Tag Archives: Texas History

Today in Texas History – February 19

Leave a reply

Plummer, Rachel Biography

From the Annals of the Captives – In 1838, Rachel Plummer was reunited with her husband after spending over a year as a Comanche captive. She and her son and three others were kidnapped in a raid on Fort Parker at the headwaters of the Navasota River.  Plummer was taken along with the most famous Texas captive her cousin Cynthia Ann Parker.   Plummer wrote that “one minute the fields (in front of the fort) were clear, and the next moment, more Indians than I dreamed possible were in front of the fort.”  After being returned to her family, Plummer wrote a book about her experience entitled Rachael Plummer’s Narrative of Twenty One Months Servitude as a Prisoner Among the Commanchee Indians. Plummer’s book is considered one of the most insightful accounts of Comanche culture and mindset while still at the height of their powers.  Sadly, Plummer died shortly after her reunification with her family.

Today in Texas History – February 14

Leave a reply

Bbbc Valentine Web 900X600

From the Annals of Love –  In 1882, the town of Valentine in Jeff Davis County was founded when crews building the Southern Pacific Railway reached the outpost on St. Valentine’s Day.  Valentine is the only incorporated municipality in Jeff Davis County.  The town capitalizes on its name with a Valentine’s Day Celebration hosted by the Big Bend Brewing Company at the Old Mercantile Building.  This year is Local’s Night with a lineup that includes Doug Moreland Band, The Doodlin’ Hogwallops, and Beebe & Carrasco.

Today in Texas History – February 13

Leave a reply

Gen. Lee the last Confederate statue removed in New ...

From the Annals of Bad Decisions – In 1861, Gen. Winfield Scott ordered Col. Robert E. Lee to return to Washington from Texas to assume command of the Union Army. Instead, Lee resigned his post and was commissioned into the Rebel Army.  After a rather undistinguished campaign in western Virginia and a brief stint as military advisor to the Insurgent Leader Jefferson Davis, Lee succeeded Joseph Johnston as the Insurgent Commander in June of 1862.  Historians will never know and can only speculate as to how many lives were lost as a result of Lee’s decision. 

Photo of Lee’s statue being removed.

Today in Texas History – February 12

Leave a reply

From the Annals of the Blue Norther – In 1899, the coldest temperature ever recorded in Texas occurred in Tulia – south of Amarillo.  The town recorded a record minus 23 degrees Fahrenheit. This was part of the “Big Freeze,” an infamous norther that killed 40,000 cattle across the state overnight. This temperature was matched in Seminole in 1933.  Many other Texas cities set all time records or came very close.

  • Amarillo: −16 °F (−26.7 °C) all-time record
  • Austin: −1 °F (−18.3 °C) second-lowest ever
  • Brenham: 0 °F (−17.8 °C) all-time record for February
  • Brownsville: 12 °F (−11.1 °C) all-time record
  • College Station: 1 °F (−17.2 °C) all-time record for February
  • Conroe: 6 °F (−14.4 °C) tied for all-time record for February
  • Corpus Christi: 11 °F (−11.7 °C) all-time record
  • Dallas & Fort Worth: −8 °F (−22.2 °C) all-time record
  • Danevang: 3 °F (−16.1 °C) all-time record
  • Galveston: 8 °F (−13.3 °C) all-time record
  • Houston: 6 °F (−14.4 °C) second-lowest ever
  • Marshall: −9 °F (−22.8 °C) all-time record
  • San Antonio: 4 °F (−15.6 °C) second-lowest ever

 

Today in Texas History – February 6

Leave a reply

From the Annals of the Bohemians –  In 1879, E. J. Glueckman published the first issue of the Texan.   This was the first Czech newspaper in Texas.  The paper lasted about decade focusing on Czech culture in Texas and catering to the many Czech immigrants who came to Texas beginning in the early 1850s.  Czech immigrants established settlements primarily in Austin, Fayette, Lavaca, and Washington counties.  The Texan was just the first of many such periodicals which celebrated the rich contribution of Czechs to Texas.  By the end of the twentieth century, more than thirty Czech newspapers and periodicals had been published.  Today Czech traditions are still alive in Texas music, food, beer, community groups and festivals.

Today in Texas History – February 5

Leave a reply

From the Annals of the Highways –  In 1844, the Congress of the Republic of Texas authorized a commission to oversee the construction of the Central National Road. The CNR was planned to run from the Elm Fork of the Trinity River to Kiomatia Crossing on the Red River in far northeast Texas.  It was intended to become part of a larger international highway ultimately connecting San Antonio to St. Louis.  The Congress provided that the CNR was to be at least 30 feet wide with no tree stumps taller than 12 inches from the ground.  Bridges were to be at least 15 feet wide and built of good substantial materials.  The project was to be paid for with public land grants to contractors building the road. The rate was to be 160 acres of land for every mile constructed.

The commissioners chose George Stell of Paris, Texas, as surveyor for the project.  Surveying work began in April 1844. Stell and his assistant traveled northeast, measuring and marking the exact route, which passed through the present counties of Dallas, Rockwall, Collin, Hunt, Fannin, Lamar and Red River. The route largely  utilized existing prairies and natural stream crossings – avoiding densely wooded areas and river crossing requiring bridges.  It is unclear if construction was ever completed.  The CNR appears to have been short-lived and was replaced by the Preston Road and other early routes.

