Today in Texas History – September 29

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From the Annals of Bravery – In 1864, Sgt. Milton Holland earned the Medal of Honor for action at Chaffin’s Farm and New Market Heights, Virginia.  Holland was born into slavery probably in Austin in 1844.  He was the slave and likely the son of Bird Holland who would later become Texas Secretary of State.  He was freed by Holland in the 1850’s and sent to the Albany Enterprise Academy in Ohio.  He enlisted in the United States Army in 1863 at the age of 19.  He joined the Fifth United States Colored Troops under the command of Gen. Benjamin Butler.   He quickly rose to the rank of regimental sergeant major.  During the engagements at Chaffin’s Farm and New Market Heights all of the white officers were killed or wounded.  Holland assumed command and led his regiment in action as it routed the Confederates.  He was wounded in the battle and for his actions received the Medal of Honor on April 6, 1865.  His commendation contained the following quote regarding his action after the regiment suffered heavy losses in the battle:

 “But, with a courage that knew no bounds, the men stood like granite figures. They routed the enemy and captured the breastworks. The courage displayed by young Holland’s regiment on this occasion called for the highest praise from Gen. Grant, who personally rode over the battlefield in company with Generals Butler and Draper.”

Butler promoted Holland to Captain for his service, but the War Department refused the commission because of his race.  After mustering out of the army on September 20, 1865, Holland lived in Washington, D.C., where he worked in the Auditor Office of the United States government.  He later became chief of collections for the Sixth District. He also established the Alpha Insurance Company, one of the first African-American-owned insurance companies. He died in 1910, at his farm near Silver Springs, Maryland, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Photo from the National Park Service.

Donald Trump’s Russian Pals Meet with Texas Separatists

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Self-proclaimed “Foreign Minister” of the Texas Nationalist Movement, Nate Smith, address the so-called Dialogue of Nations held in Moscow this  week.  Smith was loudly cheered when he promised that one day an independent Texas “will formally exchange ambassadors with your free and independent countries.”  He was addressing other separatist enthusiasts from California, Northern Ireland, Puerto Rico and elsewhere.

If you don’t think these guys are serious, you had better think again.  Unless you want Rick Perry declared Emperor for Life of a new “Republic” of Texas, this movement bears watching with a very close eye.  Red more or less likes being a U.S. citizen and someone will have to pry his U.S. Passport from his cold dead fingers.

For more scoop on the fabulous Dialogue of Wannabe Nations in Moscow check out the story in the LA Times.

Today in Texas History – September 28

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From the Annals of the Panhandle –    In 1874 Col. Ranald Mackenzie and the Fourth U.S. Cavalry attempted a surprise attack on Comanche, Cheyenne and Kiowa encampments in Palo Duro Canyon.   Although known as the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon, the attack involved little loss of life as it was primarily a raid to seized Indian horses and property.  Assisted by Tonkawa scouts, the cavalry wanted to surprise the Indians who were settling into their winter camps.   However, the Indians were warned by the Comanche leader Red Warbonnet, who discovered the soldiers and fired a warning shot before being killed by the Tonkawas.  Cheyenne chief Iron Shirt, Comanche leader Poor Buffalo, and the Kiowa chief were left in charge.  The camps were located in various parts of the vast canyon which did not allow the Indians to mount a united defense.  As a result most of the Indians retreated leaving behind over 1400 horses and most of their winter stores.  Only three Comanche were killed as was one soldier.  The BOPDC was the last major event in the Red River Wars and resulted in the confinement of southern Plains Indians in reservations in Indian Territory.

Red Goes to the Movies

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Or more accurately, Red sits on his behind and watches a classic at home.  This time it was the film adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s thriller Murder My Sweet.  Red had low hopes for this one – mostly because it starred lightweight Dick Powell as hard-boiled LA private detective Phillip Marlowe.  Powell was best known as an affable romantic lead in frivolous fare such as Gold Diggers of [insert year here], Stage Struck and Footlight Parade.  Legendary director Edward Dmytryk was allegedly furious at having the lightly regarded Powell cast as Marlowe, but soon came to realize that not only was Powell up to the task – he was a superb choice as the pithy street-wise PI.  The movie was helped by the fact that Chandler was the co-screenwriter and the action and dialogue follows the novel almost exactly.

Red believes that this is the finest film adaptation of one of the Marlowe novels ever made.  Powell is incredible and his stinging repartee as Marlowe is impeccably delivered.  And a fine supporting cast of Anne Shirley as the tempestuous female lead, Otto Kruger playing his usual elegant but evil criminal mastermind (ala his role in Hitchcock’s Saboteur) and long-time character actor heavyweight Mike Mazurki in the role of his career as Moose make this one sizzle with understated excitement.  Shot in film noir style, there doesn’t appear to be a daylight shot in the entire movie.  Red gives this one 5 stars.

