A true Texas fact

[Mike Hill]

I believe to be my 4X Great GrandUncle

George Washington Cottle (1811 – March 6, 1836) was a Texian who died at the Battle of the Alamo. He is a member of the Immortal 32. His brother, Almon Cottle, is a member of the Old Eighteen.

Cottle was born in Missouri and arrived in Texas with his parents, Jonathan and Margaret Cottle, several siblings, and three cousins July 6, 1829 where he settled in DeWitt's Colony on the Lavaca River. Cottle received a league of land at the headwaters of the Lavaca River near Gonzales on September 12, 1832. When Mexican troops arrived south of Gonzales in September 1835, Cottle was one of the messengers sent to gather reinforcements. He returned to fight in the Battle of Gonzales on October 2, 1835. He enlisted in the Gonzales Ranging Company under Lt. George C. Kimbell on February 24, 1836, and rode with thirty-two others to the Alamo on March 1, 1836. Cottle was killed on March 6, 1836, at the battle of the Alamo, alongside his brother-in-law, Thomas Jackson. Cottle County, Texas is named for him.

 

[Wildthings]

Here's more about your Uncle Georgy

COTTLE, GEORGE WASHINGTON (1811–1836).George Washington Cottle, early Texas colonist and Alamo defender, son of Jonathan and Margaret Cottle, may have been born in Tennessee or in Hurricane Township, Missouri, in 1811. His parents came to Texas on July 6, 1829, to settle in Green DeWitt's colony on the Lavaca River. He married his first cousin, Eliza Cottle, on November 7, 1830, but the marriage was annulled on October 7, 1831. They had one daughter. Cottle received a league of land at the headwaters of the Lavaca River near Gonzales on September 12, 1832. Records indicate that on January 4, 1835, he married Nancy Curtis Oliver. They had twin sons, born after Cottle's death. When Mexican troops arrived south of Gonzales in September 1835, Cottle was one of the messengers sent to gather reinforcements. He returned to fight in the battle of Gonzales on October 2. In February 1836 he lent a yoke of oxen to Capt. Mathew Caldwell's company. He enlisted in the Gonzales Company under Lt. George C. Kimbell on February 24 and rode with thirty-two others to the Alamo on March 1. Cottle was killed on March 6, 1836, at the battle of the Alamo, alongside his brother-in-law, Thomas Jackson. Cottle County was named for him.

 

[Mike Hill]

His brother in law Thomas Jackson, had just come over from Ireland 5 years before he took his fateful trip to San Antonio.

 

[Tony]

Happy Birthday, Texas! 187 years ago today, on March 2nd, 1836, 59 men signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, officially breaking from Mexico and creating the Republic of Texas. We've been through a lot since then --- had our share of bad characters and tough times --- but the spirit of those folks who took such a leap of faith lives on.

Here's an 1836 copy of the official document.

 

[Wildthings]

On this day in 1904, Black gold gushes in East Texas

On this day in 1904, the Batson-Old oilfield, located on Pine Bayou in southwestern Hardin County, reached its peak daily production. That day the field yielded more than 150,000 barrels of crude. Along with the Spindletop, Sour Lake, and Humble fields, Batson helped to establish the Texas oil industry. Batson field was first drilled in 1903 and was still producing in its tenth decade when its cumulative production reached more than 45 million barrels in 1993.

 

[woodman6415]

From Traces of Texas As I sit here this morning, contemplating how they must have felt, I wonder: did they really realize that today, this day, was going to be the end of their earthly existence? Did they say to one another that this is it, that Santa Anna's army had drawn so close that there would be no salvation now? I reckon that most had come to terms with the fact that no help would be coming. And so what did they say to each other? Did they whisper or did they abide in stoic silence? What was the mood in the final days? Most of them were asleep during the first moments of the attack. How long did it take them to realize that this was it? So many things I would like to know. We learn about them in 4th grade and again in 7th grade but so much of what I would like to know is, in fact, forever unknowable. To weep for them seems so beneath them. And so we stand out in the morning light as the sun slides in from the east and we plead with the fates to let us be worthy of them, to stand silently and peacefully with one another and to request their blessing, that this great experiment that we call "Texas" might be allowed to continue.

Remember The Alamo.

 

[Gdurfey]

Amen

 

[CarlaKastillio]

Good stuff Wendell!

