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by joe817
Tue Aug 20, 2019 9:51 pm
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: This Day In Texas History - August 20
Replies: 5
Views: 891

Re: This Day In Texas History - August 20

Wow! Thanks for that tip! I LOVE 99 cent Kindle books!
by joe817
Tue Aug 20, 2019 2:05 pm
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: This Day In Texas History - August 20
Replies: 5
Views: 891

Re: This Day In Texas History - August 20

Cannot disagree with you there ELB. You've found many errors for me to correct. :lol: :tiphat:

But you have to admit, it makes for interesting reading. Thanks for your input.
by joe817
Tue Aug 20, 2019 9:53 am
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: This Day In Texas History - August 20
Replies: 5
Views: 891

This Day In Texas History - August 20

1789 - Col. Juan de Ugalde was appointed governor of the province of San Francisco de Coahuila in northern New Spain by King Charles III. His primary charge was to protect Coahuila from Indian attacks, specifically from the Lipan and Mescalero Apaches. On August 20, 1789, he launched a lengthy campaign against the Apaches in West Texas within an area bounded by San Antonio, San Saba, and El Paso.

On January 9, 1790, he and his troops, with more than 100 Indian allies, surprised and defeated 300 Lipan, Lipiyan, and Mescalero Apaches at the Arroyo de la Soledad, the present Sabinal River canyon. In commemoration of this victory, the battlefield was named the Cañón de Ugalde; from it the city and county of Uvalde derived their names.

1836 - John Chenoweth, soldier and legislator of the Republic of Texas, was elected captain of the Zavala Volunteers, on August 20, 1836. The company was assigned to the First Regiment of Gen. Thomas J. Green's brigade and stationed at Camp Johnston. From there Chenoweth ranged the coast gathering supplies and horses for the brigade. He paid for much of this material with his own money. Nevertheless, he reported to Gen. Mirabeau B. Lamar that his requisitioning of supplies resulted in many citizens' leaving the area and taking their livestock with them.

While still commanding his company, Chenoweth was furloughed to attend the First Congress of the Republic of Texas, to which he had been elected from Goliad County on October 3. During the spring term of the Harrisburg (now Harris) County district court, Chenoweth served on the grand jury. On December 3, 1847, Chenoweth married E. H. Reed. He lived in Harrisburg County and then in Burleson County, where he was residing on September 12, 1850. He was awarded a 690-acre bounty certificate for his participation in the battle of San Jacinto, which he sold for sixty dollars. Later he received an additional 1,280-acre warrant, which he also sold.

1838 - Late in the summer of 1838 a group of Nacogdoches citizens accidentally uncovered a plot of rebellion against the new Republic of Texas. This incident, known as the Córdova Rebellion, at first appeared to be nothing more than an isolated insurrection by local malcontents. Later evidence, however, indicated the existence of a far-reaching web of conspiracy. In late 1836 several sources reported to President Sam Houston that the Cherokees had concluded a treaty with Mexico for a combined attack on Texas.

It would be a war of extermination, and the Indians would receive title to their land in return for their allegiance. Vicente Córdova, a financially comfortable Nacogdochian who had served his community as alcalde, judge, and regidor, maintained contact with agents of the Mexican government during this period. On August 4, 1838, a group of Nacogdochians searching for stolen horses was fired upon by a party of Hispanics.

The capture of two Mexican agents after the rebellion produced new evidence pointing to an extensive Indian and Mexican conspiracy against Texas. On about August 20, 1838, Julián Pedro Miracle was killed near the Red River. On his body were found a diary and papers that indicated the existence of an official project of the Mexican government to incite East Texas Indians against the Republic of Texas.

1842 - The Clarksville Standard, a weekly newspaper of Clarksville, Red River County, was the first and for many years the most important paper in Northeast Texas. It was founded as the Northern Standard by Charles DeMorse, who remained sole owner, publisher, and editor until his death in 1887. The first issue appeared on August 20, 1842, and bore the motto "Long May Our Banner Brave the Breeze-The Standard of the Free." In 1852 the name was changed from Northern Standard to Standard.

In 1854 DeMorse erected a two-story brick building to house the paper and installed new equipment, including a cylinder press. The only other such press in Texas at the time was that of the Galveston News. In the following years the Standard was second in circulation among Texas newspapers and had agents as distant as Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.

The Standard was unusual because for forty-five years it was edited and published by a single individual whose personality, opinions, and hopes it reflected, and neither DeMorse nor his family desired that its control should pass even partially to any other. The files of the paper in the University of Texas at Austin library are almost complete. They constitute a valuable source for the study of the economic, social, and political life of Texas during the periods of the republic and early statehood.

1855 - Fort Lancaster was on the left bank of Live Oak Creek above its confluence with the Pecos River. It is now a state historic site off old U.S. Highway 290 ten miles east of Sheffield in Crockett County. The post was established as Camp Lancaster on August 20, 1855, by Capt. Stephen D. Carpenter and manned by companies H and K of the First United States Infantry. The post was apparently abandoned in 1873 or 1874 and much of its masonry was used for buildings in Sheffield.

