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TEXAS
PEOPLEA
Celebration of People
Known and Unknown
"Every
man is a volume
if
you know how to read him."
- William Ellery Channing | |
Stolen
Bounty by Mike Cox 5-15-13
Howard
Campbell never lost his vivid memory of the only time he ever saw his parents
cry.Last
President of the Republic by Murray Montgomery 5-13-13
Like
so many other men who came to Texas during those trying times proceeding war with
Mexico, Anson Jones had a colorful past. At times he was successful but, more
often than not, failure seemed to follow this man who would end up being the last
president of the Republic of Texas.The
opium war, Texas style by Clay Coppedge 5-11-13
The
slandeourous and libelous who lurk among us today have unprecedented avenues for
any and all spurious allegations cast upon the character of any individual, public
or private. In days of yore, the avenues were few but the character assasins were
just as relentless. Take Sam Houston, revered father of Texas...Writer
saw the Goose Creek light in WWII by Wanda Orton 5-9-13
For
one shining time during World War II, New Guinea had a Goose Creek, Texas, connection.
Meeting
Miss Rita by Frances Giles 5-9-13
My
first and only meeting with Mrs. Rita Ainsworth took place on a hot and humid
summer day in southeast Texas. Is there any other kind? I was about 14 years old
at the time... From
Potential Lyrics for a Johnny Cash Loser Tune to A Turned Around Life by Bill
cherry 5-3-13
Rev. Al Jandl |
Two
Poems for George Jones
"If we all could sound like we wanted to,
we'd all sound like George Jones." - Waylon JenningsThe
Possum by David Knape 4-27-13A
Picture of Us Without George by Luke Warm 4-27-13 |
|
| | World
War II
George
Olsson Short
(1920-2003)
Chapter Three
Surviving
WWII, and Arriving Home
How
his soldier brother became his savior and how he managed to get home to a post-war
Texas life
3-15-13 | |
Sarah’s
Story by Mike Cox 3-13-13
Few
Texas women ever lived a harder life than Sarah Creath McSherry Hibbens Stinnett
Howard. A lady with true grit and more, the way she came by her long name is one
of Texas’ more gripping tales. Women
Bandits Hijack Cotton in Civil War Texas by Mike Cox 3-7-13
None
of the truly decisive battles of the Civil War took place in Texas, but in other
ways the bloody conflict between the North and South had a major impact on the
state.Andy’s
Antics in Austin by Wanda Orton 2-21-13
The
next to youngest child of Sam and Margaret Houston drove everyone nuts with his
shenanigans. One might say that Andrew Jackson Houston was a brat. Dodging
the (Confederate) Draft Through Postal Service by Mike Cox
2-13-13
Early
in the Civil War, most Texans optimistically assumed life would be easier as citizens
of the new Confederate States of America...The
English Gentleman and the Beer Joint by Bill Cherry 2-8-13
Not
one soul thinks he isn’t a better person from having known him. And everyone has
his own story to tell with a smile in remembrance. Love
on the Frontier by Mike Cox 2-6-13
The
lanky young ranger faced a tough choice, worse than life or death: Turn in his
badge or lose the woman he loved... |
| |
Mrs.
A.P. Borden by John Polk 2-4-13
"A
tall woman with glasses with a bun hairdo tucked under a white cap and dressed
in a white uniform dress pushed another much older lady in a wheelchair through
the front door and on to the veranda opposite the side I where I sat... After
a bit, the older lady turned my way and said, “Young fella’, come down here and
sit with us. Tell us what you are doing here in this fine old hotel.” |
Bullet
Riddled Buddies by Clay Coppedge 2-1-13
Whitey
Walker met Frazier in the prison hospital at Huntsville. The two men soon realized
they had a lot in common, including gunshot wounds...Secession:
Texas leaves the Union by Jeffery Robenalt 2-1-13
After
the election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860, events moved swiftly toward
secession. South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union and other
states in the old south quickly followed suit, but in Texas newly elected Governor
Sam Houston stubbornly refused to call a convention to even discuss the issue.
Dr.
Blair's Mobile Pharmacy by Mike Cox 1-24-13
With
the cotton baled and money still in the pockets of hard-working farmers, every
November the “doctor” and his son worked a familiar circuit in North Texas...Till
Death Do Us Part by David Knape 1-22-13The
Island’s Domestic Goddess by Bill Cherry 1-10-13Name
That Lake by Wanda Orton 1-5-13
Who was Lake Miller named after in Chambers County?
