From the Annals of Livestock –  In 1893, the Fort Worth Stock Yards were officially incorporated. Fort Worth quickly became the largest livestock market in Texas and the Southwest.  The stockyards were consistently ranked between third and fourth among the nation’s large terminal livestock from 1905 until the mid-1950s.  The origin of the Fort Worth Stock Yards began when the Texas and Pacific Railway arrived in 1876.  There were pens to hold cattle and by 1886 four stockyards had been built near the rail terminals. Boston capitalist Greenleif W. Simpson, with a half dozen Boston and Chicago associates, incorporated the Fort Worth Stock Yards Company and purchased the Union Stock Yards and the Fort Worth Packing Company in 1893.  Armour and Swift soon located meatpacking plants adjacent to the stockyards. By 1936 Texas was the nation’s leading producer of cattle and sheep, and the Fort Worth Stock Yards were the center of the industry. Today the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District is primarily a tourist attraction.

From the Annals of Industrial Incompetence – In 2005 BP’s Texas City refinery exploded when a hydrocarbon vapor cloud ignited at the ISOM isomerization process unit.  Fifteen workers were killed and more than 150 were injured. The Texas City Refinery was the second-largest oil refinery in Texas and the third-largest in the U.S. BP acquired the Texas City refinery as part of its merger with Amoco in 1999. Consulting firm Telos had examined conditions at the plant and released a report in January 2005 which found numerous safety issues, including “broken alarms, thinned pipe, chunks of concrete falling, bolts dropping 60 feet and staff being overcome with fumes.” The report’s co-author stated, “We have never seen a site where the notion ‘I could die today’ was so real” – unfortunately prophetic words.

From the Annals of the Good LBJ – In 1965, Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson notified Alabama Gov. George Wallace that he was calling up the Alabama National Guard to supervise a civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery.  The action followed the confrontation of Bloody Sunday on March 7 when a group of 600 protestors were attacked by state and local police wielding billy clubs and firing tear gas in a brutal clash that was widely broadcast on television to the revulsion and outrage of millions of decent Americans.

After an Alabama federal judge ruled that the planned march to Montgomery could go ahead, President Johnson and his advisers worked quickly to find a way to ensure the safety of King and his demonstrators on their way from Selma to Montgomery. Standing in the way was ardent segregationist Wallace.   The Governor initially promised LBJ that he would call out the Alabama National Guard to maintain order, but then went on television to demand that LBJ send in federal troops instead.   LBJ was understandably enraged and sent out a press release stating that because Wallace refused to use the National Guard to preserve order,  he would call up the guard and give them all necessary support. Several days later, some 50,000 marchers followed King on the 54 mile march guarded by state and federal troops. Arriving safely in Montgomery on March 25, they watched King deliver his famous “How Long, Not Long” speech from the steps of the Capitol building.  One can only imagine how the despicable Wallace felt seeing his Capitol being used by King and his followers.

Newly elected Land Commissioner George P. Bush (is there no end to politicians named George Bush?) has booted the Daughters of the Republic of Texas from their traditional role as custodians of the hallowed shrine.  Bush claims that the DRT has breached an agreement with the state by failing to adequately protect the Alamo.  In his letter to the DRT,  Bush said the relationship will terminate on July 10 because of 10 contractual violations including failing to maintain the fiscal and physical health of the state-owned monument.

Showing his ignorance of Texas history Bush claimed, “The Alamo has always had the same owner — the people of Texas.”  Perhaps it was hyperbole, but even a casual student of Texas history knows that the Alamo has only been officially owned by the state since 1905 and that was done at the urging of the DRT who had purchased other buildings in an effort to preserve the site.  The DRT’s custodianship has been much maligned over the years, but the debt of gratitude that the people of Texas owe them for saving the iconic shrine can never be repaid.

From the Annals of the Civil War –  In 1864, the Red River campaigned was launched under the command of Gen. Nathanial Banks and Adm. David Dixon Porter.  The grand plan was to move up the Red River from Louisiana into Texas.  It turned into one of the major military fiascos of the Civil War.   The month-long campaign was bungled from the start and achieved nothing.

The immediate strategic goals of the campaign were to control the Red River and divide Texas from the remaining part of the Confederacy west of the Mississippi.   In addition, Pres. Lincoln intended a strong move into Texas to serve as a warning to France, which had set up the Maximilian government in Mexico and seemed to have designs on territorial expansion. Union officials also wanted to capture cotton crop land to make up for shortages in the North.

Porter was to lead a flotilla of 20 gunboats up the Red River while Banks led 27,000 men along the western shore of the river. Porter’s squadron entered the river on March 12. Two days later, Fort Derussy fell to the Union forces and Porter moved upriver and captured Alexandria.  Banks, who redefined incompetency as a general,  arrived two weeks later and then slowly meandered towards Shreveport wandering too far from the river to coordinate with Porter. On April 8, Banks’ command was attacked and routed by forces under Gen. Richard Taylor, son of former U.S. president Zachary Taylor.  The easily intimidated Banks retreated back down the river  and Porter was forced to follow.  The  Red River was low his force was stuck above some rapids near Alexandria.  The gunboats would have been destroyed lest they be captured by the Rebels but for the ingenuity of Lt. Colonel Joseph Bailey, an engineer with a logging background.  Bailey built a series of wooden wing dams that raised the water level enough for the ships to pass.  Needless to say, the expedition never reached Texas.

