This Day In Texas History - March 14

[joe817]

1836 - At the battle of Refugio, a greatly outnumbered Texian force under Amon B. King and William Ward held off a division(1,500 men) of the Mexican army led by Gen. José de Urrea. Although most of Ward's men escaped, all of King's contingent were either killed or captured. King, and the remnants of his force, were summarily executed in the Goliad Massacre .

1836 - Sam Houston appointed William Tennant Austin his aide-de-camp with the rank of major and ordered him to Columbia to requisition artillery and horses for the army.

1845 - Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels purchases the land that will become New Braunfels.

1911 - Former President Teddy Roosevelt is the Guest of Honor at this years Fort Worth Stock Show. Going to the Fat Stock Show was not only a cattlemen's prerogative, it became a social event with gentlemen and ladies decked out in their finest western clothes, shined boots, ornate saddles and stetson hats.

1924 - Charles Lindbergh starts pilot training at Brooks Field in San Antonio.

1940 - Livestock leaders met in Fort Worth to form the American Quarter Horse Association. Among those in attendance were rancher and quarter horse breeder Anne Burnett Hall and King Ranch president Robert J. Kleberg. The series of meetings led to a charter, by-laws, and election of officers of an organization to “collect, record and preserve the pedigrees of Quarter Horses in America….” The origin of the American quarter horse dates to colonial times when the speedy horses earned fame for their performance in quarter-mile races—hence the name. The quarter horse in Texas is forever linked with the history of the open range and the cowboy. After the Civil War cattlemen needed swift yet sturdy mounts to drive longhorns to northern railheads in Kansas and elsewhere. Quarter horses were mated with mustang mares to produce a strong, speedy equine with great endurance. Soon after the formation of the group, the King Ranch-bred Wimpy, grand champion stallion at the 1941 Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show in Fort Worth, earned the designation of P-1 in the AQHA Stud Book.


1964 - Dallas night club owner Jack Ruby was convicted of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. On November 24, 1963, Ruby, then proprietor of the Carousel Club, had shot and killed Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy, in the basement of the Dallas City Jail, during Oswald's transfer to the county jail. Millions of witnesses watched on national television. Although he was defended by Melvin Belli on the grounds that "psychomotor epilepsy" caused him to black out consciously while functioning physically, Ruby was convicted of murder with malice. His conviction was overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and Ruby was awaiting a retrial when he died in prison in 1967. Ruby denied involvement in any conspiracy, and maintained to the end that he shot Oswald on impulse from grief and outrage.

[ELB]

1911 - Former President Teddy Roosevelt is the Guest of Honor at this years Fort Worth Stock Show. ...

Bit of local trivia, not necessarily connected to this date. In addition to recruiting Texans and others in San Antonio for the regiment of the First US Volunteers, Teddy also procured a horse locally from the Capote Ranch, which at that time was owned at least in part by his second wife. That ranch originally encompassed a huge area in and around Guadalupe County (county seat is Seguin), and like all the others has been whittled down in size, but still exists. It is apparently this horse that he rode up San Juan Hill (and it was the only horse, the regiment's other horses having been left behind due to lack of transport). Wikipedia cites the horse's name as "Little Texas," but the Texas historical marker at the present day Capote Ranch says the horse's name was Seguin. I don't suppose he took the same horse to the Ft Worth Stock Show.

To wander farther into trivia, the original Capote Ranch was founded by a French officer who fought in the American Revolution with Lafayette, later joined the Spanish Army, and was awarded a land grant inTexas for his service. Those guys got around alot in those days. To venture even further into triviality, I know all this because as a volunteer firefighter I fought a brush fire on the Capote Ranch one night, and later discovered the Historical Marker when I went back some days later to replenish the nearby VFD water tank that another neighbor kindly hosts on his land, there being no hydrants in that area.

So, you see, me and Teddy are practically related.

If you ever wish to visit the entrance to the Capote Ranch (which is private) and read the historical marker, you need to take FM 466 and go to the far eastern border of Guadalupe County, right across from Guadalupe Hills Lane, only a few hundred yards inside the county. If you travel from Seguin east along FM 466, you will also pass the site of what is by local history said to be the first successful freed slave business in Texas, the Wilson Pottery. Wilson descendents still live in Guadalupe County.

But I can save you the trip, you can read the text of the markers right here:

Capote Ranch and Teddy's horse: http://www.texas-settlement.org/markers ... pe/14.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wilson Pottery http://www.texas-settlement.org/markers ... pe/66.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[joe817]

Absolutely fascinating ELB! Thanks for sharing. I'd never heard that story before.

[joe817]

Soon after the formation of the group[American Quarter Horse Association], the King Ranch-bred Wimpy, grand champion stallion at the 1941 Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show in Fort Worth, earned the designation of P-1 in the AQHA Stud Book.

As an off topic side note: I grew up on a place in Clay county. We were quarter horse breeders. Our stud was named "King Jess". He was (one of) the son of King P-234. Wimpy(P-1) was the grandfather of King Jess.

If memory serves me correctly, we bought 'Jess' from Jess Hankins around 1957 or 1958. I do remember dad, when making a sales pitch for the stud fee, he always said: "King Jess is the son of King P-234, out of Poco Bueno."

