This Day In Texas History - July 28

[joe817]

1852 - Randolph Barnes Marcy( United States Army officer and Western explore) and his party crossed a thousand miles of previously undocumented Texas and Oklahoma territory, discovering numerous valuable mineral deposits as well as twenty-five new species of mammals and ten of reptiles. Marcy also recorded a prairie dog town that covered 400,000 acres. He reportedly discovered the sources of both forks of the Red River, as well as the Palo Duro and Tule canyons, which he became the first white man to explore. The expedition encountered and documented the little-known Wichita Indians and compiled the first Wichita dictionary. It also returned with information on Cynthia Ann Parker. Marcy's 1852 expedition has been called the most significant of his career and "the best organized, best conducted, and most successful" venture into the region to that date. It was the first to locate the headwaters of the Red River.

1866 - On July 28, 1866, the United States Congress reorganized the regular army into five artillery, ten cavalry, and forty-five infantry regiments. Six regiments were reserved for black enlisted personnel, in partial recognition of the role black soldiers had played during the Civil War. Three years later, however, Congress consolidated the regular force, reducing the infantry regiments to twenty-five. As part of this reduction, the Thirty-eighth and Forty-first regiments, two of the units reserved for black troops and including many former slaves, were combined to form the Twenty-fourth Infantry Regiment. On November 1, 1869, Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie, previously head of the Forty-first, assumed command of the new regiment at Fort McKavett, Texas, which had been headquarters for Mackenzie's old regiment. The Twenty-fourth helped garrison several posts in western Texas and along the Rio Grande until 1880, when the regiment was transferred to the Indian territory. There it remained until the late 1890s, when it was shifted to Fort Douglas, Utah. During its years in Texas, the Twenty-fourth Infantry, as did most frontier regiments, engaged largely in garrison duty, routine patrols, and minor skirmishing. [ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qlt03 ]

1877 - With a very small force, Nelson Orcelus (Mage) Reynolds(Texas Ranger), arrested the leader of the Horrell faction and ten of its sympathizers and thus brought an end to the Horrell-Higgins feud of Lampasas County. This resulted in his being given the command of the newly formed Company E. He was responsible as commander for transporting and guarding the notorious John Wesley Hardin during his trial and incarceration in the Travis County Jail. Another well-known fugitive Reynolds had in custody was John P. Ringo, later famous in Tombstone, Arizona. Reynolds helped quiet the difficulties in San Saba County in 1878. Reynolds retired from the ranger service in 1879.
[ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fre56 ]

1881 - The Paris and Great Northern Railroad Company was chartered on July 28, 1881, by O. C. O'Connor, J. N. Adams, and S. E. Clements, all of Lamar County. The company was incorporated for the purpose of constructing and operating a railroad from Paris to a connection with the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Company (Frisco) at the Red River. The Frisco acted as contractor and operated the Paris and Great Northern until September 1, 1902. The Paris and Great Northern was the Frisco's initial entry into Texas and served as the gateway for traffic moving between Texas and points on the Frisco system.

1908 - On this day in 1908, James Harper Gillett made his first appearance as a novillero, or apprentice matador, at the bullring in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Gillett, the son of Texas Ranger James B. Gillett, was born in Ysleta, Texas, in 1884. His parents divorced in 1889, after which he had no contact with his father for twenty-four years; his mother, the daughter of George W. Baylor, married Guadalajara resident Samuel M. Lee in 1895. Young James also moved to Guadalajara and began calling himself Harper Baylor Lee. Under the tutelage of his friend Francisco Gómez, El Chiclanero, a retired matador from Spain. Lee quit his railway construction job to try his hand as a professional torero. In 1910 he became the first American to attain the rank of matador de toros. He appeared as a professional matador in fifty-two corridas and killed 100 bulls. Twice he suffered nearly fatal gorings. His career was cut short by the chaos of the Mexican Revolution and its accompanying anti-American feelings. After reconciling with his father in 1914, he changed his name to Harper Baylor Gillett, and later owned and operated a poultry farm on the outskirts of San Antonio. Gillett died in 1941.

1933 - W.E. Morris becomes the first Texas farmer to be paid for plowing his cotton crop under.

