texas history part three - watermelon kid...photo from western/history/genealogy dept., denver...
TRANSCRIPT
Texas History Part Three
9: From Reconstruction to the Turn-of-the-Century
Dr. Butler
All images used in this slideshow that aren’t my own photos, are
either in the Public Domain or used under the “Fair Use”
provision of U.S. Copyright law.
The U.S. Army Returns to Texas
After the Civil War, U.S. troops were sent to Texas to:
• Reoccupy federal forts and provide frontier defense
• Maintain law and order
• Protect the freedmen.
After the Civil War,
new frontier forts
were established
while some of the
older forts were
closed down.
Gen. George Armstrong Custer was one of the soldiers sent to Texa. He was
stationed first at Hempstead and then at Austin. A strict disciplinarian, Custer was
reportedly well-liked by the citizens of Austin.
Custer
Fort Richardson, which played an important role in the Red River War of 1874-
1875, was one of the new postwar forts. It was located in Jack County.
4 min. 50 sec.
The Texas Rangers after the Civil War
The Frontier Battalion, 1874-1891
In 1874, Governor Coke signed
an act of the legislature
organizing the Texas Rangers
into two groups. One of these
was the Frontier Battalion, led
by Major John B. Jones.
Jones
The Battalion’s main purpose
was to protect the frontier
against Indian attacks. Over
time, they became law
enforcement officers as well.
Sam Bass (center) was a notorious outlaw
brought to justice by the Texas Rangers.
John Wesley Hardin was another one of
Texas’ most notorious outlaws.
Belle Starr, the “Outlaw Queen,” was
likewise notorious.
One of the Battalion’s few failures
occurred during the infamous El
Paso “Salt War,” in 1877.
5 min. 52 sec.
Texas Buffalo Hunters
The buffalo was essential to the
lifestyle of the Plains Indians.
“Kill every buffalo you can. Every
buffalo dead is an Indian gone.”--Col. Richard I. Dodge, U.S. Army
White people knew that killing the buffalo would
destroy the Plains Indians’ way of life.
In the 1870s and ’80s, thousands of
Buffalo hunters roamed the plains,
including the Texas Panhandle.
Buffalo hides sold for $1 to $1.50
apiece and dried Buffalo tongues
were also in demand.
By 1875, Dallas had become the largest buffalo skin
market and distribution center in the nation. Hides
were also bought and sold at Fort Worth, Waco,
Galveston, and other Texas towns and cities.
Hides were brought from West Texas by mule-drawn
wagons, sometimes 40 wagons at a time.
5 min. 38 sec.
The Salt Creek Massacre
1871
Not surprisingly, the Kiowa and Comanches were unhappy
with the return of the Army and also the buffalo hunters.
2 min. 03 sec.
The Salt Creek Massacre, 1871
Quanah Parker & the Red River War
1875-1877
May 19, 1836: Indians attack Fort Parker, in Limestone
County, killing five and taking several captives.
A young girl, Cynthia Ann
Parker, was one of the
captives. She was traded to
the Comanches and grew up
among them.Photo from Western/History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library
In 1860, after Texas Rangers
led by future governor Sul
Ross defeated the Comanches
at the Battle of Pease River,
Cynthia Ann was “rescued.”
During her captivity, Cynthia
Ann Parker married a
Comanche chief named Peta
Nocona. Her oldest son,
Quanah, grew up to be a leader.
In 1874, the Red River War
broke out in the Texas
Panhandle, when Indians
attacked buffalo hunters at
Adobe Walls.
The Red River War, 1874-1875
Photo from Western/History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library
Quanah Parker led the attack on buffalo hunters
at the Battle of Adobe Walls, June 17, 1874.
Battle of Palo Duro Canyon
September 28, 1874
Led by Colonel Ranald Mackenzie, federal
troops from Fort Richardson defeated the
Comanches at the Battle of Palo Duro
Canyon, and then destroyed hundreds of
horses belonging to them.
Following the destruction of their ponies,
the Southern Plains Indians returned to their
reservations in what is now Oklahoma.
April 1875: Comanches surrender at Fort
Sill, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).
Quanah Parker
6 min. 47 sec.
