Category Archives: Texas History

Today in Texas History – June 12

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From the Annals of Killing – In 1901, Gregorio Lira Cortez shot and killed Karnes County sheriff W. T. Morris.  Morris was investigating a horse theft and learned that Cortez had recently acquired a horse.  He confronted Cortez and his brother Ronaldo and their tenant farm.  Problems with translation led to Morris shooting and wounding Ronaldo.  Cortez then shot and killed Morris escaping to a nearby farm.  When the Gonzales County attempted to arrest Cortez at the farm, both he and the owner were killed in a shoot out.  Cortez then walked 100 miles to a friend’s home where he obtained a horse and made out for Laredo.  The ensuing manhunt involved over 300 men, but Cortez was only captured when he was betrayed by a friend.  With many newspapers  covering the massive manhunt, Cortez became a hero to many Hispanics and some Anglos.  After his arrest and first trial, a mob attempted to lynch Cortez while his case was on appeal.  The lynching failed but the appeal was successful.  Cortez was tried again and sentenced to life.  Cortez was finally granted a conditional pardon by Gov. Oscar Colquitt and released in 1913. Cortez’s escape, the massive manhunt and capture and trials made Cortez something of a folk hero. His exploits are celebrated in many variants of El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez, a popular ballad that has inspired books and at least one movie.

Today in Texas History – June 11

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From the Annals of Banditry –   In 1865, during the chaos following the defeat of the Confederacy, bandits broke into the office of the Texas State Treasury in Austin.  The thieves apparently targeted over $300,000 in specie and U.S. Coupons.  At the time, Austin had no police force and the thieves believed that escape would be easy.  However, Austin citizens rallied to find the bandits.  Among those involved in the hunt were volunteers from Gen. Joseph Shelby’s band of Missouri raiders who were encamped near Austin while escaping to Mexico – possibly to avoid prosecution as war criminals.  The thieves fled to Mt. Bonnell.  Several were wounded in the ensuing fight but only one was captured.

Today in Texas History – June 10

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From the Annals of the Revolution –  In 1832,  a rebel force attacked Anahuac in the first armed clash between Anglo-Texians and Mexican troops. Juan Davis Bradburn, formerly an American citizen, was commander of the Mexican post at Anahuac on Galveston Bay.  He was an ardent opponent of slavery which was illegal under the Mexican Constitution of 1824.  Bradburn was unpopular with the Anglo-Texians in the area for his opposition to slavery and enforcement of Mexican law.   When he granted asylum to 3 escaped slaves from Louisiana, tensions began to heat up.  Attorney William B. Travis was hired by the slaves owner to attempt to regain control of the slaves.  Travis was probably involved in writing a letter to Bradburn claiming that 100 men were coming from Louisiana to reclaim the slaves.  When Bradburn realized it was a hoax, he arrested Travis.  Patrick Jack, a ringleader of the Texians opposed to Bradburn confronted Bradburn about Travis’ arrest and was himself arrested.  The arrests provoked Jack’s brother to bring a contingent of men from Brazoria and other towns to secure the release of the prisoners.  Bradburn agreed to exchange Travis and the other Anglos for nineteen cavalrymen held by the insurgents. The cavalrymen were released, but when Bradburn discovered that a number of rebels had remained in town overnight, he refused to free his prisoners and began firing on the town. The insurgents withdrew to Turtle Bayou, where they drew up a series of resolutions explaining their action. Bradburn appealed for help from other military commanders in Texas. Col. José de las Piedras marched from Nacogdoches, but met with Anglo insurgents near Liberty and agreed to remove Bradburn from command and free Travis and the others.

Today in Texas History – June 9

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From the Annals of Judaism –  In 1870, Mr. Tuck, the grand master of the Masonic Lodge of Texas, laid the cornerstone for Temple B’nai Israel in Galveston.  Rabbi Jacobs of the New Orleans Portuguese Synagogue officiated. It is believed that this was the first time an ordained rabbi functioned in Texas. Temple B’nai Israel is the oldest Reform Jewish congregation in Texas. The earliest mention of the congregation is found in the October 8, 1859, edition of the Galveston Weekly News. The earliest extant temple record dated August 16, 1868, records the normal meetings that led to the establishment of the congregation.  On March 27, 1870, S. K. Labatt was asked to secure a charter for Congregation B’nai Israel from the next session of the Texas legislature.

Today in Texas History – June 8

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From the Annals of Arson –  In 2008, the historic 1856 Governor’s Mansion was set ablaze by a Molotov cocktail thrown on the front porch.  Fortunately, most of the historic paintings and furniture had been removed to complete a major renovation of the historic residence. Gov. Rick Perry and his wife Anita were living in another mansion at taxpayer expense during the renovation.  The fire gutted the home.

A special commission investigated set up to investigate uncovered several security flaws. Among them, the DPS found seven security cameras not working. Some DPS staff were also not adequately trained, and at least one DPS officer not at his post. For some unknown reason, it took almost 3 years for the DPS to release surveillance video showing the arsonist throwing the fire bomb into the mansion. The video shows a shadowy figure running to the front doors, lighting a Molotov cocktail, and running away.  But to this day, the crime remains unsolved.

There is a $50,000 reward for anyone with information that leads to an arrest.  You can call Texas Crimestoppers at (800) 252-TIPS (8477) or the state fire marshal’s arson hotline at (988) 252-8477 if you think you have information that might solve this mystery.