1938 – An oil well in the Phillips Petroleum Company’s Midway Oilfield blew up and burned for several weeks. The crater created by the explosion is still a local landmark.

1973 - A "March for Justice" took place in protest against the killing of Santos Rodríguez in Dallas. While being questioned about a robbery, Rodríguez was killed by a Dallas policeman, Darrell Cain. Cain was subsequently tried for murder and convicted, and Rodríguez was exonerated. But the protest march turned into a riot in which widespread damage occurred, thirty-eight arrests were made, and five policemen were injured. Cain's brief sentence, only five years, also later became an issue, though a review of the case failed.

1973 - Young actress and native Texan, Farrah Fawcett, married the star of "The Big Valley", and "The Six Million Dollar Man", Lee Majors. Fawcett has appeared in several television series, including "Harry-O". By 1976, Fawcett landed the roll of Jill Munroe in "Charlie's Angels".

[Skiprr]

1866 - On July 28, 1866, the United States Congress reorganized the regular army into five artillery, ten cavalry, and forty-five infantry regiments. Six regiments were reserved for black enlisted personnel, in partial recognition of the role black soldiers had played during the Civil War...

Hi, Joe.

I don't really know how best to address this--or if it even needs to be addressed--but this entry points only to the 24th Infantry, and never mentions the term "Buffalo Soldier," the name by which those six African American regiments (later to be consolidated into two cavalry and two infantry) came to be known.

Buffalo Soldiers Day is observed annually on July 28th; today is the 150th anniversary. Of note, the Buffalo Soldier's National Museum is located in Houston (http://www.buffalosoldiermuseum.com/).

The two African American cavalry regiments, the 9th and 10th, saw more activity in Texas than the 24th Infantry. The 10th rode with General William T. Sherman on his inspection of the Texas frontier early in 1871, and two years later companies of the 10th returned to the state in long-time assignments to Forts Concho, Griffin, and Richardson. During subsequent years, Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalries served at almost every Texas fort from the Panhandle to the Rio Grande to the Sabine River.

In 1874, the 9th and 10th Cavalries participated in the legendary Red River War against the southern Plains Indians. In 1880, they pursued the infamous Apache Chief Victorio from Fort Davis across most of west Texas before forcing him into Mexico. In addition to building and renovating dozens of forts, the Buffalo Soldiers strung thousands of miles of telegraph lines, surveyed and mapped the Texas plains, protected frontier settlements, and escorted countless stagecoaches, wagon trains, railroads, and cattle herds across the southwest. The Buffalo Soldiers included the first African American graduate of West Point (Lt. Henry Flipper, who served with the 10th and was stationed at Ft. Concho in the late 1870s), 23 Medal of Honor recipients, and they fought in over 100 significant military engagements.

(Just lettin' you know we read this and appreciate your efforts.)

[joe817]

Skiprr, as always, your contributions are invaluable, and I thank you, as are ELB, and the many others that have helped to make this humble thread interesting!

I'm surprised that the Texas State Historical Association didn't have a separate listing under "Buffalo Soldiers". I could only find that term buried in other articles.

As far as the Ninth and Tenth United States Calvary are concerned, they have been mentioned in past days, but nothing specific for those 2 units.

The Ninth United States Calvary: "On July 28, 1866, President Andrew Johnson signed legislation that laid the foundation for the post-Civil War army. Part of the act recognized the valuable service rendered the Union by black troops; it provided for six regiments of black regulars, four of infantry and two of cavalry. One of these regiments was the Ninth Cavalry....Early in the spring of 1867 the regiment was ordered to Texas, although few officers had reported for duty and the enlisted men had not been properly trained and disciplined. On April 9 a mutiny occurred while ten companies were undergoing additional training at San Antonio. It was put down with great difficulty, and when the regiment was ordered to stations on the Texas frontier several weeks later, there were doubts regarding the soldierly qualities of the men and the future of the unit. The Ninth was one of only three cavalry regiments in the state. In cooperation with several infantry units, the cavalry was responsible for protecting and defending a vast region of West Texas, as well as hundreds of miles of Rio Grande frontier."
[ much more can be found here: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qln02 ]