Where did Lake Miller’s
neighbor, Lake Charlotte, get its name? |
|
Angel
of Goliad by Murray Montgomery Photos courtesy sarah Reveley
1-2-13Wichita
Falls Falls for Flim Flam Brit by Mike Cox 1-2-13
When
a crisp and proper gentleman who spoke with a classic British accent arrived and
took a room at the city’s best hotel, word got around quickly... |
| Frontier
Journalism in Texas by Clay Coppedge 1-3-13
The
people who started newspapers on the frontier weren’t a lot different from others
who of that time and place. They were an independent and outspoken lot, generally
not afraid to “settle the matter in cowhide” as one editor put it... Two of the
best and best-known newspaper editors in early day Texas were Edgar Rye and George
Robson...Pearl
Harbor Survivor - Vic Lively by Sandy Fiedler 12-7-12 |
Crockett's
Grandson Died a Bully by Mike Cox 12-19-12
While
anyone with even a passing knowledge of Texas history knows Davy Crockett died
at the Alamo in 1836, what happened to his grandson and namesake four decades
later has largely been forgotten.“Silent
Night” Revealed a Lot about the Man by Bill Cherry 12-10-12
It
was in the days when the homeless and bums were classified by the law as vagrants...Dying
Doctor Bequeaths a Library by Mike Cox 12-6-12
Dr.
Eugene Clark must have been a particularly skillful and compassionate physician.
Certainly, as events would show, he also believed in the importance of public
libraries in a democracy. Hughes
Who in Oil Field by Wanda Orton 12-2-12
Howard
Robard Hughes Sr. & Howard R. Hughes Jr.The
Bone Wars by Clay Coppedge 11-30-12
The
role two Texans - geologist Robert T. Hill and naturalist Jacob Boll - played
in the Bone Wars.Albert
Pike in Comancheria by Clay Coppedge 11-18-12
Albert
Pike was one of the most remarkable but enigmatic figures in American history
and also one of the first white men to venture onto the Llano Estacado in the
Texas Panhandle when that land was the heart of Comancheria... |
|
The
Box of Four Kittens by Bill Cherry 11-12-12
“If
you become a teacher, by your pupils you will be taught.”Joanna
Troutman by Luke Warm
11-9-12
“Betsy Ross of Texas”Sally
Skull by Clay Coppedge 11-1-12
Well-behaved
women rarely make history, the saying goes, and a woman known to history as Sally
Skull can be used to reinforce the point. |
The
Mystery Man by Bob Bowman 10-3-10
Daingerfield,
the county seat of Morris County, was named for Captain London Daingerfield, supposedly
a native of Nova Scotia, but beyond that and a few other facts, Captain Daingerfield
remains a mystery man... Joyous
Occasion Taught an Unexpected Lesson by Bill Cherry 10-12-12
"Sometimes
evidence proves our suppositions of our friends’ well-beings are wrong... What
we do to address it goes a long way in defining for us who we really are."The
Home Run that Never Was by Charles Watson 10-9-12
"Joe Bauman hit
72 home runs that year, but he would have had 73 had it not been for a sandstorm..."
Remembering
The Colonel by Bob Bowman 9-30-12
Colonel
Homer Garrison, Jr., had one of the most recognized law enforcement careers in
the U.S., culminating with his leadership of the Texas Rangers and the Texas Department
of Public Safety.A
Snakebitten Legacy by Clay Coppedge 9-17-12
Father
Leopold Moczygemba, who founded the country’s first Polish community, first Polish
Catholic School and who also consecrated the first Polish Catholic Church, was
one person who had to pay a price in his own time for an honored place in history...Ashbel
Smith's Foster Daughter by Wanda Orton 9-14-12
Native Baytonian and
retired Lee College professor Robert “Bob” Wright has many recollections of his
grandmother, Anna Allen Wright, foster daughter of Dr. Ashbel Smith... Francisco,
Rudy, and Mr. Russell’s New Adventure by Bill Cherry 9-6-12
"What’s
the lesson? I’m not sure that I know. Perhaps it is that self-importance often
isn’t as grand in the eyes of the public as it is in our own."The
Oilman and the Sea by Clay Coppedge 9-3-12
Alfred
Glassell, Jr. wasn’t your typical Texas oilman, if there is such a thing...The
Texas Rangers at the Battle of Monterrey by Jeffrey Robenalt
9-3-12
During
the war with Mexico, the Texas Rangers played an instrumental role in the American
victory at the Battle of Monterrey.Born
to be a Texas Ranger, the life of John Coffee (Jack) Hays by Murray Montgomery
8-27-12Neil
by David Knape
8-26-12Hoxie's
Moxie by Mike Cox 8-23-12
Thirty-seven
years after the Army abandoned Fort Davis, a celluloid cowboy announced plans
to convert the old cavalry post into a motion picture colony and resort.
