As early as the 1860’s, balloonists in Texas took to the air in experiments that seemed to defy the laws of gravity. Within a few years, however, these early efforts in aviation were directed toward the development of the winged craft. Even today, claims persist that Texas inventor Jacob F. Brodbeck became the world’s first … Read more
In an armed prelude to the Texas Revolution, the Battle of Velasco marked the first bloodshed in the then deteriorating relations between Texas and Mexico. In the conflict, Domingo de Ugartechea, the Mexican commander in charge of a fort at the town of Velasco, attempted to block attempts by the Texans to transport a cannon … Read more
Ordered by Sam Houston on October 3, 1842, the Somervell Expedition was organized as a punitive measure following Mexican raids on San Antonio. After a general call, nearly 700 eager volunteers streamed into San Antonio to participate in the affair. The expedition departed San Antonio on November 25. It captured Laredo on December 8. They … Read more
Throughout the period of the Republic of Texas and ending with the Compromise of 1850, Texas claimed a large area to the north and west of its current boundaries. This area included a large stretch of the Santa Fe trail, a lucrative trade route that linked Missouri (then the eastern boundary of the United States) with … Read more
by Noah Smithwick From the time he first arrived in Texas in 1827 at the age of nineteen, Noah Smithwick was involved many of the events in the evolution of Texas. For the next thirty-four years before leaving for California just prior to the Civil War, he became closely acquainted with many well-known Texans, several … Read more
The Runaway Scrape is the period in early 1836 generally beginning with the Siege and Fall of the Alamo and ending with the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21. It was a period of terror and panic among the settlements of Texas, as Santa Anna and the Mexican armies swept eastward from San Antonio, … Read more
The boldest and most concentrated of the Indian invasions on Texas, and the deepest into the heart of Texas soil, occurred in August of 1840 and culminated in the Battle of Plum Creek. Hostilities between the Indians and the Texans had been steadily escalating for several years. They reached a peak in early 1840 in … Read more
Many of the classic books about Texas and the Southwest are largely inaccessible to all but a few collectors, or to hard-core historians willing to commit the time and expense to travel to a few major libraries. In an attempt to make these books available to a wider range of students and interested readers, we … Read more
Remember the Alamo is the story of the fictional family of Robert Worth–at the time of the Texas revolution. By that time, Worth, a native of New York, had served as a well-known and respected physician in the town of San Antonio for more than a quarter of a century. Soon after he first arrived in … Read more
The Mier Expedition was the most disastrous of all of the border confrontations between Texas and Mexico during the days of the Republic. It developed out of the Somervell Expedition, which disbanded soon after making brief raids into Laredo and Guerrero along the Rio Grande. About 300 strong, the group elected William S. Fisher as their … Read more