This Date In Texas History - January 7

[joe817]

1836 - William B. Travis was appointed by the Military Council "agent" of the volunteer expedition, known as the famous Matamoros Expedition, authorizing him to call on Thomas McKinney(owner of the largest commission-merchant enterprise in Texas, which helped finance the Texas Revolution and also allowed the provisional government the use of company vessels to transport troops and supplies. The port of Matamoros at the mouth of the Rio Grande was an important source of revenue, which if seized could be used to defray the cost of the war. The city also commanded a strategic position for possibly paralyzing Santa Anna's movement and for launching the war into the interior of Mexico. Significantly, that same day Fannin accepted from Governor Smith a commission as colonel of artillery in the regular army, making him the second ranking officer under Houston. In effect the council issued two commands, though its intention seems to have been to respect Fannin's earlier appointment. Both men began recruiting volunteers independently for an expedition that, including Houston's authority, now had three leaders.

[Note: The importance of this and subsequent actions by the Texans for their fight for independence cannot be stressed. Talk of revolution was in full force. Recruiters were sent throughout the new Republic, as war was raging, searching for recruits. For a fascinating read of this episode of Texas History, and how this helped shape the war plans, please see:

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/onli ... /qdm1.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

IMHO, the events that took place from September 1835 through April 1836, shaped the Republic of Texas, with the spirit that is instilled within us today]

1859 - businessman James Moreau Brown purchased four lots at the corner of Broadway Boulevard and Twenty-fourth Street in Galveston. On the site he built Ashton Villa, reputed to be the first brick house in Galveston. The home withstood the devastation of the Galveston hurricane of 1900, because the brick walls were 13 inches thick. Ashton Villa was opened to the public in 1974 and is administered by the Galveston Historical Foundation.

1892 - The Galveston, La Porte and Houston Railway was chartered to build the two-mile bridge across Galveston Bay.

1899 - "Bigfoot" Wallace died. Bigfoot Wallace was a Texas Ranger, fought in Mexican American War, and several Indian battles. Wallace loved to tell about the free life of early Texas, frequently embellishing the old stories. He became a folk-hero with his stories, and set a standard for tall-tellers to come. The town of Bigfoot was named for him.

1905 - The Humble Oil Field is discovered. To date, the field has yielded more than 150 million barrels of oil. Though there were many operators working to develop the Humble Oil Field, the company known as Humble Oil later became Esso, then Exxon. Humble helped to establish the Texas oil industry when these fields produced the first Texas Gulf Coast oil.

1940 - The Country Yodeler from Texas, Gene Autry launched the longest running radio series in radio history. Sunday evening on CBS radio would find a nation of saddle pals, glued to their radio listening to "Gene Autry's Melody Ranch". Autry, who was born in Tioga, Texas in 1909, had already made over three dozen Westerns for Republic Pictures, and recorded several country hits, including "Back in the Saddle Again" and "Tumbling Tumbleweed", and Christmas standards including "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman". [I grew up watching him, and he was my all time hero.]