Sam Bell Maxey by Clay Coppedge
8-18-12
To
the people he served in his lifetime he was respected as the man who kept the
Yankees out of Texas during the war. David
Levi Kokernot by Wanda Orton 8-15-12
Never
before or since he made his home on the shores of Scott’s Bay – and later on Cedar
Bayou -- has Texas experienced such a colorful and controversial character. Radio’s
Vandy Anderson and Fr. Frank Fabj Had a Common Denominator by Bill Cherry
8-14-12
If
you were to interview almost any man whose career is in the field of radio broadcasting,
you would find that as a child he was making believe that he was on the air. Vandy
V. Anderson, Jr. was one of those. Tex
Ritter - A Texas Original by C. F. Eckhardt 8-5-12
Woodward
Maurice Ritter was born near Murvaul, Panola County, in the piney woods of deep
East Texas in 1907. He grew up on a cotton farm near Beaumont and graduated as
Valedictorian of his high-school class. He enrolled at what was then the only
University of Texas...Wilson
Pottery by Clay Coppedge 8-4-12
"Hiram
and the other Wilsons who, in bondage and as free men, created durable and practical
stoneware that today is worth more than what any of the Wilson potters made in
a lifetime." |
| The
Meusebach-Comanche Treaty by Jeffrey Robenalt 8-1-12
In
early spring of 1847, a remarkable treaty between German settlers and Native Americans
was negotiated on the banks of the San Saba River in the hill country north of
Fredericksburg, Texas. |
| Sam
Walker Texas Ranger and the "Walker" Colt by
Jeffrey Robenalt 7-1-12
Thirty-two
years is not a long life as measured against most men, but Texas Ranger Sam Walker's
brief years were an epic adventure filled with Indian battles, wars, public renown,
and honor. |
|
Rope Walker by Dianne West Short
6-17-12
In
the old Hebrew Cemetery in Corsicana, Texas is a headstone with only two words
on it, “Rope Walker.” Almost nothing is known of the man in the grave except the
manner of his death... The
Forgotten Indian Traveler by Mike Cox 6-21-12
The men were Richard Irving Dodge, a young Army officer who would serve in the
military for 41 years and John Conner, a noted Delaware Indian. The meeting happened
at Fort Martin Scott... |
| Kit
Carson at Adobe Walls Clay Coppedge
6-16-12
Photos
courtesy Barclay Gibson
When historians talk about the Battle of Adobe Walls they are usually talking
about the Second Battle of Adobe Walls... The First Battle of Adobe Walls occurred
some 10 years earlier and featured a man who was a legend in his own time... |
| |
Combat
Over Texas by Dan
Heaton 6-8-12
No
listing of the key locations in the early days of flight – particularly the development
of military air power – would be complete without a reference to the southern
Texas city of Brownsville. It was from there that America’s first combat mission
was flown, way back in 1915.
Aviation pioneers Byron Q. Jones & Thomas D.
Milling |
Hello,
Sucker by Clay Coppedge 6-6-12
Necessity
may be the mother of invention but it can also be the mother of re-invention.
