From the Annals of Extremely Partisan Politics – In 1860, 7 defendants were found guilty of killing 3 men that were taken from the Marion County Jail in Jefferson on the night of October 24, 1868. The 7 defendants along with 17 others who were acquitted were accused of dragging 5 men out of the jail and killing 3 of them. The jailed men were Republicans who had been arrested the night before after a gun fight with local Democrats.
From the Annals of Art Spaces – In 1971, the De Luxe Show opened in the remodeled De Luxe movie theater in Houston’s Fifth Ward. The show ran from August 22 to September 29. The Menil Foundation sponsored the show in response to a brewing controversy over the lack of opportunities for black artists. The exhibit was notable in that it was one of the first racially integrated exhibitions of contemporary art.
The De Luxe Theater was an important part of the Fifth Ward as it provided a family-oriented alternative to residents of the neighborhood. However, as white theaters integrated it’s business declined and was closed in 1969. The theatre was transformed into an exhibition space in a matter of weeks by the Jones and Bynam Construction Company.
The exhibition was curated by painter Peter Bradley. Bradley chose 40 abstract works by 19 artists including Virginia Jaramillo, Ed Clark, Larry Poons, Jules Olitski, William T. Williams and Sam Gilliam along with constructions from Alvin Loving, Richard Hunt, Michael Stiener and Anthony Caro.
Photo from http://www.thedeluxetheater.com
From the Annals of “How Low Can You Go” – In 1962, Homero Blancas of Houston shot a 55 at the Premier Invitational Golf Tournament in Longview. Blancas was playing for the University of Houston golf team. Blancas had 13 birdies and an eagle to go 15 under par on the par 70 course. It remains the lowest score in U.S. competitive golf history. Blancas went on to join the PGA tour where he was rookie of the year in 1965. He won four events in his career and played on the 1973 Ryder Cup team. He is a member of the Texas Golf Hall of Fame.
From the Annals of the Temblors – In 1931, an earthquake in Texas shook the ground near Valentine in Jeff Davis County. The quake measured 6.5 on the Richter Scale. No casualties were reported, but the quake caused damage to almost every wooden structure building in Valentine. The local school building was damaged beyond repair. There were also reports of landslides as far away as the Guadalupe Mountains. The Valentine temblor remains the most powerful recorded earthquake in the entire state.
Figure showing felt area and Modified Mercalli Intensities experienced by Texans from the Valentine earthquake from www-udc.ig.utexas.edu.
From the Annals of the Republic – In 1836, following winning independence from Mexico, Sam Houston was nominated to be the first president of the Republic of Texas. The nomination was placed by Phillip Sublett who had come to Texas in 1824 and settled near San Augustine. Sublett was engaged in the early conflicts of the Texas Revolution including the Battle for Bexar, but returned to his home after the Battle of Concepcion. Houston recuperated in Sublett’s home after the Battle of San Jacinto.
Houston won the election handily despite declaring his candidacy only 11 days before the election. Until that point, it seemed all but certain that Stephen F. Austin would be elected, but once the Raven entered the race, Austin’s defeat was inevitable. Austin finished third behind Houston and Henry Smith of Wharton.
Portrait of Houston by Thomas Flintoff.
From the Annals of the State Police – In 1935, the Texas legislature established the Texas Department of Public Safety. As the name implies, the function of the agency was to provide for public safety meaning primarily crime prevention and investigation. The DPS was under the oversight of the three-member Public Safety Commission who were appointed by Gov. James Allred. The Commission hired the director and assistant director who were responsible for day-to-day operations. The original DPS was organized into six divisions: the Texas Highway Patrol, Texas Rangers, Bureau of Communications, Bureau of Intelligence, Bureau of Education, and Bureau of Identification and Records. The DPS is still in business today with its headquarters on N. Lamar in Austin.
From the Annals of the Veterans – In 1946, the last Confederate reunion was held at Camp Ben McCulloch near Dripping Springs. The first reunion of Texas Confederate veterans was held in 1896 at a site near CBM. CBM began to hold the annual reunions in 1904. The reunion expanded and by the 1930s, the event was the largest annual reunion of the elderly Confederate vets with as many as 6000 attendees. The reunion of actual veterans lasted until 1946 when the last two Hays County veterans died. CBM still hosts an annual event for the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy.
From the Annals of Mr. Texas – In 1941, Lt. Gov. Coke Stevenson was sworn in as Governor of Texas when Pappy O’Daniel resigned to take office as a United States senator. Stevenson’s story is rather remarkable. He grew up in hard scrabble land of the western Hill Country and had almost no formal education. He began work in his teens running mule teams that hauled freight between Junction and Brady. He educated himself on the trail studying history and bookkeeping at night. He worked his way up from janitor to bank cashier and continued to study – this time tackling law under the tutelage of Judge Marvin Blackburn. He passed the bar exam in 1913 and continued his banking career while practicing law. Stevenson organized and became president of the First National Bank in Junction and also aspired to politics. He was elected Kimble County Attorney and County Judge. He later was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1928 and became Speaker of the House in a remarkable short five years. In 1939, he was elected lieutenant governor. After succeeding Daniel he was elected governor on his own in 1942 and served until 1947. Unfortunately, he may be most famous for his loss to Lyndon Johnson in the 1948 Democratic Primary. It was a race filled with controversy and scandal and revealed LBJ as a politician who would stop at nothing to win. The race and Stevenson’s own remarkable rise to power is brilliantly chronicled in Robert Caro’s Path to Power volume of his series on LBJ.
From the Annals of Space Objects – In 1946, the Peña Blanca Spring meteorite plunged into a natural springs swimming pool at the headquarters of the Gage ranch in Brewster County in front of twenty-four witnesses – one of whom saw the meteorite in flight. The meteorite was approximately 155 lbs and two major fragments were recovered from the pool – one weighing 104 lbs and another at 29 lbs. The one eyewitness to the fall described the object as “looking like a black bag falling out of the sky.” Local residents recovered part of the space rock, but the major recovery was done by O.E. Monnig and Harrison Morse of Fort Worth who were meteorite enthusiasts. Five pieces of the PBS meteorite can be seen at the Monnig Meteorite Gallery at TCU in Fort Worth.
From the Annals of the Toreros – In 1908, Harper Lee of Ysleta made his first appearance as a novillero, or apprentice matador, in the Plaza de Guadalajara. In 1895 Harper’s mother married Samuel M. Lee, a resident of Guadalajara. Harper joined the family there and enrolled in high school in 1899. He called himself Harper Baylor Lee even though he was never legally adopted. His amigos called him El Gringo Harper. Lee showed early promise in bullfighting games. He was invited to bull haciendas as was given the opportunity to test young fighting bulls and breeding cows. He showed exceptional talent with the cape. Under the tutelage of his friend Francisco Gómez, El Chiclanero, a retired matador from Spain, Lee decided to become a professional torero. His initial appearance in Guadalajara launched a remarkable career in which he ultimately became the first North American to be acknowledged as a full-fledged matador de toros. His career was cut short by the turmoil of the Mexican Revolution but he appeared in 52 corridas and dispatched 100 bulls. He “cut the pigtail” in the formal ceremony of retirement on December 3, 1911.
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