Tag Archives: Texas History

Today in Texas History – October 29

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From the Annals of Garage Bands –  In 1966, ? and the Mysterians hit No. 1 on the US charts with “96 Tears.”   The members of the band were living in Saginaw, Michigan but were originally from Texas.  Their parents had been migrant workers who settled in Michigan after finding auto industry jobs.  ? – the former Rudy Martinez, who legally changed his name to a punctuation mark and claims to be a space alien, has understandably managed to maintain an air of mystery ever since making a splash with “96 Tears” which essentially came out of nowhere to reach the top of the Billboard pop chart.

Critics regard “96 Tears” as the first garage-rock masterpiece and a “proto-punk” classic.  The Mysterians formed in 1962 when four Mexican-American teenagers in Saginaw began playing instrumental music inspired by the surf bands such as the Ventures and legendary guitarist Link Wray. Taking their name from a Japanese science fiction movie, the Mysterians soon made the acquaintance of their own alleged alien—a young man in sunglasses who approached them after a gig at Michigan’s Mt. Holly Ski Lodge offering to manage the group. Identifying himself to the Mysterians only as “?,” he soon became the group’s lead singer and primary songwriter. It was a poem of his called “Too Many Teardrops” that became “96 Tears.”

Today in Texas History- October 28

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From the Annals of the Collectors – In 2014, British rock-pop-prog star Phil Collins donated his expansive collection of Alamo and Texas Revolution-related artifacts to a new museum planned for the Alamo complex in San Antonio.   The “Phil Collins Alamo Collection” section of the museum will house a number of rare items – including a rifle owned by former Congressman Davy Crockett, a fringed leather pouch carried by Crockett and an original Bowie knife which Jim Bowie had in his possession during the 1836 siege.   Collins’ collection is believed to be the largest of its kind, with over 200 total items and is valued at as much as $100 million.  Collins’ fascination with the Alamo began as a child and has obviously continued.  The collection started more than 20 years ago when he received Alamo courier John W. Smith’s saddle receipt as a gift.  That launched Collins on a worldwide search for artifacts which he documented in his 2012 book, The Alamo and Beyond: A Collector’s Journey.

Today in Texas History – October 27

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From the Annals of the Tall Ships – In 1877, The Elissa was launched. She is the official Tall Ship of Texas and was originally designed as an iron-hulled, three-masted barque and built at the Clyde River shipyard of Alexander Hall and Company of Aberdeen, Scotland, for Henry Fowler Watt of Liverpool, England.  After much renovation, she is a now a fully restored sailing ship that belongs to the Galveston Historical Foundation. Her overall length is 162 feet and draws 16 feet. Her gross capacity is 430 tons. She carries nineteen sails made of 12,000 square feet of a synthetic material that resembles canvas. The Elissa began her career as a British merchantman on December 19, 1877, when she carried a cargo of Welsh coal to Recife, Brazil, where she arrived on January 28, 1878. For the next ninety years, she was steadily employed as a tramp freight carrier traveling all over the world. The main United States ports she stopped at were New York, Boston, Savannah, and Pensacola. She also stopped at Galveston in 1883 and 1886.  Her career included stints in Scandinavian waters hauling lumber and being used for smuggling operations in the Adriatic.  Over the years she was converted to a motorized ship with most of her sailing rig removed.

In 1974 the Galveston Historical Foundation purchased her as a restoration project to complement the Strand Historic District.  Galveston would once again have her in port.  She was also one of the few surviving square-riggers in the world and the oldest listed in the Lloyd’s of London Registry of Shipping.

In December 1978 the ship began the voyage to Galveston when she was towed to Gibraltar. On June 25, 1979, she was towed out of Gibraltar and set sail for Texas.  She arrived off Galveston on July 20. A dockside celebration was held in Galveston on August 4 to honor the arrival.

In the next three years the Elissa underwent a complete restoration, under direction of David Brink, which included extensive hull repair and new masts, yards, rigging, and sails, as well as a new deck and new deck houses.  Restoration was largely complete by July 4, 1982, when she was formally opened as a tourist attraction. On Labor Day of that year, the Elissa also sailed again as a full-rigged ship on sea trials off Galveston in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Elissa by Don Scafidi available at http://www.elissa.org.