Other than perhaps Kinky Friedman, nobody exhibits that twist on the old axiom
more than Mary Louise Cecilia Guinan, known to history as Texas Guinan and for
her famous greeting: “Hello, Sucker.” Magnolia
Gardens by Wanda Orton 6-2-12
Before
he became world famous Elvis Presley hip-hopped all over the map of Texas, and
he made many a return trip to Magnolia Gardens on the banks of San Jacinto River...
|
| Paint
Rock: The Last Comanche Fight of Jack Hays by
Jeffery Robenalt 6-1-12
Some
historians have questioned the Rangers' victory at Paint Rock as pure fiction
or an attempt to revise history, however, Jack Hays and the Texas Rangers need
no help from me or any other historian to bring glory and honor to their name.
|
Found
Horns and Lost Gold
by Mike Cox 5-30-12
For
a time in the 1920s and ‘30s, a Southerner who got to Texas as soon as he could
reigned as Texas’ “Horn King.” Slave
Ada Stone by Murray Montgomery 5-28-12
109-Year-Old Ex-Slave Recalls Days Long PastMaking
Change in Ma Ferguson's Texas by Mike Cox 5-16-12
To fully appreciate
the late C.W. Wimberly’s story, it’s necessary to understand “Fergusonism” – a
once-powerful brand of Texas populism... Psychologist
in a Town Car by Luke Warm 5-15-12
Or
The Stagecoach Driver Syndrome Revisited
Inspired by a True Story in a Real
Newspaper Pass
the Biscuits, Pappy by Bob Bowman 5-13-12
W. Lee (Pappy) O’Daniel, a song-writing flour salesman who launched the musical
careers of Bob Wills and the Light Crust Doughboys, was a politician unlike any
we’ve seen in Texas. |
|
Sam Houston and Mirabeau Lamar: A Contrast of Visions by Jeffery Robenalt
5-1-12
Former Presidents of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston and Mirabeau Lamar, differed
in many ways. Their vastly different visions for the new Republic would do much
to shape the future of Texas. |
Casablanca’s
East Texan by Bob Bowman 5-6-12
When
you talk to East Texas movie buffs about their favorite all-time films, the one
everyone places near the top is Casablanca... Few know that an East Texan, Dooley
Wilson, played a significant role in the film. Tex
Thornton: King of the oilfield firefighters and rainmaker by Clay Coppedge
5-1-12
The
oil fields of the Texas Panhandle in the 1920s and ‘30s were a place where a man
who knew how to use nitroglycerin could make a good living for himself. Ward A.
“Tex” Thornton was such a man. The
Chief’s Sons by Bob Bowman 4-22-12
Twin
sons were born to an old Caddo Indian chief living on the banks of the Sabine
River. Natchitoches was swarthy with black hair and flashing black eyes. Nacogdoches
was fair with yellow hair and blue eyes... Who
Killed Oliver Thornton? by C. F. Eckhardt 4-16-12
Oliver
Thornton is no more than a footnote in the history of Western outlawry—a man who
wouldn’t be more than a name on a tombstone had he not chanced to get himself
murdered. Even so, very few people, even serious students of outlaws, would know
that name had not Eugene Cunningham, pioneer chronicler of sixshooterology, told
about his death...Pistol-packing
Preacher Bob Bowman 4-15-12
Licensed
to preach in 1897, and coming from peaceful communities like Malakoff and Beaver
Valley, Jesse Lee was appalled at the lack of law enforcement and the rampant
sales of liquor in Trinity County despite prohibition elections... Frederick
Law Olmsted by Clay Coppedge 4-13-12
One
of the most important people from American history that most people have never
heard of was Frederick Olmsted Law who designed New York City’s Central Park.
His classic account of Texas in 1850: “A Journey Through Texas,” published in
1857, is a solid and mostly objective look at Texas society in the middle part
of the 19th Century.John
Wesley Hardin Slept Here by Mike Cox 4-12-12
The night the rooster
crowed before midnight...A
song inspired by John Wayne by Bob Bowman 4-8-12
Hamblen,
the son of an itinerant preacher, wrote hundreds of songs during his lifetime,
but his most enduring composition was the gospel classic inspired by, of all people,
John Wayne.