Texas Sinking

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Red actually tried to watch an episode of Texas Rising the other night.  There is a fine line between just plain awful and god-awful.  Texas Rising isn’t even close to the border.  It was without a doubt the worst thing Red has tried to watch in quite some time.  Since Red knows his Texas history pretty darn well, it didn’t really matter that he jumped in on the episode retelling the story of the massacre at LaBahia.  Red could probably deal with the completely inaccurate geographical depiction of the events (still looking for those mountains near Goliad) and even some messing around with the actual historical events, but what cannot be overlooked is the completely wooden acting, the lame dialogue, the turning of interesting historic personages into absurd caricatures, and the complete lack of a coherent narrative.  Red made it through about 40 minutes before calling it quits.  The early bad reviews of this series gave it too much credit.  Seldom has there been anything less worth watching than Texas Rising.

Today in Texas History – June 5

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From the Annals of Banditry –   In 1880, Myra Maybelle “Belle” Shirley Reed, married her third (or possibly only second) husband, Sam Starr.  Belle, known as the “Bandit Queen” married Starr in the Cherokee Nation.  Reed’s family (the Shirleys) were from Missouri and had supported Confederate marauders including Quantrill. By the end of the Civil War, the Shirleys had been forced to relocate to Scyene near Dallas.  In July 1866 Cole, Jim, Bob, and John Younger and Jesse James, outlaws who had ridden with Quantrill, used the Shirley home as a hideout. Belle’s first husband, Jim Reed rode with the Younger, James, and Starr gangs.  Despite later popularization, they were vicious and remorseless criminals who killed, looted and pillaged in Texas, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory. Jim Reed was killed by a deputy sheriff in 1874 in Paris.  Belle may have married Bruce Younger.  Even so, Belle and Sam Starr were married and engaged in their own criminal exploits.  They  were charged with horse stealing, and  Belle received two six-month prison terms.  Starr was later killed in a shootout with an Indian policeman.   Belle allegedly continued her amorous ways.  Her loves included Jim July (or Jim Starr), Blue Duck, Jack Spaniard, and Jim French. In 1889, while she was living in the Choctaw Nation, an unknown assassin ambushed and killed her.

Today in Texas History – June 3

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From the Annals of the Horse Marines – In 1836, a Texas mounted ranger company captured a Mexican ship.  Maj. Isaac Watts Burton’s unit was keeping watch over a stretch of the Gulf Coast south of San Antonio Bay. When they heard of a suspicious vessel in Copano Bay, the rangers hid on the shore and sent up distress signals. The ship responded first by hoisting American and Texan signals, which were ignored. Only when the ship raised Mexican signals did the rangers respond. Thus tricked into thinking the supposedly distressed soldiers were Mexican, the captain came ashore and was captured. With him as hostage, sixteen rangers rowed out, boarded the Watchman, and seized its cargo of provisions for the Mexican army.   The mounted rangers were dubbed “Horse Marines.”

Today in Texas History

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Wegefarth and Greer Ghost Counties TX 1876 RR Map

From the Annals of the Lost Counties –  In 1873, the Texas Legislature declared the existence of Wegefarth County.  It was named for C. Wegefarth, president of the Texas Immigrant Aid and Supply Company. The county, which was created in a disputed area west of Greer County in the eastern panhandle region, had but a brief existence. It was abolished by another act of the Legislature in 1876 which created the current Panhandle counties.

Today in Texas History – May 29′

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From the Annals of Hospitality –  In 1947, Hilton Hotels was incorporated in Delaware.  Hilton would later become the first hotel chain listed on the New York Stock Exchange.  HIlton had it humble beginnings in Texas.  In 1919 Conrad Nicholson Hilton purchased the Mobley Hotel in Cisco.  Hilton expanded his holdings in several ways.  After his first purchase in Cisco, Hilton began leasing and renovating old hotels.  After acquiring several such properties, he began building new hotels in Texas on property he ground leased.  Then he moved on to buying existing, low performing hotels at bargain prices. Hilton opened a new hotel in Texas every year between 1925 and 1930 eventually owning 8.  He managed to survive the Depression even though he was close to bankruptcy in1931. But the troubled times forced him to look to outside investors.  Shearn and William L. Moody, Jr., of Galveston were the primary source of new capital and HIlton merged his hotels with the Moodys’ operations to form the National Hotel Company.  The merger was unsuccessful and in 1934 Hilton resumed his independent operation with five hotels. In 1938 he acquired the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco, his first hotel outside of Texas. Hilton later established his corporate headquarters in Beverly Hills.  Ultimately, Conrad Hilton owned 188 hotels in 38 United States cities, including the Shamrock in Houston, the Mayflower in Washington, the Palmer House in Chicago, and the Plaza and Waldorf-Astoria in New York, and another 54 hotels in foreign countries.  He also endowed the University of Houston which named the Conrad Hilton School of Hotel and Restaurant Management after him.  His archives are located at the University Hilton on the UH Campus.

Red vowed to never stay at another Hilton Hotel after they tore down the Shamrock.  For those who never stayed at the Shamrock, it was a glorious place and Red spent many a lazy Saturday afternoon at the enormous pool sipping a libation with friends and planning that evening’s dinner and trip to the Astrodome.