<--- 50 HIGHLIGHTS OF TEXAS HISTORY Listing
1 More than 100 years before the Pilgrims landed at Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, the first Europeans reached Texas. Lt. Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda, commissioned to map the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, gave the name, 'Amichel,' to what is now the Texas coast.
2 Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was the first European to explore Texas. Shipwrecked during a Gulf storm and cast ashore on the Texas coast, the survivors endured a severe winter before being captured and enslavement by the Indians.
3 Late in 1534 Cabeza de Vaca and three companions, broke from their Indian captors escaping into the Texas interior. After almost two years of wandering they crossed the Rio Grande, met a Spanish slave hunting expedition and reported to Mexico City.
4 In 1540 Francisco Vazquez de Coronado led an expedition from Mexico into Texas to search for the wondrous 'seven cities of Cibola' reported by Cabeza de Vaca. Discovering only small Indian villages and hardship, they finally returned unrewarded to Mexico in 1542.
5 Corpus Christi de la Isleta , founded in 1682 by Franciscan missionaries, was the first mission and is the oldest permanent settlement in Texas. Founded to civilize and Christianize the Indians, the practice of farming and irrigation were first introduced at Ysleta.
6 Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle landed the remnants of his French expedition at Matagorda Bay in 1685. Hardships, including shipwrecks, caused a serious loss of supplies and left LaSalle without any vessels stranded in a hostile environment.
7 LaSalle established Fort Saint Louis, the first white settlement in Texas, on the Lavaca River. Used as a base for exploration, it lasted only a few years, but did revive the Spanish interest in re-taking the land and establishing missions in East Texas.
8 La Salle made a series of exploratory expeditions into the Texas interior both to the west and northeast. On his last expedition, while searching for the Mississippi River in the vicinity of Navasota, La Salle was murdered by two of his own men, which left Texas without explorers for several years.
9 San Francisco De los Tejas, the first Spanish nation in East Texas, was established just west of the Neches River by Franciscan missionaries. Three priests were assigned to convert and civilize the Indians, while three soldiers were assigned to guard the mission and represent Spanish authority.
10 El Camino Real or the King's Highway was blazed in 1691 by Domingo Teran de los Rios, the first provincial governor of Texas. Stretching a distance of five hundred and forty miles across Texas, it extended from Eagle Pass to the Rio Grande in the Southwest, and eastward to beyond Nacogdoches and the East Texas missions.
<--- 50 HIGHLIGHTS OF TEXAS HISTORY Listing
11 Jane Long, the “Mother of Texas,” was the first woman of English descent to enter Texas. During the winter of 1821, accompanied only by a child and a maidservant, she held out in a rude fort, and gave birth to the first known child of English descended parentage in the state.
12 Steven Fuller Austin, the” Father of Texas”, was authorized by Gov. Antonio Maria Martinez to carry on the colonization initiated under his father's grant. His caution and moderation, combined with determination, helped transform a wilderness into a more advanced and populous state.
13 When Mexico gained independence from Spain, Texas became a Mexican state. The Mexican constitution of 1824 organized the provinces of Coahuila and Texas into one state. Social and political differences led to the separation of Texas from Mexico with the Texas revolution in 1935.
14 The Texas Rangers were first organized by Stephen Austin in 1823. They were given legal status in 1935 by the Consultation. The Rangers operated against Indian and Mexican raiders in the early years, and later against outlaw bands, feudists, stock thieves, and local rioters.
15 Land title disagreements and other unreasonable regulations caused unrest between the Mexican garrison and the Texas colonists at Anahuac. The arrest of Patrick C. Jack and William B. Travis precipitated an incident, and the adoption of the Turtle Bayou Resolutions in 1832.
16 The battle of Gonzalez resulted from a Mexican demand for the return of a cannon originally given for defense against Indian attacks. The Texas colonists refused to return it, mounted the cannon on an oxcart, and hung a white flag over it with the words “Come and Take It". Thus began the struggle for Texas liberty.
