Cultural ecology of the middle Trinity River Basin, 1850-1970.

Preliminary research in Anderson, Freestone, Henderson and Navarro counties, Texas, indicated that changes in land use patterns in the area had been accompanied by changes in social organization. It was felt that study of these changes could best be approached using the concepts and methods of cultural ecology. Examination of the research area's environment, history, demography, land use, and social organization through the use of archival, historical and ethnological sources revealed a concomitant set of changes among these elements. Review of the historical pattern of change indicated that as land use changed from cotton farming to cattle production, demographic and economic changes contributed to the appearance of an urbanized patter of social organization. A set of hypotheses about the relationships among demographic, economic and land use variable was evaluated through bivanate correlation analysis indicated that land use and demographic changes were linked to changes in social organization.