This Day In Texas History - February 6

[joe817]

1671 - Birthday of French Canadian explorer Francois Derbanne, who trekked across Texas in 1717 and spent two months among the Hasinai (Caddo) Indians.

1756 - Joseph Blancpain, a French trader whose activities in Texas heightened bad feeling between France and Spain in the middle of the eighteenth century, died in prison in Mexico City. Blancpain had been arrested in 1754 by Spanish army lieutenant Marcos Ruiz for unauthorized trading with Indians, to whom he was evidently furnishing firearms. The Spanish authorities believed him to be an agent for the French government. As a result of Blancpain's activities the king of Spain ordered that any Frenchman found in Spanish territory would be imprisoned.

1836 - Six men arrived in San Antonio from Nacodoches where they had recently enlisted in the Texas volunteers. 4,600 acres of land was promised to any who would serve in the volunteers for six months. Among those arriving from Nacogdoches was Davy Crockett who was on his way to his assignment along the Rio Grande. The six men made camp just outside town, but were later greeted by James Bowie and Antonio Menchacha. They were then taken to the home of Don Erasmo Seguin. Within a week, Santa Anna's army would cross the Rio Grande, so Crockett remained with Bowie in San Antonio. Bowie, commander of the volunteer forces in San Antonio had orders to destroy anything of use to the Mexican army and flee San Antonio. However, the military commander there, Colonel Travis, had orders to defend San Antonio at all costs. When Santa Anna and his army arrived in San Antonio, Crockett, Bowie and Travis and approximately 150 others, made their way to an abandoned mission to fight the Mexican army. One month later, all were all killed at the battle of the Alamo.

1854 - A bill was passed, setting aside twelve leagues of land for Indian reservations to be selected, surveyed, and governed by the United States government, but to revert to state jurisdiction when no longer used by the Indians. These twelve leagues, according to the act, were to be in three separate districts, or less, each to be approximately square. The sites selected after consultation with the various Indian groups concerned were four leagues of land, or 18,576 acres, on the Brazos River below Fort Belknap near the site of present Graham, and another tract of the same size forty miles away on the Clear Fork of the Brazos. The third tract of four leagues adjoined the one on the Brazos and was intended for the use of the Indians living west of the Pecos River, chiefly the Mescalero Apaches and the Lipan Apaches. These western Indians, however, failed to come in to the reservation, and this tract was given over to the use of the Brazos agency, making that reservation total eight leagues, or 37,152 acres. Both reservations reverted to the state when the Indians were relocated to the Indian Territory in 1859.

1858 - Texas legislature passed an act providing for the purchase of The Alamo Cenotaph monument. It was ten feet high and consisted of a pyramid that rested upon a square pedestal ornamented with carved work and inscriptions. On two sides of the pedestal were escutcheons bearing the names of the men at the Alamo. The monument was placed in the vestibule of the old Capitol. After the Capitol fire in 1881, the ruins of the monument were acquired by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and in 1950 were on display in the Old Land Office Building. In 1881 the Twenty-first Legislature appropriated funds for an Alamo monument to be erected on the grounds of the new Capitol.

1860 - The Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad completed its bridge from Virginia Point to Galveston Island. Virginia Point, on the mainland west of Galveston, was an outlying part of Stephen F. Austin's Coast Colony. The bridge brought growth, as it facilitated traffic between Galveston and Houston. Previously, merchandise had to be unloaded at the point from trains, carried by the steam ferryboat Texas across to Galveston, unloaded onto drays, and unloaded again on the wharves. With the new 10,000-foot bridge in service, trains came through Virginia Point daily.

1879 - The first issue of the Texan, the first Czech newspaper in Texas, appeared. Though the periodical, published by E. J. Glueckman, lasted little more than a decade, it reflected the rich influence of the Czech culture in Texas and was just the first of many publications to come.

1928 - WOAI(San Antonio) joined the world's first network, the National Broadcasting Company. It eventually became a clear channel station operating on 50,000 watts. WOAI was one of the first stations to employ a local news staff.

1942 - Midland Army Air Field received its first group of cadets, Class 42–6, arrived for training from Ellington, Texas. Midland Army Air Field was a World War II United States Army Air Forces bombardier-training base on U.S. Highway 80 halfway between Midland and Odessa in Midland County. Midland Army Flying School, popularly called the "Bombardier College," was initially designated an Air Corps Advanced Twin Engine and Bombardier Training Center as part of the Gulf Coast Training Command. Midland reached a peak base population of more than 4,000 and graduated a total of 6,627 bombardier officers before all training ceased on January 1, 1946.

[Dragonfighter]

Thank you.

[ELB]

1836 - Six men arrived in San Antonio from Nacodoches where they had recently enlisted in the Texas volunteers. 4,600 acres of land was promised to any who would serve in the volunteers for six months. Among those arriving from Nacogdoches was Davy Crockett ...

I am reading a book called Three Roads to the Alamo by William C. Davis, and it is pretty interesting. Davis traces the lives of Travis, Bowie, and Crockett, of course ending at the Alamo. I haven't made it far enough to reach the point cited above (Crockett coming to Texas) but that's coming soon. One point Davis made is that Crockett always called himself "David" rather than "Davy;" "Davy" was occasionally used in newspaper accounts of his political activities in a perjorative manner. Then of course there was the TV show with Fess Parker and the "Daveeeeeeee, Davy Crockett! King of the Wild Frontier!" song that probably cemented "Davy" in the minds of anyone on this board over the age of 45.

It is an interesting book so far.

[joe817]

Thanks for the comments. I lived and breathed Texas history when I was a kid. This is a fun project for me.

The month of March & April should be really interesting. So many things happened during those 2 months. Stay tuned.

[STI Shooter]

My given name being David I can understand Crockett calling himself David. I hate being called Davy.

[ELB]

1942 - Midland Army Air Field ...on U.S. Highway 80 halfway between Midland and Odessa in Midland County...

Something just clicked as I re-read this thread...
Is this the same Midland that is currently the home of the Commemorative Air Force? Many years ago, before I was a Texan, I was PCSing from Germany to Los Angeles, which took me on a trip down the I-10. I saw the sign for Midland, remembered the CAF was there, and stopped off to see the planes. It was quite interesting, especially to see FiFi, the last flying (I think) B-29. Just the night before I had seen a History Channel program on the B-29 where some of the first crews were interviewed, and one pilot had commented that the plane looked so big the first time he saw it, he wasn't sure it would really fly! The next day I'm standing there looking at it and thinking how small it looks compared to the AWACS planes I had left in Germany...

[joe817]

Yes ELB I believe you are correct. Here's an interesting read into the history of Midland Army Airfield:

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