By Jeff Walker
Features Editor
San Marcos — The first time Don Blevins glanced at the maps, he wanted to head in the other direction.
But the more he studied them, the more the stories came to light.
The San Marcos man recently released his fifth book,”Texas: Mapping the Lone Star State through History.” A book of maps ranging from the early days of Spanish exploration to the 20th Century, Blevins wrote the narratives for the maps as well as for the six eras covered in the book.
But it wasn’t easy at first.
“The maps themselves threw me for a loop. I looked at them and said ‘you’ve got to be kidding me.’ I couldn’t read them,” Blevins said. “But the more I studied them, I realized that there’s a lot to this and a lot could be made of (the maps).”
Cartographer Vincent Virga selected the maps from the Library of Congress and then Blevins spent time researching events surrounding the maps. Blevins did all the research and writing in only 90 days. The book will be used primarily as an academic resource, Blevins said.
“I have a couple hundred or so books on Texas history at home,” Blevins said. “So I would get out my maps and books and write the narrative on each particular map.”
A Texas history buff, Blevins has authored four other books, three of which cover the Lone Star State: “Texas Towns: From Abner to Zipperlandville,” “A Priest, a Prostitute and Some Other Early Texans” and “From Legends to Hellcats: Legendary Texas Women, 1836 to 1880.” He’s also written magazine articles more than 50 publications, including True West, German Life, American History Illustrated, Fate, Old Farmer’s Almanac and Country Living Magazine.
A native of Johnson City, Tenn., Blevins came to San Marcos in 1965. He began writing articles in the 70s while in the Air Force.
Blevins earned his Masters with a concentration on Southwestern studies from TSU and is a member of the Texas State Historical Association, The Writer's League and the Coalition of Texas Authors.
