Coming to Terms

In the German Hill Country of Texas memory is lived. By quirk of fate, this lovely region has become a repository for the yearnings of modern society to reinvent its past--a magnet for writers, artists, and people in search of a frontier heritage. The rugged landscape, rock farmhouses, hand-built stone fences, and carefully constructed towns have become part of an American dream. In eighty-eight contemporary photographs, Wendy Watriss and Fred Baldwin contrast today's Hill Country with historical prints of the life known by the early settlers. In 1848 it was land no one wanted--arid, rocky territory crisscrossed by Comanches and far from any market. Sold by speculators to unsuspecting German noblemen, the land became the setting for a distinctive way of life where language, physical struggle, political distinctiveness, and character created a tradition that is now attracting new kinds of settlers. The old remains but is being transformed.

In the early 1970s, when the first of these photographs were made, descendants of pioneer families still reflected the values and life-style of previous generations. This story is not just a celebration of continuity, the land, or human heroism, however. It is also about the ironies and the dissonances of history.

To uncover this story, photojournalists Watriss and Baldwin began visiting the Hill Country in 1972 and lived there from 1978 to 1980. Their work portrays the impact of modern culture and the redefining of heritage and history in a corner of American life. The essay written by historian Lawrence Goodwyn, provides a provocative context for further interpretation.