The War to End
All Wars by Murray Montgomery 4-7-12
A
Gonzales County boy, Courtney C. Buchanan, served with the 36th Infantry Division
in World War I and some of the letters that he wrote home to his family and friends
were published in The Gonzales Inquirer. There’s
Not Much Chance You Know a Centurion by Bill Cherry 4-6-12
Galveston’s Ernest
and Bessie Cain were living at 3223 Avenue P when Mildred was born... Volney
Erskine Howard by Mike Cox 4-5-12
Reading
vintage newspapers, it’s not hard to see how Texans early on helped to develop
the long-standing notion that people from the Lone Star State are folks with whom
it is best not to mess.Washington’s
East Texas Cousin by Bob Bowman 4-1-12
Alexander
Hamilton Washington, a cousin of George Washington, cut a wide swath through Polk
and San Jacinto counties before and after the Civil War, but finding any physical
reminder of his 28 years in East Texas is almost impossible... Retired
Seed Company Exec Remembers Mentor
by Wanda Orton 4-1-12
While
attending high school and during summer breaks from Texas A&M University, Bernard
Selensky had yet another school of learning. The late Neil Burnside, a Baytown
rice farmer, was his educator out in the field...Berlin
Wall Crisis 1961-1962 by Bruce Martin 3-23-12
The 49th Armored Division, Texas National Guard activated in September, 1961.
First person account of training in Ft. Polk, LA., and home coming.David
E. Lawhon, Texas Ranger/Pioneer Publisher by Mike Cox 3-22-12
As
a pioneer newspaper editor, David E. Lawhon may have subscribed to the belief
that the pen was mightier than the sword, but as a Texas Ranger he never saddled
up without his rifle and pistol. A
Texan by Choice
by Murray Montgomery 3-17-12
A
story about James Charles Wilson who was born in England and became, “by choice,”
a Texan and patriot from Gonzales County.
Faithful Wife, Dutiful
Daughter by Wanda Orton 3-2-12
Sarah Williams was
one of those stoical pioneer women who kept things in order single-handedly on
the home front...Heavyweight
Champ Jack Johnson by Bob Bowman 2-27-12
Heavyweight champ Jack Johnson was arrested for boxing in 1903 in Galveston.Sam
Houston's Duel by Mike Cox 2-19-12
Something
that started in Tennessee and spilled over into Simpsom County, KY on Sept. 23,
1826 could have changed the history of Texas.
The Story of
Franny Kay’s Bout with Lew’s Piano by Bill Cherry 2-19-12
Over
the years, Lew Harris’ song, “These Are the Things I Love,” has been recorded
by Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra... But to Galvestonians, the most memorable version
was sung by Robert Goulet, because it was the theme song for Lew Harris’ wife,
Frances’ 54-consecutive year radio program for the Island’s KGBC-AM. Indian
Jim by Mike Cox 2-13-12
Barely
50 years after the U.S. Cavalry drove the last hostile Indians out of the Panhandle
an Indian from New York made page-one news in Pampa and across the nation. Lizzie
Hay and the Demise of the Lone Highwayman by Mike Cox 2-9-12
Sometimes,
no matter how good the story, a compelling tale gets forgotten. That’s sure the
case with the Texas outlaw known in his day as “the lone highwayman.” Robin
Hood of the Tonkawa by C.
F. Eckhardt 1-27-12
The
original teller of this story, John C. Jacobs, told it in Pioneer magazine
in the teens of the last century...William
F. Drannan told it like it wasn’t
by Clay Coppedge 1-9-12
According
to two books that Drannan wrote he was a contemporary and brother-in-arms of such
icons American icons as Kit Carson, Jim Bridger and General George Crook...Was
Oliver Partridge ‘Brushy Bill’ Roberts really Billy the Kid?
