Tag Archives: San Antonio

The San Antonio Raiders?

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With Oakland seemingly licking up the scraps from the NFL Owner’s table, the fate of the Oakland Raiders is in doubt.  When Raiders President Mark Davis visited San Antonio last year, many viewed it as a publicity stunt to show the league that the Raiders were serious about leaving Oakland and viewed San Antonio (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) as a possible destination.  But yesterday, the Raiders were left sucking hind tit when the owner’s committee recommended that the Rams move back to LA and give the Chargers the option of being included in the deal.  The committee also recommended that the league funnel $100 million towards the construction of a new stadium in Oakland.  But $100 million is a drop in the bleachers under current stadium construction budgets which typically exceed $1 billion.   The snub plus the fact that the Raiders have already purchased land in the San Antonio/Austin area, plus the fact that the Raiders would have a respectable temporary home in the AlamoDome are increasing speculation that the Raiders may be seriously considering a move to Texas.  Red supports the idea as Texas is clearly large enough to support 3 NFL teams and anything that would eat into the Cowboys fan base (the Texans get little love in SA) is okay with Red.

Today in Texas History – December 11

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From the Annals of the Indian Conflicts – In 1737, Cabellos Colorados, a Lipan Apache chief, was captured by Spanish forces.  The Spanish established a settlement in San Antonio in 1718 which the Apaches viewed as an easy target for raids against the European invaders.  Not much is known about Cabellos Colorados.  He does appear in Spanish records which comment on his raids.  One known raid on San Antonio occurred in 1731, and in 1734 his band seized two citizens in a raid. He also stole horses from San Francisco de la Espada Mission and killed Indians from the missions of San Juan Capistrano and Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña. After numerous raids in 1736 and 1737, he was captured and imprisoned at Bexar until October of 1738 when he was sent as a prisoner to Mexico.

Today in Texas History – December 9

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From the Annals of New Spain –  In 1716 Martín de Alarcón was appointed Spanish governor of Texas.  This was Alarcon’s second stint as Spanish Governor of Coahuila y Tejas having previously served from 1705 to 1708.   He is considered to be the founder of San Antonio in 1718 with the establishment of the San Antonio de Valero Mission (later known as the Alamo) and the municipality of Bejar which  became San Antonio.  His second term was marred by difficulties with the far-flung missions in East Texas which were poorly supplied and failing in their essential mission of converting native peoples such as the Hasanai to Christianity.  The ambitions of the French also troubled his administration as French troops continued unchecked military adventures in Texas.  He was removed from office in 1717.

Image of Alarcon from http://www.hmdb.org

Today in Texas History – August 28

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From the Annals of Nueva Espana –  In 1767, Hugo Oconór was appointed as governor ad interim of the Spanish province of Texas.  Oconor, who was of Irish descent, had flaming red hair and was called the “Red Captain” by the Native Americans.  He was inspector general of the Provincias Internas in 1765, when he traveled to Texas to investigate trouble between Governor Ángel de Martos y Navarrete and Rafael Martinez Pacheco  concerning San Agustín de Ahumada Presidio. With the removal of Martos y Navarrete on August 28, 1767, Oconór became governor ad interim of Texas.  The province was troubled by attacks from numerous Native American tribes. In particular, the Apaches were regularly raiding San Antonio de Bexar. Oconór reinforced San Antonio and was so generally highly regarded for his leadership that his return to Mexico in 1770 was greatly lamented by the soldiers and citizens of the province.

Painting of Don Hugo Oconor from the Joel D. Valdez Library, Pima County, Tuscon, Arizona

Lone Star Rail District Moving Forward

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The Lone Star Rail District plans to connect San Antonio and Austin by efficient and time effective rail service seems to moving slowly towards reality. LSRD officials are seeking $500,000 in funding from the San Antonio City Council to begin planning work in the Alamo City.  The LSRD plan includes improving the existing Union Pacific rail line between San Antonio and Austin for passengers at an estimated cost of $800 million. But LSRD first has to build a $1.6 billion freight line east of San Antonio to divert freight traffic.  Funding for the rail line improvements is expected to come from state and federal grants as well as the private sector.  LSRD also needs assurances from municipalities along its route from San Antonio to Georgetown that they will pay for continued maintenance and operations of each stop.

LSRD envisions transported 20,000 people each day and reducing traffic on I-35 by 18,000 vehicles.   The plan includes 16 stations with six in the San Antonio, one in New Braunfels, one in San Marcos, one in Buda/Kyle and the rest in the Austin-Georgetown corridor.

Red took the train from Austin to San Antonio exactly one time – with his mother when he was 5.  Red didn’t ride on a train again until he was 20 years old and taking a train from New Jersey into New York City.   The average European could not imagine a 15 year gap in train trips.

Today in Texas History – July 6

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From the Annals of Fraternity –  In 1861, the Order of the Sons of Hermann in the State of Texas was founded.  Two representatives of the National Grand Lodge came to San Antonio to organize Harmonia Lodge No. 1 – the first such lodge in Texas.  San Antonio was a likely spot for a new lodge because of the many Germans who had immigrated to central Texas after 1845.  In 1890, the Texas Grand Lodge was established and included the original Harmonia Lodge as well as seven other newly formed lodges in Austin, Taylor, Temple, Waco, La Grange, Brenham, and Houston. . Within a year ninety-two more lodges were formed.  By 1920, the Order of the Sons of Hermann in Texas was financially stronger and had more members than all of the lodges in the rest of the United States.  As a result, the Texas order separated from the national order. Originally all of the members were of German extraction, but by 1965 only about half were, and by 1994 membership was open to all ethnic groups.

Leticia Van de Putte – Now a Two Time Loser

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The Democrats somehow managed to blow the mayoral race in San Antonio this weekend.  The Texas Tribune looks at what went wrong for the down-trodden Texas Democratic Party.  Although, the race was technically non-partisan, the lines were clearly drawn and Ivy Taylor, the interim mayor won the runoff election with 51.7 percent of the vote.