Traces of Tx (today)

[Shakey Jake]

On this day in 1869, sixty-one men, women, and children died when the sidewheel steamboat Mittie Stephens caught fire on Caddo Lake during a run from New Orleans to Jefferson, Texas. The boat had been plying the New Orleans-Red River route since 1866. At that time Jefferson was the head of navigation via Caddo Lake due to the great log raft that obstructed traffic on the Red River. The Mittie Stephens had left New Orleans on February 5 with 107 passengers and crew and a cargo that included 274 bales of hay. On the night of the twelfth, a breeze blew a spark to the hay from the torch baskets that lighted the bows of the boat, and the resulting fire could not be contained. The boat headed for the shore, 300 yards away, but grounded in three feet of water near Swanson's Landing. The pilot and the engineer kept the wheels running in an attempt to force the boat to shore; the action of the wheels pulled the people struggling in the water into them and killed most of them. The Mittie Stephens burned to the water line, and parts of the wreck could be seen above the water until the early twentieth century. Jefferson remained the principal riverport of Texas until the logjam was removed in 1874.

[Shakey Jake]

On this day in 1836, Samuel Colt, of Hartford, Connecticut, patented the Colt revolver. This invention, along with windmills and barbed wire, brought order to the Great Plains. It was eventually produced in numerous models, the most famous being that of 1871. In 1839 the Republic of Texas ordered 180 of the .36 caliber holster models for the Texas Navy. The Texas Rangers gave the Colt revolver its reputation as a weapon ideally suited for mounted combat. Frederick Law Olmsted remarked that "there were probably as many revolvers in Texas as there were males."

[Shakey Jake]

The Texas Quote of the Day:
“You couldn’t cuss in there. You couldn’t drink. It had an air of respectability. Miss Edna wouldn’t stand for no bulls**t."
----- Dusty Hill, bassist for ZZ Top, talks about Edna Chadwell, the last madam of the infamous "Chicken Ranch" outside la Grange, Texas. This photo of Miss Edna was taken at the Chicken Ranch in 1973. Courtesy the very fine folks at the Houston Chronicle

[Shakey Jake]

Cindy Walker wrote over 50 songs for Bob Wills, including “Cherokee Maiden” and “Bubbles In My Beer”.
She had top ten hits in five straight decades (1940s - 1980s) which included songs she wrote for Bing Crosby, Gene Autry, Al Dexter, Eddy Arnold, Hank Snow, Webb Pierce, Jim Reeves, Roy Orbison, Glen Campbell, Ricky Skaggs, Ray Charles, Lacy J. Dalton, Riders in the Sky, Mickey Gilley, and Merle Haggard among MANY other artists. She became a charter member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1997. Willie Nelson recorded You Don’t Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker in 2006.
Cindy Walker’s songs live on and are still being played every night somewhere. One of the greatest songwriters in American history.

[Shakey Jake]

Source: "Things They Didn't Teach You in School"
Scholars have left him out of the history books, and Hollywood couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge his existence either. He was Howard Hughes’ top engineer and lifelong best friend. This is about Frank Mann, the hidden genius behind much of Howard Hughes’ success in the world of aviation and mechanics. Frank Calvin Mann (November 22, 1908 – November 30, 1992) was an African American engineer who was known for his participation in many Howard Hughes's projects, including the Spruce Goose. He also starred in the Amos 'n' Andy radio show. Apparently, his lifelong friendship with Hughes was instrumental in opening doors for Mann's exceptional talents.
A native of Houston, Texas, Frank Calvin Mann's parents wanted him to become a schoolteacher, but from childhood, he had a natural ability to fix things. At age 11, he had his own mechanic shop. As a teenager, he worked alongside airplane mechanics, repairing engines. By the age of 20, he had designed and built several of his own Model-T cars. It was unheard of in the 1920s for a Black man to have anything to do with cars, trains, or airplanes. His life-long friend Howard Hughes was instrumental in opening doors for Mann's exceptional talents.
Mann attended the University of Minnesota and UCLA, where he earned a mechanical engineering degree. World War II equipment that revolutionized military weaponry would not exist if not for his involvement. Incredibly, few Americans are aware of Frank Mann. He was the first Black commercial pilot for American Airways. He was also a distinguished military officer. In 1935, following Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia, Frank Mann flew reconnaissance missions for the Ethiopian army.
He served in the World War II Army Air Corps and was the primary civilian instructor of the famous Tuskegee Airmen in 1941. He left Tuskegee after a rift with the U.S. government, which didn't want the Squadron, an all-Black unit, flying the same high caliber of airplanes as their White counterparts. An angry Mann had refused to have his men fly old "World War I biplane crates" because his airmen had proven themselves as equals.
Though they were being given inferior equipment and materials, their squadron never lost a plane, bomber, or pilot, and they were nicknamed the "Red Tails.” After the war, Mann was instrumental in designing the first Buick LeSabre automobile and the first communications satellite launched for commercial use.
His pride and joy was a miniature locomotive enshrined in the Smithsonian Institute, Mann also played a principal role in the Amos ‘N’ Andy radio show. He moved back to his hometown in the 1970s.
Frank Mann died on November 30, 1992, in Houston.

