TexasEscapes.com HOME Welcome to Texas Escapes
A magazine written by Texas
Custom Search
New   |   Texas Towns   |   Ghost Towns   |   Counties   |   Trips   |   Features   |   Columns   |   Architecture   |   Images   |   Archives   |   Site Map

Counties
Texas Counties

Texas Towns
Texas Towns



Texas | Columns | All Things Historical

THE CHICKEN WAR

by Archie P. McDonald, PhD
Archie McDonald Ph.D.

Since raising and processing and marketing chickens has become a major economic enterprise in East Texas since World War II, it is appropriate to remember the "Chicken War" of 1719.

This was a far frontier spark from a more significant European conflagration called the War of the Quadruple Alliance, with Spain and France on opposing sides. Without local stakes, but knowing they were supposed to oppose each other, Lieutenant Philippe Blondel led troops from the French settlement of Natchitoches to Mission San Miguel de Lainares de los Adaes at Robilene, Louisiana, eastern most penetration of Spanish missionaries or soldiers from Mexico.

Blondel had little trouble subduing the priests and one soldier he discovered at the mission, and his conquest included raiding the mission's chicken house.

Here is where Blondel's plans ran "afoul." While attempting to strap the captured hens across his horse, the birds, true to their nature, flapped and squawked sufficiently to cause Blondel's horse to bolt and dump the lieutenant upon his, huh, indignity upon the ground.

During the commotion, the Spanish missionaries escaped and warned their chief, Father Antonio Jesus de Margil, that the French were invading. The result: a frontier version of the "sky is falling."

Margil withdrew from Mission Nuestra Senora de los Dolores (San Augustine), to Mission Nuestra de la Pureisima Conception (then is present Nacogdoches County).

Catching the spirit of alarm, Captain Domingo Ramon withdrew from Presidio Nuestra Senora de los Delores de los Tejas. Some of the refugees traveled as far as San Antonio, fleeing an imagined French invasion of East Texas that never came.

As it turned out, the chickens had won their war: Blondel returned to Natchitoches, no future French invasions troubled Spanish Texas, and the chickens had to await for another Pilgrim to come their way in the twentieth century.



© Archie P. McDonald
All Things Historical
March 26, 2007 column
A syndicated column in 70 East Texas newspapers
Distributed by the East Texas Historical Association. Archie P. McDonald is director of the Association and author of more than 20 books on Texas.
Related Article:

  • A fowl insurrection, The Chicken War by Clay Coppedge


  • Books by Archie P. McDonald :

     


    Texas Escapes Online Magazine »   Archive Issues » Home »
    TEXAS TOWNS & COUNTIES TEXAS LANDMARKS & IMAGES TEXAS HISTORY & CULTURE TEXAS OUTDOORS MORE
    Texas Counties
    Texas Towns A-Z
    Texas Ghost Towns

    TEXAS REGIONS:
    Central Texas North
    Central Texas South
    Texas Gulf Coast
    Texas Panhandle
    Texas Hill Country
    East Texas
    South Texas
    West Texas

    Courthouses
    Jails
    Churches
    Schoolhouses
    Bridges
    Theaters
    Depots
    Rooms with a Past
    Monuments
    Statues

    Gas Stations
    Post Offices
    Museums
    Water Towers
    Grain Elevators
    Cotton Gins
    Lodges
    Stores
    Banks

    Vintage Photos
    Historic Trees
    Cemeteries
    Old Neon
    Ghost Signs
    Signs
    Murals
    Gargoyles
    Pitted Dates
    Cornerstones
    Then & Now

    Columns: History/Opinion
    Texas History
    Small Town Sagas
    Black History
    WWII
    Texas Centennial
    Ghosts
    People
    Animals
    Food
    Music
    Art

    Books
    Cotton
    Texas Railroads

    Texas Trips
    Texas Drives
    Texas State Parks
    Texas Rivers
    Texas Lakes
    Texas Forts
    Texas Trails
    Texas Maps
    USA
    MEXICO
    HOTELS

    Site Map
    About Us
    Privacy Statement
    Disclaimer
    Contributors
    Staff
    Contact Us

     
    Website Content Copyright Texas Escapes LLC. All Rights Reserved