 

[Mike Hill]

We learn about them in 4th grade and again in 7th grade

Remember The Alamo.

Heck, that wasn't all I had. The best classes I had in Texas history was in my Senior year in high school and sophomore year in college. The senior history teacher was a lady I learned to like, even though she and my Dad were at odds at one another. She had a great passion and knowledge of Texas History, especially for The Alamo and our Hometown, since they were sorta extrinsically intertwined. Seguin was named after Juan N. Seguin in 1839 (after starting out in 1838 founded by Texas Rangers and being called Walnut Springs). Seguin was a Tejano, that was an Alamo Defender and eventual Mayor of San Antonio along with many other things. He was quite flexible. He was initially somewhat thought as one of the 2 cowards of the Alamo, because he was initially at the Alamo (during the seige), but left. He was sent by Travis to break through enemy lines and send a message and to scrounge up some troops and when he returned with a few troops, the battle had already taken place. But he quickly recovered and became a lot of stuff including Texas Senator and Mayor of San Antonio. But his loyalty was always suspected and he eventually fled San Antonio under threats to his life.

Now, according to Lil Mikey, Sam Houston did a dumb thing. At the Battle of San Jacinto, Houston and Texas defeated Santa Anna. But as reward to getting Santa Anna to agree that Texas was free and not part of Mexico, he was given free passage and escort back to Mexico. Six years later San Antonio was again overrun by Santa Anna's Army and Juan was eventually captured, and forced to serve in Santa Anna's Army and fight on the Mexican side. One year he is fighting Santa Anna - six years later he is fighting with Santa Anna - who coulda guessed. They (Texas) allowed him back a few years later and he became a Justice of the Peace in San Antonio and a Judge.

Oh, and for the +--+- 'muricans not to feel like they are being singled out - there are revisionist authors writing revisionist history all that is Texas History.

 

[Tony]

Lil Mikey is right. They should've strung Santa Anna up by his one leg and left him hanging.

Juan Suguin was also the person who gathered up the ashes and remains from the Alamo soldiers, (Santa Anna has them shot and unceremoniously burned the bodies). They now reside in a church near the Alamo downtown.

 

[Mike Hill]

Filed this away in my "I had no idea pile - and I have to go see this piles"!

DAVID CROCKETT'S FIDDLE AT THE WITTE MUSEUM IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.
During the 13 days siege of the Alamo in February and March 1836 it is said that David Crockett and John McGregor entertained the defenders on the walls with a sort of musical competition of playing loud, Crockett with a fiddle and McGregor with bagpipes.
At the Witte Museum in San Antonio, Texas, a fiddle belonged to David Crockett is on display.

 

[Wildthings]

Traces of Texas

Everybody talks about Bowie, Travis and Crockett but, to my way of thinking, James Butler Bonham was the most heroic. Bonham, who was boyhood friends with Travis in South Carolina (and whose whole reason for even being in Texas in the first place was because Travis had written him a letter the previous year that described a world of opportunity in Texas for enterprising young men like themselves), was sent by Travis to obtain aid for the garrison at Bexar on about February 16, 1836. He visited Goliad, but the commander of the forces there, James Fannin, was unable to provide assistance. Bonham's spirit is best described by T.R. Fehrenbach in his Texas opus, Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans:
"At the end, the weary Bonham, a lawyer, a Carolinian of exulted family and a friend of Travis, turned his mount around and rode back toward San Antonio. He was told it was useless to throw away his life. He answered back that Buck Travis deserved to know the answer to his appeals, spat upon the ground, and galloped west into his own immortality."
Thus, Bonham returned to the Alamo on March 3, riding through a hail of Mexican bullets to do it. Imagine being him as he approached the Alamo. He could certainly see the huge Mexican Army and must have known that he faced death either trying to get back inside or in the battle that would certainly follow. He could have turned his horse around, gone back to Goliad or Gonzales, and nobody would have ever known.
James Butler Bonham died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836, aged 29. He is believed to have died manning one of the cannons.

 

[JonLanier]

In Ohio, we had to memorize all 66 counties, where they were at, and how to spell them. I would have flunked the Texas examination. That's just too many.

 

[Tony]

 

[DLJeffs]

I just finished reading "Follow Me to Hell: the story of Leandor McNelly" by Tom Clavin. Good read and some Texas history I didn't know. McNelly is known in some circles as the first true Texas Ranger. Really interesting.

