Category Archives: Today in Texas History

Today in Texas History – July 18

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From the Annals of the Army – In 1917, construction was begun on Camp Bowie.  The U.S. Army base was named after  Jim Bowie.  The camp was located in the Arlington Heights neighborhood about three miles west of downtown Fort Worth and was established by the United States War Department as a training site for the Thirty-Sixth Infantry Division.  Including the rifle range and trench system, the Camp covered more than 2,100 acres.

Over 100,000 troops trained at Camp Bowie.  On April 11, 1918, the Thirty-sixth went on parade in Fort Worth.  The parade lasted  four hours and was attended by an estimated  225,000 spectators, likely making it the biggest parade in Fort Worth’s history. The Thirty-sixth left for France in July 1918, after which the camp was used as an infantry replacement and training facility.

After the Armistice on November 11, 1918, Camp Bowie was designated a demobilization center.  Once the demobilization was concluded, the Camp was closed on August 15, 1919. The only remaining vestige is in the name Camp Bowie Boulevard which runs through the site.  After the camp closed it was quickly converted to a residential area, as builders took advantage of utility hookups left by the army.

Today in Texas History – July 7

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From the Annals of the Border Wars –  In 1842, Texas troops defeated a Mexican invasion at the battle of Lipantitlán. The battle was one of several that occurred during the early days of the Republic of Texas as Mexico attempted to reassert control.  The Mexican forces were commanded by Antonio Canales Rosillo. James Davis, adjutant general of the Army of the Republic of Texas, and Capt. Ewen Cameron led a mutinous and poorly contingent. Yet the disorganized Texans succeeded in repelling the incursion.

Today in Texas History – July 6

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From the Annals of Sugary Goodness –  In 1923, the Dr Pepper Company was officially incorporated in Dallas. Dr Pepper was first made in 1885 in Waco.  Wade B. Morrison, owner of Morrison’s Old Corner Drug, employed a pharmacist named Charles Courtice Alderton  who in addition to filling prescriptions served soft drinks to customers. Alderton’s experiments with combinations of fruit extracts and sweeteners produced one extremely popular flavor.   Morrison named the beverage after Dr. Charles T. Pepper, a physician and pharmacist for whom Morrison had worked in Rural Retreat, Virginia.

Red seldom drank anything else as a youth.  He still enjoys the occasional Diet Dr Pepper.

Today in Texas History – July 1

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From the Annals of the Mob  – In 1850, a mob of angry soldiers burned down the store of John M. Hunter in Fredericksburg.  Hunter was one of the organizers of Gillespie County and its first county clerk.  He kept the county’s records in his log store. Hunter had several confrontations with the soldiers from Fort Martin Scott.  He once ejected a soldier named Kingston from his store – knocking him down with an ax handle, Kingston, in revenge, mistakenly shot and killed a German resident that night. The soldier was arrested and jailed, but was lynched before he could be tried.

On June 30, 1850, Hunter refused to sell whiskey to a soldier named Dole who became abusive.  The hot-headed Hunter killed him with a stab to the chest. The next night a mob of angry soldiers returned, but Hunter had wisely fled town. The soldiers burned down his store, destroying all the county records up to that time. Several townspeople attempted to salvage the records, but the soldiers prevented them. Apparently neither Hunter nor the soldiers were punished for their crimes.   Hunter returned and quickly built a new store on the same block.

Today in Texas History – June 30

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From the Annals of the Navy –   In 1973, the USS Miller was commissioned. The Knox-class frigate was named in honor of Doris “Dorie” Miller.  Miller was from Waco and was stationed on the USS West Virginia at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.     That day, he had arisen at 6 a.m. to begin work. When the Japanese attack occurred, he reported to his battle station. Miller, an excellent athlete as a former football player and Navy boxing champion, he was asked to assist injured crewmen to safer quarters.  Black servicemen were not allowed combat roles at the time.  The injured included the mortally wounded ship’s captain.  Miller returned to deck and  was ordered to assist with ammunition for the 50-caliber Browning antiaircraft machine guns being used to shoot down the Japanese planes  still dive-bombing the harbor.  Miller in turn manned an abandoned gun  on which he had never been trained and remarkably shot down three or four enemy aircraft. His days of squirrel hunting on his family farm apparently paid off.  He fired until he ran out of ammunition and was ordered to abandon ship. The West Virginia was slowly sinking.  Of the 1541 men on board during the attack, 130 were killed and 52 wounded.

Miller was commended by the Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox for his actions and was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary courage in battle.  Miller, the first African-American to ever receive the honor, was then sent on a tour in the States to raise money for war bonds.  He was called back to serve on the new escort carrier the USS Liscome Bay. The ship was operating in the Pacific near the Gilbert Islands when on November 24, the ship was hit by a single torpedo fired from a Japanese submarine.  The torpedo detonated the bomb magazine on the carrier and the ship sank within minutes.  Miller was not among the 272 men who survived the attack.

Today in Texas History – June 29

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From the Annals of the Democrats –  In 1928 the Democratic National Convention concluded in at Sam Houston Hall in Houston.   Houston deal-maker and civic leader Jesse Jones was instrumental in bringing the convention to Houston and it was the first national convention held in a Southern state since the Civil War.  The intent was to sway the Protestant and Prohibitionist southern wing of the Democratic party to the Catholic, Anti-Prohibition candidate Al Smith. The Texas delegation led by Governor “Dry” Dan Moody wasn’t buying and displayed open hostility towards Smith’s nomination. Women’s temperance groups and Baptist ministers held round-the-clock prayer meetings  to invoke God’s intervention to prevent  Smith’s nomination.  The majority of delegates were not swayed and saw him as their only hope of victory over the Republicans in the fall.  The delegates gave Smith a resounding first ballot victory with no other candidate even close behind. Smith did not back down and his strong anti-prohibition acceptance speech  further alienated many Democrats.  In November, Texas went for Herbert Hoover – the first time a Republican presidential candidate carried Texas.  The massive defection of Texas Democrats to Hoover was attributed both to Smith’s antiprohibition views and his Catholicism.

