This Day In Texas History - March 5
Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2019 10:24 am
1731 - Fray Gabriel de Vergara refounded Mission Concepción on the east bank of the San Antonio River about halfway between the already existing missions of San Antonio de Valero (Queretaran, 1718) to the north and San José (Zacatecan, 1720) to the south. The mission was renamed Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña in honor of viceroy Juan de Acuña, Marqués de Casafuerte.
1749 - Garza Falcón arranged for forty families from Nuevo León to settle at Camargo on the banks of the Rio Grande. He founded the villa of Camargo, a presidio for the military squadron, and a mission, San Agustín de Laredo, for the Indians. Escandón named him captain and chief justice of Camargo, the first settlement founded on the Rio Grande. In 1752 Garza Falcón established a ranch, Carnestolendas, now the site of Rio Grande City, Texas, on the north side of the river.
1823 - John Tumlinson, the newly elected alcalde of the Colorado District in Stephen F. Austin's first colony in Texas, wrote to the Baron de Bastrop in San Antonio that he had "appointed but one officer who acts in the capacity of constable to summon witnesses and bring offenders to justice." That appointee, Thomas V. Alley, thus became the first Anglo law enforcement officer in the future republic and state of Texas. Other prominent colonists who served as constable included John Austin and James Strange
1836 - On March 5, day twelve of the siege, Santa Anna announced an assault on the Alamo for the following day. This sudden declaration stunned his officers. The enemy's walls were crumbling. No Texan relief column had appeared. When the provisions ran out, surrender would remain the rebels' only option. There was simply no valid military justification for the costly attack on a stronghold bristling with cannons. But ignoring these reasonable objections, Santa Anna stubbornly insisted on storming the Alamo.
1836 - James L. Allen, was the last courier to depart the besieged Alamo.
1836 - Almanzon Huston, quartermaster general of the Texas army was in Nacogdoches raising and supplying volunteers for Houston's army.
1836 - Charles Goodnight was born in Macoupin County, Illinois. 1845, when he was 10, his mother and step-father, Hiram Daugherty, took him to live in Milam County, Texas. Charles rode the entire 800 miles bareback on his horse "Blaze". Goodnight took pride that he was born at the same time as Texas, and that he came to Texas at the same time Statehood came to Texas. He became a Texas Ranger briefly, But his greatest accomplishment was that of a cattleman. He settled in Palo Duro Canyon, had a million acres of land and 100,000 head of Cattle. He and Oliver Loving blazed the Goodnight-Loving cattle trail from Texas to the railheads in Kansas.
1842 - Mexican general Ráfael Vásquez, with 700 soldiers, occupied San Antonio. Unable to raise an army in time to resist this invasion, the Texans surrendered and evacuated the town without a fight. Vásquez raised the Mexican flag over the town, and declared Mexican laws in effect. On March 9 the Mexican army abandoned San Antonio and began to withdraw to Mexico. The incident was part of a series of raids and counter-raids in 1842 as Mexico sought to recover Texas and the Texans fought to maintain their independence.
1843 - Richard Henry Boyd began his remarkable life. He was born in Mississippi and named Dick Gray, a slave of B. A. Gray, and was later taken to his owner’s new plantation near Brenham, Texas. Boyd accompanied Gray and his three sons as a servant in the Confederate army. After Gray and his two older sons died in battle near Chattanooga, Boyd carried the youngest son, who was badly wounded, back to the Texas plantation. Boyd took charge of the plantation and managed cotton production and sales until emancipation. He then worked as a cowboy and in 1867 changed his name from Gray to Richard Henry Boyd. Self-taught, he enrolled in Bishop College at Marshall and was later ordained a Baptist minister. He organized six churches into the first black Baptist association in Texas in 1870 and went on to represent the group at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.
1857 - William Stevenson, the Texas first Methodist Minister died in Louisiana. From 1815 to 1825, he preached in the Arkansas territory, and at one point held the first Protestand service recorded in Texas at Pecan Point (now Red River Co.) At that time, only the Catholic church was permitted to hold services in Texas.
1861 – Texas once again declared itself an independent nation for a few days before joining the Confederate States of America.
1863 - The Ross Brigade(aka the Texas Cavalry Brigade), defeated and captured a strong federal reconnoitering expedition at Thompson's Station, Tennessee.
1938 - In one of Eugene Alexander Howe's(journalist in Amarillo) most famous promotional stunts was his proclamation of March 5 as National Mothers-in-Law Day in honor of his wife's mother, Mrs. Nellie Donald. He wanted to make amends for having ruffled her feelings in a 1934 column. For the occasion Howe staged a parade that featured the "world's largest float," a block long and carrying 650 mothers-in-law. Eleanor Roosevelt, who was in Amarillo during a lecture tour, joined officials on the reviewing stand and was presented the "world's largest bouquet" of 4,000 roses, hoisted by a crane.
1955 - Bascom Giles (often referred to as "the father of the Veterans' Land Bill"), was indicted in Austin and charged with conspiracy to commit theft of $83,500 in state money in Veterans' Land Board deals. He was finally sentenced to serve six years in the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville, having received thirteen sentences totaling seventy-five years, which were to be served concurrently. On investigating the report concerning the activities of two Cuero men, Towery(managing editor for the Cuero Record) found that veterans who were signing applications to buy land were not aware that they were doing so, having been told by unscrupulous land promoters that they were getting the land free or that they were applying for soldiers' cash bonuses. Amounts varying from ten to three hundred dollars were paid to veterans for their signatures. Many of those who signed were barely literate. Rumors having reached him that local veterans were receiving bills from the state for payments on land they did not know they had bought. These actions became known as The VETERANS' LAND BOARD SCANDAL.
