Glen Sample Ely, Ph.D.

Glen Sample Ely is the award-winning author of The Texas Frontier and the Butterfield Overland Mail, 1858-1861 (University of Oklahoma Press, 2016) and Where the West Begins: Debating Texas Identity (Texas Tech University Press, 2011) which received sixteen honors and awards combined. His third book, Murder in Montague: Frontier Justice and Retribution in Texas (University of Oklahoma Press, 2020) won the Lowman Memorial Book Prize from the Texas State Historical Association. Ely is co-author of Confederates and Comancheros: Skullduggery and Double-Dealing in the Texas-New Mexico Borderlands (University of Oklahoma Press, 2021), which won first place book awards from Westerners International and the Will Rogers Medallion Awards. Ely earned his Ph.D. from TCU. His work has won the Award of Excellence in Preserving History from the Texas Historical Commission as well as Gold and Silver Wilder Awards from the Texas Association of Museums. In 2018 Ely was inducted as a Fellow in the Texas State Historical Association.

Publications

Murder in Montague

The Texas Frontier and the Butterfield Overland Mail, 1858-1861

TSHA Awards

Position

Board Member (2025)

TSHA Committees

SHQ

Kate Broocks Bates Award Committee

Carl H. Moneyhon, PhD (Chair)
Glen Sample Ely, Ph.D.
James Aalan Bernsen

Program Committee

Commemorating 250 years of American independence through the stories, people, and places that shaped Texas and the nation.

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary in 2026, Texans have a unique opportunity to reflect on the state’s role in the American story. Through exhibitions, programs, educational initiatives, and community events across Texas, Texas America250 encourages celebration, reflection, and commemoration at both local and statewide levels. At the Texas State Historical Association, we are proud to support this important moment through our mission-driven work in history education and public engagement, including Texas History Day, and we invite students, educators, and communities to explore this milestone in meaningful ways.

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On July 4, 2026, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the greatest nation in the history of the world. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Long may these ideals live in the heart of every Texan and every American. May God bless all who have defended our freedoms that we enjoy each day. And God bless the United States of America.

Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas

Glen Sample Ely, Ph.D.