Texas Brave and Strong Podcast
Laurie Moore-Moore
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If you’re a native Texan, an adopted Texan, or are just interested in all things Texan, subscribe. You’ll learn things about Texas history that will surprise you and amaze your Texas friends. Chances are, they’ll tip their cowboy hats to you!
Available episodes
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Oldest first
Mar 16, 2023
Squatter!
Founder of Dallas was a Squatter?
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Mar 2, 2023
Cowboys Tie One On!
How to spot a real cowboy.
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Feb 16, 2023
1897: UFO or Hoax--Crash in Aurora
Was it a space ship??
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Dec 16, 2022
Sam Houston's Three Wives
Sam Houston had three wives and one was a beautiful Cherokee.
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Nov 24, 2022
Hello Hico, Welcome Back!
Some small Texas towns have prospered and grown during the decades. Others have boomed and then settled into obscurity. Hico in Hamilton County appeared to be in the sad, second category, but determined citizens in Hico are bringing Hico back. Increasingly it is on the list of small towns to visit in Texas and (in my opinion) for good reason.
In 1856, a few years prior to the Civil War, the rush to Texas was on. That year, eight families arrived in covered wagons and settled on Honey Creek in the northern corner of Hamilton County. In 1860, John Rankin Alfred and his family, also traveling in covered wagons, rode into Central Texas and joined the Honey Creek settlement. Alfred started a small business selling goods he’d brought by wagon and engaged in the cattle business. When the community petitioned for a post office, Alfred became postmaster and named the now official (but not yet incorporated) town Hico (HY-koh), after his birthplace, Hico, in Calloway County, Kentucky.
When the Texas Central Railroad (which was part of the famous Katy Railroad) was built two and a half miles away, like so many Texas towns, the citizens decided that if the community was to prosper, they needed to relocate the town adjacent to the rail line. So they moved. Ten years later, two major fires destroyed downtown’s wooden buildings. The town rebuilt with big blocks of limestone.
The move to the rail line proved to be a smart one. By 1883, Hico was incorporated and became a major center of Texas trade. Hico’s grain market exploded. By the turn of the century, Hico was shipping more grain than any other location on the Texas Central rail line. By 1907, the cotton shipments through Hico were in the tens of thousands of bales.
Business was good and downtown Hico boomed with almost one hundred businesses—from hotels and grocery stores to both a broom and a candy factory. An 1895 opera house, a theatre, and tented roller rink offered fun and entertainment.
But by 1955, the trading boom—which had been fueled by train transportation—fizzled and the town’s business and population declined. A situation aggravated by major interstate construction bypassing the community.
But today, more than sixty-five years later, when one might have expected Hico to be a near ghost town, it is a thriving example of a historic small town creating a new history. From 2019 to 2020, the population grew by 12.5% to 1,780 people. Not a big town. but a growing one with lots to offer. Main street is lined with handsome, historic stone buildings from more than 100 years ago—some structures sport old fashioned ads painted on their sides — the billboards of the past. A walk down Main Street is a trip back in time. Except—these old fashioned buildings now house charming inns and restaurants, boutiques, and various shops. The newly restored 1896 Midland Hotel recreates the hospitality of the past in its fourteen guest rooms, while its Chop House restaurant serves up thoroughly up-to-date dishes with a flavor of Texas and the 1896 Saloon has drinks to help you “wet your whistle” as early Texans said.
A Texas-history mystery also beckons in downtown Hico. Was a Hico resident named William Henry “Ollie” Roberts, known as Brushy Bill Roberts, none other than the outlaw Billy the Kid? Many believe that he was. Brushy Bill claimed that Pat Garrett, the man who took credit for shooting Billy the Kid, really shot another outlaw named Billy Barlow and that he, Billy the Kid, slipped into the night and vanished, becoming another miscreant GTT—“Gone to Texas.”
The full story is an interesting one and there are lots of clues—from scars on Brushy Bill that match scars where it is known Billy the Kid was wounded, plus testimonials from other noted outlaws of the time that Brushy Bill was in fact Billy the Kid. Brushy Bill died in Hico in 1950 before he received the pardon he was hoping for from New Mexico’s governor- a pardon promised..
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Nov 10, 2022
High Society Comes to Texas
High Society comes to Texas, 1898
In February of 1892, The New York Times published its official list of the creme de la creme of New York Society— 400 individuals, a mix of “Nobs”— old money families such as the Astors and “Swells”—the nouveau riche including the Vanderbilts. It was the Guilded Age in New York and the city’s influence helped city directories become popular across the country.
In 1890, the Census had revealed that Dallas was the most populous city in Texas with 38,067 residents. It was followed in size by Galveston with 29,084 residents and Houston with a population of 27,557.
Texas’ largest city caught the attention of Holland Brothers Publishing, a company looking to expand its market in high society lists of major cities. Dallas seemed ripe for its own list of who’s who in society and Voila! the Red Book of Dallas, Texas was born. The volume had the distinction of being the first Red Book published in Texas. And of course, the book’s cover was red. One can only imagine the buzz this created in the city.