For an excellent read on the fiasco that was the Red River campaign see Shelby Foote’s  The Civil War: A Narrative, Vol. 3 Red River to Appomattox.

Image of one of Bailey’s dams under construction from http://www.uskidd.com

From the Annals of the Civil War –  In 1861, rebel delegates meeting in Montgomery, Alabama representing  South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas adopted the Constitution of the Confederate States of America.  Not surprisingly, the Confederate constitution in form resembled the U.S. Constitution.  But it contained the critical flaw of a weakened federal government more in line with the rejected Articles of Confederation.  The document delegated  extensive powers to the states and the power of the central government was sharply limited by its dependence on state consent for the use of any funds and resources.  This was a continual problem in the administration of the rebel government in that concerted action was almost impossible at critical points in the war because of dissension among the various states.  Of course, it provided that slavery was “recognized and protected” in slave states and territories, but foreign slave trade was prohibited.  The document is a now a relic of history. The Confederacy never achieved nation status because no foreign country ever recognized it as an independent government.

From the Annals of the Civil War – In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant as Lieutenant General in command over all Union forces.  Grant was promoted from Major General in command of the western front of the War (Armies of Tennessee and Cumberland).  From this point on, the fate of the Nation rested largely in the hands of one rather ordinary man who had a hatred and genius for war.  At the beginning of the war, if anyone had suggested that Sam Grant, the failed shopkeeper and farmer from Ohio, would rise to command the entire Union Army, you probably would have been laughed out of the room. In fact, Grant himself would probably have thought they he might aspire to be a Brigade commander based on his West Point training and experience in the Mexican-American War.  But Grant’s early victories at Forts Henry and Donelson secured him a promotion to Major General and command of the Army of the Tennessee.  And his victory at Shiloh, at almost unspeakable cost for both sides, secured him a top leadership position for the remainder of the war.  Grant understood that just being in the Army was more dangerous for his soldiers because of illness and disease than actually fighting in most battles and was determined to bring the war to a swift conclusion.  The 30 Days campaign was intended to do just that and it likely broke the back of the Army of Northern Virginia.  Even though the war on the Eastern front settled into trench combat for many months, the 30 Days Campaign assured ultimate Union victory.  Grant has been much maligned over the years as an incompetent general and corrupt politician.  There is some new thinking on Grant, exemplified by Jean Edward Simith’s tremendous biography Grant.  And if you are in the mood for an excellent read on Texas in the late 1840’s, read Grant’s Memoirs.

The Texas African American History Monument may actually be placed on the Capitol ground someday thanks to pushing by Bill Jones, an Austin lawyer-lobbyist, with connections to the Texas GOP.  The monument would celebrate Texas’ rich history of African-Americans beginning with Estevanico de Doranates and including aviator Bessie Coleman, singer Scott Joplin, world heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson, World War II hero Dorie Miller and Congresswoman Barbara Jordan. The San Antonio Express-News reports on efforts to get the monument funded and built.

“At some point, I thought if I didn’t do something about this, no one would,” said Jones, 55, an Austin lawyer-lobbyist, who at one time was general counsel to Gov. Rick Perry. “This is part of my history. … But it’s the state’s history.”

State Rep. Sylvester Turner, a Houston Democrat and fifth-generation Texan who is a descendant of slaves, agreed. As the chairman of the Texas Black Legislative Caucus, he has for years advocated for a Capitol monument highlighting the achievements of African-Americans in Texas. 

“This will be a powerful depiction of history that I think will speak powerfully to every Texan,” said Turner, who is a board member of the Texas African American History Memorial Foundation, which is building the monument.

So far, Jones and other supporters said, about $750,000 has been raised to get the two-sided African-American Texas History Memorial underway, after receiving approval for the project from the State Preservation Board, which manages the statehouse grounds.

Fundraising is ongoing to secure the rest, and officials said Denver-based sculptor and historian Ed Dwight has been commissioned to produce what promises to be a showcase memorial near Texas’ seat of government.

Image from the monument model of Estevanico de Dorantes, a slave in the party of Cabeza de Vaca who is believed to be the first African to have set foot in Texas.

From the Annals of Electrification – In 1936, the first power line in Texas under the Rural Electrification Administration was energized.  The project was a 58 mile line near Bartlett.  The REA was create to bring electric power to rural America.  When President Franklin D. Roosevelt began the REA in May 1935, only about 2 percent of the farms in Texas had electricity. The REA was established as a lending agency. The $33,000 loan to a group of farmers at Bartlett was one of the first ten loans made by the REA.  By 1965, instead of only 2 percent of Texas farms with electricity, there were only 2 percent without electricity.

Scott Huddleston of the Houston Chronicle reports on various myths that have surrounded Texas iconic shrine.  Among them, the fact that Ozzy did not pee on the Alamo.  He directed his stream onto the Cenotaph – perhaps an even scummier act of stupidity from the now addled aging rock star.