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Today in Texas History – May 18
From the Annals of the Comanche – In 1871, a war party of more than 100 Kiowas, Comanches, Kiowa-Apaches, Arapahoes, and Cheyennes from the Fort Sill Reservation in Oklahoma attacked Henry Warren’s wagon train on the Butterfield Overland Mail route. The raiders killed the wagon master and six teamsters, but five others escaped. The raiders lost one dead and five wounded and returned to the reservation. One of the survivors reached Fort Richardson. When General Sherman and Colonel Ranald Mackenzie heard his first hand account, the Army moved to arrest the leaders of the raid, Chiefs Satank, Satanta, and Big Tree. Satank was killed while trying to escape. Chief Satanta and Big Tree were tried by civil courts in Texas (the first time Indians had been tried in civil courts), found guilty, and sentenced to hang. Governor Edmund Davis commuted the Indians’ sentences to life imprisonment. The raid caused General Sherman to change his opinion about conditions on the Texas frontier, thus ending his own defensive policy and the Quaker peace policy as well. Sherman ordered soldiers to begin offensive operations against all Indians found off the reservation, a policy that culminated in the Red River War of 1874-75 and the resulting end of Indian raids in North Texas.
Song of the Day
LA Freeway written and performed by the late, great Guy Clark.
This is one of Red’s favorite songs and although he prefers the Jerry Jeff Walker version that’s mostly because it was the first progressive country song that he ever heard.
We Haven’t Heard the Last of “Lyin’ Ted”
Christopher Hooks of the Texas Observer has been following Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas) for quite a while and is convinced that Cruz’s quest for the White House has just barely begun. Hooks examines Cruz’s non-concession speech after getting drubbed in Indiana and sees Cruz planting the seeds for another run in 2020.
Approximately three minutes and 30 seconds into Ted Cruz’s Indiana speech announcing the end of his 2016 presidential campaign, he announced the beginning of his 2020 presidential campaign — before he had even said the words that made his retreat from the field of battle official. For years, Cruz had been telling conservatives about Ronald Reagan in 1980, and the great reversal against Carter’s liberalism. But now, in defeat, he spoke about Ronald Reagan in 1976, the year the Gipper came close to beating Gerald Ford in the Republican primary but came just short of the finish line.
Cruz’s ambition and self-regard is all-consuming. He seems to have possessed a single-minded determination to become president from the time his classmates were falling off of monkey bars. So it’s a fair bet that he woke up the morning after the Indiana primary and started to make plans. But how should he play his hand as Trump flails his way to the general election?
Ken Paxton – Vexacious Litigant
Embattled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton just can’t avoid the spotlight – or perhaps thinks that getting his office involved in a matter that doesn’t concern the State of Texas will divert the people’s attention from his own legal problems. This time, Paxton is using Texas taxpayer money to intervene in a lawsuit on behalf of Exxon-Mobil – an outfit that typically is thought capable of carrying its own legal water.
The U.S. Virgin Islands’ Attorney General, Claude Walker, is seeking documents from Exxon related to an investigation into whether the energy giant covered up its internal investigation into climate change and misled shareholders about the impact of climate change on the company’s bottom line. In that regard, the USVI issued a subpoena. Exxon sued in Tarrant County district court seeking to quash the subpoena. Paxton’s office filed a brief in support of Exxon. Paxton decried the USVI’s attorney general’s investigation as “ridiculous” and a “fishing expedition of the worst kind.” Kowtowing to his base in prototypical TeaPartySpeak, Paxton described the subpoena as “an effort to punish Exxon for daring to hold an opinion on climate change that differs from that of radical environmentalists.”
Red could probably not care less about whether Exxon has to cough up some documents or whether it was less than forthcoming with respect to its investigations into climate change. Red does care about the limited resources of the Texas AG’s office being used for blatantly political purposes and to help line the coffers of Paxton’s re-election campaign fund. Paxton was a major recipient of donations from the energy industry and his intervention in this matter in the week before Exxon’s annual shareholders’ meeting seems just a little too coincidental. Texas has had some pathetic excuses for an AG before, but Paxton is putting the bar so low that no future AG will ever be able to limbo under it.