To fill the book’s 137 pages, in what was still somewhat of a frontier town, Holland Brothers Publishing needed lots of filler content. But let’s start with the preface from the publisher.
“In presenting the [Red Book] to the public, the publishers feel they have supplied a decided need of an important element of the community. To facilitate the requirements of social life and place persons in direct communication with the representatives of the different phases of the best local society, this directory is intended. It is here also that new residents of this city may find the names of any and all persons whom they may desire to include in their visiting list, and whom they wish to meet in any social way.”
The small volume contained a high society list of 3,245 adults and children from Dallas, supplemented by 333 from Oak Cliff. If the household had a designated day for accepting in-person visits (or calls, the proper term), that was noted. Also included were the membership lists of eight local clubs, four for gentlemen and four clubs for ladies.
Based on the Red Book, Dallas in the late 1800s appears to be a “clubby” city.
The Dallas Club for gentlemen was by far the largest and owned its own building—a handsome four story, brick and stone structure completed in 1888 for $45,000 and located at the corner of Commerce and Poydras Streets. The Dallas Club was central to the activities of business, civic, and professional men of the city: however, ladies were allowed for special receptions and parties for visiting dignitaries.
The Idlewild Club was a much smaller men’s club — about three dozen members— founded with the purpose of giving four grand balls each season, beginning with a ball during the State Fair of Texas. It’s hard to imagine that the wives of these men didn’t provide input for the planning of these events, whether they were asked to or not.
The Ladies’ Shakespeare Club, founded in1855, was for the sole purpose of studying Shakespeare’s plays. Membership was limited to 45 members.
The thirty-two member Ladies Pierian Chatauqua Club reported its object was mutual improvement of its members, the social aspects were a side issue. Apparently a serious literary group.
Not to be outdone, The twenty-one member Quaero Club adopted as its course of study “A new method for the study of English literature, which included reading current literature and a weekly review by critics.
Two other ladies’ clubs, the Standard Club and CLMA club, also existed to study literature.
The Phoenix Club for Jewish gentleman was for the mutual benefit and mental, moral, and social advancement for its members and had sixty-five members.
The Social Ethics Club was open to any unmarried gentleman over the age of twenty-one and its purpose was to promote the social, musical...
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Oct 27, 2022
1831 Letter From Texas
Mrs. Mary Austin Holley, a cousin of noted Texan, Stephen F. Austin, was a keen observer of daily life on the Texas frontier, before the Texas Revolution. In letters back home to Connecticut, she reported her astute observations. What follows are comments from three of her letters written in 1831 from Bolivar, Texas.
. . . The people of Texas, as yet, have little time for [business]. Everybody is occupied with his domestic arrangements and plans for supplying his immediate wants. It is found to be easier to raise or manufacture such articles as are needed [by] the family or to do without what things may be desired, than to obtain them from abroad, or to employ an individual to scour the country in search of such. . . . People live too far apart to beg or borrow often, and few trouble themselves to send anything to market, though they have much to spare. They had rather give to you of their abundance, if you will send someone to their doors [to get it]. . . . If they want any article of first necessity, coffee for instance, which is much used, they will send some of their chickens, butter and eggs, to a neighboring family, newly arrived, and propose an exchange, as most newcomers bring with them some stores. There is much of this kind of barter, provisions being so much more [plentiful] than money. . . .
In no country, with the usual attention to the arts of life, could more luxuries to the table be furnished. At present, vegetables, fruits, butter, eggs, and chicken sell very high in Brazoria; though they are yielded in every season of the year, in a profusion unexampled in any part of the world. The newcomer has to but plant his seeds in the ground, and collect a first supply of livestock to begin with. They need but little or no care afterwords, and the increase is astonishing. He brands his cattle and hogs and lets them run. They require no attention, but to see that they do not stray too far from home and become wild. A field once planted in pumpkins, seldom needs planting again. The scattered seed sow themselves, and the plants are cultivated with the corn. These pumpkins, often as large as a man can lift, have a sweet flavor and are very palatable. A field of them is a curiosity, as they are in such numbers and so large. Sweet potatoes, also are cultivated with almost equal ease, and yield at times, five hundred bushels to the acre. Some of these potatoes weigh from four to seven pounds. Yet they sell at Brazoria at the enormous price of seventy-five cents a bushel. Corn is obtained in the prairie cane-breaks [during] the first year, when there is no time to prepare the land with the plow, by merely making a hole for the seed with a hoe. Cows and horses get their own living. The trees at this moment (17th of December), are loaded with rich clusters of grapes, not very large, but of a delicious flavor. . . .
During my stay at Bolivar, we might have had every day, the finest of game, could anyone have been spared to take to the field with his gun. Our neighbor at one hunt, brought in three bears, a Mexican hog, a rabbit and two bee-trees. Our carpenter, without leaving his bench five minutes, killed several wild ducks, the finest I have ever tasted. . . .
Housekeepers should bring with them all indispensable articles for household use, together with as much common clothing (other clothing is not wanted) for themselves and their children as they conveniently can. . Ladies, in particular, should remember that in a new country, they can not get things made at any moment, as in an old one, and that they will be sufficiently busy the first two years in arranging such things as they have, without obtaining more. It should also be done as a matter of economy. Where the population increases, beyond the increase of supplies, articles of necessity are dear. If on arrival you find a surplus on hand, it can be readily disposed of to advantage; for trade, by barter, is much practiced, and you buy...
