This Day In Texas History - April 22

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1540 - An expedition led by Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado left Culiacán in Mexico in search of the Seven Cities of Cíbola, concerning which wondrous tales had been brought to Mexico by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca. There was no gold at Cíbola (the Zuñi villages in western New Mexico), but the explorer was led on by stories of great rewards to be found in Quivira, a region on the Great Plains far to the east. Chasing this chimera occupied Coronado until the early part of 1542; along the way he apparently marched across the Llano Estacado of eastern New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle, passing through present Palo Duro Canyon.

1689 - Spanish explorer Alonso De León discovered the ruins of a French settlement, Fort St. Louis, on the Texas coast. The fort had been established by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, in the summer of 1685. In February 1685 La Salle, seeking the mouth of the Mississippi River, had landed 280 colonists, including 100 soldiers, at the mouth of Matagorda Bay in Spanish-claimed territory. The explorer made a temporary camp on Matagorda Island while he sought a more secure location farther up the bay. In April he chose a site on an eminence overlooking the "Riviére aux Boeufs." Though disease devastated his men, La Salle saw the building well under way by autumn, when he set out to explore the surrounding country. In January 1687 he departed on his last journey, leaving at the fort scarcely more than twenty men, women, and children in the charge of the Sieur de Barbier. In late 1688 or early 1689 the Karankawa Indians gained entry to the fort under guise of friendship and murdered all the occupants but five children. Meanwhile, news that the French had founded a settlement on the northern Gulf Coast had agitated New Spain in the mid-1680s. As a result, De León led four expeditions between 1686 and 1689 seeking to find and destroy the French installation. The fourth expedition left Coahuila on March 27, 1689, with a force of 114 men, and found the deserted settlement on April 22. De Leon later discovered a river that he named the San Marcos.

1833 - Following the April 1, 1833 convention at San Felipe where Texans including Sam Houston drew up a petition requesting separation from Coahuila, Stephen F Austin is sent to represent the convention to the Mexican Government.
On this date in 1833, Austin left his home headed for Mexico City. On his way to the Mexican capitol, Austin had to disguise himself as a peasant to escape from bandits. Once in Mexico city, Austin wass arrested for inciting an insurrection in Texas.

1836 - A day after Texans had defeated the Mexican Army at San Jacinto, a Mexican soldier was capture wearing a silk shirt under his uniform. Later he was greeted by other prisoner's with cries of "El Presidente". It was Santa Anna himself.

1892 - The first class graduates from the University of Texas Medical School in Galveston.

1897 - Sarah Seelye became a member of the McClellan Post, Grand Army of the Republic, in Houston. She was the only woman in history to have served in the Union army.

1898 - The advent of the Spanish-American War in 1898 saw the regular United States Army and the state militias inadequately staffed to support operations overseas. Under a law passed on April 22, three regiments of volunteer cavalry were raised in the western states and territories to augment the regular defense establishment. President William McKinley was to appoint all commanding officers, who in turn selected their own staff and line officers. Recruiting began late in April. The most famous of these units—in fact, the only one to serve in combat—was the First United States Volunteer Cavalry, better known as the "Rough Riders"." Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt led the unit. This legendary aggregation of cowboys, Indian fighters, outlaws, Eastern aristocrats, and Ivy League athletes took part in the attack on Santiago de Cuba and wrote a gallant and bloody record during its brief existence. "We drew a great many recruits from Texas," wrote Roosevelt, "and from nowhere did we get a higher average, for many of them had served in that famous body of frontier fighters, the Texas Rangers. Of course, these rangers needed no teaching. They were trained to obey and to take responsibility. They were splendid shots, horsemen, and trailers. They were accustomed to living in the open, to enduring great fatigue and hardship, and to encountering all kinds of danger." "We rendezvoused at San Antonio," one of the men wrote in later years, "Twelve hundred as separate, varied, mixed, distinct, grotesque, and peculiar types of men as perhaps were ever assembled in one bunch in all the history of man . . . and one—possibly two—Democrats." Roosevelt joined his regiment in San Antonio on May 16. [ a fascinating read: http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/onli ... /qlf1.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ]

1919 - Samuel M. Sampler received the Medal of Honor from Gen. John J. Pershing. Sampler, born in Decatur in Wise county. His company suffered severe losses from machine-gun fire, and its advance was stopped. Sampler detected the enemy positions on an elevation. Armed with German grenades, which he had picked up, he advanced alone until he was near the enemy nest. His third grenade killed two Germans and caused the surrender of twenty-eight more. As a result of his brave and unselfish action the company was able to advance on its objective. Corporal Sampler was a member of Company H, 142d Infantry, Thirty-sixth Infantry Division.

1967 - Randy Matson set a new world record with a shot put toss of 71 feet, and 5 1/2 inches in College Station, TX.

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