Footnotes in Texas History
…frontier More than two centuries ago, dusty soldiers stationed across the state, from Fort Gates in Central Texas to Fort Davis in far West Texas, desperately needed clean uniforms. Few soldiers…
Footnotes in Texas History
…News that Sally Rand would come to Texas for the Fort Worth Frontier Centennial Exposition in 1936 was met with outrage by some and curiosity by many. Her reputation, gained at the 1933…
Footnotes in Texas History
This rare, radioactive material turned out to be the most valuable mineral ever discovered in Llano County No one was exactly yelling out, “There’s yttrium in them…
Footnotes in Texas History
Dr. James I. Lighthall’s Indian Medicine Show Dr. James I. Lighthall, a medicine show salesman who hawked his elixirs across…
Footnotes in Texas History
Even without his condensed milk, Gail Borden Jr. would still warrant a mention in Texas history Like a lot of people known primarily for one thing, Gail Borden Jr. did a lot of…
Footnotes in Texas History
In the midst of trying to dynamite rain from the clouds, Post Toasties inventor never gave up on…
Footnotes in Texas History
The man who said no at the Alamo Of the many mysteries surrounding the battle of the Alamo, one of the most enduring and endearing centers on the line that Texas…
Footnotes in Texas History
…Bedichek, J. Frank Dobie and Walter Prescott Webb—Bedichek was the last one to publish a mainstream book, Adventures with a Texas Naturalist, when he was 69, and the least known of the three…
Footnotes in Texas History
…crop Legendary Old West gambler and lawman–turned-sportswriter Bat Masterson observed, in the last column he wrote before he died in 1921, that the rich and poor get the same amount of…
Footnotes in Texas History
…outlaws, Belle Starr enjoyed her reputation as the “Bandit Queen.” Although she was well known in Texas, it wasn’t until after her death in 1889 that stories of her escapades sprouted up all…
Footnotes in Texas History
New Year’s Day tradition has roots in Texas If you’re superstitious or Texan (or Southern), the odds are good that black-eyed peas…
Footnotes in Texas History
…a pair of six-shooters, the legendary Judge Roy Bean doled out a peculiar form of frontier justice in a lawless section of far West Texas during the last half of the 19th century. Photographs show a…
Footnotes in Texas History
Camp Hearne museum tells the story of German POWs In the quiet little Central Texas community of Hearne, a huge part of forgotten Texas history is on…
FOOTNOTES IN TEXAS HISTORY
‘I learned the meaning of freedom in a prison camp,’ says 86-year-old Heino Erichsen. When the clattering wheels of…
FOOTNOTES IN TEXAS HISTORY
East Texas town helped supply U.S. Navy during World War II The city of Orange, on Texas’ eastern border, was nearly wiped out by the…
FOOTNOTES IN TEXAS HISTORY
One of Texas’ most-celebrated ghost towns once lived large as coal-mining center There never was a Texas town quite like Thurber, and there probably never will be…
Footnotes in Texas History
…Moczygemba, founder of nation’s first Polish community, never won any popularity contests Being a pioneer is not always everything it is cracked up to be. Sometimes there is a psychic price…
FOOTNOTES IN TEXAS HISTORY
One extra-special song put Bob Wills on the musical map to stay Bob Wills’ records sold in the millions. But one extra-special song—“San Antonio Rose,” which later became “New San…
FOOTNOTES IN TEXAS HISTORY
Almost a quarter century after being poisoned, Austin’s Treaty Oak is still standing tall The stately Treaty Oak on Baylor Avenue…
Footnotes in Texas History
…Texas-sized hero at Waco museum If you are among the millions of Texans with a few silver strands in their hair, the call of “Hi, yo, Silver—awaaaay!” may transport you to a long-ago living…
FOOTNOTES IN TEXAS HISTORY
Pioneer physician won folks over by doing things her way You may write something about me if you will,” said the lady physician to a…
Footnotes in Texas History
…knew until shortly before kickoff where the game was to be played? That was sort of the situation in 1896 when Peter Maher and Bob Fitzsimmons agreed to fight for the world heavyweight boxing…
Footnotes in Texas History
…Armstrong Custer, to travel with her husband and thousands of his troops across the Texas frontier in 1865. Libbie, as she was known, gamely endured the hardships to be near her husband. A book she…
FOOTNOTES IN TEXAS HISTORY
1896 publicity stunt turned into a tragic train wreck of an idea on fateful day near Waco On September 15, 1896, two massive…
Footnotes in Texas History
…The Legislature declared the Blue Lacy the official dog breed of Texas on May 25, 2005, making the state only one of 11 in the U.S. to award a canine breed that honor. The Blue Lacy, the…