The Great Texas Cattle Drives
1867-1885
After the Civil War, Abilene, Kansas businessman Joseph G. McCoy
encouraged Texas cattlemen to drive their steers across the open range
for shipment by rail to the East.
A Longhorn that cost $4 in Texas could be sold for $30 to
$40 at the railhead.
All the major cattle trails led north out of Texas to railheads
in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri.
The peak year of the “Open Range” era was 1871,
when more than 700,000 cattle were driven north.
This outdoor sculpture in Dallas’ Pioneer
Park commemorates the Sedalia and
Baxter Springs Trail, a.k.a.. The “Shawnee
Trail,” which passed through Dallas and
up the Preston Road.
By 1880, more than 6 million cattle had
been driven north from Texas.
The arrival of the railroads in Texas in the
1870s, combined with the invention of barbed
wire, ended the great cattle drives. 11 min. 0 sec.
7 min. 47 sec.
The Ranching Business
Following the end of the Civil War, several large cattle
ranches were established by men called “Cattle Kings.”
The three most famous were Richard King, Charles
Goodnight, and Christopher Columbus Slaughter.
King
Goodnight Slaughter
Founded by Richard King in 1853, the 825,000 acre
King Ranch in South Texas is still the largest ranch
in Texas and one of the largest in the world. At
1,289 square miles, it is larger than the state of
Rhode Island! (1,214 square miles)
King
Its brand is the “Running W.”
The King Ranch is also famous its signature Santa
Gertrudis cattle, which were developed on the ranch
by breeding Brahma bulls with shorthorn beef cattle.3 min. 34 sec.
Charles Goodnight, known as the “Father of the Texas
Panhandle, had a ranch in Armstrong County, where he not
only raised cattle but also kept a herd of buffalo!
Goodnight4 min. 18 sec.
One of Texas’ largest and most important cattle
ranchers, Col. C. C. Slaughter, lived in Dallas.
This marker at Doan’s Crossing, Texas shows
Slaughter’s “Lazy S” cattle brand.
In 1873 Slaughter helped organize the
Cattle Raisers Association and the
National Beef Producers & Consumers
Association in 1884.
Col. Slaughter was also the largest contributor
to Baylor Hospital in East Dallas.
When Slaughter died in 1919, he was buried at
Dallas’ Greenwood Cemetery.
Texas: Cotton King of America
In 1881, Texas was third among 14 states in cotton production. By
1890, it was first, a position it still held in 1900.
By 1898, “fully half” of Texas’ cotton crop was being grown
within 100 miles of Dallas. This was also a little more than
one-eighth (1,789,327 bales) of the world’s supply!
Most of this cotton came to Dallas, where it was ginned (had
the seeds removed), baled, then bought and sold.
Texas had several cotton-related businesses including the
Dallas Cotton and Woolen Mill, which opened in South
Dallas in 1888. Its 250 workers (mostly women and
children) made it the largest industrial employer in the city.
Cotton Oil CompanyCotton Machine Company
Not surprisingly, after it was built in 1930, the football
field at Fair Park was named the “Cotton Bowl.”
The Railroads Come To Texas
During the post-Civil War period, the U.S.
Government gave railroads 128 million acres
of land in order to encourage their expansion.
In Texas, where there were no federal
public lands, the state government gave
railroads large land grants.
The two most important railroads in
Texas were the Houston and Texas
Central, which ran south to north from
Galveston to Denison, giving Texas a
link to the northern states, and the Texas
and Pacific, which ran east to west from
Shreveport, Louisiana to El Paso,
linking Texas to both California and also
the eastern states.
The arrival of the railroads was a major
factor in the post-Civil War growth of
Dallas and other Texas cities.
In 1889, the state legislature passed a
law that, among other things, required
separate passenger cars or
compartments for black and white
passengers. It also required all railroads
doing business in Texas to maintain an
office in the state.
In 1891, the state legislature
created the Texas Railroad
Commission. Its job was to
regulate the railroads in
Texas and set freight rates.
Today’s Texans can
experience the early days of
railroads by taking a ride on
the Texas State Railroad,
which runs from Palestine
to Rusk in East Texas.
6 min. 47 sec.
