Category Archives: History
The Hoodoo War
When Africans were brought over on slave ships they brought their beliefs and practices with them, as all migrating people do. Their form of spirituality shared a commonality with other African religions and practices, which was an abiding faith in the … Continue reading
Frontier Battalion
(Continued from last week) As mentioned in a previous post, Texas began to regain its states’ rights under the leadership of Governor Richard Coke aided by the Democratic Party in 1874. Part of this recovery involved doing away with the … Continue reading
Exit of the Scalawags
The election of Richard Coke[1]as governor changed the course of Texas for the next 120 years. Completely fed up with the Reconstruction government imposed by federalists, Texans tossed out E. J. Davis (who initially refused to give up his office) … Continue reading
The Red Raid, 1875
Last week, Captain Leander H. McNelly spoke to you through his own words of 143 years ago. McNelly’s official report of the Palo Alto Prairie War wasn’t the only rendition of what happened that day. Texas Ranger Private William Crump Callicott was … Continue reading
South Texas, 1875
As my readers may have already discerned, I enjoy recounting stories about the American west. Some would say, the Old American West. It may not have been so long ago, but make no mistake, it was a much different time. … Continue reading
Cap Arrington
George Washington Arrington was born in 1844 in Greensboro, Alabama as John Cromwell Orrick, Jr., the son of John Cromwell and Mariah Arrington Orrick. After John Sr., died in 1848, Mariah married William Larkin Williams, who lost his life in … Continue reading
Ira Aten, Texas Ranger
Ira Aten joined the Texas Rangers in 1883, serving as a member of Captain L. P. Seiker’s Company D. He later served as a Sergeant under Captain Frank Jones. Over all, Aten served as an active duty Texas Ranger for … Continue reading
The Texas Fence-Cutting Wars
Old West Texas was a land of vast grasslands uninterrupted by natural barriers. The landscape was devoid of rock and timber from which landowners might have erected fencing to mark land boundaries or control grazing livestock. In 1883, a clash … Continue reading
One Riot, One Texas Ranger
In 1821, Mexico’s War of Independence from Spain included the territory of present-day Texas, which became part of Mexico, incorporated as part of the state of Coahuila y Tejas. At this time, there were very few Europeans living in this … Continue reading
The Comanche
Before the arrival of horses from Europe, Comanche people were pedestrian hunters and gatherers. After the introduction of horses, they became a highly mobile warrior class of people who were able to control vast territories. In the mid-1800s, the Comanche … Continue reading
