Matthew Babcock earned his Ph.D. from Southern Methodist University, Texas, his M.A. from the University of New Mexico, and his B.A. from Dartmouth College. He is currently Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Texas and is a recipient of a prestigious Dornsife Long-Term Research Fellowship at the Huntington Library. He has written numerous journal articles and book chapters, which have been published in Spain, Canada (Quebec), and the United States, and is a member of the American Historical Association, the American Society for Ethnohistory, the Western History Association, and the Texas and East Texas State Historical Associations.