A Texas Institution
The University of Texas is born
On September 15, 1883, as provided for in
the 1876 state constitution, the new
University of Texas was formally opened
for classes, even though its main building
was not completed until 1899.
2 min. 17 sec.
Another Texas Institution
The State Fair is Born
In January 1886, a group of
Dallas bankers and businessmen
got together in the Merchants
Exchange Building to form a
State Fair Association.
W. H. Gaston
C. A. Keating
But in April a disagreement
arose over a site for the fair.
Gaston and the other bankers
favored a site on the edge of
East Dallas.
Keating and the “Implement
Men” preferred a site in North
Dallas. They called the East
Dallas site “the worst kind of
hog wallow.”
The result? Two state fairs!!!
The Texas State Fair ran from
Oct. 25 through Oct. 30, 1886
in North Dallas.
The Dallas State Fair ran from Oct. 26
through Nov. 6, 1886 in East Dallas.
In 1887 the two money-losing fairs
combined to form the Texas State
Fair and Dallas Exposition,
agreeing to use the East Dallas site.
By the 1890s, the State Fair was well on
the way to becoming a state institution.
A New State Capitol
1888
In 1881, the state capitol, built in 1853,
was destroyed by fire. Even before it
burned, plans were being made to replace
it with a much larger structure,
In February 1888, the new Texas state capitol was
completed. A statue called “the Goddess of Liberty”
(popularly known as “Old Hatchet Face,” was
erected on top of the dome.
The original statue
(replaced in 1986) now
stands in the state history
museum in Austin.
Some Capitol Facts:
• Cost $4 million to build
• Designed by a Chicago architectural firm
• Made of Texas pink granite from Burnet county
• Built in “Doric” style
• Contains 260 rooms
• At 311 feet, it is taller than any other capitol building
in the United States, including the national capitol in
Washington, D.C. (288 feet)
The building’s interior is just
as magnificent as the outside,
especially the dome.
13 min. 49 sec.
The Texas-born Governor
James Stephen Hogg
James Stephen Hogg, born in Rusk in 1851,
was not only the first native-born Texas
governor (served 1891-1895), but also the
first governor since the Civil War who did
not serve in the Confederate army. Hogg
was also a proponent of the “New South
Creed.” which embraced a diversification of
the South’s economy through industrial
growth.
Although Hogg did not advocate racial
equality, in 1893 he denounced lawlessness,
mob rule and lynching, which affected
blacks more often than whites.
Hogg was also known for having a daughter
named Ima. Her supposed sister, “Ura,” is
just an urban myth.
Ima Hogg
Texas in the Spanish-American War
1898
When the Spanish-American War started in 1898,
thousands of Texans volunteered for service.
Because the war was of such short duration (about 3
months), no Texas troops left the country to fight in Cuba.
However, the First Texas
Volunteer Infantry served
on occupation duty in Cuba
from December 1898 to
March 1899.
The 33rd U.S. Volunteer Infantry, raised in San Antonio and consisting
almost entirely of Texans, served in the Philippine-American War, in
which the United States fought a brutal 3-year-long campaign against a
people who wished to have their freedom and independence.
Texas’ only other connection to the
Spanish-American War is that some of
the “Rough Riders,” led by future
president Theodore Roosevelt, were
recruited in Texas. TR also bought the
regiment’s horses and trained his men
near San Antonio. "We drew a great many recruits from Texas,
and from nowhere did we get a higher
average, for many of them had served in that
famous body of frontier fighters, the Texas
Rangers. Of course, these rangers needed no
teaching. They were trained to obey and to
take responsibility. They were splendid shots,
horsemen, and trailers. They were
accustomed to living in the open, to enduring
great fatigue and hardship, and to
encountering all kinds of danger.“
--Theodore Roosevelt, Lt. Col., USV
The bar of San Antonio’s Menger Hotel is
sometimes called “the Roosevelt Room,” because
TR liked to have a drink there. It is said he also
recruited some of his troops at the hotel.
San Antonio’s Roosevelt Park is the site of the
Rough Riders’ camp and training ground.
The Rough Riders in Cuba
(as imagined by an artist)
The Rough Riders in Reality
Battle of Kettle Hill, July 1, 1898
Roosevelt led the charge on his horse “Little Texas.”