17 The Consultation named Henry Smith the first American Governor of Texas in 1935. He was the leader of the independence or war party, but most of the delegates to the council supported the peace party, and the government was soon torn by strife. The Consultation adjourned on November 14, 1835.
18 On Nov. 25th, 1835 the General Counsel of the provisional government authorized to purchase of four schooners for the organization of the first Texas Navy. The four ships purchased in January of 1836, were the 'Liberty,' the 'Invincible', the 'Independence' and the 'Brutus.'
19 The Texas Declaration of Independence was unanimously adopted on March 2, 1836. The Constitutional Convention meeting at Washington-on-the-Brazos formulated a statement on the nature of government, listed grievances and declared independence. Thus the Republic was born.
20 Colonel James W. Fannin, Jr. and his Texas volunteers were surrounded by the Mexicans and forced to surrender at the Battle of Coleto. They were promised fair treatment and imprisoned at Goliad. On March 27, 1836, the Texans were massacred by order of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
<--- 50 HIGHLIGHTS OF TEXAS HISTORY Listing
21 Best remembered for the Bowie knife, Colonel James Bowie also had the longest service record of all Alamo defenders. When Santa Anna's troops stormed the Alamo, Bowie, though bedridden with typhoid pneumonia, propped himself against the wall and fought with a pistol until bayoneted to death by Mexican soldiers.
22 James Butler Bonham, a boyhood friend of Colonel Travis, was sent by Travis to Fannin at Gonzalez for help. He returned alone, however, through enemy fire, to the Alamo. And, with the knowledge of certain defeat, Bonham bravely manned a cannon on the roof until the end.
23 David Crockett achieved national fame as a scout, trail blazer and U.S. Congressman. Thousands would gather to hear him talk. His perseverance and honesty won him the friendship of both Indian and white man. With a group of friends, this Tennessee born patriot gave his life defending the Alamo.
24 A former teacher and lawyer, Colonel William Barret Travis commanded the small garrison of Texans who held back the overwhelming forces of Santa Anna for 13 days. As the final battle approached, he drew a line in the ground, bidding all who would cross that line to join him in the supreme sacrifice.
25 Colonels William B. Travis and James Bowie, with 145 men, entered the Alamo on Feb. 23, 1836. On March 1, an additional 32 men came from Gonzalez. On March 6, Santa Anna’s 5,000 troops attacked. Scorning surrender, the Texans fought to the end, which came in hours.
26 The battle of San Jacinto won Texas its independence from Mexico. General Houston and his army surprised the enemy, attacking with the cries, “Remember the Alamo!” and “Remember Goliad!”. And within 18 minutes the Mexicans were defeated.
27 Sam Houston was elected commander-in-chief of the Texas Army by the Convention of 1836. Commander of the forces at Gonzales, General Houston later led the Texas Army to its ultimate victory at San Jacinto.
28 After his capture, Santa Anna declared that General Houston had "conquered the 'Napolean of the West,' and now it remains to him to be generous with the vanquished." Houston's reply was, "You should have remembered that at the Alamo." However, Santa Anna's life was spared.
29 On September 4, 1836, Sam Houston was elected first President of the Republic of Texas. Against great opposition he obtained Santa Anna's release, and a few months later secured the recognition of the Republic of the United States.
30 The Lone Star flag was officially adopted by the Republic of Texas on January 25, 1839. After transferring from the Republic to statehood, Texas was symbolized by the twenty-eighth star in Old Glory, and the Lone Star flag became the state standard.
<--- 50 HIGHLIGHTS OF TEXAS HISTORY Listing
31 The Mier Expedition into Mexico ended in defeat and surrender. After a futile attempt to escape, the Texans were ordered to draw beans from a jar. It was said that every tenth man would die. Seventeen who drew the black beans were blindfolded and shot.
32 After a long controversy over annexation, a Convention of the Texas Congress was held on July 4, 1845. Both Congress and the Convention voted for annexation. The state constitution was adopted in October 1845, and accepted by the U. S. Congress on December 29, 1845.
33 The Mexican War was caused by a boundary dispute between Mexico and the United States. Under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848, Mexico renounced all claims to Texas and accepted the Rio Grande river as the boundary between the United States and Mexico.