 

[Wildthings]

I'm a little late on this one


April 12-13, 1836
Houston's army crossed the Brazos River approximately four miles south of today's city of Hempstead on the riverboat "Yellowstone." At noon on the 13th Houston detailed his movements:
"I commenced crossing the river [at 10:00am on the 12th] and from that time till the present [noon on the 13th] the steamboat...has been engaged. We have eight or ten wagons, ox-teams, and about two hundred horses belonging to the army..."
Bernardo Plantation, one of Jared Groce's plantation homes, was just on the east side of the river and served as a staging area for some much-needed rest and resupply. A hospital was set up for the soldiers and refugees from the Runaway Scrape, the plantation's lead pipes were melted down for ammunition, and the men were drilled and trained for fighting.

During this time the Twin Sister's arrived, which were two cannons donated to Texas by the citizens of Cincinnati, Ohio.
When he learned that Santa Anna had crossed the swollen Brazos beneath him Houston issued a broadside to the people saying that the Mexicans were now "treading the soil on which they are to be conquered."

Recent archaeological work has located the exact site of Bernardo Plantation. Established in 1821 it was the largest plantation of its kind in Texas, and the western-most cotton plantation in the South. You can learn more about the archaeological work done and see many photos of the dig at the following web site:
https://sites.google.com/site/bernardoplantation/

 

[Gdurfey]

What a week they have ahead of them…….just one week.

 

[Nature Man]

I'm a little late on this one


April 12-13, 1836
Houston's army crossed the Brazos River approximately four miles south of today's city of Hempstead on the riverboat "Yellowstone." At noon on the 13th Houston detailed his movements:
"I commenced crossing the river [at 10:00am on the 12th] and from that time till the present [noon on the 13th] the steamboat...has been engaged. We have eight or ten wagons, ox-teams, and about two hundred horses belonging to the army..."
Bernardo Plantation, one of Jared Groce's plantation homes, was just on the east side of the river and served as a staging area for some much-needed rest and resupply. A hospital was set up for the soldiers and refugees from the Runaway Scrape, the plantation's lead pipes were melted down for ammunition, and the men were drilled and trained for fighting.

During this time the Twin Sister's arrived, which were two cannons donated to Texas by the citizens of Cincinnati, Ohio.
When he learned that Santa Anna had crossed the swollen Brazos beneath him Houston issued a broadside to the people saying that the Mexicans were now "treading the soil on which they are to be conquered."

Recent archaeological work has located the exact site of Bernardo Plantation. Established in 1821 it was the largest plantation of its kind in Texas, and the western-most cotton plantation in the South. You can learn more about the archaeological work done and see many photos of the dig at the following web site:
https://sites.google.com/site/bernardoplantation/

Appears that the archaeology work fizzled out, as the last updates on the link indicate no activity in over a decade. Chuck

 

[Mike Hill]

What a week they have ahead of them…….just one week.

That is a mouthful of truth! Ending with that amazing 18 minutes. However, I will always scratch my head and feel a need to bang my head against a brick wall over the fact they allowed Santa Anna to return to Mexico. Santa Anna was no......well, let's suffice to say he was controversial. And although I am somehow connected by family to Sam Houston - he was a drunkard, egotist/narcissist who resigned from the Governorship of Tennessee in disgrace, beat a U.S, Congressman with a cane made from hickory wood obtained from his mentor's Andrew Jackson's estate, and was convicted after being defended by Francis Scott Key (who was also apparently a drunk at the time) among other less than savory things. Other than that he did some mighty good things for Texas! But he still let Santa Anna go!

 

[Tony]

That is a mouthful of truth! Ending with that amazing 18 minutes. However, I will always scratch my head and feel a need to bang my head against a brick wall over the fact they allowed Santa Anna to return to Mexico. Santa Anna was no......well, let's suffice to say he was controversial. And although I am somehow connected by family to Sam Houston - he was a drunkard, egotist/narcissist who resigned from the Governorship of Tennessee in disgrace, beat a U.S, Congressman with a cane made from hickory wood obtained from his mentor's Andrew Jackson's estate, and was convicted after being defended by Francis Scott Key (who was also apparently a drunk at the time) among other less than savory things. Other than that he did some mighty good things for Texas! But he still let Santa Anna go!

That one has always boggled my mind too.