Newsletters From 2001
14 Jan
Howdy Ya'll,
Welcome to 2001. When Stanley Kubrick made that movie all those years ago, we all thought how far away it seemed. Now it's here and we are living it. Hope your holidays were the best ever.
Our last trivia question was "Pushing sixty when he became the 'Law West of the Pecos,' he usually ended his sentencing with "...and may God have mercy on your souls." Who was this lawman who was infatuated with the girl 'in his wallet'?" The answer, of course, was Judge Roy Bean.
Billy Clanton Naylor
"Howdy. That would be Judge Roy Bean, I believe, and Lilly Langtree would be the lady. One of his pistols recently sold at auction for $19,000, I think."
Ramblin' Rose
"Judge Roy Bean was the infamous 'Law West of the Pecos.' And the fair lady in his wallet was none other than Lilly Langtry."
Colonel Sir Harry Flashman
"The Infamous 'Judge' Roy Bean is whom you mean, and the Lady in his wallet is actress Lilly Langtry."
This week's trivia question... Though born in Illinois in 1827, she came to Texas with her family where her relatives began a fort in Groesbeck in 1835 near the Navasota River. Two months after the fall of the Alamo, this little girl was kidnapped by the Comanches, brought up by them then married a chief, bearing their three children. In 1860 she was recaptured by the Texas Rangers, but never settled into a life she didn't know. Who was this little girl and for extra credit, who was her eldest son? Write to us and let us know!
Thought you would all like proof that it can snow in Texas. The attached photo was sent to us by Calico Lace.
Thought you'd enjoy this article from the Sunday Dallas Morning News by A.C. Greene...
A.C. Greene: Benjamin F. Bryant: war hero, settler . . . bigamist
01/14/2001
By A.C. Greene / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
Benjamin Franklin Bryant, a native of Georgia, came to Texas in 1834, settling on Palo Gaucho Bayou in Sabine County. In 1836, he led a company of Texas volunteers known as the Redlanders to join Sam Houston's army with some 80 men on April 1 for the battle of San Jacinto. Capt. Bryant's company lost one of the nine Texan mortalities, First Lt. John C. Hale, for whom Hale County is named. In 1837, Benjamin Bryant settled at Tenoxtitlan, on the Brazos, working as a wheelwright. In 1838, he received land on Little River for his San Jacinto service. In 1841, Republic President Houston named Bryant Indian agent and commissioned Bryant's Station on Little River as a trading post and forting place. Bryant's Station was for years the most important frontier site on the western edge of Milam County, near Cameron. (Later it was succeeded by the present village of Ruckholts.) Indian troubles were constant. In 1840, George B. Erath reported that P. Rose (S.P. Ross), Daniel Monroe, John Turnham, James Thompson and Benjamin Bryant were listed as Minute Men, subject to call at any time.
In 1846, Bryant was one of the commissioners who purchased land ("to the nearest ... point to the centre") in Milam County and laid out the town of Cameron, designating it as county seat. It was from Bryant's Station that most of the early settlers of Bell County ventured. Bryant died at Bryant's Station on March 4, 1857. His wife, Roxanna, died in 1871..
But there is another, more human side to his story. On his arrival and throughout his years in Texas, he had two families - one from his wife and another from Rebecca Parker, his mistress. Apparently the two families lived together peaceably, because the children's births were in consecutive order. Roxanna would have a child and within the next year or two Rebecca would give birth. This continued until Roxanna had six Bryant children (four girls, two boys) from 1821 onward, and Rebecca five (two boys, three girls) from 1829 onward. After Rebecca's death in 1849, "as result of his bigamous relations," Bryant petitioned the Legislature that "by an unfortunate association" he had five children born out of wedlock, and asked "that they may be permitted to assume his name and to inherit his estate as legal heirs."
The petition was accepted and his illegitimate children shared in his estate, although the six legitimate children got twice as much as the five illegitimate ones. (Most of the information for this Sketch was supplied by Betty Bryant Hill, of Lubbock, a great-great-granddaughter of Benjamin F. Bryant.)
Until next week...
21 Jan
Howdy Ya'll,
Hope your January is progressing nicely and the weather has decided to be kind to you. If you have anything on Texas history or anything to do with Texas, send it in. We'd love to hear from you.
We're starting an archive of the newsletters on the GTT site. Unfortunately we didn't keep many of the old ones. If you happen to have any of them, could you please do us a favor and send them back to us? Thanks!
A typo was discovered by a subscriber recently in the timeline on Texas. We want to thank Jim for sending it in to us. If you do see mistakes or corrections that need to be made, please don't hesitate to inform us. Our goal is to have our facts correct.
