John Gorman,

I recommend that you get a copy of my 1,022-page book to get an idea of how to collect and organize your
data. ..Also, I have scores, if not hundreds, of members of the Frontier Regiments mentioned in my book.

THE BOURLAND PAPERS outlined Bourland's extensive and constant travels in North Texas and Indian
Terridtory during the Civil War era that determined the scope of my book, so I knew before I started that
the data would produce a huge book.

I transcribed 240 militia listings of 34 North Texas counties, all of their militia brigade correspondence plus
other stuff. ..I must warn you that as a hermit, I focused on this book for years, and only left town, or my
house, to go to funerals. ..I purposely did not "learn" to use the Internet until I had a hard cover book in
hand; otherwise, I would have never finished.

My goal was to substantially change the Oklahoma history books to reflect the history of Southern Indian
Territory which required studying all of North Texas. ..The two, to whom I dedicated my book, wanted to
help develop the history of North Texas.
.
Most of the hints on how to locate militia listings were found in the hard-to-read handwritten records.

Don't forget about indexing. I spent longer on my 134-page Name Index and 20-page Gazetteer than most
spend on researching and writing of a 300-page book.

I recommend that you stay away from the censuses, the CSA pension applications, and the Internet until you
finish your Name Index. ..First, compile a solid data base.

Make sure your immediate family supports you and your project before you begin such a monumental
project.

Patti, prochette@Juno.com