by C. F. Eckhardt
1-7-12
A
recent episode of ‘Brad Metzger’s DECODED,’ shown on the History Channel, delved
into—or appeared to delve into—the long-held myth that Brushy Bill Roberts was
actually Billy the Kid... The
Pitchfork Kid by Mike Cox 11-17-11
A
cowboy’s cowboy, the Kid sat a horse well and had the reputation of being the
best roper in the Panhandle. The
man who killed Lincoln by Bob Bowman 11-7-11
"Painted
inside on one wall in the restaurant is a drawing of John Wilkes Booth. I’ve often
wondered why the drawing was there until I read a book, “Unsolved Mysteries of
the Old West” by W.C. Jameson..."A
Lesson in the Sociology of Galveston Commerce by Bill Cherry
11-6-11
A
story of George and Magnolia Sealy's mansion The Open Gates, and Daniel Serrato's
pushcart of freshly made hot tamales...“The
Great Western” by
Clay Coppedge 11-4-11
Mention
the Great Western to most people and they might think you are trying to start
a discussion about “Lonesome Dove” or “True Grit.” Others will assume you’re referencing
a railroad. Actually, you would be talking about a woman known by many names –
Sarah Bowman being the last – who was better known by her nickname, “The Great
Western.” Royalty
for a Day by Mike
Cox 11-3-11
For
a man who had lost an arm to a rifle bullet during the Mexican Revolution, Alvaro
Obregon seems to have been a bit lax with security matters. That attitude, born
either of bravery or naivety, would prove costly, but it also set the stage for
an experience that Ruth Wilkerson Henderson remembered the rest of her long life... |
| Texas
Empresarios
by Jeffery Robenalt
10-1-11
Thanks
to Stephen F. Austin, "the Father of Texas," and many other dedicated Empresarios,
the population of Texas stood at nearly 20,000 citizens by 1830, most of them
from the United States. |
Three-Legged
Willie by Bob Bowman 10-23-11
Three-legged
Willie limped into Texas in 1827... Born Robert McAlphin Williamson, his reputation
as a judge became legendary in East Texas.... Widows
by Death by Mike Cox 10-13-11
In
the summer of 1915, when it cost just two cents to send a letter anywhere in the
United States or its territorities, the following piece of mail arrived at the
offices of the Cattleman Magazine in Fort Worth...
"A River,
A Town, and Memories" by Murray Montgomery 10-10-11
Remembering
Tillie McGill Bright
"I met her one time and I will always cherish those few
hours that we spent together — talking about the memories of her childhood in
Gonzales, Texas...""Rangering"
in Hamilton County by Mike Cox 10-6-11
The nation was barely
a year away from the beginning of its cataclysmic Civil War, but in the spring
of 1860, folks along Texas’ frontier had a more immediate problem on their minds
– incursions by hostile Indians... Strangers
in a Strange Land by Britt Towery 10-5-11
A
new book on the lives and ministry of a Miles, Texas Sweetheart & A Comanche Co.
Texas Cowboy Bone
Haulers Clay Coppedge
10-3-11
When
bones were worth a lot of money on the open market, people made a lot of money
selling bones on the open market. The bone business thrived from the 1870s, in
the wake of the great buffalo slaughter, until the mid-1930s... |
An
East Texas Psychic by Robert G. Cowser 9-20-11
Before
I ever heard or read the word psychic, I heard of a man with psychic powers. He
lived on a farm near Mt. Vernon during the years of the Great Depression...Harvey
Hughes’ Short Literary Career by Mike Cox 9-8-11
Like
most elected officials, Brewster County Sheriff E.E. Townsend received a fair
amount of correspondence, from postcards bearing descriptions of wanted felons
to legal papers to magazines, but the package that arrived from San Antonio that
day in March 1923 ranked as the most unusual piece of mail he ever received...
Cotton
Gottlob and Coach Red Pierce Were a Heck of a Team by
Bill Cherry 9-7-11Comancheros
by Clay Coppedge 9-4-11
At
a time when few people dared to traverse the forbidding Llano Estacado on the
South Plains of Texas, a group of people known to history as the Comancheros made
quite a living in the region. Hardin’s
East Texas Roots by Bob Bowman 8-22-11
Most
of us associate John Wesley Hardin--the man often called Texas’ most famous gunfighter--with
regions beyond East Texas, but the truth is that Hardin had deep roots in the
pineywoods... |
| Texas
Filibusters by Jeffery Robenalt 9-1-11
Although
the Filibusters were unsuccessful in gaining independence for Texas, reports of
their activities in newspapers and periodicals all across the country brought
the vast land of Texas to the forefront of American thought and encouraged countless
settlers to pull up stakes and journey to the new land of promise, paving the
way for the era of the Texas Empresarios. |
Don
Antonio de Espejo by Byron Browne 7-27-11
He
was only trying to return home, to New Spain, by a short cut. However, Don Antonio
de Espejo’s venture through Texas has warranted his inclusion within the history