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Oct 13, 2022
Comanche Attack!
As the story goes . . . Nestled in a small clearing close to the woods and the Leon River, about seven miles northeast of the small settlement of Hamilton in Central Texas was a rustic one-room school house. The Leon River School was a simple square of loosely stacked logs with large spaces left between the logs to allow for ventilation. School was taught in the summer when the children had more free time from tasks on their family homesteads.
It was afternoon that day in July of 1867, and a small group of students had settled in for their lessons. Their teacher, Miss Ann Whitney, a heavy-set 32 year-old who had left Massachusetts and travelled to Texas to teach, was instructing the children when a young student, Amanda Powers, yelled that horsemen were approaching the school. At first, teacher Ann Whitney was unconcerned as she had been told a parent and his cowhands would be visiting the school that day to see his daughter who was boarding with another family in order to attend the classes. But Amanda Powers continued to watch the approaching riders between cracks in the logs and was soon convinced the riders were Indians, She pushed her little brother out the schools only window and quickly followed him. Both ran for the bushes along the river and hid.
Amanda’s departure and the sound of pounding horse hooves told the story—a Comanche attack! Barring the door and gathering the children, Ann Whitney began pushing her students out the small window on the north side of the cabin with instructions to hide in the brush along the river. At the last minute, loose floorboards were pulled up and two students, Louis Manning and John Kuykendall took cover under the school.
With blood-curdling cries, the war party began firing arrows into the school, wounding Ann Whitney more than a dozen times. A third student still in the building, Jane Kuykendall, was wounded, but survived because the Indians apparently assumed she was dead.
Wounded and dying, Ann Whitney spread her skirts over the floor boards where Tom and Louis were hiding. The Comanche broke the door down, found the two boys cowering under the floor, and dragged them up.
Among the dozen or so Comanche raiders was a red-headed white man who asked the two boys if they wanted to join the Indians. Young John Kuykendall said yes, and was taken. Louis Manning said no. He later said he thought he was about to be killed when the leader of the raiders called for the rest to leave.
As they were leaving, the red haired Indian saw Olivia Barbee, captured her, pulling her onto his saddle. When he was distracted, she jumped down and escaped into the thick underbrush.
By chance, two women out for a ride saw the commotion as the attack began. Seventeen year old Amanda Howard and her sister-in-law Sarah Howard realized they needed to warn others that the Comanche were raiding. They reversed their horses and raced toward the Baggett’s cabin about a half a mile away. A few of the Comanche hurried to stop them. In the rush, Sarah was thrown from her horse while jumping an eight rail fence. An Indian captured her horse, but but Sarah was uninjured and able to make it to the Baggett home. Amanda charged ahead of the pursuing Indians, managed to outrun them on the young, spirited colt she was riding, and was able to spread the alarm to other neighboring cabins and alert the citizens of Hamilton.
While one group of Comanche had attacked the school, a second group found the Stanaland family traveling nearby. Mr. and Mrs. Stanaland and their two children were killed.
Armed men from Hamilton gathered and pursued the marauders.
John Kuykendall, who was taken in the raid, was traded back about six months later. His wounded sister Jane recovered from her wound. All of Ann Whitney’s students had survived the attack! Teacher Ann Whitney who had died trying to save her students was heralded as a hero...
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Sep 29, 2022
The Legendary XIT Ranch
In the previous podcast, I talked about how the Texas State Capitol Building in Austin was financed by raising funds through the sale of 3,050,000 acres of vacant land in the Panhandle of Texas. The land purchase was conducted by a Chicago firm, which created the Capitol Syndicate purchased the land in 1882. An immediate decision was made to use the land for cattle ranching until they could see an opportunity to break it into parcels for sale. This podcast looks at the famous ranch that grew out of that decision—The legendary XIT Ranch.
To fund the new ranch’s development, one of the Capitol Syndicate’s major investors, John V. Farwell traveled to England, set up The Capitol Freehold Land and Investment Company of London and sold bonds to wealthy British investors. The funding resulted in the successful creation of the XIT Ranch.
The ranch was huge, stretching more than 220 miles north-to-south along the New Mexico border and measuring from 20 to 30 miles east-to-west. A common belief is that the name XIT stands for “Ten in Texas,” referring to the 10 counties it covers, As you might guess, the ranch chose as its brand the letters XIT. The land, rich with grass, was fenced and in July of 1885, stocked with 2,500 longhorn cattle.
According to a 1929 book —The XIT Ranch and the Early Days of the Llano Estacado—by historian J. Evetts Haley, the XIT brand was conceived by the Texas trail driver, Abner Blocker, who drove the original herd of cattle from Fort Concho to the XIT. Blocker also branded the first XIT cow. According to Haley, ‘She was not an animal of high pedigree, but a Longhorn from South Texas. Her color, gauntness, and perversity were historic.’”
