Biesele, Rudolph L. The History of the German Settlements in Texas 1831-1861. Austin: Eakin Press, 1987.
Campbell, Randolph B. Gone to Texas: A History of the Lone Star State. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Caro, Robert A. The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson. Vol. I. New York: Knopf, 1982.
Pages 5-64 describe the settlement of the Texas Hill Country, its geography and ecology, and life there from the 1850s through the early 1900s.
Fehrenbach, T.R. Comanches: The Destruction of a People. New York: Knopf, 1974.
Chapter Five, "Death in the High Country" (pages 117-149), discusses the Comanches' acquisition and domination of territory in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. A description and map of Comancheria can be found on pages 139-146.
Fehrenbach, T.R. Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans. 2nd ed. New York: Da Capo Press, 2000.
Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Blanco, Texas" (by Bessie Brigham). http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/BB/hjb7.html
–––, s.v. "Blanco County" (by Mary H. Ogilvie and John Leffler). http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/BB/hcb8.html
–––, s.v. "Hye, Texas" (by Richard Bruhn).
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HH/hlh61.html
–––, s.v. "Johnson City, Texas" (by Mary H. Olgivie). http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/JJ/hlj6.html
–––, s.v. "Natural Regions" (by E. H. Johnson). http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/NN/rzn1.html
–––, s.v. "Round Mountain, Texas" (by Mae Lindsey Hernlund). http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/RR/hnr45.html
–––, s.v. "Twin Sisters, Texas" (by Richard Bruhn). http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/TT/hnt40.html
Morris, Eleanor S. The Texas Hill Country: A Complete Guide. 3rd ed. (Woodstock, VT: Berkshire House, 2003.
This book provides a county-by-county description of the Hill Country, Austin, and San Antonio. A previous edition won a Society of American Travel Writers’ first-place award for the Best Travel Book.
Olmsted, Frederick Law. Journey through Texas. Austin: Von Boeckmann-Jones Press, 1962.
Part II of this volume, "Route through Western Texas" (pages 63-132), contains Olmsted’s observations on the towns, farms, and inhabitants of what is now Central Texas. This book was originally published in 1857.
Schmidly, David J. Texas Natural History: A Century of Change. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2002.
This study of our natural environment compares the mammals, landscapes, and land use of present-day Texas with those documented by the U.S. Biological Survey in 1905.
Semrad, Staci. "Rural Texas Sees the Light." Texas Co-Op Power "Power to the People" Special Edition.
Speer, John W. A History of Blanco County. Austin: Pemberton Press, 1965.