1984 - The Gulf Oil Corp. board voted to sell the company to Chevron (Standard Oil of California) for $13.2 billion. Gulf operations were merged into Chevron in what was the largest corporate merger to date.
1749 - Garza Falcón arranged for forty families from Nuevo León to settle at Camargo on the banks of the Rio Grande. He founded the villa of Camargo, a presidio for the military squadron, and a mission, San Agustín de Laredo, for the Indians. Escandón named him captain and chief justice of Camargo, the first settlement founded on the Rio Grande. In 1752 Garza Falcón established a ranch, Carnestolendas, now the site of Rio Grande City, Texas, on the north side of the river.
1823 - John Tumlinson, the newly elected alcalde of the Colorado District in Stephen F. Austin's first colony in Texas, wrote to the Baron de Bastrop in San Antonio that he had "appointed but one officer who acts in the capacity of constable to summon witnesses and bring offenders to justice." That appointee, Thomas V. Alley, thus became the first Anglo law enforcement officer in the future republic and state of Texas. Other prominent colonists who served as constable included John Austin and James Strange
1836 - On March 5, day twelve of the siege, Santa Anna announced an assault on the Alamo for the following day. This sudden declaration stunned his officers. The enemy's walls were crumbling. No Texan relief column had appeared. When the provisions ran out, surrender would remain the rebels' only option. There was simply no valid military justification for the costly attack on a stronghold bristling with cannons. But ignoring these reasonable objections, Santa Anna stubbornly insisted on storming the Alamo.
1836 - James L. Allen, was the last courier to depart the besieged Alamo.
1836 - Almanzon Huston, quartermaster general of the Texas army was in Nacogdoches raising and supplying volunteers for Houston's army.
1836 - Charles Goodnight was born in Macoupin County, Illinois. 1845, when he was 10, his mother and step-father, Hiram Daugherty, took him to live in Milam County, Texas. Charles rode the entire 800 miles bareback on his horse "Blaze". Goodnight took pride that he was born at the same time as Texas, and that he came to Texas at the same time Statehood came to Texas. He became a Texas Ranger briefly, But his greatest accomplishment was that of a cattleman. He settled in Palo Duro Canyon, had a million acres of land and 100,000 head of Cattle. He and Oliver Loving blazed the Goodnight-Loving cattle trail from Texas to the railheads in Kansas.
1842 - Mexican general Ráfael Vásquez, with 700 soldiers, occupied San Antonio. Unable to raise an army in time to resist this invasion, the Texans surrendered and evacuated the town without a fight. Vásquez raised the Mexican flag over the town, and declared Mexican laws in effect. On March 9 the Mexican army abandoned San Antonio and began to withdraw to Mexico. The incident was part of a series of raids and counter-raids in 1842 as Mexico sought to recover Texas and the Texans fought to maintain their independence.
1843 - Richard Henry Boyd began his remarkable life. He was born in Mississippi and named Dick Gray, a slave of B. A. Gray, and was later taken to his owner’s new plantation near Brenham, Texas. Boyd accompanied Gray and his three sons as a servant in the Confederate army. After Gray and his two older sons died in battle near Chattanooga, Boyd carried the youngest son, who was badly wounded, back to the Texas plantation. Boyd took charge of the plantation and managed cotton production and sales until emancipation. He then worked as a cowboy and in 1867 changed his name from Gray to Richard Henry Boyd. Self-taught, he enrolled in Bishop College at Marshall and was later ordained a Baptist minister. He organized six churches into the first black Baptist association in Texas in 1870 and went on to represent the group at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.
1857 - William Stevenson, the Texas first Methodist Minister died in Louisiana. From 1815 to 1825, he preached in the Arkansas territory, and at one point held the first Protestand service recorded in Texas at Pecan Point (now Red River Co.) At that time, only the Catholic church was permitted to hold services in Texas.
1861 – Texas once again declared itself an independent nation for a few days before joining the Confederate States of America.
1863 - The Ross Brigade(aka the Texas Cavalry Brigade), defeated and captured a strong federal reconnoitering expedition at Thompson's Station, Tennessee.
1938 - In one of Eugene Alexander Howe's(journalist in Amarillo) most famous promotional stunts was his proclamation of March 5 as National Mothers-in-Law Day in honor of his wife's mother, Mrs. Nellie Donald. He wanted to make amends for having ruffled her feelings in a 1934 column. For the occasion Howe staged a parade that featured the "world's largest float," a block long and carrying 650 mothers-in-law. Eleanor Roosevelt, who was in Amarillo during a lecture tour, joined officials on the reviewing stand and was presented the "world's largest bouquet" of 4,000 roses, hoisted by a crane.
1955 - Bascom Giles (often referred to as "the father of the Veterans' Land Bill"), was indicted in Austin and charged with conspiracy to commit theft of $83,500 in state money in Veterans' Land Board deals. He was finally sentenced to serve six years in the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville, having received thirteen sentences totaling seventy-five years, which were to be served concurrently. On investigating the report concerning the activities of two Cuero men, Towery(managing editor for the Cuero Record) found that veterans who were signing applications to buy land were not aware that they were doing so, having been told by unscrupulous land promoters that they were getting the land free or that they were applying for soldiers' cash bonuses. Amounts varying from ten to three hundred dollars were paid to veterans for their signatures. Many of those who signed were barely literate. Rumors having reached him that local veterans were receiving bills from the state for payments on land they did not know they had bought. These actions became known as The VETERANS' LAND BOARD SCANDAL.
1984 - The Gulf Oil Corp. board voted to sell the company to Chevron (Standard Oil of California) for $13.2 billion. Gulf operations were merged into Chevron in what was the largest corporate merger to date.