 

Today in Texas History – February 1

Leave a reply

From the Annals of the Statehouse –  In 1882, Nimrod Norton and Joseph Lee ceremonially broke ground on the site of the present Texas Capitol Building.  Norton and Lee were the building commissioners in charge of overseeing construction.  A design competition resulted in eight architects submitting eleven different designs for the building.  In May 1881 the Capitol Board approved the design entered by Elijah E. Meyers of Detroit. The building commission then advertised for a contractor who would build the Capitol in exchange for the three million acres of public land. There were only two bidders and the BC chose Mathias Schnell of Rock Island, Illinois. Schnell ultimately assigned the contract to Taylor, Babcock and Company, a Chicago firm.  Abner Taylor became the chief contractor but subcontracted the work to Gustav Wilke also of Chicago.  The  Capitol was intended to be constructed from Texas limestone but impurities in the rock made it impractical.  The design was changed – made less ornate – and the main building material was changed to red granite from Marble Mountain near Marble Falls.  The Renaissance Revival structure was completed in about six years for a cost of $3.75 million.

Today in Texas History – January 29

Leave a reply

From the Annals of the Abolitionists – In 1844, President Sam Houston granted an empresario contract to abolitionist Charles Fenton Mercer to establish a colony in the Republic of Texas.  A Virginia native, CFM had a distinguished career as an Lt. Colonel of a Virginia regiment in the War of 1812, member of the Virginia House of Delegates, U.S. Congressman for over 20 years, and head of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co. He was a dedicated abolitionist and instrumental in attempting to resettle free African-Americans in Africa – a now discredited belief as a solution to slavery among many abolitionists of the time.   After retiring from public service, Mercer became interested in obtaining an empresario license in Texas – making seven trips to the new nation.  Houston granted him a contract for a colony east of Peter’s Colony but only after vetoing a bill that would have restricted the President’s rights in that regard.  Mercer’s contract was always controversial because of his well-known abolitionist sentiments. Nonetheless, he organized the Texas Association and began selling shares for $500 each. By the end of the year, more than 100 families had complied with the requirements of his contract and received land certificates. Land disputes and court cases, however, proved top be too much of a burden on Mercer’s time and finances. In 1852 he assigned his interest in the contract to George Hancock of Kentucky and other members of the Texas Association, receiving in return an annuity of $2,000.

Today in Texas History – January 23

Leave a reply

 

From the Annals of Spanish Texas – In 1691, the Domingo Terán de los Ríos was appointed as the first governor of the Spanish province of Coahuila y Tejas. This is considered to be the beginning of Texas as a distinct political entity. Terán was charged with establishing seven missions among the Native Americans of Texas; to investigate troublesome rumors of French settlement on the Texas coast; and to keep records of geography, natives, and products.  Teran was experienced in governing the far flung provinces of the Spanish Empire as he had served as Governor of Sonora y Sinaloa in New Spain and had spent many years in Peru. Terán crossed the Rio Grande in May of 1691 and travelled across the state to the Caddo settlements on the Red River. By March 1692 Terán  was encamped on Matagorda Bay, where he received instructions from the Viceroy of New Spain to explore the lower Mississippi River. Terán never undertook that project and returned to Veracruz in April.  Terán failed to complete any of his intended mission beyond basic exploration.  He did not establish any missions and provided very little new information about the region.  Terán did write a lengthy report, defending his actions and detailing the dismal situation in East Texas.  The primary lasting impact of Teran’s exploration was to name the Texas rivers which continue to bear the names given by members of his expedition.  Which is a fitting tribute to a man named de los Rios.

Today in Texas History – January 17

Leave a reply

Image result for richard coke images

From the Annals of the Governors –   In 1874, Richard Coke was inaugurated as the 15th Governor of Texas. Coke was a Democrat and his election as Governor is considered to be the end of Reconstruction in Texas.  Coke’s election was the subject of legal controversy.  The Texas Supreme Court invalidated the election, but Coke ignored the ordered and with supporters and militia seized control of the physical Governor’s office at the State Capitol.  The incumbent governor requested that President Grant send in federal troops, but Grant declined to intervene and Coke took office.

Coke was a veteran of the Southern Rebellion.  After the war he was appointed a Texas District Court judge, and in 1866 he was elected as an associate justice to the Texas Supreme Court.  His political career took off when the military governor General Philip Sheridan removed Coke and four other judges as ‘an impediment to reconstruction.’ The removal made Coke famous and he took advantage of his new found celebrity to run for Governor in 1873.  Resentment to Union occupation insured his victory and reestablished the Democratic Party as the power base in Texas for the next 100 years.  Unfortunately, the Democrats power was based on disenfranchisement of Blacks, Mexican-Americans and poor whites through the use of poll taxes, overt discrimination and “White Primaries” in which only white property owners could vote.  Winning the  Democratic Primary was tantamount to victory.  Coke’s legacy as Governor is largely one of discrimination and abuse of power.  However, he did usher in the Constitution of 1876 which remains the basis for Texas government today – however heavily amended.  Coke resigned as Governor after being elected to the U.S. Senate where he served from 1876 to 1895.