Today in Texas History – May 17
From the Annals of the Outlaws – In 2015, a deadly biker gang brawl broke out at the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco. The planned gathering of so-called motorcycle enthusiasts started peacefully but escalated into full-fledged gallegedang warfare after a member of the Cossacks ran over the foot of a Bandidos gang member. The two rival gangs had been fighting over the very important issue of whether the Cossacks could wear the “Texas” rocker on bottom of their motorcycle jackets and vests. The Waco fight was apparently the culmination of months of increasing hostility and random beatings of gang members. Six Cossacks, two Bandidos, one Scimitar and one unaffiliated biker were killed, with it being likely that several were shot by police officers who had been monitoring the scene. Another 18 were injured and at least 170 gang members and others were arrested at the scene.
Bail for most of those charged was set at $1 million. McClennan County prosecutor Michael Jarrett said videotape of the shootout shows “Bandidos executing Cossacks, and Cossacks executing Bandidos”. Arguing in favor of the high bonds, Jarrett said, “The facts and circumstances of this case are so extraordinary and so different from anything we have ever dealt with, we believe adequate bonds need to be in place to ensure the safety of this community.” Most of the bikers have since been released, and it seems likely that some innocent people were swept up in the hysteria following the shootout which received world-wide publicity. And the criminal prosecutions have been on a slow track. The Waco DA’s office seems overwhelmed and not up to the task of sorting out who actually was killed by who.
Clickbait of the Day – Houston Chronicle Ranks Texas Universities from Most to Least Conservative
Red doesn’t truck much with clickbait, but recognizes that his readers just might. The Houston Chronicle has ranked Texas Universities from the most to least conservative. Dallas Baptist University bests some heavy competition to rank number 1 as the most conservative college in Texas. Not surprisingly, Texas A&M comes in at number 2 and is considered to be the largest conservative school in the U.S. – mostly by virtue of it being one of the largest colleges around. Red doesn’t have the patience to make it through the entire list, but is guessing that the least conservative school will be either Trinity in San Antonio or Austin College in Sherman.
Quote for the Day
“Oh, I used to be disgusted. And now I try to be amused.”
Elvis Costello from (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes.
Sort of sums up how Red feels about the Texas GOP.
Today in Texas History – May 16
From the Annals of Jingoism – In 1898, Teddy Roosevelt arrived in San Antonio to recruit and train the First Volunteer Cavalry at the Menger Hotel. The FVC known to history as the “Rough Riders” was comprised primarily of college athletes, cowboys, ranchers, miners, and other outdoorsmen who could ride and shoot. Roosevelt recruited men from Texas and Oklahoma and the New Mexico and Arizona Territories thinking that they would be accustomed to the climate and terrain in parts of Cuba. Although technically a cavalry unit, the RRs were unable to bring transport most of their horses and mule train to Cuba due to a shortage of transport ships. All of their fighting in Cuba was done on foot.
The unit is of course most famous for the charge up San Juan Hill initiated and led by Roosevelt. The battle made TR a national figure and propelled the former Secretary of the Navy to become Governor of New York and ultimately President upon McKinley’s assassination.
Red is For Secession – of the GOP
Today Texas Republicans will debate and vote on whether Texas should secede from the United States. While the chances are slim that there are enough certifiably insane delegates to the GOP convention to pass a secession resolution, Red can’t wait to hear the arguments for it. The less bat-shit crazy wing of the GOP wants nothing to do with this nonsense as they are too busy worrying about which bathroom someone might decide to use or that some woman somewhere in Texas might actually exercise her right to obtain an abortion or that minorities might be able to vote or that school textbooks don’t sufficiently laud the many benefits of slavery in the Old South. But actual secession – once a topic only for the lunatic fringe – is now within the mainstream for many of the GOP faithful.
In Red’s humble opinion, the resolution needs only a minor modification to make it palatable. If the GOP wants to secede from Texas, Red is all for it. They can have Dallas, East Texas and Midland-Odessa.
Paradise in Hell 