Traces of Tx (today)

[Shakey Jake]

On this day in 1865, about 100 Indians from Indian Territory raided a new settlement in Cooke County. They killed nine people and stole many horses. The raid is often referred to as the last Indian raid in Cooke County. Five years later, four brothers named Ross established a general store at the site. The first post office there was opened in 1872. According to local legend, the near-ubiquitous outlaw Sam Bass used the area as a rendezvous. The town of Rosston still celebrates Sam Bass Day on the third Saturday of July. The store is still there a bit of an attraction. The sign reads "Rosston Store Since1879", so this must have been a replacement of the first store although I cannot confirm that fact. I bet you could get almost anything at the store!

[Shakey Jake]

Here's another interesting photo. This comes from the T.B. Willis Collection and is a picture of the Cottonland castle in Waco, Tx. The Castle is on Austin Ave in Waco, Texas. The structure was built by Alfred Abeel. Within the image there is a stone fence with iron gates surrounding the small castle. In the background the castle is visible with trees blocking the view of the front steps and entrance. To the side a stone covered driveway is also visible. A greenhouse is partially visible on the right. This picture is undated, but I think it to be around 1918. More information can be found here:

https://wacohistory.org/items/show/94

Here's how it looks today:
https://www.google.com/maps/@31.5337116 ... 384!8i8192

[Hatchdog]

^^^^^^^^^

Wow, wouldn’t it be cool to live there. I guess I had better buy the lotto ticket for tonight’s drawing.

[Shakey Jake]

^^^^^^^^^

Wow, wouldn’t it be cool to live there. I guess I had better buy the lotto ticket for tonight’s drawing.

If you followed the link you would see that Chip and Joanna Gaines now own the property.
Jake

[Shakey Jake]

Today's entry comes from the Traces of TX Facebook Group:

Traces of Texas reader Kaye Solomon Partin graciously sent in this great photo, which was found among her grandmother's things when she passed away in 1986. Nobody knows who the boy is, but his outfit is so great and what REALLY takes this to another level is the poem written on the back:
My boy is not a sissy boy
He is every inch a man.
Tho he loves his mother dearly
And helps her all he can.
And when at school he holds his own,
Tho once he got a black eye.
He fought the boy a pretty good fight
And never even cried.
With sisters two he’s kind and true
As ever a boy can be.
In cowboy suit and gun and flint
He’s just a sight to see.
And now he wants a pony
To ride upon the plains.
With handkerchief upon his neck
A cowboys song he sings.
He’s going to have a picture made
To send to his grandpa,
And to some aunts and uncles
And perhaps a friend or two.
And if you don’t think he’s grand
Just come around and see.
Thank you, Kaye. Outstanding!

[Shakey Jake]

On this day in 1865, about 160 Confederates and 325 state militiamen lost a battle against the Kickapoo Indians about twenty miles southwest of present San Angelo. A month earlier a scouting party had discovered an abandoned Indian camp and, assuming the group was hostile, dispatched forces to pursue them. A militia force under Capt. S. S. Totten and state Confederate troops under Capt. Henry Fossett set out, but the two forces lacked a unified command and full communication. When the troops and militiamen finally rendezvoused near the timbered encampment of the Kickapoos along Dove Creek, the forces concocted a hasty battle plan. The militia waded the creek to launch a frontal attack from the north, while Confederate troops circled southwestward to capture the Indians’ horses and prevent a retreat. A well-armed Indian fighting force, possibly several hundred strong, easily defended their higher, heavily-wooded position as the militiamen slogged through the creek. The Confederate force was splintered into three groups caught in a heavy crossfire. Three days later the battered Texans retreated eastward, while the embittered Kickapoos, once peaceful, escaped to the Mexican border. Thus began a violent period of border raids on settlers along the Rio Grande.

[Shakey Jake]

Todays entry comes from the Traces of TX Facebook group. I've lived in the Houston area since 1977 and before that in Fort Worth from 1972-77. Everytime I'd drive through Dallas to visit my folks back in Missouri I'd always look for the Mobile Pegasus while going up Highway 75 (Central Expressway). The building began to be concealed by taller structures built around it, but at just the certain angle it could still be seen for a few seconds. It was motorized and turned as it lit up the sky at night. Too bad the original couldn't be restored.
Jake

The Arcane Texas Fact of the Day:
The Mobil Pegasus is a winged horse sculpture that serves as a symbol of Mobil (now Exxon/Mobil), an American multinational oil and gas corporation. In 1934 the original porcelain enamel and neon Pegasus sign was installed on the roof of the Magnolia Building in downtown Dallas. Installed in high winds, the Flying Red Horse atop its oil derrick foundation, was an engineering feat. The 29-story building, located at the northeast corner of Akard and Commerce Streets, was built in 1922. It was Dallas’ first skyscraper, as well as the tallest building in Texas, the tallest building west of the Mississippi, and was taller than anything in Europe. It also was the first air-conditioned high rise. Standing heroically 450 feet above street, the Dallas icon was visible 75 miles away on a clear night. Pilots reported catching sight of it 60 miles south in Hillsboro, and some said it could be seen as far south as Waco.
The sculpture has undergone several renovations over the years and has become a well-known landmark in Dallas, Texas. Over the years the Pegasus’ porcelain-coated steel panels became rusted and pitted, the rotating base corroded, the worn support braces caused the sign to sway in the wind and the neon tubing that formerly glowed red in the night sky was broken. It would not survive being remounted. Because it seemed impossible to restore the old Pegasus, it was removed in 1999 and a new Pegasus was built at a cost of $600,000 donated by private and corporate sponsors. The old Pegasus has been restored and now is located on the grounds in front of the Omni Hotel in downtown Dallas, which is where I took this photo of it in 2020.