34 The first railway in Texas and original unit of the Southern Pacific system in Texas, was chartered on February 10, 1850. Construction was started in 1852, and in 1853 operation began on twenty miles of track reaching from Harrisburg to Stafford's Point.
35 The San Antonio-San Diego mail route was said to be the first American transcontinental mail and passenger line. The first mail left San Antonio on July 9, 1857, and reached California on August 31, 1857. One-way passenger fare was $200.
36 After Lincoln's election in 1860, the Legislature called for a state-wide election to decide Texas' position. The people approved secession - and so Texas joined the Confederacy. Governor Sam Houston's disagreement led to his removal from office.
37 On September 8, 1863 Lt. Dick Doweling and a handful of Texans opened fire on the invading Union forces of 5,000 men and four gunboats. One by one, the ships raised white flags. In 45 minutes the battle was over, and the Confederacy did not lose a man.
38 The last battle of the Civil War was at Palmito Ranch, Brownsville, Texas. Colonel John Ford's Confederate force defeated a Yankee column of soldiers - and then learned from their prisoners that Gen. Robert E. Lee had surrendered 34 days earlier.
39 In 1866 Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving drove the first herd of cattle from Ft. Belknap, Texas to Ft. Sumner, New Mexico. The route became known as the Goodnight-Loving Trail, the first widely used trail for bringing cattle to market.
40 In 1865 when the Civil War was over, the United States decreed military rule over Texas. The Union General Edmund Jackson Davis became Texas' first Republican Governor, aided by ruled preventing Confederate officials from running. These rules also helped carpetbaggers grab jobs and land.
<--- 50 HIGHLIGHTS OF TEXAS HISTORY Listing
41 The Adobe Walls Battle began when a buffalo hunters' camp was attacked by the combined force of Comanche, Cheyenne, and Kiowa Indians. But the Indians retreated after Billy Dixon shot an Indian off his horse 7/8 of a mile away. This single-shot victory made way for the settlement of the Southwest.
42 Roy Bean was appointed Justice of the Peace in Langtry, Texas in 1882. His shrewdness, audacity, unscrupulousness, and humor made Roy Bean a unique nationally-known figure, referred to as "the Law West of the Pecos." He died in a saloon in March, 1903.
43 The Capitol Building was begun in 1883 and was completed in 1888. Modeled after national capitol in Washington, but several feet higher, it is shaped like a Byzantine cross, with its rotunda and dome at the intersection of the main corridors.
44 The Rough Riders were a Spanish-American War regiment commanded by Leonard Woods, and assisted by Theodore Roosevelt. This Texas-based United States Cavalry unit battled from Los Guasimas to San Juan Hill, earning national acclaim.
45 The cyclone struck Galveston on the morning of September 8, 1900. The winds blew in at 120 mph. Half the city was destroyed and an estimated 6,000 persons perished. To protect the city from another such disaster, a fifteen-foot seawall was built.
46 The fabulous Lucas Gusher came in at Spindletop on January 10, 1901. The successful completion of this well marked the beginning of the importance of Texas as an oil producing state. Spectacular Spindletop yielded 94% of Texas' oil production in 1902.
47 The discovery well of the East Texas Oil Field, the Daisy Bradford #3, blew in on October 6, 1930. A wildcat resulting from over three years' shoestring promotions by Columbus M. ("Dad") Joiner, it tapped into Texas' most abundant oil field.
48 In 1961 Houston was chosen the site of NASA's Manned Mission Control Center for the nation's multi-billion-dollar "Man-in-Space" program. Thus in 1969, Houston became the planet earth's contact with the first men to set foot on the moon.
49 Following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson, a Texan, was sworn in as the thirty-sixth President by federal judge Sarah T. Hughes. It was the first time the presidential oath was given in Texas.
50 Celebrating 250 years of Texas history, Hemisfair - the World's Fair of 1968 - was built in the heart of San Antonio, near the Alamo, with over fifty countries were represented. Gov. John B. Connelly served as Commissioner General of this spectacular event.