This Day In Texas History - March 7

[joe817]

1731 - Fifty-five Canary Islanders arrived in San Antonio to establish the civilian settlement known as San Fernando de Bexar.

1836 - Stephen F. Austin was in Louisville, KY on March 7, 1836 delivering an impassioned speech to the citizens of Louisville. In his speech he defines why Texas issued their Declaration of Independence. It is an inspiring speech. Austin was a great orator. It is lengthy, but worth a good read. It also gives an insight of the mindset of Texans at the moment. Please take the time to read it.Address of the Honorable S. F. Austin, Delivered at Louisville, Kentucky, March 7, 1836

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resourc ... austin.htm

1842 - Albert Clinton Horton was recruited to serve as captain under Colonel Owen, to defend against Rafael Vásquez, and his force of 500–700 Mexican soldiers, who had seized San Antonio. He later became the first lieutenant governor of Texas.

1862 - Command of the Texas Brigade was passed to John Bell Hood. After that it would be known as Hood's Texas Brigade.

1867- The Republican party of Texas originated in the spring of 1867 as Texans responded to the Congressional Reconstruction Act passed on March 7.

1872 - U.S. Senator from Texas, James Winwright, delivered a speech to the Senate in support of his proposal to alienate to the federal government all of Texas north and west of a line drawn from the northwest corner of Hardeman County to the mouth of the Pecos River. This land, more than a third of the state, was to be designated an Indian reservation.

1923 - An earthquake struck El Paso and resulted in the only death associated with a Texas quake when an adobe house collapsed on a man in neighboring Cuidad Juárez. Even though earthquakes are not common in the Lone Star State, more than 100 recorded tremors have occurred since 1847. [More in 2009. Cleburne(south of Ft.Worth) has experienced a number of them which puzzles geologists.]

1901 - The Texas legislature proclaimed the bluebonnet the state flower. In the 1930s the state began a highway-beautification program that included scattering bluebonnet seed beside roadways, thus extending the flower's range. The flower-called in some Indian lore a gift from the Great Spirit-is the subject of countless photographs and paintings. It usually blooms in March and April.

1927 - The Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Oliver Wendell Holmes, struck down a Texas law prohibiting blacks from voting in state primary elections.

1955 - The popular kids show, Space Rangers was cancelled. Texas native, Lyn Osborn who played Cadet Happy on the show, had made hundreds of personal appearances with the rest of the cast, all over America.

1958 - In Odessa, groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the Globe of the Great Southwest. The theater is a replica of the original Globe Theater built in 1598 on the Thames River in London, England, for William Shakespeare's acting company.