[Shakey Jake]

On this day in 1901, the Spindletop oilfield was discovered on a salt dome south of Beaumont, marking the birth of the modern petroleum industry. Pattillo Higgins, the "prophet of Spindletop," and others had tried for years to find oil on Spindletop Hill, but with no success. In 1899, however, Higgins hooked up with Anthony F. Lucas. Despite negative reports from contemporary geologists, Lucas remained convinced that oil was in the salt domes of the Gulf Coast. On January 10 mud began bubbling from a well that Lucas had spudded in the previous October. The startled roughnecks fled as six tons of four-inch drilling pipe came shooting up out of the ground. After several minutes of quiet, mud, then gas, then oil spurted out. The Lucas geyser, found at a depth of 1,139 feet, blew a stream of oil over 100 feet high until it was capped nine days later. The discovery of the Spindletop oilfield had an almost incalculable effect on world and Texas history. Investors spent billions of dollars throughout the Lone Star State in search of oil and natural gas. The cheap fuel they found helped to revolutionize American transportation and industry. Many of the major oil companies were born at Spindletop or grew to major corporate size as a result of their involvement at Spindletop, including Texaco, Gulf Oil Corporation, Magnolia Petroleum Company, and Exxon Company, U.S.A.

[Shakey Jake]

Here's another fine picture from the T.B.Willis collection. The collection can be found with many others on the Portal to Texas History website. I think this was taken in Early, TX as by the "Early Meat Market" sign on the store in the background. Early sits adjacent to Brownwood, TX. My goodness what a wonderful picture! There aren't any cars in the picture but you can see electrical line posts. I'd guess somewhere around 1900.
Jake

[runnin n gunnin]

Jake, I just wanted to say how much I enjoy reading your Traces of Texas Posts. My grandfather was a horse and buggy doctor and faired from Elmondorf Texas at the turn of the Century. When Pancho Villa invaded Glen Springs Texas and up to Columbus New Mexico in 1916 and 1917, he was worried for his wife and sons safety and moved the family to Tucson, Arizona where we all remained to this day.
I love Arizona history, and have thoroughly enjoyed your history lessons on Texas.
Don't stop posting my friend !

[Travlin]

Keep up the wonderful history . On what other firearm forum can we learn so much?

[Shakey Jake]

I've almost gone through all the T.B. Willis collection. T.B. Willis was a dentist in Waco, Tx. He came from a long line of dentists and collected photographs. Here's one I found that gave me a smile! It was taken during the depression as marked taken in 1931. Such a positive outlook for the times.
Jake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg0BNTebcbY

[Shakey Jake]

From the Traces of TX Facebook group:
Man sitting on the porch of a store in Alamo, Texas, 1939. Look at his mustache and boots and bandana! And look at the details on the signs! Don't you just want to step into this scene and walk inside that store for a few minutes? Maybe get a RC Cola and Moon Pie?
This incredible photo was taken by Russell Lee.

[Shakey Jake]

On this day in 1874, responding to an influx of thugs after the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad reached the Red River, vigilantes hanged a horse thief in Denison. In sections of the Texas frontier where courts and jails had not been established or where officials and juries could not be depended upon, vigilance committees were often formed to stamp out lawlessness and rid communities of desperadoes. Sometimes these secret bodies degenerated into mob rule or were used for private vengeance, but usually they were made up of law-abiding, responsible citizens who wanted only to maintain order and to protect lives and property. They operated against murderers, horse thieves, cattle rustlers, and those who held up stagecoaches and trains. As vigilantes usually operated at night and were not inclined to talk, their activities seldom had detailed public notice, but newspaper files and other chronicles indicate that they were active in many parts of Texas, especially in the two decades following the Civil War.
(From Texas Day by Day)
Here's an Except by King and Champney from an 1874 article about Denison Excerpts from:
Texas 1874: An Eyewitness account
of conditions in Post-Reconstruction Texas
"In the primitive hotels where the luckless passengers from the MKT railway awaited a transfer by stage to Sherman, and where they were packed 3 or 4 together in a thinly-boarded room, through whose cracks rain might fall and dust might blow, they were as safe from robbery as any first class house."
"Rough men abounded, and would, without doubt, knocked anyone upon the head who would find himself alone, unarmed, and late at night in their clutches. But the carrying of concealed weapons is so expressly forbidden by the laws of Texas, that cases of shooting rarely occurred and there was no more danger to the life or limb of the traveler than may be met with on Broadway."
"The businessmen of Denton are a stern, self-reliant, confident company. They have a thorough belief in North Texas. The Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and West New York character crops up everywhere in Denison and is the chief reliance of the town.
The aboriginal Texan looks on and admires the energy displayed, but he takes care not to mix in the fray too much himself. There is something sublimely impudent, charmingly provoking in the manner in which he disappears from work and the street when a "Norther" comes on; in the cool, defiant way in which he forces others to work for him and the utter surprise he manifests when he is accused of droning."

