05/21/2026
Congratulations to Tim Seiter for winning the Center for History & Culture 2026 Summerlee Book Prize in the nonfiction category.
The Center for History and Culture announces that Tim Seiter wins the 2026 Summerlee Book Prize in the Nonfiction category for Wrangling Pelicans. The award recognizes the book-length publications that best enrich our knowledge of the past, present, and future of Southeast Texas and the greater Gulf regions. It is made possible by the generosity of the Summerlee Foundation.
The jurors praise Tim Seiter's Wrangling Pelicans:
“Wrangling Pelicans peers deep into the lived world of the soldiers manning Presidio LaBahía in early Spanish Texas. Seiter's research is phenomenal, matched only by the crisp pacing of his narrative.” Jeff Forret—author of The Price They Paid: Slavery, Shipwrecks, and Reparations Before the Civil War (2024).
“Wrangling Pelicans offers a refreshing examination of the fort at La Bahia (present Goliad) and the challenges to soldiering in Texas under Spain. Seiter, however, not only presents the harshness of making a living on the Spanish frontier in northern New Spain, but he also provides an indigenous perspective of the Karankawa who dominated the Gulf coastal region in the shadow of Apache and Comanche expansion from the Southern Plains. The book deftly weaves multiple angles from the internal daily struggles of military life through Antonio Treviño, a Badeño, as the protagonist amidst the external threat from Native American resistance that undermined Spanish mercantilism, missions, and conquest.” Francis X. Galán—author of Los Adaes: The First Capital of Spanish Texas (2020).
“An excellent book that explores the complicated daily experiences of Spanish soldiers stationed at Presidio La Bahia, highlighting how they managed diplomacy, warfare, and leisure, and grappled with their positions within the empire. Seiter’s monograph explores Spain’s impact on the Gulf Coast, showing that presidio soldiers sometimes acted on their own against orders from the crown and their superiors. This makes the book both informative and engaging to read.” David Robles—author of The Pharr Riot: Police Brutality and a People's Uprising in South Texas.