Today in Texas History – September 27

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From the Annals of Corruption – In 1993, Senator Kay Baily Hutchinson (R-Texas) was indicted on charges that she misused state facilities and employees while she was the Texas state treasurer. In one of the most unusual legal proceedings ever, KBH eluded conviction and really even a trial.  Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earl seemed to have a fairly strong case against the Senator based on telephone records and other documents showing that Treasury Department employees were campaigning for KBH from state offices.  The trial judge was John Onion, the former presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.  Onion refused to rule on the admissibility of evidence seized pursuant to a grand jury warrant from the Treasurer’s office.  The most curious aspect was that strong precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeals holds that a government employee such as KBH does not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in the government records that comprised the primary evidence against KBH.  In other words, she had no standing to challenge the admissibility of the evidence because the documents being relied on by the prosecution did not belong to her.  By refusing to rule pre-trial, Onion denied the state the chance to appeal.  Once the jury was empaneled, Earl refused to go forward and KBH’s attorney Dick DeGuerin asked Onion to instruct the jury to return a not guilty verdict which they did.

Red thinks the fix was clearly in. Then Gov. Ann Richards was facing the possibility of similar charges based on her own alleged use of government employees for political purposes.  Onion, a Democrat, was tight with Richards and Earl had long known Richards in Travis County political circles.  The word on the street was that Earl was instructed by Richards to fall on his sword and that Onion was complicit in the strategy.   However it came down, it was a huge political win for KBH.

HISD Plays Chicken with Texas Legislature

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The Texas Tribune details the Hobson’s Choice facing voters residing within the Houston Independent School.  Under the “Robin Hood” plan HISD is due to send $165 million to poorer school districts subject to voter approval.  The voters can turn down the plan, but then the district faces the prospect of having some of its most expensive real estate figuratively moved to another close-by poorer district.  That is, if the voters say ‘no’ to the incredibly poorly worded proposition on the November ballot, then the state can take some expensive real property off of the HISD rolls and instead assign it to another district to boost its property tax base.  Locals bigwigs are lining up behind the “no” vote in the hopes that the Legislature will blink when faced with the proposition of telling the largest school district in the state that it is stripping away some $18 billion of its tax base.  And the kicker is, the obligation to pay the $165 million is still there – only to be paid by the smaller number of taxpayers.   Red envisions James Dean speeding towards the cliff and this time his sleeve gets caught in the door handle.

Today in Texas History – September 26

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From the Annals of New Spain – In 1736, Carlos Benites Franquis de Lugo arrived in San Antonio to serve as ad interim governor of Spanish Texas.   Franquis was extraordinarily unpopular due to his high-handed approach to administration.  One of his first acts was file criminal charges against Manuel de Sandoval who had been in charge of Texas.  He arbitrarily cut the number of guards at the missions leaving them vulnerable to attack.  He failed at almost every aspect of administration such that the province was near bankruptcy under his rule.  Ultimately he was arrested and accused of “arrogant behavior” a charge that has sadly fallen from favor in the world of criminal jurisprudence.  He stepped down as governor in September 1737,  but was found not guilty of the charges against him.

Ted Cruz – Servile Puppy Dog

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Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas) ended any doubt that he has not a shred of integrity by endorsing Donald Trump for the Presidency today.  Cruz refused to endorse Trump at the GOP Convention and later defended his refusal to do so by stating that he was not a “servile puppy dog.”  Showing some spine, Cruz backed down on his pledge to endorse the GOP nominee when faced with the distasteful prospect of endorsing a reality show con-man like Trump for the most important office on the planet.  So Ted has endorsed a man that claimed his father was involved in JFK’s assassination, called his wife ugly, and who, in his own words, he believes is “utterly amoral”, a “pathological liar” and a “narcissistic bully.”  And those were some of the nicer things Lyin’ Ted had to say about The Donald.  Cruz was clearly running for cover in making the endorsement as it was looking more and more like a failure to endorse Trump would put an end to the one thing that Cruz values most of all – the greater glorification of all things Ted Cruz.

Today in Texas History – September 23

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June 13th, 1977 - Tom C. Clark, former Supreme Court Justice (1949-67), died at 77. Thomas Campbell "Tom C." Clark (b. 1899) was United States Attorney General from 1945 to 1949 and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1949 to 1967. Clark died in New York City and is buried in Restland Memorial Park, Dallas, Texas.:

From the Annals of the Halls of Justice –  In 1899, Thomas Campbell Clark was born in Dallas.  Clark was born to a family of lawyers.  He naturally attended the University of Texas School of Law graduating in 1922.  He worked in his father’s law firm for several years before becoming a prosecutor in Dallas County.  He later served in the Department of Justice becoming a political ally of Harry Truman.  He worked with Truman to ferret out corruption in the war effort but also to his later regret worked on the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII.  Truman appointed him as U.S. Attorney General from 1945 to 1949 and then appointed him to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1949.  He resigned from the Court in 1967 when his ungrateful son Ramsey Clark was appointed as U.S. Attorney General.  He remains the only Justice of the Supreme Court to have attended law school in Texas.