WISE ABOUT TEXAS

One of the greatest example of resilience in Texas, indeed United States, history was the building of the Galveston seawall and the raising of the city.  After the Great Hurricane of 1900, the easiest thing to do would have been to abandon Galveston Island.  But that wouldn’t be the Texan thing to do.  Instead, the people of Galveston appointed three engineers to figure out how to defeat the next big hurricane.  The 3-member board suggested the construction of a 3-mile seawall to protect the city against a storm surge.  But they went even further.  They proposed raising the city as much as 17 feet in some places, houses, buildings an all.  So the citizens of Galveston went to work and created the Galveston we know today.  Buildings as large as 3000 tons were raised one-half inch at a time!  It worked.  For over 100 years, the Galveston seawall has been a center of tourism in Texas as well as a barrier against destruction.  It passed its first test in 1909 and its first big test in 1915–with flying colors.  Tune in to this latest episode of Wise About Texas and get ready for hurricane season!

In 1777 Bernardo de Galvez became governor of Louisiana.  As a Spaniard, he was cheering for a colonial victory in the revolution.  He made sure supplies made it up the Mississippi to George Washington’s Continental Army.  When the Spanish crown authorized Galvez to fight the British, he called on Texas!  Galvez turned to Texas to feed his army and in doing so, invented the cattle drive!  He was very successful against the British and was a tremendous asset to the liberation of the colonies and the birth of the United States.  Hear about the important role of Texas in the American Revolution in the latest episode of Wise About Texas.

181 years ago this week, the Texian Army surprised the Mexican army and won the Battle of San Jacinto.  The battle lasted a mere 18 minutes, but its effects changed the world.  After the initial 18 minute rout, many of the Texans pursued the fleeing enemy into the bayous and swamps around San Jacinto while others took stock of what could be found in the Mexican camp.

From champagne, to silver, to fancy camp equipment, the Texians found a creative way to dispose of the spoils as well as improve the fiscal affairs of the hours-old Republic of Texas.  But it wasn’t all celebration.  A reckless youth set the prairie on fire and a lone guard almost changed world history with his bayonet!

Learn more about the immediate aftermath of the Battle of San Jacinto and hear about how the victors handled the spoils of war.

Built in 1831 for John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company, the steamboat Yellowstone was the first steamboat to travel past the Council Bluffs.  She reached parts of the upper Missouri River previously unreachable by other boats.  After conquering the fur trade, she was sold to Thomas Toby & Brother of New Orleans and registered under an American flag.  But she was secretly at work in Texas.  Sam Houston happened upon her on the Brazos river and commandeered her for his army!  After saving the Texas Army, the Yellowstone raced full speed past the Mexican Army (avoiding bullets, cannon and over-eager ropers) and onward to Galveston.  She later carried Sam Houston and Santa Anna–at the same time!  Her last errand for Texas brought the Father of Texas to his final resting place.  Author Donald Jackson called Yellowstone “the engine of manifest destiny.”  Hear more about the exciting service of the Steamboat Yellowstone in the latest episode of Wise About Texas.

We all remember the Alamo, Goliad and San Jacinto but there were many more battles in the Texas revolution than are commonly discussed.  A big issue at the time of the Texas revolution was whether to attack Matamoros, Mexico in hopes that federalist sympathizers would join forces with the Texians and achieve glorious victory over the centralists.  The issue split the provisional government and almost dissolved into total chaos.  Multiple individuals each thought they were in charge of the army.  In the meantime, fighting began in various places between the center of the Texas colonies and Matamoros, usually with poor results.  Two of those battles, San Patricio and Refugio are covered in this latest episode of Wise About Texas.

When discussing the Texas revolution, the battle of the Alamo, the Goliad massacre and the great victory at San Jacinto get most of the airtime.  But there were several other military events in the time period leading up to Texas independence.  One of these events was General Jose Mexia’s attack on the Mexican port city of Tampico.  General Mexia thought he had organized federalist resistance to Santa Anna and that he would be welcomed to Tampico as a revolutionary leader.  He ran into some bad luck and it didn’t quite work out as planned.  Learn more about this incident in this episode of Wise About Texas.

In the late 1820’s, the Mexican government assessed the conditions in Texas and decided to clamp down on anglo immigration and try to prevent too much revolutionary fervor.  The American immigrants “traveled with their constitution in their pockets, always demanding their rights.”  Mexican President Bustamante issued a decree in 1830 that prevented any further immigration from the United States.  That did it.  The citizens began meeting in consultations, councils and conventions but not everyone agreed on the goal.  All they knew was they had to do something.  No less than 6 different organizational meetings were held and the goals of each progressed toward revolution.   Finally, in a convention at Washington on the Brazos in 1836, Texas declared independence.  The rest is history–Texas history.  Learn more about the various attempts to organize the revolution in the latest episode of Wise About Texas.

In 1914, San Antonio beer magnate Otto Koehler was killed by his mistress, Emma.  His former mistress, also named Emma, was present.  Was it self defense?  Was it planned?  Did she get him before he got her?  What became of his wife named, yes, Emma?  Some said it was murder, some said self defense.  Some said Otto attacked his killer, some said he would never have done that.  One Emma claimed Otto was desperately in love, another Emma advised he was just desperate.  What did the jury say?  Hear the strange story of the death of one of Texas’ most prominent citizens in the latest episode of Wise About Texas.

Gov. T.M. Campbell represented Emma 3

Sen. Carlos Bee represented Emma 2

Emma Koehler, CEO (Emma 1)

Emma “Hedda” Bürgermeister (Emma 3)

Otto Koehler

In 1818, one of Napoleon Bonaparte’s top generals, and many of his former officers, tried to establish a French colony in Texas. They said it was for agriculture, but they brought a ship full of weapons and built a fort on the Trinity River. Were they going to incite revolution in Mexico, or did they have their sights set on Spanish Florida?  Why was the infamous pirate Jean Lafitte so eager to offer them help?  Somehow they were going to free Napoleon and use Texas to establish his empire!  Learn about the failed French colony of Champ D’Asile in this episode of Wise About Texas.

Jean Lafitte (photo Rosenberg library, Galveston, Texas)

Drawing of Champ D’Asile

A scene from Champ D’Asile

Merry Christmas to all!  In this episode we take a light look at some of the traditions that make a Texas Christmas.  I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and Merry Texas Christmas!