[Shakey Jake]

Fog on old tracks in Llano Co. I really like the bluebonnets! Photo shared from Facebook by Jerry Sargent Photography.
https://www.facebook.com/SargentPhotos? ... =-UC%2CP-R

[cooperhawk]

We stayed for a week at LLano last year. Very quaint and nice little town.

[Shakey Jake]

HB Barnum Orchestra during a circa 1961 jam session. Hal Blaine is on drums, the famous Carol Kaye on guitar, Dick Leith on trombone, a fellow by the name of Lauder on congas, an unknown bass player, and the little boy is Barnum's son. Hal said that HB was one of the most underrated arrangers and hero's in the business. HB is 87 and still living in Houston. HB is the one that brought Hal to record with Sam Cooke. When Hal walked in the black musicians said "what's the white dude doing here? and HB stuck up for Hal and said "you'd better listen to this dude because this is where it's at".
(note: My apologies if I seem to post a lot about music, but after all, it is (was) my business and interest.-Jake)

[Shakey Jake]

Dale Evans was born Lucille Wood Smith on October 31, 1912 in Uvalde, Texas. She had a tumultuous early life. Her name was changed to Frances Octavia Smith while she was still an infant and spent a lot of time living with her uncle. At age 14, she eloped with and married Thomas F. Fox, with whom she had one son, Thomas F. Fox, Jr., when she was 15.
A year later, abandoned by her husband, she found herself in Memphis, Tennessee, a single parent, pursuing a career in music. She landed a job with local radio stations (WMC and WREC), singing and playing piano. Divorced in 1929, she took the name Dale Evans in the early 1930’s to promote her singing career.
After beginning her career singing at the radio station where she was employed as a secretary, Evans had a productive career as a jazz, swing, and big band singer that led to a screen test and contract with 20th Century Fox studios. During her time at 20th Century Fox, the studio promoted her as the unmarried supporter of her teenage “brother” Tommy (actually her son Tom Fox, Jr.). This deception continued through her divorce from Butts in 1946 and her development as a cowgirl co-star to Roy Rogers at Republic Studios.
Evans married Roy Rogers on New Year’s Eve 1947 at the Flying L Ranch where they had earlier filmed the movie Home in Oklahoma. The marriage was Rogers’ third and Evans’ fourth but was successful; the two were a team on- and off-screen from 1946 until Rogers’ death in 1998.

Shortly after the wedding, Evans ended the deception regarding her son, Tommy. Roy had an adopted child, Cheryl, and two biological children, Linda and Roy (Dusty) Jr., from his second marriage. Together they had one child, Robin Elizabeth, who died of complications of Down syndrome. Evans and Rogers adopted four other children: Mimi, Dodie, Sandy, and Debbie.
Evans was very influential in changing public perceptions of children with developmental disabilities and served as a role model for many parents after she wrote Angel Unaware. Evans went on to write a number of religious and inspirational books. Roy and Dale appeared many times with Billy Graham in Crusades all over the country, singing gospel songs and giving their testimony.
From 1951-57, Evans and Rogers starred in the highly successful television series The Roy Rogers Show. In late 1962, the couple co-hosted a comedy-western-variety program, The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show, which was cancelled after three months.
In the 1970s, Evans recorded several solo albums of religious music. During the 1980s, the couple introduced their films weekly on the former The Nashville Network. In the 1990s, Evans hosted her own religious television program.
Evans died of congestive heart failure on February 7, 2001 in Apple Valley, California
Source: Cinemahub

[Shakey Jake]

The Rainbow Bridge (1936) and Veterans Memorial Bridge (1988) are a pair of bridges that cross the Neches River in Southeast Texas just upstream from Sabine Lake. It allows State Highway 87 and State Highway 73 to connect Port Arthur in Jefferson County on the southwest bank of the river. Bridge City in Orange County is on the northeast bank.