This Day In Texas History - January 19

[joe817]

1836 - General Sam Houston ordered first lieutenant Francis W. Thornton and his 29 men, along with some of Ira Westover's recruits, to Goliad to relieve Peyton S. Wyatt, who had assumed command of the volunteer force at La Bahía after Philip Dimmitt resigned. Thornton assumed command at Goliad about January 19 and served as commandant until February 12, 1836, when Ira Westover and James W. Fannin, Jr. arrived.

1836 - JIm Bowie rode into the Alamo compound with his complement of 30 men, and what he saw impressed him. As a result of much hard work, the mission had begun to look like a fort. Colonel James Clinton Neill(who commanded the garrison at the Alamo at that time), well knew the consequences of leaving the camino real unguarded, convinced Bowie that the Alamo was the only post between the enemy and Anglo settlements. Colonel James Bonham accompanied him.

1836 - Captain Jack Shackelford and his complement of 70 men, known as the Red Rovers(so named because of the fact that its members were uniformed in red jeans) arrived at Dimmit's Landing(on the west bank of the Lavaca River near its mouth at northeastern Lavaca Bay, now in Jackson County). The Red Rovers was a unit of the Lafayette Battalion of James W. Fannin's regiment.

1837 - The city of Houston is founded along the northwest edge of Galveston Bay. Named for General Sam Houston, commander at San Jacinto, the city will become the largest city in Texas.

1839 - Waterloo (soon to be renamed Austin) was approved as the new capital of the Republic of Texas. In 1836 Columbia (now West Columbia) had become the first capital of an elected government of the republic. It remained capital for three months. The city of Houston was then selected as a temporary capital until 1839. A capital-site commission selected a site near La Grange in 1838 and Congress passed a bill to build the capital there, but President Sam Houston vetoed it. Mirabeau B. Lamar, Houston's successor as president and a proponent of westward expansion, instructed the commission to inspect a site he had visited on the Colorado River. Impressed by its beauty, abundant natural resources, and central location, the commission purchased 7,735 acres comprising the hamlet of Waterloo and adjacent lands.

1839 - A new form of money called "red backs" in denominations of $5, $10, $20, $100, and $500 was approved by Republic President Mirabeau B. Lamar.

1858 - The German Free School Association of Austin became the first Austin school chartered by the Texas legislature, for the "education of the youth, the promotion of useful knowledge, and the advancement of the sciences." The school was to be "accessible to all alike without regard to religious opinions." The two-story school building was constructed in 1857 with volunteer labor on land donated by the von Rosenberg family overlooking Waller Creek.

1891 - The Rio Grande Railroad was robbed of some $75,000 as well as government mail when a train was derailed by bandits. José Mosqueda, the leader of the outlaws, was identified as the culprit and pursued by Brownsville city marshall Santiago Brito, and they both became part of the folklore of the Texas Mexican community.

1901 - The Lucas oil well, the first well to produce oil at Spindletop, was finally capped, after 9 days of the free flowing gusher produced out of control. It is reported that it spewed oil 100 feet into the air. It is estimated that that one well alone flowed 100,000 barrels of oil per day. It had transformed the city of Beaumont. A new age was born.

1918 - Camp John Wise, a balloon training station on 261 acres of leased land four miles north of downtown San Antonio, was established. The United States Army Balloon School was transferred there from Fort Omaha, Nebraska. The base reached a maximum strength of thirty-three officers and 1,800 enlisted men and was equipped with four balloons. It closed soon after WWI.

1943 - Janis Lyn Joplin was born at Port Arthur. She was the lead singer for Big Brother and the Holding Company.

1946 - Camp Fannin was declared surplus. Camp Fannin, an infantry-replacement training center of World War II, was located ten miles northeast of Tyler. Troop capacity at the height of war operations was 18,680, and the camp had hospital beds for 1,074.

1952 - The National Football League (NFL) bought the franchise of the New York Yankees from Ted Collins. The franchise was then awarded to a group in Dallas on January 24.

1991 - Big Bend Ranch State Natural Area was opened to the public. Located in southwestern Brewster County and southeastern Presidio County, the area, now known as Big Bend Ranch State Park, is the largest in the state system, comprised some 299,000 acres in 2004. At one time the Big Bend Ranch was among the ten biggest working ranches in Texas.

[seamusTX]

1837 - The city of Houston is founded along the northwest edge of Galveston Bay.

Numerous dates are given for the founding of Houston by the Allen Brothers (two of the smartest entrepreneurs ever to evade prosecution). It was in the 1836-7 timeframe, in any case.

Any mention of the founding of Houston has to include Buffalo Bayou, birthplace of trillions of mosquites and no few alligators.

Allen Center and other sites in Houston are named for the Allen brothers.

- Jim