Thia Day In Texas History - April 25

[joe817]

1837 - Mexican soldiers captured during the Texas Revolution were released from their encampment at Liberty to return to Mexico.

1838 - The United States and the Republic of Texas signed the Convention of Limits, which recognized Texas claims to disputed territory in Red River County (the present Bowie, Red River, Franklin, Titus, Morris, and Cass counties). The agreement also set the west bank of the Sabine River as the eastern boundary of Texas. However, tension continued between the two countries regarding Indian depredations along the republic's northern border. U.S. chargé d'affaires Alcée La Branche protested Texas army crossings of the border in pursuit of Indians. In the twentieth century the exact location of the Texas-Louisiana border became the subject of a dispute between the two states.

1846 - Following Mexico's declaring war on the United States just days before, 1,600 Mexican Troops under General Anastasio Torrejon crossed the Rio Grande River near Brownsville, and attacked Texas dragoons stationed near there. Of the 62 Texans, 16 were killed the rest were captured. A few days later the prisoners were released under an exchange agreement. But the damage had already been done. Americans were killed on American soil by Mexican troops. On May 13th, The United States declared war on Mexico.

1861 - 500 Federal troops stranded at the port of Saluria in Calhoun County were forced to surrender to Confederate colonel Earl Van Dorn. Saluria, at the eastern end of Matagorda Island, was founded in the 1840s and was a thriving port and ranching center in the 1850s. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Federal troops flocked to the coast, hoping to find transport to the North. Van Dorn intercepted 500 of them at Saluria. After being paroled, they were allowed to sail for New York.

1875 - Three Black Seminole scouts earned the Medal of Honor for gallantry in action. Pompey Factor, Isaac Payne, and John Ward, along with their commander, Lt. John Lapham Bullis of the Twenty-fourth United States Infantry, were pursuing a band of twenty-five or thirty Comanche Indians near Langtry. The scouts dismounted, crept up on the Indians, and opened fire. They killed three and wounded another before withdrawing to their horses because they were in danger of being surrounded. Bullis was unable to mount because his horse had broken away. The three scouts turned back into the face of hostile Indian fire, mounted Bullis behind them, and alternately carried him to safety.

1969 - Academy Award winning actress, Rene Zellweger was born in Katy outside of Houston to a Swiss father, and Norwegian mother. Her father worked in the Texas oil industry. Rene graduated Katy High School before attending the University of Texas where she graduated in 1991.