To run the mammoth ranch, Farwell hired Colonel Burton Harvey “Barbecue” Campbell of Wichita, Kansas as general manager. Campbell’s “Barbecue” nickname came from a cattle brand he used at his ranch along the Kansas-Oklahoma border—on land rented from the Cherokee—A bar with the letters B and Q below it.
Now, if you think of Texas cowhands as rough and rowdy, ranch manager Campbell had other ideas for the XIT. He published a booklet with a list of twenty-two rules aimed at creating well-behaved cowpunchers. And there were a lot of cow punchers. One hundred and fifty cowboys rode 1000 horses and branded 35,000 new cows during one year on the ranch.
Here are a several random examples of Campbell’s expectations for well-behaved cowhands:
• Six-shooters or other small firearms will not be permitted to be carried on the ranch.
• Card playing or gambling of any kind is strictly prohibited on this ranch.
• All persons having the care or use of animals belonging to the ranch will be required to handle them carefully and treat them kindly.
• Horses are furnished for the care of cattle and for other useful purposes, and they must not be used to run wild horses, or buffalo, or antelope, nor to run races.
• Beeves will not be permitted to be killed unless the force is large enough to consume the meat before it becomes unfit for use, or other provision be made to salt and preserve it.
By 1888, “Barbeque” Campbell had been fired over rustling allegations and replaced by Albert Boyce, who was active in management on the ranch for eighteen years and published his own list of ranch rules. At its peak, the ranch handled 150,000 head of cattle secured by 6,000 miles of fencing.
By 1901, the last of the bonds sold to English investors were maturing and the ranch began selling off parcels of land. The last of the cattle were sold in 1912 and the remaining parcels of land were put up for sale. The XIT Ranch faded into legend.
However . . .Today, the legendary XIT Ranch is back. Drew Knowles, the great grandson of investor John V, Farwell and Knowles’ wife, Abby, have brought the XIT Ranch back to life...
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Sep 15, 2022
A Capitol Idea!
Nestled in the rolling Hill Country Region of Texas, in the city of Austin, sits the Texas state Capitol building. Today’s sunset red granite building is a far cry from the Republic of Texas’ 1839 log-cabin Capitol building. A key feature of this early national Capitol was an eight-foot high stockade fence offering protection during Indian raids.
By 1853, the State of Texas had joined the Union and constructed a limestone State Capitol. The boxy building (with a roundish dome stuck on top) was a functional improvement; however, one publication of the time called it an “architectural monstrosity.” Nonetheless, it served as the Texas seat of government for over twenty-five years.
Following the Civil War, a Texas representative from Comanche, Texas proposed the state set aside five million acres of public land to raise money for a new capitol building. Ultimately, the Constitution of 1876 authorized the allocation of 3,050,000 acres of land in the Texas Panhandle for the project. A team of surveyors was dispatched to survey and divide the land into Spanish leagues—the measurement commonly used at the time. The huge swath of land selected stretched more than 220 miles north-to-south along the border with New Mexico and the width measurement from, east-to-west, varied from 20 to 30 miles. This land, to be set aside for fund raising, covered all or part of ten Texas counties.
In 1880, Texas officials held a nation-wide design competition for the new Capitol building, offering a $1,700 prize. The winning architect was Elijah E. Myers of Detroit.
In 1881, as the plan for using the Panhandle land to finance a new building was being finalized, the old capitol burned to the ground, giving the need for a new building greater urgency. Luckily, the architect’s plans for new new capitol were rescued from the fire. While planning for a beautiful new capitol continued, an inexpensive, temporary capitol was built on Congress Avenue away from the Capitol grounds.
In early 1882, the legislature appointed a Capitol Board tasked with both finding a financier for the project and choosing a contractor. The winning bidder for the funding project was Mathias Schnell of Illinois. Schnell turned his interests in the project over to a Chicago firm, Taylor, Babcock, and Company which formed the Capitol Syndicate and purchased the land for $3,224,593.45.
The new landowners quickly decided to use the land for cattle ranching until they could see the opportunity to break it into parcels for sale and proceeded to raise funds in England by selling bonds for the ranch’s development and to recoup the cost of the land. The resulting ranch was named the XIT—purportedly standing for Ten-in-Texas—the ten being the number of counties which make up the ranch. It was the largest fenced ranch in the world. The ranch’s cattle were branded with the letters XIT and B.H. “Barbeque” Campbell from Wichita, Kansas was hired as general manager.
Meanwhile, back in Austin, the building contractor, Gustav Wilke, a young Chicago builder, went to work. Construction of the foundation began using limestone from South Austin. But, construction was quickly halted when metallic particles in the stone caused it to discolor. Fortunately, the owners of Granite Mountain in Burnet county donated the required granite—188,518 cubic feet of Texas Sunset Red Granite delivered to the Austin building site from Burnett County’s rock quarries on a railroad constructed for the purpose.
A boycott by the International Association of Granite Cutters over the use of prison labor resulted in 62 granite cutters being imported from Scotland.
A bone was a niche to hold a zinc box containing mementoes selected by former Governor F.R. Lubbock, then serving as State Treasurer. (I’ve not found information on just what those mementoes were, but I’m sure curious to know.)
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Sep 1, 2022
There’s Something Nutty in Texas!
The old man sat with his nutcracker systematically working the lever, cracking, and shelling pecans. About every fifth nut went into his mouth as he worked.
The little girl climbed up on a chair beside him. “Can I crack nuts, too, Grandpa?”
He grinned at her. “Crack or crack and eat?”
Her smile was mischievous. “Both.”
“Well they are mighty good eatin’. I’ll tell you what, since we only have one nut cracker, I’ll crack and you can help me eat.” He set another nut in the cracker, pulled the lever, separated the shell from the nut inside and handed it to her. These are good Pawnee pecans. They’re big and have a nice buttery flavor.”
“Pawnee? That’s the name of a Native American tribe, right.”
“Yep. Almost seventy years ago a fellow named H.L. Crane suggested namin’ the different kinds of pecans after the native tribes in pecan growing territory. So we’ve got Comanche, Cherokee, Choctaw, and a bunch more pecan varieties—each a little bit diffe…
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Aug 18, 2022
The Battle of Plum Creek
The Battle of Plum Creek and the events leading up to it are famous in the annals of The Republic of Texas’ History. The famous Battle of Plum Creek was sparked by the unfortunate Council House Fight in 1840.
Early that year, The Penatekas or “Honey Eater” Comanches—suffering from attacks by Cheyenne and Arapaho, and from battles with the Texas Rangers, in addition to facing dwindling numbers due to smallpox—agreed to hold to peace talks with Texas. When the talks were agreed to, and before they were held, the Texas government representatives demanded return of all captives, and that the Comanche would pledge to abandon Central Texas, avoid white settlements, and not interfere with Texas incursions.
The following March 19th, twelve chiefs, twenty-one warriors, along with thirty-two other Comanches arrived in San Antonio for the negotiations. Only one anglo captive was delivered, a 16 year old girl who had been badly treated. She was covered with bruises and scars and he…
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Aug 4, 2022
A European Utopia on the Trinity River
Teaser: Dreams of a agricultural socialist utopia began in Paris and spread to North Texas in the 1800s
A dream of a socialist utopia. . . It began in Paris in 1848, but who would have guessed it would soon spread to Texas to the limestone cliffs overlooking the Trinity River?
A wave of unsuccessful political revolutions swept across Europe in the mid 1800s. After the failed revolutions, Europe was no longer the place to try socialist theories. However, one socialist dreamer, Frenchman Francois (fr-ee-ay) Fourier was so inspiring with his utopian theories that America became dotted with experimental utopian communities.
A disciple of Fourier, Victor Considerant, became leader of the Fourier movement after Fourier’s death. Expelled from France in 1851, Considerant traveled to the US and on to Texas, motivated by a visit from the Peters Group which was promoting its land grant holdings in the state. Impressed by what he saw as a positive environment for starting a new utopian ag…
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Jul 21, 2022
Tiny Woman Who Saved the Buffalo
Teaser: During the buffalo slaughter, a tiny frontier woman sheltered buffalo calves and saved the breed.
Mary Ann Dyer (known as Molly) was born in Tennessee. However, her lawyer father moved the family to Fort Belknap, Texas in 1854, when Molly was 14. Both her parents died shortly after the move and young Molly assumed responsibility for the care of her five brothers, teaching school to provide support. Molly was tiny—a mere five feet tall— but she proved to be tough, dedicated, and ready to take on a challenge.
Molly met cattleman Charles Goodnight at Fort Belknap about 1864 and shortly thereafter moved to Weatherford, Texas to teach school. In July of 1870, she married Charles Goodnight, who was already building a strong reputation as a cattleman. He was the only person who called her Mary rather than by her nickname, Molly.
The newlyweds settled down to ranching on the spread Goodnight had already established near Pueblo, Colorado. Drought conditions and the Panic of…
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Jul 7, 2022
The Chuckwagon
Teaser: The Chuckwagon, the cowboy cook’s rolling pantry—how rancher’s kept hungry cowboys fed on the trail.
Most ranchers will tell you that cowboys are always hungry, so one ranch challenge is to satisfy that hunger. The ranch cook-shack is where cowhands gather for meals when they are close to home. On the move, the chuckwagon is where the cook rules and dishes up tasty fare including cowboy beans, sourdough biscuits, vinegar pie, or son-of-a-gun stew—a dish made from the heart, liver, and tripe of an animal. What’s tripe? The lining of the stomach.
On historic cattle drives, and even today at roundup, the chuckwagon is the heart of the cowboys’ camp, and the cook’s job is key to keeping the ranch hands happy. Cowboys have been known to move from one ranch to another based on the quality of “Camp Cookie’s” food.
To answer the question of how the chuckwagon got its name, we have to look back to the 1600’s in England where butchers used the term “chuck…
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Jun 23, 2022
Texican, Texian, or Texan? It depends!
Teaser: Texican, Texian, or Texan? The difference is all in the timing.
Description: Did you know Texans haven't always been known as Texans? The proper term has changed over time- depending upon the political structure. Here's a quick review of 25 years of history that took citizens from Texicans to Texians to Texans.
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Jun 9, 2022
The Circus Comes to Town
Teaser: The traveling circus braved rough, muddy roads bringing fierce beasts and special acts to Texans.
Description: Eldrid's Great Circus and Menagerie actually traveled to Texas towns in the late 1850s. A reading from Laurie's novel, GONE TO DALLAS, recreates a fun and historically accurate circus experience for fictional characters in her book.
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May 26, 2022
The Fascinating Names of Texas Towns
Teaser: From Bugtussle to Fairy and from Muleshoe to Ding Dong, Texas towns (and some counties) have unique names.
Description: Many Texas town names are surprising and perplexing. Prepare to chuckle, scratch your head, and just enjoy the unusual names of Texas cities, towns, and "spots in the road"- from Dime Box to Egypt and Stranger to Telephone.
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May 12, 2022
Part Two of Bush Craft
In Part Two of the Bush Craft interview, Laurie and bushcrafter Harley Retherferd talk more about the outdoor survival skills needed by early travelers to the West.
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May 5, 2022
Part One of Bush Craft
In Part One of Bush Craft, Laurie interviews Harley Retherford, a young bushcrafter from the beautiful Ozark Mountains in northeastern Oklahoma (Cherokee Nation Territory). They discuss the key outdoor survival skills which pioneers—especially those on foot or on horseback--needed to survive as they traveled to and settled in early Texas.
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Apr 21, 2022
Buy an adventure for a dime!
Pulp fiction of the American Wild West from—of all places—Germany!?
In the 1870s, you could spend a dime and revel in the western adventures of Buffalo Bill, Kit Carson, or Jessie James. For a half dime you could buy a novel featuring Fancy Frank of Colorado or Daisy Dare. Western pulp fiction of the 1870s had captured the imagination of America! One publisher—Beadle and Adams—turned out 2,200 western titles, hungrily consumed by readers of all ages.
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Apr 7, 2022
Death’s Cattle Round-up
1886: The year the cattle froze. . .
Cattlemen in the Texas panhandle faced a big problem in the early 1880s. While the lack of fences on the open range meant their cattle had an almost solid sea of grass, this blessing also meant that cattle from the ranches outside the state to the north drifted south to escape colder winters, moving onto the land used by the Texas panhandle ranches. This mass migration of cattle looking for wintertime food and shelter meant the pastures of the local Texas cattlemen were seriously overgrazed.
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Mar 17, 2022
After the Alamo Fell
A Mexican’s eyewitness account of the hours after the storming of the Alamo…
You probably know the often told story of the Battle of the Alamo which began in earnest on February 25th, 1836 and ended on March 6th. But do you know how the story ended AFTER the siege concluded with the successful storming of the Alamo by General Santa Anna and his Mexican forces?
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Mar 17, 2022
The Legend of the Texas Bluebonnet
You’ve seen them. If you haven’t, you’re in for a treat. Bluebonnets line the highways and byways in Texas in late March to mid-April, their blooms turning fields and the sides of the roads into oceans and rivers of blue. Painters show up to paint them, parents plop their small children into the dense flowers for photographs, traffic jams occur along well-known bluebonnet trails, and small towns hold bluebonnet festivals. It’s a mass celebration of Lupinus Texensis (and other varieties of bluebonnets)—the Texas state flower.
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Mar 3, 2022
Take the challenge: Could YOU gain admission and graduate from Texas’ first college?
Higher education came to The Republic of Texas in 1840 with the Republic’s Congress officially approving the charter of Rutersville College in the new town of Rutersville, located six miles northeast of LeGrange. Although founded by a group of Methodists, the co-ed school was open to all religious denominations. Its two-story main building was completed the following year. By 1844, enrollment was 194 students, both men and women.
Lest you scoff at the idea of a serious college on the early frontier, take this challenge…do you think you could flip the tassel on your mortarboard to signify successful graduation from Rutersville College? Let’s take a look at the terms of admission and the courses in the second annual college catalogue.
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Feb 17, 2022
San Antonio’s Menger Hotel: Historic and Haunted
History lives at San Antonio’s famous Menger Hotel, and if you can believe the legends, so do numerous ghosts.
Bearing the title of the oldest continuously-operating hotel west of the Mississippi. the Menger’s story began in 1840 when twenty-year-old German Immigrant William Menger arrived in San Antonio and started the Western Brewery—Texas’ very first brewery—built on part of the site where the battle of the Alamo had occurred four years before. Menger moved into Mary Guenther’s boarding house next to the brewery and ultimately convinced the proprietress to marry him.
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Feb 3, 2022
Longhorn Cattle: The Living Symbol of the Old West
The man and the little girl leaned against the corral fence looking in at the cattle.
“Are these the ones we want to buy?” the child asked. “I like their long twisty horns.”
“Yep. These are the ones we want. Their horns set them apart from other cattle. Notice how no two Longhorns are like. Colors and color combinations run the gamut from solid to speckled. I’m planning to leave this auction with a bunch of these Longhorns—some cows and at least two bulls. We’re starting us a Longhorn herd. You know these are the real Texas cattle.”
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Jan 22, 2022
A Bowl of Texas Red
What five letter word stands for Texas just like an oil man in a stetson hat or a rodeo cowgirl? C-H-I-L-I . . .Chili. Yep, when you find a steaming bowl of authentic, spicy chili on the kitchen table or on a cafe menu, the chances are pretty good that you’re in Texas. Chili is a passion in Texas. Some would even say a bowl of the thick, meaty stuff can be a religious experience!
But’s what the history of Texas chili? Most people are in agreement that chili started in Texas, but as to the definitive beginnings of chili . . .well folks argue about that just like they debate the best chili recipe.
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Dec 23, 2021
The Great Beefsteak Raid
The white-haired man and the young boy sat side by side warming themselves in front of the fireplace. The man turned to the boy. “Robert, did I ever tell you about the time I rustled cattle?”
The boy’s eyes grew wide. “Grandpa, You were a rustler? I thought rustling cattle was a bad thing.”
“Yep, usually is. But in this case it was a good thing and at the behest of General Robert E. Lee during the Civil War.”
“Robert E. Lee, he’s the general I was named for . . .”
“Right and a fine man he was.”
“What’s behest?”
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Dec 9, 2021
Kings of the Road
The next time you’re tempted to complain about traffic, stop and think about traveling to Texas in the early to mid-1800s when the rush was on! Compared to today, travel was certainly slower and more difficult at best. Train travel wasn’t available yet on the routes to Texas. So, unless you were a single person coming on horseback, you needed a covered wagon.
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Nov 18, 2021
The Back Story of the Texas State Fair
Let’s talk about Fletchers’ corn dogs, fried butter, roller coasters, Big Tex, football and prize hogs. Have I conjured up the Texas State Fair for you?
Join me for a whirlwind trip through the 135 years of the Texas State Fair’s history—hitting just some of the high points. Then, I’d like to transport you back to the very first fair held in Dallas and the tiny log cabin village that started it all way back in 1859 — 27 years before the Fair’s official beginning.
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Nov 11, 2021
Early Texans Sing
Shhh. . .listen . . .can you hear it? The singing? It’s faint, but if you really concentrate you can hear it. It’s getting louder now. I think . . .Yes, I think I can make out the tune. dada da dada. . . Texas our Texas…It’s the state song!
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Nov 4, 2021
Trading with the Cherokee
Beginning as early as the 1830s, settlers coming into Texas from Illinois, Missouri, and the southern states most likely traveled along what was known as “The Trail of Tears.” The Trail of Tears was made up of over 5000 miles of land and water trails taken by native American tribes during the US government’s “Indian Removal” project. This massive undertaking starting with The Removal Act of 1830, forced the relocation of the Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole (among others) to a newly-declared Indian Territory just west of the Arkansas border in what is now Oklahoma. During this removal process, it is estimated that as many as 100,000 native Americans were relocated and that some 15,000 died along the trail, thus the name—“The Trail of Tears” or as the Cherokee called it, “the trail where they died.”
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Oct 27, 2021
Ladies’ “Big City Fashion” in the 1850s
Have some fashion fun as Laurie describes step-by-step all the garments and paraphernalia a well-dressed city woman wore in the 1850s when stepping out for social calls and other daytime activities. For those in small Texas towns and the country, dress was a bit simpler.
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Oct 21, 2021
Interview: BJ Mayo, author of Alfie Carter
BJ Mayo lives in West Texas on a working farm. He talks with Laurie about his new book, Alfie Carter. A story of contrasts, the novel’s two main characters live on two different continents. One is a young girl who has been caught up in the horrific tribal wars in Angola, Africa, but has maintained her sweet spirit. The other is a man whose grief has made him angry and mean. Mayo’s story brings them together and the result is both surprising and inspiring. This interview is the first in an occasional chat with a Texan who is making Texas history today.
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Oct 14, 2021
Moving West: Squirrel on the Menu
One morning this week I sat with my coffee looking out a window into our backyard as two squirrels raced around and around and around the trunk of a big cedar elm tree. It reminded me of the time I ate squirrel stew. I can almost hear you. “Squirrel stew? Yuck!”
Here’s how my culinary adventure came about. As a child I spent lazy Sunday afternoons and some summer days visiting my grandparents in a small Texas town. They had a Sears and Roebuck arts and crafts bungalow, the makings of which had been delivered by train in the very early 1920s. The house came as a kit with a set of plans and several tons of precut boards—That century’s version of “Do it Yourself,” I suppose. My favorite place was the big front porch where I could usually be found in the wooden porch swing with a book in my hand.
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Oct 7, 2021
Braggin' Rights
Texans can claim an impressive list of things to brag about—what we call braggin’ rights. Things like the biggest, the first, the only, etc. . . Let’s take a look at six things for which Texans rightly brag.
• Brag #1
Texas is the first (and only) state to be an independent nation before becoming a state. From 1836 until 1846, when the actual transfer of governance took place, Texas was a Republic with Sam Houston as its president. Texas is also the only state to enter the United States by treaty instead of by territorial annexation. As part of the annexation agreement, Texas negotiated the right to fly its flag at the same height as the US Stars and Stripes. In addition, the 1845 joint congressional resolution admitting Texas to the US allows for the state to break itself up into a total of five states should it choose to do so. The actual language in the document says, “New states of convenient size—not exceeding four in number, in addition to said state of Texas—and…
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Sep 30, 2021
Sophia Suttenfield Auginbaugh Coffee Butt Porter
Listen my children and you shall hear of the late night ride of Sophia Suttenfield Auginbaugh Coffee Butt Porter—The woman known as Texas’ female Paul Revere!
Her story is a fascinating one, full of truths and lies. The only problem is—we don’t know which are which.
As Sophia told it, her father, Colonel William Suttenfield, fought in the War of 1812 and met her mother, after the war, while sailing on the Great Lakes. The two married and settled in Ft. Wayne. Indiana. Sophia says she eloped in 1833—when she was 17—with the headmaster of her school, Jesse Aughinbaugh. Three years later she claimed he abandoned her in Texas.
Historian Graham Landrum says, “Not so.” His version is that Sophia’s father was a laborer in Ft. Wayne and Sophia’s first husband was Myron Berbour a druggist and teacher in Ft. Wayne.
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Sep 23, 2021
The Big State of Texas is Getting Bigger!
Texas has a strong history of growth since the final boundaries of the state were agreed upon in 1850 and the US Census Bureau began counting Texan’s heads and collecting place of birth information. An in-migration magnet since 1850, Texas now ranks number two in attracting newcomers, number one in population growth in 2019. The first 2020 statistics are just starting to filter in. So let’s look at a complete set of statistics from 2019.
The US Census Bureau puts those who moved to Texas in 2019 at a whopping 559,661 people, or 1551 new people moving to the state per day. Only Florida’s move-in count is higher at 601,611. Although data for 2020 isn’t available yet, any Texan paying attention to home sales and cars on the road would predict strong in-migration numbers for last year. While move-ins from other states and countries fuel growth, there is another factor in the state’s increasing population. A bit less than half of the total population growth is from “natural inc…
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Sep 16, 2021
The Great Texas Camel Experiment
Once upon a time in Texas, camels joined the army…
I’ve got to be kidding right? Camels in Texas?
Well why not? Think about it. West Texas is part of the great American desert, correct? And what better way to carry men and supplies across dry, rugged desert terrain than the “ships of the desert,” as camels are called.
At least that’s what a young Army Lieutenant named George Crossman thought back in 1836. Crossman and a friend, E.H. Miller, studied the idea and sent a report to the War Department in Washington recommending that camels be adopted as beasts of burden for the military. The concept of using camels had special appeal in Texas as a way of transporting supplies from San Antonio to the line of military forts running along the very edge of the frontier.
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Sep 9, 2021
The Crash at Crush
It all began with two 35-ton steam locomotives, a town that existed for just one day, and a railroad promoter with a grandiose idea. The end result became a Texas legend: The Crash at Crush.
W.G. Crush, the general passenger agent of the Missouri/Kansas/Texas Railroad (generally referred to as the Katy Railroad) proposed a publicity stunt featuring a huge crash of two steam trains. The goal—to build visibility for the railroad and in the short term to sell more tickets.
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Sep 2, 2021
The Bone Business
In the early 1800’s buffalo (also called bison) roamed the American and Canadian West in the tens of millions, and the lives of the Plains Indians centered around the massive beasts. The buffalo provided food as well as skins for clothing, blankets, tents, and other leather items. Their dried manure was used for fuel. Indians followed the herds, taking what they needed and teaching the next generation to hunt. Theirs was a buffalo-based culture.
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Aug 26, 2021
The Man Who Would Not Die
There is a true story in Texas that has taken on the form of a legend—it’s the tale known as “The Man Who Would Not Die.”
Josiah Wilbarger was born in the United States in 1801. At age 26 he moved to Mexican Texas from Missouri as part of Stephen F. Austin’s colony. Wilbarger married and in 1830 was granted a league of land. For those of you who don’t measure land in leagues, that’s 4,428 acres. Wilbarger’s league was located on the Colorado River near Austin, where the town of Bastrop is now located. However, at the time, the Wilbargers were on the very edge of the frontier, their nearest neighbor 75 miles away. By summer of 1832, another settler, Ruben Hornsby, had moved his family to a nearby land grant. The following year, Josiah Wilbarger, (who was known as a land surveyor) and four young men who were staying with Hornsby—Christian, Strother, Standifer and Haynie—rode out together to look at Texas land.
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Aug 26, 2021
INTRO: Why this podcast?
Texas Brave and Strong—Why this podcast?
Texas! The very word conjures up images of rugged cowpunchers, Texas Rangers, oil wells, and women dressed by Neiman Marcus. It’s a big, diverse state. The distance from Texarkana on the state’s NE corner to Chicago, Illinois is smaller than the distance from Texarkana to El Paso on the state’s western edge. Which reminds me of a true story. A Dallas city slicker was bragging he’d just bought a 500 acre ranch outside of town. His lady friend from West Texas wasn’t impressed. She raised an eyebrow and drawled, “Honey, in West Texas, if it’s not at least 3000 acres, it’s not a ranch. Whoa! A Texas-sized put down.
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