Originally published in hardback in 1982, this paperback reissue adds a new epilogue to carry the story to the present, Paul Carlson engagingly chronicles the development of the range sheep and goat industry from Spanish times to about 1930, when widespread use of mesh-wire fences brought an end to the open-range management of sheep and goat ranches in Texas.
Paul Carlson is professor emeritus of history, Texas Tech University, and retired director of the TexasTech University Center for the Southwest, USA.
"This well-written and thoroughly researched book will invariably be appreciated by those individuals interested in southwestern and agricultural history."
– Journal of American History
"This volume is impressive in the array and quality of information presented concerning the sheep and goat industry in Texas."
– Western Historical Quarterly
"[...] the first comprehensive history of the Texas range sheep and goat industry."
– Livestock Weekly
"[...] employs a down-to-earth yet scholarly approach to give us a highly readable, very informative book on a neglected subject [...] accuracy, insight, and readability make Texas Woollybacks an excellent book."
– Southwest Chronicle
"[...] agricultural historians will appreciate this study of a major farm industry. Western historians will find that it contributes to a better understanding of the settlement and development of the frontier."
– Journal of the West
"[...] a comprehensive, well-organized, and easily read treatment of a subject comparatively neglected by historians of the American livestock industry."
– Great Plains Quarterly
"Not only agricultural historians but those interested in the broader settlement and development of Texas will find this book entertaining and a sometimes surprising look at one of the lesser known aspects of Texas history."
– Colorado Prospector
"If sheep and goats are your bag, then this is your book. It says much about the industry in general but the real focus is on Texas and its long dominant position, unique history and traditions. This is largely a social history with lots of detail of people and events."
– Books of the Southwest
"Change, evolution, metamorphosis [...] these are the key words to describe the sheep and wool industry in Texas [...] Paul Carlson's well researched book unerringly documents these continuous changes and the reasons behind them."
– Texas Humanist