This Day In Texas History - August 8

[joe817]

1688 – The Spanish-led Rivas-Paz expedition left Veracruz in an unsuccessful search for LaSalle’s French colony in Texas. Alonso DeLeon found the colony the next year. [ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/upr06 ]

1836 - President David G. Burnet commissioned Richard Royster Royall to "raise and organize an Independent Ranger company to consist of a hundred or more men" to gather stray cattle between the Nueces and the Rio Grande to supply the Army of the Republic of Texas.

1838 - On August 8 Sam Houston issued a proclamation prohibiting unlawful assemblies and carrying of arms and ordered all assembled without authorization to return to their homes in peace. Two days later the leaders of the rebellion replied with their own proclamation, signed by Córdova and eighteen others. It stated that they could no longer bear injuries and usurpations of their rights. They had, therefore, taken up arms, were ready to die in defense of those rights, and only begged that their families not be harmed. This action was in response to the Cordova Rebellion.
[ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/jcc03 ]

1840 - On this date in 1840, approximately 600 Comanche Native Americans attacked the small seaport town of Linville in Calhoun County, killing and capturing many settlers, including Daniel Boone's granddaughter. The assault was extensive and brutal and destroyed Linville's entire infrastructure. Linville remained a ghost town for nearly 150 years until developers invested in a suburban residential project in the 1990s.
[ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/btl01 ]

1862 - The Twenty-second Texas Infantry regiment, also known as Hubbard’s regiment, was in service of the Confederate States of America as of August 8, 1862. It comprised men from the Texas counties of Anderson, Angelina, Cherokee, Hopkins, Polk, Quitman, Robertson, Rusk, Smith, Titus, Trinity, Van Zandt, and Wood. The regiment had ten companies lettered A to K. Richard B. Hubbard was promoted from major to colonel when the regiment was formed and took command. The regiment was part of Walker's Texas Division, and its service during the war was completely west of the Mississippi River, primarily in Louisiana and Arkansas. [ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qkt36 ]

1865 - George Armstrong Custer leaves for a tour of duty in Texas.

1915 - Mexican raiders attacked the Norias Division headquarters of the King Ranch, an episode in the "Bandit Wars" that troubled the Texas-Mexican border between 1912 and 1915. Norias is some seventy miles north of Brownsville. On the afternoon of August 8th, in response to a report about Mexican horsemen, Texas adjutant general Henry Hutchings and twelve Texas Rangers went to the ranch. Three customs inspectors and the Cameron county sheriff arrived at Norias by train and joined the first group, making a total of sixteen men at the headquarters.

At dusk horsemen carrying a red flag began firing at the ranchhouse. The besieged men took cover and returned fire while the cook telephoned Kingsville for help. The raiders were variously reported to number from fifty to seventy. About two hours after dark the firing suddenly stopped and the raiders vanished. In the fight Manuela Flores, a ranch employee, was killed and four defenders were wounded. Five of the raiders were reported killed and perhaps a dozen wounded. The raid provoked outrage in the lower Rio Grande valley, and the United States Army increased its presence in the area.

1935 - On this date in 1935, Joseph Arrington, Jr was born in Baytown, Texas. Known by his stage name, Joe Tex, Arrington record over two dozen hits including several that reached the Top 10. His first hit, "Hold on to What You've Got" reached No. 5 in December 1964.

1950 - On this date in 1950, Harmon Dobson opened his first restaurant in Corpus Christi, selling huge burgers from his small wooden shop for 25 cents. Within 10 years, his restaurant chain, Whataburger, had 17 locations in Texas, Tennessee and Florida. In 1961, Whataburger adopted it's familiar orange and white A-framed drive-ins, the first one located in Odessa. Whataburger now has 700 restaurants nationwide. And it still specializes in huge, great tasting hamburgers. [ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/dgw02 ]

1968 - Abilene civic leader Clifton Mott Caldwell died. Born in Palo Pinto County, Texas, on May 1, 1880, Caldwell spent his early years working on the family farm and earning a teaching certificate. In 1896 he moved with his family to Breckenridge, where he met his future wife, Cora Belle Keathley. In 1908 he moved his family to Austin and, with a total of $400 in savings, he entered the University of Texas law school. After he graduated in 1911 they moved to Breckenridge, where in 1912 Caldwell was elected county attorney.

He was then appointed county judge and later district judge. In 1917 Caldwell and his partner, Breck Walker, formed the highly successful Walker-Caldwell Oil Company. Caldwell acquired large landholdings in West Texas, and invested much of his time and profits in the future of Breckenridge. After moving to Abilene in 1922, his continuing community service included serving as chairman of the Hardin-Simmons University board of trustees, regent of the University of Texas, founding director of the Brazos River Authority, and trustee of the Hendrick Memorial Hospital in Abilene. In 1951 Caldwell was presented the "Top Citizen of the Year" award, the highest civic honor awarded by the Abilene Chamber of Commerce.

1992 - Baylor graduate, Michael Johnson and his teammates, Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Steve Lewis, won a Gold medal in the 4 x 400 meter relays at the 1992 Summer Olympic games in Barcelona. Johnson went on to win double gold in the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany in the 200 and 400 meter races. Johnson is a graduate of Dallas Skyline High School (1986) and Baylor University (1990).,.