books (the Texas ones in particular) alongside other explorers and conquistadors... |
| La
Salle and French Exploration in Early Texas by Jeffery Robenalt
7-1-11
"Although
La Salle's expedition was unsuccessful, the French presence in Texas finally stirred
the Spanish to action. Fearing they would lose the race to claim the Americas,
the Spaniards renewed their exploration of the Gulf Coast and began working diligently
to settle East Texas." |
The
short life of Sam Bass by Bob Bowman 7-17-11
For
more than four years, we have been working on a new book, “Bad to the Bone,” a
collection of outlaws who left their imprint on East Texas. One of the best known
outlaws was Sam Bass...The
Murdered Sheriff by Bob Bowman 7-10-11
Angelina
County Sheriff William Reed (Bill) McMullen was one of the men who was killed
during a feud between the Gilley and Windham families at Homer, the county seat
of Angelina County in the 1860s... Remembering
J. Evetts Haley by Mike Cox 7-7-11
During
his long life, J. Evetts Haley held down some of the best “jobs” a person can
have: Collector of historical documents for a university library, rancher, and
writer. Lizzie
Crosson had true grit by Mike Cox 6-30-11Lives
of two Texas Rangers: Lee Hall and John Barclay Armstrong by Murray Montgomery
6-27-11
There’s
not many times when people are doing research on the history of Texas that they
don’t come across that illustrious group of lawmen known as the Texas Rangers...The
Wonderful Boy by Mike Cox6-9-11
His
father a respected Uvalde County rancher, the quiet, good-looking Guy O. Fenley
seemed like a typical teenager except for one thing – he could see underground
water. Texans
a bit different, and I'm good with that by Delbert Trew
6-7-11
The
change from rural Texas to big-city California spawned many interesting experiences...
Honoring
a bull riding legend by Bob Bowman 6-4-11
Born
in Crockett in 1935, Myrtis Dightman was a legendary bull rider who set all types
of records for riding raging bulls in rodeo arenas across the United States. The
Revenge of 'Devil John' McCoy by Murray Montgomery 6-3-11
John McCoy, called
“Devil John” because of his bravery and daring, wasn’t one to forgive and forget...J.
Frank Dobie by Mike Cox 6-2-11
It’s
not mentioned in any of his biographies, but one of Texas’ best known authors
wrote portions of one of his best-known books while sequestered in a tarpaper-covered
shack in the Chisos Basin. |
| Coronado’s
Search for Cibola by Jeffery Robenalt 6-1-11
Coronado’s expedition, including
250 cavalry, 80 infantry, 1000 Indians, several priests, and thousands of horses,
cattle, and sheep, departed from Culiacan in the spring of 1540. Common
Sense Justice in Marlin by Mike Cox 5-5-11
“Battery
Dan” Finn's renown for putting “equity before the law,” seems to have come to
the judicial notice of Marlin’s mayor, F. S. Heffner. |
| The
Journey of Cabeza de Vaca
by Jeffery Robenalt 5-1-11
Spanish
conquistador Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was the first European to explore the
interior of Texas, and the narrative he wrote of his experiences in the New World
remains the most valuable source of information we possess today on the Native
American tribes, landforms, plants, and animals of early Texas. |
| Ferdinand
Lindheimer by Clay Coppedge 4-12-11
About
50 species and sub-species of plants are named for Ferdinand Lindheimer, a man
born to the good life in Germany who made his name – and the name of all those
plants – on the Texas frontier. Carnie
Philosophy by Mike Cox
4-28-11
Edgar
Stephens and Robert “Sunshine” Stubblefield spent most of their lives on the road
traveling from town to town in Texas with the Bill Hames carnival. |
|
Fort Davis and
Colonel Benjamin Henry Grierson by Byron Browne 3-23-11
The
assignment to Fort Davis should have been relatively calm. However, the Mescalero
Apache chief Victorio saw to it that Grierson and his soldiers remained active...
|
| | The
Misadventures of Wrong-Way Corrigan by Maggie Van Ostrand 3-9-11
Famed
Douglas Corrigan tried for years to get permission to fly from New York to Dublin.
"No," said aviation officials, "it's not safe..., we give you permission to fly
from New York to California." Corrigan finally took off in heavy fog.... 28 hours
later, he arrived in Dublin. Corrigan claimed it was a "navigational error." Whatever
it was, he got to his dream destination and didn't even mind it when newspapers
dubbed him "Wrong-Way Corrigan"... |
| A
March into Hell: The Mier Expedition by Jeffery Robenalt
3-11-11
The
Mier Expedition and the infamous “Black Bean Episode” Custer
in Texas by Clay Coppedge
2-23-11
It’s not hard to
figure that Gen. George Armstrong Custer’s time in Texas was controversial and
paradoxical. His entire military career was that way... |
| Robert
F. Stockton by Byron Browne
2-1-11
Robert Stockton’s
life was one of those extraordinary events that persuades and affects the lives
of generations that follow.