Fort Lancaster protected the lower road from San Antonio to El Paso in the years following the discovery of gold in California. The duties of the men stationed at Fort Lancaster were to escort mail and freight trains, pursue Mescalero Apaches and Comanches, and patrol their segment of road to keep track of Indian movements. The post was originally constructed of picket canvas and portable Turnley prefabricated buildings. By the time it was abandoned all its major structures were made of stone or adobe.

1861 - The Fifth Texas Cavalry was also known as the Fifth Texas Mounted Rifles and the Fifth Texas Mounted Volunteers. On August 12, 1861, Confederate Brig. Gen. Henry H. Sibley arrived in San Antonio to organize a brigade for a campaign in New Mexico and Arizona. His ultimate goal was to capture the gold and silver mines of Colorado and California and to secure a Confederate pathway to the Pacific.

Three regiments of cavalry or mounted riflemen, each with an attached battery of howitzers, were quickly formed for service in what would come to be known as the Sibley's Brigade: the Fourth Texas under Col. James Reily, the Seventh Texas under Col. William Steele, and the Fifth Texas Mounted Volunteers. The Fifth was recruited, for the most part, in Waco, San Antonio, Bonham, Weatherford, and Austin and was organized and mustered into Confederate service at San Antonio with 926 officers and men. The volunteers supplied their horses and their own weapons, the quality of which varied widely. The regiment was to be commanded by the famed Texas Ranger, Thomas Green, who accepted his commission as colonel on August 20, 1861.

1920 - The Cameron Iron Works of Houston began in 1920, when oil wildcatter James Smither Abercrombie purchased a controlling interest in Harry S. Cameron's shop for use in repairing drilling rigs and for forging high grade steel. The firm incorporated on August 20, 1920. It manufactured army ordnance, particularly depth-charge projectors and arbors for the navy in World War II, along with gun barrels, gun mounts, and rockets, for which it received the Navy "E" award in 1941. During the Korean War Cameron Iron Works supplied armaments and was involved in power generation and manufacture of jet engines and airplane parts.

In 1957 it established a guided-missile plant. At its peak Cameron was involved in atomic and space technology and the military, energy, petrochemical, and aerospace industries, as well as oil and gas exploration. It employed 12,300 workers in thirty-eight countries. In 1989 Cameron Iron Works merged with Cooper Industries, Incorporated, in a stock exchange valued at over $700 million. At the time the firm had 1,800 employees in Houston and 5,500 worldwide.

1923 - James Travis (Jim) Reeves, country and popular singer, was born in Galloway, Texas, on August 20, 1923. His most successful recordings were "He'll Have to Go" and "Four Walls." “He’ll Have to Go” hit Number 1 on Billboard’s country charts in 1960 and also reached Number 2 on the Top 40 charts. His songs helped give country music international appeal, and Reeves garnered international acclaim. Reeves and his pianist, Dean Manuel, were killed on July 31, 1964, when his private plane crashed near Nashville.

He was buried in a two-acre memorial plot near Carthage, Texas, on the road to Shreveport. In 1967 Reeves was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was inducted in the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, located in Carthage, in 1998, and in 1999 his song "He'll Have to Go" (1959) won a Grammy Hall of Fame Award.

In 2004 the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame dedicated a Jim Reeves exhibit made possible from Reeves collector James Newberry. Newberry's extensive Jim Reeves collection was later acquired by the Mike Curb Family Foundation. A life-sized statue of Reeves was placed at his gravesite in Carthage. His compilation albums and boxed sets have continued to sell well and attract new listeners into the twenty-first century.

1932 - William Thomas Eldridge, businessman, was born in Washington County, Texas. He served a term as city marshal, opened a hotel, and around 1900 helped build the Cane Belt Railroad. After being acquitted of murder charges for killing two men who threatened his life, he moved to Sugar Land and, with the prominent Kempner family of Galveston, bought the Cunningham Sugar Refinery and its 20,000-acre plantation.

The new owners organized as the Imperial Sugar Company and named Eldridge manager. Under his control the company built a new refinery and developed a system of irrigation for the various crops. His was the only sugar refinery operating in the Southwest. Imperial Sugar became one of the most important sugar companies in Texas history. Under Eldridge's control the partnership built a complete company town with 435 homes for permanent employees of the factory, the stores, and the farms at Sugar Land.

On what had been the Cunningham plantation Eldridge grew sugarcane, cotton, feed grains, fruit crops, and such vegetables as cabbages, potatoes, yams, and corn. He acquired, improved, then sold seven more railroads of varying sizes, including the Sugar Land Railroad, the San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad, the Asherton and Gulf Railway, and the Rio Grande City Railway. Most of these lines were sold to the Missouri Pacific. Eldridge contracted with the Sealy Mattress Company to manufacture mattresses at Sugar Land. He died on August 20, 1932.

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