From the Annals of Democracy – In 1846, the First Texas Legislature convened in Austin.  The flag of the Republic of Texas was struck, and the flag of the state of Texas was raised over the Capitol.  The Legislature was created by the Constitution of 1845 and was a bicameral body consisting of a Senate and House of Representatives.  The First Legislature had 20 senators and 66 representatives.  Ministers of the gospel were ineligible for election.  Compensation was set at $3 per diem of attendance and $3 for each 25 miles of travel to and from Austin.

Image of Anson Jones lowering the Republic of Texas Flag.

From the Annals of Insanity –  In 2010, a disgruntled taxpayer (who remains nameless under Paradise in Hell corporate policy) deliberately crashed his Piper Dakota airplane into Building I of the Echelon office complex in Austin.   The delusional pilot was killed along with IRS manager Vernon Hunter age 68).   The attack injured 13 other people including 2 with serious injuries.  The office building housed an IRS field office, state and federal agencies and private businesses.  The crazed pilot had previously posted a suicide note referring to “greed”, “insanity”, and the IRS on his business website. He is also believed to have set fire to his North Austin home that morning.  He had a long history of tax problems mostly stemming from failure to file state tax returns.  The attack accomplished nothing but did result in the IRS spending almost $40 million to improve security at its offices around the country.

Image from http://www.permilla.com

From the Annals of Hard Partying – In 1985, under the leadership of native son George P. Mitchell and his wife, Cynthia, Galveston revived its long dormant Mardi Gras celebration.  Mardi Gras had been publicly celebrated on a sporadic basis on the Island since 1867.  The first major parades were held in 1871.  Since 1941, however, Mardi Gras had been privately celebrated.  The new Mardi Gras festival’s inaugural run included a mile-long parade with a theme of the “Age of Mythology.”  The parade featured nine floats created by New Orleans float-builder Blaine Kern and several marching bands.  The featured performer was jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain.  Crowds along the Strand were estimated at 75,000 persons. That same year the 1871 Knights of Momus Krewe was revived by several Galvestonians.

From the Annals of Print Journalism –  In 1913, the first issue of La Prensa, a Spanish-language daily newspaper, was published in San Antonio.  The paper filled a void for Mexicans who were living in the U.S.  La Prensa covered events in Mexico and the U.S.  In its early years, a main focus of coverage were the gripping events and battles of the Mexican Revolution.  La Prensa billed itself as voice of “el Mexico de Afuera” (“Mexico Abroad”) and provided a connection for ex-patriot Mexicans with  their homeland.  The paper also provided opinion pieces and criticism, and covered the activities of Mexican and Mexican-American organizations, as well as defending Mexican-Americans from abuse and prejudice.  La Prensa was unapologetically pro-Mexico and was characterized as having almost reverence for Mexico and its people.  Ignacio E. Lozano, the paper’s founder, arrived in San Antonio in 1908 at the age of twenty-two.  His family had emigrated from Durango, Mexico.  He started selling books and newspapers and then  began work on a Spanish-language monthly, La Revista Mensual, and other Spanish-language papers including El Noticiero and El Imparcial before opening up La Prensa.  The paper originated as a weekly and quickly increased circulation to 10,000.  La Prensa converted to a daily in October of 1914.   The paper’s contributors Included Jose Vasconcelos, known as “the father of public education” in Mexico, and Vito Alessio Robles, a noted Mexican historian.

From the Annals of the Blue Northers – In 1899, the temperature dropped to -23 in Tulia.  This was the coldest temperature ever recorded in Texas.  The frigid temperature was part of the “Big Freeze” – one of the coldest cold fronts ever to cross Texas.  It was estimated that more than 40,000 cattle died as a result of the severe conditions.  The unusual weather pattern was part of the Great Blizzard of 1899  which affected the eastern half of North America from Saskatchewan to Cuba. The storm, which started in Canada on February 11th and continued through the 14th, was notable in part because it disproportionately affected southern locales that were used to seeing much milder winter conditions.

From the Annals of Gubernatorial Groceries –   In 1915, the Thirty-Fourth Legislature passed a deficiency appropriations act providing $2,000 a year for two years for expenses incurred by former Governor Oscar B. Colquitt (who knew we once had a Governor named Oscar?) for fuel, lights, water, and ice for the governor’s mansion, and other items for the Governor’s private use. The bill famously included appropriations for “chicken salad and punch.”  Although Attorney General Benjamin F. Looney ruled the appropriation invalid, Governor James “Pa” Ferguson signed the bill.

This set off a lawsuit which became known as the “Chicken Salad Case”  in which Rep. W. C. Middleton of Rains County brought suit seeking a temporary injunction restraining the Comptroller from issuing warrants on the state treasury to cover these expenditures.  The temporary injunction was granted, and the matter headed to the Texas Supreme Court.  For the end of the story, you will have to wait until June 14.

Photo from http://www.ttarchive.com

From the Annals of the Matriarchs –  In 1899, Andrea Castañón Villanueva (Madam Candelaria) died at age 113 in San Antonio.  Confirmed facts about her life are sketchy at best but she is best known for her claim to have been a survivor of the Alamo and her charitable works.  She said she had been born in 1785 in Laredo.  Other sources state she was born at Presidio del Río Grande. She moved to San Antonio at the age of 25 and married Candelario Villanueva, who she claimed was her second husband.  From him she gained the name of Madam Candelaria.  She was the mother of four children. But was well-known for having raised twenty-two orphans and administering to the sick and helping the poor. She claimed to have been inside of the Alamo during the 1836 siege and to have nursed Jim Bowie. Her claims likely will never be confirmed or refuted.  In 1891, however, the Texas legislature granted her a pension of $12 per month as an Alamo survivor and for her work with smallpox victims in San Antonio.

From the Annals of Rock and Roll  – The Beatles made their first appearance on American TV.  Of course it was on The Ed Sullivan Show which broke ground in featuring rock acts on prime-time TV. Over 73 million people including me watched the show.  The Beatles were greatly influenced by Texan music legend Buddy Holly – so much so that Paul McCartney scheduled a concert in Lubbock on his latest North American tour.

From the Annals of the Radio Pioneers –  In 1928, Radio station WOAI in San Antonio joined the world’s first communication network, the National Broadcasting Company. WOAI (1200 am) was the first radio station in South Texas when it signed on the air in 1922. Over the next several years WOAI was issued permits by the FRC and, later, the FCC to move the transmitter site and increase its power from 500 to 1000, 2000, 5000, and finally 50,000 Watts in 1930. Over the next decade programming on WOAI changed from mostly music to news and agricultural information breaks in between soap operas.  It now runs Fox news and an unrelenting spate of right-wing talk radio interrupted occasionally by a Spurs game.

From the Annals of Our “Freedom-Loving” Forefathers –  In 1840, the Congress of the Republic of Texas passed the Law of February 5 to keep free blacks from permanently settling in Texas.  White Texans were becoming concerned over the status of slavery in the new nation and were troubled by the notion of any free black citizens in Texas.  As a result, the Congress quickly moved to restrict the number of unenslaved blacks. The punitive law provided that all free blacks who had entered Texas after the Texas Declaration of Independence must leave the republic within two years or be declared slaves for the rest of their lives. Only those few free blacks who were already in the republic before Texas independence would continue to have all the rights as free citizens. The law did provide a method  to petition the Congress for an exception.  Records establish that the exception was used exactly once on behalf of David and Abner Ashworth whose petition was approved on December 12, 1840. The Ashworth brothers were the only free blacks to enter Texas after the Declaration of Independence who were given Congressional sanction to remain.  If only there had been high school football back then.