Bose
Ikard by Clay Coppedge 2-1-11
Bose
Ikard was born into slavery and became rancher Charley Goodnight’s most trusted
and respected cowhand. For Ikard, more than most, the road to the history books
was a long and winding one. |
Fruit
Tree Ramsey by Clay Coppedge
3-22-11
When
Frank T. Ramsey was 16 years old, he quit going to school and became a partner
in his father’s nursery business in Burnet County. His father, Alexander M. Ramsey,
wrote down a list of fruit tree varieties that he had for sale and put his son
and business partner on a horse. Frank traveled all over Texas, taking orders
for trees and collecting native flora along the way... UTMB
Professor “Old Test Tube” Took the First X-Ray Ever Taken in Texas by Bill
Cherry 3-4-11
The
only one of the original 1891 faculty of the University of Texas Medical Branch
who graduated from the University of Texas in Austin was Dr. Seth Morris... Everyone,
students as well as the medical staff, got to calling him “Old Test Tube” ...
Is
Quantrill buried in East Texas? by Bob Bowman 2-28-11
One
of the most intriguing legends in East Texas claims that William Clarke Quantrill,
the guerrilla leader from the Civil War and the mentor of the Younger and James
brothers, is buried in Angelina County. Old
Trail Drivers by Mike Cox 2-24-11
No
matter the old cowpoke’s backstory, in his dotage he could round up words on paper
just about as well as he once rode down and roped strays.
The Battle of the Salado
by Jeffery Robenalt 2-21-11
In March of 1842, Mexican President
Santa Anna retaliated for Texas President Mirabeau Lamar’s ill-fated "Wild Goose"
expeditionAn
Outspoken Man by Bob Bowman
2-20-11
Many towns and
cities in East Texas have in their history individuals who ascended to greatness,
but fell to earth when they opened their mouth at the wrong time. Such was Medford
Bryan Evans, a college professor, author and editor...
A
Story of Two Veterans: They Didn't Take the War Personally by Mike Cox
2-17-11
Nacogdoches’
Oak Grove Cemetery is one of the oldest and most historical graveyards in Texas,
but one of its better stories has hardly been told.
Ida Lee by C. F. Eckhardt
2-11-11
On March 21, 1924,
Mrs. Ida Lee Daughtery of Hall, Texas, died. She was a woman of some reputation—not
as a ‘soiled dove,’ but as a devoted wife.
Davy
Crockett Won by Mike Cox 2-10-11
“Davy
Crockett Won,” reads the small-type headline on a back page of the Jan. 4, 1893
Austin Daily Statesman.
Rev.
Marcus Valenta achieves longest active-duty record in U.S. history by Murray
Montgomery 2-4-11
Of
all the chaplains in the U.S. Armed Forces, one has seen longer continuous combat-theatre
duty than any other... Wild
Bill the Driller by Mike Cox 2-3-11
Not
everyone immediately struck it rich during the West Texas oil booms of the first
couple of decades of the 20th century. Aptly named cable too driller Wiliam Wells
... Daddy
and His Buckeye by Bill Cherry
2-1-11
“There’s only one
thing that brings good luck. It’s the buckeye... And it’s even better if your
buckeye was blessed by a voodoo priestess. Sister Veressa in the Des Ourses swamp
of Louisiana has ‘extree’ power.”The
sculptress and a paper mill by Bob Bowman 1-31-11
We recently learned that Texas historian Light Cummings is writing a book about
sculptress Allie Tennant of Dallas... Post
War Slaton - A Migrant Family's Story by James Villanueva 1-30-11Texas
Pete Photo courtesy William Beachamp 1-28-11What
Happened To Jesse Evans? by C. F. Eckhardt
1-5-11
Jesse Evans is one
of the more enigmatic characters in the annals of West Texas and New Mexico outlawry.
Then he just quietly disappeared sometime around 1879--and nobody knows what happened
to him. Or maybe not... John
Durst Leon Co Photos Barclay Gibson 1-1-11
More
Texas People |
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
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photos, please contact
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