Here's a little information about Jess Hankins and King P-234:
http://www.aqha.com/foundation/halloffa ... ankins.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I never did like Jess. Dad never let me around him. He was to high strung, and really downright dangerous. We never let him get around the working horses, because he'd kill them, given a chance. But he was one beautiful animal.

[cougartex]

Very interesting, thanks to all for sharing.

[Sidro]

For info on Poco Bueno go to http://waggonerranch.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[joe817]

Thanks for posting Sidro! Brings back plenty of memories.

I can't count the times I did this when I was a kid growing up:

http://waggonerranch.com/QHJ19610.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[LarryH]

As an off topic side note: I grew up on a place in Clay county. We were quarter horse breeders. Our stud was named "King Jess". He was (one of) the son of King P-234. Wimpy(P-1) was the grandfather of King Jess.

If memory serves me correctly, we bought 'Jess' from Jess Hankins around 1957 or 1958. I do remember dad, when making a sales pitch for the stud fee, he always said: "King Jess is the son of King P-234, out of Poco Bueno."

I thought the "out of" usually referred to the dam and "by" was used to refer to the sire, such as (totally made-up names) "Dust Devil by Whirlwind, out of Storm Cloud" where Dust Devil is the offspring of Whirlwind (sire) and Storm Cloud (dam). The link clearly states that Poco Bueno was a stallion.

[joe817]

As an off topic side note: I grew up on a place in Clay county. We were quarter horse breeders. Our stud was named "King Jess". He was (one of) the son of King P-234. Wimpy(P-1) was the grandfather of King Jess.

If memory serves me correctly, we bought 'Jess' from Jess Hankins around 1957 or 1958. I do remember dad, when making a sales pitch for the stud fee, he always said: "King Jess is the son of King P-234, out of Poco Bueno."

I thought the "out of" usually referred to the dam and "by" was used to refer to the sire, such as (totally made-up names) "Dust Devil by Whirlwind, out of Storm Cloud" where Dust Devil is the offspring of Whirlwind (sire) and Storm Cloud (dam). The link clearly states that Poco Bueno was a stallion.

Yes I know Larry, and you are correct. I mistated that and didn't correct it. Thanks for pointing it out.

King Jess' mother(who's name I forgot) was conceived by mating Poco Bueno to a mare who's pedigree I simply don't know.

I wish I had an AQHA Stud Book to chase his pedigree, but they quit publishing it years and years ago.

[seamusTX]

http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/king+jess" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is a sort of Wikipedia of horse pedigrees. Anyone can edit it, so it isn't guaranteed.

- Jim

[joe817]

http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/king+jess

This is a sort of Wikipedia of horse pedigrees. Anyone can edit it, so it isn't guaranteed.

- Jim

Wow! Thanks Jim! I feel a little bit better. But it looks like what I understood about Poco Bueno was not to be. I was speaking from memory, and 53 years does effect one's memory. (I wonder what in the world Dad was talking about when he mentioned P.B.???) Oh well. Sorry for the confusion, and thanks so much to you Larry and especially you Jim for the follow up.

[seamusTX]

But it looks like what I understood about Poco Bueno was not to be. I was speaking from memory, and 53 years does effect one's memory. (I wonder what in the world Dad was talking about when he mentioned P.B.???)

Poco Bueno was also a son of King and half-brother to your King Jess, though Poco Bueno was much older.

Otherwise, I dunno. At this late date, practically every quarter horse and thoroughbred has the same set of common ancestors.

- Jim

[ELB]

1924 - Charles Lindbergh starts pilot training at Brooks Field in San Antonio.

I missed this in my excitment about T. Roosevelt and the Capote Ranch. Here's some more Texas history and trivia...

Brooks AFB, now Brooks City-Base, originally Brooks Field, even more originally Gosport Field (I think), was named for a San Antonio native, Sidney Johnson Brooks, Jr. Cadet Brooks was killed on his last flight before graduating from pilot training when he crashed at his home field after returning from Kelly Field. In those days flying from Brooks to Kelly was considered a "cross-country" flight. Those of you familiar with San Antonio and its bases will realize that nowadays the USAF wouldn't even be able to turn around one of its airplanes in that short of a distance... Brooks has been primarily an aerospace medicine related base, most notably with the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine, since the 1950s. When I was stationed there in the late 1990s (altho I am not a military med-head), I learned that the joke in the medical service was that the reason USAFSAM was put there is because Sidney Brooks was the first victim of aerospace medicine! The morning of his last flight he was given some immunizations in preparation for him being sent to Europe to fight in WWI. On his return flight from Kelly, just before landing, his plane nosed over and crashed. It is theorized that he had a reaction to his immunizations, lost consciousness, and therefore lost control of the airplane. Cadet Brooks was awarded his wings and commission post-humously, was buried in San Antonio, but reinterred at Brooks AFB in 1993, I think. I do not know if he is still there since Brooks AFB was closed and it is now the "city-base" (or whatever the current buzzword is).

In a further bit of historical trivia, 2nd Lt Sidney Johnson Brooks, Jr. was of course named for his father, who was apparently originally named Albert Sidney Johnson Brooks by his Confederate veteran father. That should ring a bell with history buffs, and if not, read Joe's historical thread for 15 March.... In addition to that, I am sure A. S. Johnson will appear in future editions of This Day in Texas History, unless Joe runs out of steam...

[joe817]

Very funny. Like the little engine that could.

Gotta save some for down the road, don't you know?