Last week's trivia question was "Though born in Illinois in 1827, she came to Texas with her family where her relatives began a fort in Groesbeck in 1835 near the Navasota River. Two months after the fall of the Alamo, this little girl was kidnapped by the Comanches, brought up by them then married a chief, bearing their three children. In 1860 she was recaptured by the Texas Rangers, but never settled into a life she didn't know. Who was this little girl and for extra credit, who was her eldest son?"
We had several of our readers send in the answer as well as other comments.
Virginia Clark Brown
Now I like Calico Lace's Snow Cowboy. That took some HARD work to accomplish that. And I really like your story on B. Bryant. Now that is Texas History.
The answer to your trivia queston is Cynthia Ann Parker. She and her brother along with Rachel Plummer and her baby and some others were captured by group of Indians. The Comanches ended up with Cynthia. She married Chief Peta Nokona and had Quanah Parker who became the last great Comanche Chief. What a sad story. Why do people always think they know what is best for everyone else? I guess things are just the way they are.
Jerry Martin
The woman is question is Cynthia Ann Parker, who was taken captive by the Comanches May of 1836. She was rescued by the Rangers in 1860 along with her daughter Prairie Flower and returned to her family. Her son was Quanah Parker who grew to be a leader among the Comanche. Quanah Parker, the last great chief of the Comanche, died in 1911 and is buried next to his mother and sister in Oklahoma.
Colonel Sir Harry Flashman
Her name was Parker, her son Quanah and a John Ford production w/ "the Duke" and Natalie Wood starred in "The Searchers", which is loosely based on these events.
Calico Lace
Cynthia Ann Parker. Her eldest son was Quanah.
Thanks to everyone who wrote in. Please correct us if we're wrong, but wasn't Quanah Parker the last Comanche War Chief as there are still chiefs of the tribes? Quanah and his band of Kwahadi Comanches surrendered at Fort Sill in 1875.
Now this week's trivia...What was the name of the main cattle trail between San Antonio, Texas, and Abilene Kansas? Its founder was a Cherokee half-breed trader who used the trail to haul his merchandise back and forth. It was the cattle drivers who named the trail after its discoverer and the name stuck. For extra credit, who was the founder? Write us soon and let us know!
As we live over here across the pond from you all, we thought you'd like to read this column A.C. Greene had in the Dallas Morning News today. We hear it's a good place to eat...
A.C. Greene: Republic of Texas' reach spans an ocean
In recent years, Texans have been astonished to discover in London an eating place on Trafalgar Square bearing the name "Texas Embassy Cantina." Those who eat there find there really had been a Republic of Texas Embassy, just around a corner from the cantina.
The cantina was opened in 1993 by Salado native Gene Street of Dallas. As the location is in the highly traditional city of Westminster, restaurateur Street encountered many hurdles of London law and tradition to overcome, such as not allowing outdoor tables on Trafalgar Square or the showing of a "foreign" (Texas) flag.
The hurdles were eventually overcome, and the eating place, which features TexMex food, opened with an Albanian cook and European waiters. It has gained great popularity with the British and European public as well as with visiting Texans and other Americans.
The Republic of Texas, in its almost 10 years of existence, never named ambassadors as such but had legations in several cities besides London. Envoys and consuls represented the Republic in Antwerp, Paris and Amsterdam, as well as the Hanseatic towns of Hamburg, Lubeck and Bremen.
The United States, Great Britain and France all sent charges d'affaires to Texas. The Republic's London legation was under Dr. Ashbel Smith. Although it was not a true embassy, it functioned as such and has continued to be referred to as "the Texas embassy."
A bronze plaque marks the building where the legation was located. The courtyard in which the "embassy" was located was the scene of the last duel fought in London, although that was some years before the Texas connection.
(Coincidence: The definitive biography of Ashbel Smith, used by Gene Street's Cantina naming crew, was written by Salado resident Elizabeth Silverthorne.)
The Republic of Texas also had consulates in the United States. First in importance (because it was the "gateway" to Texas) was at New Orleans. Others were at New York; Baltimore; Mobile, Ala.; Natchitoches, La.; Cincinnati; Bangor, Maine; Detroit; St. Louis; Norfolk, Va.; and Richmond, Va.
Consuls found it difficult to obtain the printed forms and stamps of officialdom, or instructions on how their offices were to be operated; the Republic was too strapped to have them printed. Few of the consulates had a set of Republic of Texas laws. In December 1842, when William B. Hamilton was appointed to Richmond, all the news he received was an informal letter from Isaac Van Zandt of the Washington legation.
Until next week...
4 Feb
Howdy Ya'll,
Welcome to another week of GTT trivia and Texas history.