Today in Texas History – October 26

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From the Annals of the State Fair –  In 1930, the first football game was played at the Cotton Bowl at the Fair Park in Dallas.  SMU beat Indiana 27-0 to record the first win in the newly constructed stadium.  The 46,000-seat stadium was on the site of the former 15,000 seat Fair Park Football Stadium.  For more than 75 years, the stadium was the site of its namesake Cotton Bowl Classic which pitted the Southwest Conference champion against another highly ranked team on New Year’s Day.  The Cotton Bowl was the site of several of the “mythical” national championship games including UT’s victory over Notre Dame to claim the title in 1969.  The stadium was renovated extensively in 1949 increasing seating to 75,504. The Cotton Bowl was home to the short-lived Dallas Texans of the NFL in 1952, the Dallas Texans (now the Kansas City Chiefs) of the AFL from 1960 to 1962, and the Dallas Cowboys from 1960 to 1970. The stadium was renovated again in 1994 in preparation for World Cup games.  The venerable stadium was renovated again in the last decade to further increase its capacity.  The Cotton Bowl still hosts the annual Texas-OU game and the Ticket City Bowl.

Today in Texas History – October 23

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From the Annals of the Loyal Unionists –  In 1863, the First Texas Cavalry left New Orleans as part of a campaign to occupy south Texas and interfere with trade between the Confederacy and Mexico.  The Rio Grande expedition landed on the south Texas coast on November 2 and occupied Brownsville four days later.  The First Texas Cavalry included 16 officers and 205 enlisted men, but grew quickly added more than 100 new soldiers within a month.  During this time the Second Texas Cavalry Regiment was formed at Brownsville. Both regiments left Texas in July 1864 for Louisiana. Two companies, however, of the First Texas Cavalry remained at Brownsville and did not rejoin their parent regiment until six months later.  The First Texas was part of a little known Texas effort to support the Union.   A total of 1,915 men from Texas served the Union.  The Texas Union soldiers were primarily of Mexican heritage, German Unionists from the Hill Country or first generation Irish immigrants – all of whom were opposed to slavery.

Today in Texas History – October 22

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rom the Annals of the Republic – In 1836, Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first constitutionally elected President of the Republic of Texas.  Among the most pressing issues facing the new President were relations with the Native Americans who still dominated much of the claimed national territory. Houston’s years living with the Cherokees and actually becoming a Cherokee citizen gave him a different perspective than most.  During his first term, Houston held conferences with tribal leaders in an attempt to address past grievances and establish new trust. He appointed agents to deal with the tribes and to run government trading houses.  Houston attempted to limit further settlement by pulling back surveyors and military companies from the frontier.  He did recognize that Anglos needed some protection.  He created a force of 280 mounted riflemen to enforce the trade laws and deal fairly with both sides, removing white trespassers and arresting Indian raiders.  But there was to be no peace between whites and Indians. Many Texans refused to wait for Houston’s policy to work and demanded that the Indians be removed from Texas and violence inevitably resulted – instigated by both sides.  By the end of Houston’s term in 1838, a change in policy was inevitable.

Today in Texas History – October 21

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From the Annals of Money –  In 1822, the first Texas bank was established by Governor José Félix Trespalacios. The Banco Nacional de Texas, or Texas National Bank, is reputed to be the first charted bank west of the Mississippi in what is now the United States.  The initial officers were members of local government and the bank was created primarily to provide funds to pay Mexican officials and soldiers.  The bank was short-lived but issued approximately 12,000 pesos in two installments on November 1 and December 1, 1822 to be backed by the specie due from the central government. The bank’s notes were declared legal tender for public and private debts, but trust in the currency was lacking. Citizens readily paid their taxes to the municipality in the notes, but many individuals had to be forced to accept the paper money.  After which the bank was suspended, most noteholders refused to accept Mexican paper currency in exchange and held out for payment in specie.  Finally, in 1830 the bank notes were finally exchanged in Saltillo for coin provided by the customhouses of Matamoros and Tampico.

Image of José Félix Trespalacios from http://www.snipview.com.

Today in Texas History – October 20

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From the Annals of Treason – In 1807, former Vice-President Aaron Burr was acquitted on charges of treason.  Burr’s treason trial arose from his ambitious plan for the United States to seize the Spanish colonies in the Southwest and establish a great American empire. After leaving the vice presidency in disgrace in 1804, he toured the west as part of a conspiracy aimed towards invading Texas.  Burr made no real secret of his plan, as in 1805 he announced in Kentucky and New Orleans that he planned to overthrow the Spanish empire in America.