[Shakey Jake]

Today's post is a bit personal. Back in 1975, after graduating from TCU, I didn't find a music teaching job as they were a bit scarce, and my wife was still an undergrad. I did some substitute teaching and taught a few private lessons. That wasn't working very well so I applied for a sales job at a music store in downtown Ft Worth, Ault Music. The owner of the store, "Swede" Hanson (I never knew his real first name), hired me. He purchased the store from W.C. Moore for his nephew Tommy. Tommy had been a drummer in a rock band in Detroit and was getting tired of it. Anyway, the deal was that Tommy was going to make payments on the store back to his Uncle Swede. Well, you can already determine where this is going. Six months later Tommy was back in Detroit playing drums in a rock band leaving his uncle in holding the loan. Swede had a very prosperous insurance business but didn't want a music store. He got his daughter (who was a real looker but engaged while I was divorced by then) to work the downstairs of the store along with the lady in the sheet music department while David Levy and I handled the instrument sales. Swede finally sold the store to the C&S/Brook Mays music group and offered me the repair department tools in lieu of a final check and made arrangements for me to apprentice with the new company. That's how I got my start. I was looking through the University of Texas Arlington libraries web site yesterday and came across this wonderful photo. A bit before my time but excellent clarity. I don't know the band or event, but it brought back memories. Int the first picture W.C. Moore is on the left.
Jake

[Shakey Jake]

The Rainbow Bridge in Port Arthur, 1968. The Rainbow Bridge, with its vertical clearance of 176'-0", became the tallest bridge in the southern United States and one of the tallest in the world upon its completion. Its height was needed to allow for the passage of ocean-going cargo ships and tankers, for it spans the Neches River linking the busy port of Beaumont with the Gulf of Mexico. The bridge features a 680'-0" central cantilevered span, one of the longest in Texas, and an overall length of 7,752 feet. The construction of the bridge required innovative engineering methods not only because of its height but also because it had to be built to withstand hurricane-force winds. Triangular steel piers with V-shaped bracing on concrete pedestals support the deck girder spans, and were designed specifically to transfer up to 150-mile-per-hour winds to the foundation.

[Shakey Jake]

Here's a picture from the UTA archives showing Ma Rainey in Breckenridge,TX 1922. More information can be found about her here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Rainey
I bet they put on a really fine show! I can almost hear her belt tunes out now!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cph7qZoE5d8
They also made a movie about her a while back that was very good. It stared Viola Davis. It's a good watch if you haven't seen it.
Jake

[Shakey Jake]

On this day in 1874, Democrat Richard Coke was inaugurated as governor of Texas. Nevertheless, Republican governor Edmund J. Davis refused to vacate the office. Coke had overwhelmingly won the gubernatorial election in 1873. But the election was tainted by irregularities on both sides, and the state Supreme Court had voided the contest in Ex parte Rodriguez. Davis cited these facts and refused to budge. He even called in the Travis Rifles, but these troops supported Coke when they got into the Capitol. Davis then appealed for federal troops to President Grant, who telegraphed a refusal. Coke took over when Davis resigned on January 19.

[Shakey Jake]

Another fine gem of a picture from the UTA Libraries. This picture is documented as "Migrant Worker in Rio Grande Valley 1953". I'd hate to have to sleep on that crudely fashioned bed of sticks. Looks like he used local sourced trees as a frame as well.
Jake

[Shakey Jake]

From the Traces of Tx Facebook Group:
In 1932, a man named Gustavo Olguin placed an ad in the San Antonio Express-News to sell an original fried corn chip recipe. The ad reached Brackenridge High School alumnus Charles Elmer Doolin, who owned an ice-cream shop and was in the market for a new treat to add to his menu. Doolin tried out the recipe at Olguin's store and found his winner, buying the venture for $100. Generations of Americans have crunched on Fritos, Frito pies and even Frito burgers ever since.
Personally, I have a tendency to think about this kind of stuff in terms of Texas Mount Rushmores. Obviously, Doolin wouldn't be one of the four faces on a Texas Mount Rushmore if such a thing existed because he's not one of the most influential/greatest Texans in history. But, in the infinite power of my imagination, I've decided to cheat and say that there should be several Texas Mount Rushmores: the main one and then ones for sports, businesses etc... The business one would have Charles Elmer Doolin, Charles Alderton, inventor of Dr. Pepper, and Harlan Dobson, creator of Whataburger, on it. Still thinking about the last slot.
Shown here: Charles Elmer Doolin, without whom we might not have ( shudder ... perish the thought! ) Frito pie.