
FORT WORTH, Texas — After surviving a hurricane, a house fire and storage in a Tweety Bird gym bag, a treasure trove of hundreds of historic letters and documents from the turbulent years of the Texas Republic has made it back into state hands.
The next-to-last stop on the tortuous trail of The Texas Legation Papers from 1835 to 1845 was a unique five-year custody arrangement with TCU under which professors and graduate students got a firsthand look at history that had effectively been lost for more than 160 years.
Officials from the TCU Library and the Center for Texas Studies transferred the records back last week to the Texas State Library and Archives in Austin, where they will be held along with a host of other state treasures.
“It’s a really important collection for researchers and lovers of Texas history,” said Peggy Rudd, director of the state agency. “These documents are priceless…”