In 1806, he negotiated for the purchase of land near Natchitoches, Louisiana. From there he planned to establish a colony that would be a launching point for his projected invasion of Mexico.  His treason trial was based on a supposed plan to begin a western rebellion against the United States and form a break-away republic in the west. Gen. James Wilkinson, American military commander in New Orleans, however, informed President Thomas Jefferson that he had received a coded letter from Burr disclosing a plan to seize control of the Mississippi valley.  When his party of colonists set sail from Nashville in December 1808, Jefferson ordered Burr arrested for treason and high misdemeanors.   When Burr arrived at Bayou Pierre, LA on January 10, he learned that he had been betrayed. On January 17 he surrendered to the governor of Mississippi Territory. After an attempt to escape from the authorities he was tried in Richmond, Virginia. After a prolonged trial Justice John Marshall ruled that Burr was not guilty of treason but was guilty of contemplating an invasion of Spanish territory. He was placed under $3,000 bond.

Today in Texas History – October 19

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From the Annals of Democracy –  In 1919, the League of Women Voters of Texas, a nonpartisan political organization, was formed at San Antonio.  The LWV-Texas was created by the members of the Texas Equal Suffrage Association which was made irrelevant by the passage of the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote.  The LWV-Texas selected Jessie Daniel Ames of Georgetown as its first president.  The group focused its early efforts on educating the newly enfranchised women voters of the state.   The LWV-Texas now works to encourage active participation in government, increase understanding of major public policy issues, influence public policy through education and advocacy, and inform citizens about the voting process and positions of the candidates.

Photo from lwvhouston.org

Remember the Alamo

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The shameful state of the area surrounding  what is left of the historic Texas shrine has long bothered Red.  Red has always found it unsettling to walk out of the most famous place in all of Texas, gaze across the street and see the Ripley’s Odditorium and a Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum with a life-size scowling Tom Landry looking back at him.  That may be changing soon, as at long last, a plan to create a more appropriate historic district around the Alamo is in the works.  The designation of the Alamo by UNESCO as a World Heritage site has helped.  Despite deranged Tea Party beliefs that this was the first step towards the UN taking over Texas or some other such nonsense, the designation seems to have finally prompted the State and the City of San Antonio to do more to preserve and protect the hallowed grounds of the mission turned fort.  The Texas Tribune has more.

Surrounded by figures clad in period costumes, including a Davy Crockett look-alike, Texas and San Antonio officials gathered in front of the Alamo on Thursday to formalize a long-awaited agreement to preserve the historic mission and spruce up its appeal to visitors.

Representatives from the Texas General Land Office, the city of San Antonio and the Alamo Endowment Board put pen to paper, signing an agreement to develop a master plan for the Alamo Historic District and Complex. Although similar past efforts have failed, state officials are optimistic that this time the plan will stick.

Notions of drafting a master plan to revamp the Alamo are not new, as Dinnin said the presentation of the Alamo and the surrounding area have long underwhelmed visitors. Previous efforts to revamp the monument and prevent growing downtown San Antonio from completely swallowing it failed to take hold, or stalled due to a lack of funding. 

Dinnin said she is optimistic this plan won’t run into similar roadblocks. While discussions about forming an agreement were in the words before the UNESCO designation, Dinnin said it demonstrated the need for serious work to be done at the historic missions. 

“It’s really obvious physically when you’re here,” she said. “The city has grown up around the Alamo and it’s hard to find…you have to look at little bit harder than we should have to look. It’s right in the middle of the heart of downtown San Antonio and, in one way, that means it has served its purpose – it was put here to establish a city. But at the same time, it’s hard to find and a lot of the pieces and the important history is lost unless you already know what happened here.”

Gene Powell – who serves on the Alamo Endowment Board alongside prominent philanthropists including Red McCombs and Ramona Bass – said he hopes to see the Alamo gain the same notoriety as places like Gettysburg, Pennsylvania or Jamestown, Virginia. Most visitors now, he said, only spend an average of eight minutes at the mission.

“There’s just not that much left of it,” he said.

Hotels, shops and roadways have crept closer over the years, encroaching onto land once part of the original mission property. Last week, the land office announced plans to buy three buildings neighboring the Alamo, but Dinnin said the buildings’ fate will be determined by the master plan.