From the Annals of Incredible Exploration – In 1528, the eighty survivors of the Narváez expedition washed ashore on an  island off the Texas coast.  Panfilo Narvaez had participated in the conquest of Mexico with Hernan Cortes and was seeking his own fame in leading an expedition to the gulf coast.  He was no Cortes, however, and through a series of blunders in exploring the interior of Florida about 250 of his men were forced to build rafts in an attempt to return via the Gulf Coast to Mexico.  The flotilla made its way towards the Mississippi where most of the rafts were lost in storms and rough seas.  Some members of his ill-fated expedition managed to land in Texas.  Most of them died of disease, starvation or were killed by the hostile coastal tribes.  Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca nearly died but later made it to the mainland and worked as a trader and healer for several years with native groups before discovering that three other men – the slave Estevanico, Alonso Castillo Maldonado, and Andrés Dorantes de Carranza – had survived and were living as captives on the shores of Matagorda Bay.  He joined them and they all ultimately decided to escape and attempt to return to Mexico overland.  These “four ragged castaways” became the first non-native Americans to return from Texas.   Their remarkable journey took them across present-day west Texas and northern Mexico and ended when they arrived at the Spanish outpost of Culiacán near the Pacific in 1536. Cabeza de Vaca’s account of his amazing odyssey in his Relación detailed valuable ethnographic, geographic, and biotic information on Texas.

Whispering Pines by Johnny Horton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XnhL4DPebE

From the Annals of Only the Good Die Young – Country music star Johnny Horton was killed in a car wreck near Milano in 1960.  Horton had played at the Skyline Club in Austin and was travelling to Shreveport to go duck hunting with an old friend.  Around 2:00 a.m. Horton was driving his Cadillac across a narrow bridge when a truck driven by an intoxicated A&M student lost control hitting both sides of the bridge before colliding head-on with Horton’s car.  Horton was born in California but grew up in East Texas graduating from Gallatin High School and attending Kilgore Junior College.  He worked as a fisherman in the Northwest and Alaska, but embarked on a country music career in 1950.  He found his first real success on the Louisiana Hayride show in 1955 where he was initially billed at the “Singing Fisherman.”  His first No. 1 hit was “When it’s Springtime in Alaska” in 1956.  He went on to record classics such as “North to Alaska”, “The Battle of New Orleans”, “Sink the Bismarck”, “Johnny Reb” and one of my favorites “Whispering Pines.”

From the Annals of Dancing Queen — The founder of the Kilgore College Rangerettes, Gussie Nell Davis, was born in Farmersville in 1906.  Davis started the Rangerettes in 1940 and led the group until her retirement in 1979.  The Rangerettes have performed at an Inaugural Parade (Eisenhower), the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and numerous halftime shows.  Davis was inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame in 1989.

I personally have always preferred the Tyler Jr. College Apache Belles.

The Grand Old Partisans are succeeding in suppressing voter turnout in Texas.  It’s dirty work, but someone has to do it.  And by all accounts, the Voter Suppression Act is working.  Expect lots of election contests in close races this year.  If enough voters are denied access but cast provisional ballots, then there is a real possibility that a losing candidate in a close race has a shot at challenging the results based on the Voter ID law.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/houston/article/Little-demand-for-voter-ID-cards-but-some-hit-5865476.php

The Eighth Wonder of the World sits in decrepitude while the voters of Harris County and their elected officials dither about its fate.  The only thing loyal to Houston tradition and historical practice would be to tear it down.  That is what we have always done with our historical landmarks.  Why should the Astrodome be any different.  In fact, it would be disrespectful to do anything else given this city’s history. This is a slash and burn city.  Tear it down.

Photo taken from nrg Stadium on 11.2.2014.

From the annals of engineering marvels – In 1891 construction began on the Pecos High Bridge near Langtry, Texas.  The bridge which was completed in 1892 served the Sunset Route of the Southern Pacific Railroad.  The bridge was supported by 24 towers and spanned 2180 feet crossing the Pecos over a deep gorge.  At 321 feet high it was the highest railroad bridge in North America.  Famed Judge Roy Bean served as the coroner for many of the men killed during construction.  The bridge served the railroad for over 50 years and was replaced by another even higher bridge in 1944.  It is worth a stop at the roadside park high above the river on the southeast side of Hwy 90 to view the new bridge and the magnificent gorge of the Pecos River as it nears its confluence with the Rio Grande.

When I was a single man, I frequently would neglect to buy candy for Halloween.  Despite that, I would still greet the few trick-or-treaters that would come by.  When prompted, sometimes I would respond with a harsh “Trick, because I have no treats!”  That always confused them to no end as they had no clue as to the origin of the standard Halloween catchphrase.  But I always had a large collection of change handy, and would then ask if they wanted money in lieu of the non-existent candy.  They never refused the nickels, dimes and quarters that I would dole out.  And occasionally I would hear one running to the next house yelling “Trick or Money!”

Photo from http://www.mobiledge.com

Texas’ cynical voter ID law appears to be having the exact effect that Republicans hoped it would have – reducing the actual number of votes.  Oh, it’s no big deal to get an ID, except if you don’t have a birth certificate.  And we wouldn’t want students voting with a voter ID because they might vote for – you know – people who aren’t old white men.  One hopes this the last gasp of a dying political breed in the Lone Star State, but I ain’t holding my breath.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/30/texas-voter-id_n_6076536.html

Last Bus to Woodstock by Colin Dexter

I started watching Endeavour on PBS last year.  If you haven’t seen the show and are a fan of procedurals and especially a fan of British procedurals, you must give this series a try.  Endeavour Morse is a young Detective Inspector on the Oxford City Police CID.  He has very blue collar roots but is an Oxford dropout who has somehow trained his incredible intelligence and curiosity on detective work.  The series is the prequel to the Inspector Morse series which ran for many seasons (and which I have never watched).  Curiously, the sequel series – Inspector Lewis – is also running at this time.  All this by way of introduction to Last Bus to Woodstock which is the first novel in the Inspector Morse series.  It is a grim but gripping tale of the murder of a young office worker outside a local pub who was last seen waiting for the “last bus to Woodstock” a suburb of Oxford.  We are introduced to Morse (whose first name we do not learn) – a hard drinking, crosswork puzzle solving, sports car loving senior detective on the Oxford force who quite possibly fancies himself as a ladies man.  The novel has an appropriate number of twists, turns and rabbit trails and a reasonably satisfying conclusion.  SPOILER ALERT.  The only thing I will say is that the novels – like the series – tend to have murderers who come from the most ordinary walks of life and the rich and powerful are frequently suspected but never arrested.