The Road to Texas tells the forgotten history of Dallas and its early
role as a French socialist utopia.
Today, Dallas is a metropolitan city full of light, art, and culture, an
identity that delineates from a rich, complicated history. Following the
French Revolution, ripples of revolutionary sentiment rang through the
world. Conversations regarding political upheaval ran rampant and
socialist Fourierism was born. In 1855, one French scholar--Victor
Considerant--inspired by the ideas Fourier, sought out to create his own
socialist utopia. Considerant's location for his city upon a hill?
Dallas.
He led a legion of over two hundred European settlers to found his
settlement, La Réunion. He built his utopian socialist community just
thirty miles outside of Downtown Dallas, along the scenic Trinity river.
Met with the harsh agrarian realities of Texas, the settlers--mostly
middle-class musicians and intellectuals--floundered in the heat and La
Rèunion wilted. Considerant's dreams and descendants still permeate the
Dallas soil, the city still a beacon of liberty, equality, and
brotherhood. In this text, Considerant records his experiences in Texas.
The Road to Texas consists of his journal entries, letters to friends
back home, and sketches of his surroundings. Full of lush descriptions,
ardent aspirations, and harsh lessons, his historical account makes for
a riveting read.