The Tenth United States Calvary: "The Tenth Cavalry, composed of black enlisted men, was authorized by Congress in the summer of 1866. Col. Benjamin H. Grierson was appointed regimental commander. With the exception of Henry O. Flipper, who served with the regiment at forts Sill, Elliot, Concho, and Davis, all of the officers were white. Most of the twelve companies of the regiment were organized at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and by August 1867 nine of these were stationed along the line of the Kansas-Pacific Railroad, then being constructed across the plains of Kansas and under near-constant attack by Indian war parties. In numerous fights and skirmishes against these elusive foes the Tenth's troopers proved their courage and fighting ability. Before long, Cheyenne warriors were calling their antagonists buffalo soldiers, a title the cavalrymen promptly and proudly accepted. The Tenth played an important role in Gen. Philip H. Sheridan's winter campaign of 1868–69, which drove the hostile Southern Plains tribes into reservations in Indian Territory. . At the close of these operations Sheridan assigned the Tenth the task of standing guard over the Kiowas, Kiowa-Apaches, and Comanches on their reservation. On a site that Colonel Grierson recommended and General Sheridan approved, troopers of the Tenth began construction of a permanent post, first called Camp Wichita and then Fort Sill. Controlling the Kiowas and Comanches, long accustomed to raiding in Texas, proved difficult for the Tenth. Under Indian policy, military forces on reservations could conduct operations against roving bands only when specifically called upon to do so by the resident Indian agent. Agents nominated by the Society of Friends under President Ulysses S. Grant's "peace policy" controlled Indian affairs at Fort Sill and were opposed to the use of force. Under these circumstances the Tenth could do little to stop attacks along the length of the Texas frontier. Texans and their elected representatives failed to appreciate the restrictions placed on the Tenth and came to regard Grierson, his officers, and his men as a collection of cowardly misfits. Grierson was falsely accused of inciting and arming Indian warriors, a charge that was denied not only by Grierson but by Gen. William T. Sherman, commanding general of the army.

In 1874 the outbreak of the far-flung Red River War gave the Tenth Cavalry an opportunity to display its combat effectiveness. All restrictions were removed, and in a campaign of five months the Tenth and a battalion of its sister regiment, the Ninth Cavalry, scouted more miles, destroyed more lodges and property, and captured more Indians than any other regiment in the field. In April 1875 the Tenth was transferred to the Texas frontier and headquartered at Fort Concho. For the next decade Grierson and his regiment were the principal military presence in far West Texas, and their contributions to peace, order, and settlement were significant. From forts Concho, Stockton, Davis, Quitman, and Clark, as well as from numerous camps, companies and detachments of the Tenth scouted, patrolled, and mapped thousands of square miles...."
[ there's much more to this story as well: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qlt01 ]

One of the major limitations of doing a "This Day" series is that as the title implies, it focuses on a single day. For example, The Red River Campaign was a series of engagements spanning from June, 1874 into the spring of 1875. Taking a single day out of that time span admittedly takes that event on that given day out of context as to the overall scope of the War. So I feel kind of hamstrung as to how much content should be included for any given event. And what I leave out, our good Forum members come in and take up the slack.

I try to make an 'article' long enough to give pertinent details to keep it interesting, while not making it so long winded as to have the reader lose interest. It's a balancing act, and admittedly, I sometimes(often? lol) stumble and fall.

I've thought often of starting a new thread(or just continue on the existing one of the day (in the form of a reply), that gives more detail to a historic event(treaties, wars,battles, elections, etc), or a historic place(Fort Sam Houston, Fort Bliss, Washington-On-The-Brazos, etc). the jury is still out on that, however.

I want to thank everyone again who stops by, and reads these little windows into Texas History, and who adds to the content of the threads.

The "This Day" series cannot go on forever. I realize that. And if the Mods say "Joe enough is enough", I'll understand. It was a good ride, and I rode it for the full 8 seconds.

[Dallashog]

I appreciate the time and effort it took you to put the today information together. I enjoy reading them and always seem to learn a great deal from both the original post and the ones that follow. Thanks again for doing this.

[JALLEN]

I did not know until today I had this in common with my old schoolmate Farrah Fawcett.

We celebrated our wedding anniversary today, too.