We at GTT are quite proud to announce we received the Badge of Excellence from the Texas Cowboy Gazette for having an outstanding site on the web. You can see our award on our opening page. A big thanks to Jim Fish and the Texas Cowboy Gazette!
We had a question from Virginia Brown about the Irish colonies in Texas. Does anyone have any information about these colonies? If so, please e-mail us and let us know.
Last week's trivia question was "What was the name of the main cattle trail between San Antonio, Texas, and Abilene Kansas? Its founder was a Cherokee half-breed trader who used the trail to haul his merchandise back and forth. It was the cattle drivers who named the trail after its discoverer and the name stuck. For extra credit, who was the founder?"
The following nice folks wrote us to say...
Virginia Brown
"The Chisolm Trail was named after Jesse Chisolm was a half breed from Tenn. His father was Scottish and his mother was an Indian. He was an interpreter and a guide. He knew the area so they used his trail. He lived in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas during the war between the states and ended up interpreting for the Union. In 1865, Chisholm and a friend of his James Mead established a trading post at Council Grove on the North Canadian River. This is about where present day Oklahoma City is located. The cowboys that drove the cattle from Texas to the markets on the railroad in Kansas called it the the Chisholm Trail."
Jerry Martin
"Jesse Chisholm blazed the trail from San Antonio to Caldwell, Abilene, Wichita & Newton in Kansas. This trail was referred to by the Cattlemen as "The Chisholm Trail" and was used, after the Civil War, by Texas Cattlemen to drive millions of cattle to the railheads for shipment to the Eastern Market."
Jim Fish
"The Chisholm Trail: Founded by Jesse Chisholm - part-Scottish and part-Cherokee. He was also a trader, interpreter, guide, businessman and sometimes found lost or kidnapped children. He had already travelled the route many times while hauling freight from Kansas to stock his trading posts. It's been said that Jesse was one of the first to create a chain of convenience stores.(Source: "Along the Chisholm Trail" - http://www.texhoma.net/~glencbr/p001.html)"
Thanks, guys, for writing in with the answers!
This week's trivia question... "Called the Bandit Queen, she roamed through Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri on a horse named Venus. According to stories told, she was infatuated with Cole Younger and claimed to have had his child, a daughter named Pearl. Her ranch in Oklahoma was even known as "Younger's Bend." Who was this female outlaw and cattle rustler and for extra credit, who killed her?" Let us hear from you.
Thought you might like to read another A.C. Greene column from Sunday, Feb 4. The man certainly seems to have good insight. If you come across any good articles or columns, please send them our way. We'd love to share them with other readers.
A.C. Greene: East Texas county proud to be land of the free
02/04/2001
By A.C. Greene / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
Although there are several parts of Texas that have, at one time or another, adopted "The Free State of ..." as a regional motto, by far the most celebrated is "The Free State of Van Zandt," meaning the East Texas county of Van Zandt. There are several legends regarding this title, few of them sounding authentic. But some may at least make good reading.
First, history notes that when Van Zandt County was created out of Henderson County in 1848, Henderson County was heavily in debt. But when the split came, the debt load was not mentioned, and Van Zandt became "free territory," free of taxation for, and free of responsibility of, the indebtedness.
A second legend supposes that when the Civil War was seen as inevitable, several Southern slave owners and dealers sent scouts looking for safer areas for their chattel. One stopped in Canton, county seat of Van Zandt, but, when asked whether he thought this would be a safe haven, replied that he would as soon send slaves to a "free state" as to bring them to Van Zandt, where very few people owned slaves. The local newspaper editor wrote that Van Zandt had been "free territory" since created, and now seemed to have been classified a "free state."
A third explanation sounds more acceptable. It refers to an incident in 1867 after a contested series of Van Zandt ballots from the election that returned Texas to the federal union. A rump convention was held in Van Zandt County that declared this to be "a free and independent state free and independent of the State of Texas and free and independent of the Southern Confederacy, and the United States of America." When Gen. Phil Sheridan, in charge of Texas during Reconstruction, heard of this, he sent a troop of cavalry to the area to quell the uprising. But the troop became confused in a wooded area of the county and when the "Free Staters" encountered them, the troop withdrew. The "victors" rode into Canton to celebrate, which they proceeded to do, and the U.S. troop rode in from every direction and the Free State "army" was captured without a shot.
Van Zandt is also famous for the salt mines at Grand Saline, and "First Monday" trade days in Canton that actually open on Sunday (after church) and draw customers from all over the Southwest. My late father, Carl Greene, was often called a "Free Stater" because he was born in Wills Point in 1902, but this was hardly the case because he left Van Zandt County in his mother's arms.
Until next week...
Joni and Kevin
Texasrose and Texasrogue
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