The Road to Glory

Before the Republic of Texas, before the Alamo, before American expansion became official policy, there were men who rode into the borderlands on their own terms. E. Alexander Powell resurrects these forgotten figures in The Road to Glory, a muscular historical account of the adventurers, filibusteros, and dreamers who carved American territory out of Spanish and Mexican land through sheer audacity. The book centers on Philip Nolan, whose legendary expedition to round up wild horses in Spanish Texas ended with his execution by Spanish soldiers in 1800, a brutal prelude to the conflicts that would define the frontier for decades. Powell weaves tales of frontier violence, political intrigue, and men willing to risk everything for land, glory, or simply the thrill of the unknown. Written in 1915 with a romantic sensibility toward the Old West, The Road to Glory captures both the genuine heroism and the uncomfortable truths of early American expansion. It offers a window into an era when the continent felt infinite and the rules had not yet been written.