186 Texas Bar Journal • March 2012 www.texasbar.com

PreservingTexas’ Legal

Historyexas lawyers have a rich legal history to draw uponin their work. This history is also inextricablylinked to the larger history of the Republic and

State of Texas. Historical court records provide importantexamples of not only how the Texas judicial system hasworked and evolved, but also of the lives of everyday Tex-ans — as well as some of Texas’ more famous denizens —who found themselves accessing the courts. Some of theserecords have been preserved, but many still sit waiting industy storerooms to one day be examined and recognizedfor the invaluable information they contain.

In this issue of the Texas Bar Journal, we examine theefforts of the Texas Supreme Court-appointed Texas CourtRecords Preservation Task Force to build awareness of theimportance of preserving the state’s vast collection of his-torical court documents. Task Force members, as well asTexas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace B. Jefferson,Justice David Medina, and retired Chief Justice ThomasPhillips, provide essays on 21 historic records that wereselected by the Task Force for preservation. In addition,Laura Saegart of the Texas State Library and ArchivesCommission and Task Force member James W. Paulsenlook at the issue of recovering stolen Texas court docu-ments, and John Anderson and Sarah Norris, both with theArchives Commission, offer important records preserva-tion tips. Finally, we highlight the work of the State Bar ofTexas Archives Department and the ways State Bar mem-bers can utilize this important resource.

Let us know your thoughts. We especially would like tohear your stories about finding or using some of Texas’ his-torical court records. Email us at tbj@texasbar.com.

T Map of Galveston, circa 1839-1841.

Travis County criminal docket, 1852.

Pre-Civil War estate record, including inventory of slaves.

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Immigration record from Galveston, 1929.

Kiowa Chief Satanta Galveston County lawsuit, 1901.

Deposition of Charles Goodnight, 1886.“ The Robin Hood of the Rio Grande,”Juan Cortina

Document from the Bob Wills lawsuit, 1933.