This Day In Texas History - February 3

[joe817]

1836 - The Red Rovers joined the cause for Texas independence. They were a volunteer military company from Alabama known for their uniform of red pants.

1836 - Lt.Col. William B. Travis and his cavalry contingent of 30 men, reached the Alamo. The twenty-six-year-old cavalry officer had traveled to his new duty station under duress. Yet, like Bowie, he soon became committed to Neill(Col.James Clinton Neill-commander of the garrison at San Antonio de Bexar) and the fort, which he began to describe as the "key to Texas."

1841 - The Republic of Texas Congress authorized the firm of McKinney, Williams and Company to issue notes for circulation as money, using for security mortgages on real estate, slaves, and a sawmill. This desperate measure reflected the history of money in the republic, where the various issues of currency--including "exchequer bills," "interest notes," and "red backs"--all were textbook examples of "fiat money," or paper money not redeemable in specie. The republic issued a total of $4,095,990 in paper money. Until the approach of annexation, government-issued currency was typified by Sam Houston's promissory notes of 1837, called "Star Money" because they were decorated with a star.

1845 - Nacogdoches University was chartered. It was probably the first nonsectarian institution of higher learning in Texas. The school began its career with an endowment of 29,712 acres of land and $2,700 in personal property. The "Red House," former officers' quarters of the Twelfth Permanent Battalion, was its first home. When the second charter of the university expired in 1895, it was apparent that instruction could no longer be maintained on the university level, and in 1904 the property was deeded to the Nacogdoches Independent School District. In 1962 the structure became a Registered Texas Historical Landmark; in 1971 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

1854 - James Barclay and Samuel Rowe(Indian agents)were appointed commissioners to purchase a tract of land for an Alabama Indian reservation in Polk County. This land is now a part of the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation.

1889 - Notorious outlaw and Dallas resident Belle Starr was shot in the back by a shotgun blast from unknown assassin near the Canadian River on the Choctaw Nation (in present Oklahoma). Belle Starr had numerous ties to the outlaws of the time, including Jesse James and the Younger brothers. Belle and her husband sold stolen horses from her Dallas livery when she was arrested. After a brief time in jail for horse thieving, Belle Starr became known as the "Bandit Queen".

1896 - The Galveston Brewing Company began operations. St. Louis brewers Adolphus Busch and William J. Lemp were major stockholders. By this time Texas boasted more than fifty years of brewing history that began with small home operations and gradually expanded to commercial breweries, many centered on sizable German populations. The impressive Galveston complex included a large ice plant, cold-storage rooms, several water wells, railroad tracks, and a brewery that produced up to 75,000 barrels of beer annually. The facility survived the Galveston hurricane of 1900 with minor damage.

1959 - Native Texan musicians Buddy Holly(b.Lubbock) and J.P. Richardson(the Big Bopper)(b.Sabine Pass), were killed along with Richie Valens in a plane crash in Iowa after a concert. Singer Waylon Jennings was originally supposed to ride the plane back but was asked by Richardson for his seat because Richardson was running a fever. Holly told Jennings, "Well, I hope your ol' bus freezes up." Jennings responded with a joke that would haunt him for years: "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes."