The archive
All stories
History · People
William P. Hardeman “Old Gotch” (1816-1898)William Polk “Old Gotch” Hardeman has the distinction of having served Texas, in either a military or official government position, spanning a period longer than any other Texan. In 1835, within days after he…
History · People
Thomas Green (1814-1864)As a 21-year-old college graduate when he first came to Texas in 1835, Tom Green was no doubt one of the most schooled of all Texans. Over the next twenty nine years in Texas, he would also prove to be one of…
History · People
John S. Ford “Rip” (1815-1897)John S. “Rip” Ford was a mover and shaker in Texas for nearly fifty years. He not only participated in most of it’s military struggles, but served in the Congress of the Republic and Legislature of the State,…
Events · History
Resolution Annexing Texas to the United States – March 1, 1845The annexation of Texas was a key issue in James K. Polk’s U. S. presidential election campaign of 1844. As a result, Polk’s victory that November was interpreted in the United States as a mandate to annex the…
History · People
James W. Fannin (1804-1836)James Walker Fannin was born in early 1804 in Georgia. He was adopted by his maternal grandfather, James W. Walker, and raised on a plantation near Marion. In 1819, he entered the U. S. military academy at West…
History · People
Susana Dickinson (1814-1883)It is sometimes said that life in the early days of Texas was an adventure for men and dogs, but hell on women and horses. Susana Dickinson, no doubt, would agree. She will always be remembered as the sole…
History · People
David “Davy” Crockett – the Alamo HeroDavy Crockett, born David Crockett on August 17, 1786, was an American politician, folk hero, frontiersman, and soldier. Known by most as the guy with the raccoon hat, Davy Crockett served in the Tennessee…
History · People
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado (1510-1554)From the time of the earliest Spanish voyages to the New World, the soils of Texas have inspired a continuous flow of legends and searches for deposits of gold, silver and other treasures. Francisco Vasquez de…
History · People
Richard Coke (1829-1897)Born March 13, 1829, in Virginia and educated at William and Mary College, Richard Coke was admitted to the bar in 1850 at the age of 21 years. That same year, he moved to Texas and became a resident of Waco.…
History · People
David G. Burnet (1788-1870)Best remembered as the president of the ad interim government of the Republic of Texas, David Burnet first entered Texas about 1815. Except for a few brief periods outside the region, Texas remained his home…
History · People
Edward Burleson (1798-1851)Born in 1798 in North Carolina, Burleson’s family moved on several occasions during his youth. One of these moves was to Missouri in 1814, to Virginia in 1815, then to Tennessee in 1824. Burleson gained a…
History · People
Guy M. Bryan (1821-1901)Guy Bryan was only ten years old when he left Missouri and came to Texas with his family in 1831. He was in school in the settlement of Columbia when news of the fall of the Alamo came. Along with his mother…