Today in Texas History – June 23

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From the Annals of Equality – In 1919, the Texas House passed the Nineteenth Amendment which provided women with the constitutional right to vote. The Texas Senate passed the amendment on June 28.   With the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in August of 1920, Texas women finally had the full right of voting.

 

Today in Texas History – June 22

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From the Annals of the Dictators – In 1876, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna passed away in Mexico City.  Known as the Eagle and perhaps derisively called the Napoleon of the West, Santa Anna rose to power on numerous occasions and suffered as many falls from grace.  As a young officer in the Spanish Army Santa Anna quickly distinguished himself as a capable fighter and leader and then played an important role in the Mexican war for independence from Spain. In 1833, he won election to the presidency  by an overwhelming popular majority. Unable to resist his megalomaniac tendencies he proclaimed himself dictator in 1835. That move gave the nascent Texas revolution the impetus it needed to finally take hold. Texians took advantage of Santa Anna’s overthrow of the Mexican Republic as an opportunity to break away and form an independent Republic of Texas.

Determined to crush the Texas rebels, Santa Anna took personal command of the Mexican army and on a long march through barren country facing unusually cold weather including a surprise blizzard.  His forces were already depleted when they stormed the Alamo.  Some historians believe they were further demoralized by the brutal execution of 400 Texan prisoners at Goliad.  On the Texian side, “Remember the Alamo” and “Remember Goliad” became the rallying cries for a reinvigorated Texan army.  Santa Anna then made a crucial mistake by dividing his forces and penetrating too deeply into Texas territory.  Convinced that the Texians would not attack even though they were encamped less than a mile away at San Jacinto, the contingent of his army under his direct command was destroyed and Santa Anna was captured.  He ransomed himself by agreeing to order the majority of his army still in the field (and under competent command) to retreat below the Rio Grande.

One might think that a humiliating defeat such as San Jacinto would end a career, but political instability in Mexico over the next 20 years allowed Santa Anna to repeatedly regain-and lose-dictatorial power. Santa Anna’s standard modus operandi was to seize power and then retreat to his hacienda allowing others to do the dirty work of governance.   All told, he became the head of the Mexican government 11 times. Overthrown for the last time in 1855, he spent the remaining two decades of his life scheming with elements in Mexico, the United States, and France to stage a comeback.  It was not to be.  He died in poverty and obscurity in Mexico City at the age of 82.

Today in Texas History – June 21

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From the Annals of the Border Wars  –  In 1916, the U.S. military expedition against Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa was attacked by Mexican government troops at Carrizal, Mexico.  The attack nearly brought the two nations to war.  The controversial expedition was led by U.S. Brigadier General John J. Pershing and was in response to Villa’s attack on Columbus, New Mexico in which 17 Americans were killed and the town center burned and Villa’s execution of 16 American citizens in Mexico.

The final struggle of the Mexican Revolution was between federal forces under the command of Venustiano Carranza’s government and Villa, the last revolutionary holdout.  By 1915, Villa had been fairly well contained to the mountains of Northern Mexico and from there had staged his raid on Columbus on March 9.  Cavalry from the nearby Camp Furlong pursued the Mexicans, killing several dozen rebels on U.S. soil and in Mexico before turning back. On March 15,  President Woodrow Wilson ordered Pershing to begin a punitive expedition into Mexico to capture or kill Villa and disperse his rebels. The expedition eventually involved some 10,000 U.S. troops and personnel. It was the first U.S. military operation to employ mechanized vehicles, including automobiles and airplanes.

The expedition proved futile as Pershing failed to capture  Villa.  For almost 11 months, Villa eluded Pershing’s troops aided by his intimate knowledge of the mountains of Northern Mexico and his popular support from the locals.   The expedition created unrest in Mexico and a diplomatic crisis between the countries which came to a head when Mexican government troops attacked a detachment of the 10th Cavalry at Carrizal.  If not for the critical situation in Europe, war might have been declared.  By January 1917, the failure of the expedition was obvious and after continued pressure from the Mexican government, Wilson ordered the troops to return to the U.S.

Photo of Villa, Pershing and Obregon from 1914.

 

Today in Texas History – June 20

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From the Annals of the Horse Troopers –   In 1852, Fort Clark was established by two companies of the First Infantry under the command of Major Joseph H. LaMotte along with an advance and rear guard of U.S. Mounted Rifles.  The U.S. Army post was located at the site of Las Moras Springs just outside of present-day Bracketville.   The site was a favorite camp ground for Comanche, Mescalero, Lipan and other Native Americans.  The enormous spring was a stopping place on great Comanche War Trail leading into Mexico.  The Fort was an important link in the line of defense against raiding war parties.   It also served as a base for the famous Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts and served as an active post through World War II.

Today the site is most famous for its fabulous spring fed swimming pool – the third largest pool in Texas.  Legend has it that the commander of the fort sent a requisition to create the pool at the request of his wife and was turned down.  He resubmitted it as a requisition for a horse-watering trough and was approved.  The 100 yard long pool is an ideal spot for summer recreation under the towering cottonwood and oak trees and a must-do for Texas swimming hole aficionados.

Photo from fortclark.com.