Junction High School - Golden Eagle Yearbook (Junction, TX)

Page 22 text:

 'Ifich'i HERITAGE xcept for Alaska, Texas is the largest state in the union with 267,399 square miles of territory extending from the High Plains of the Panhandle to the Gulf of Mexico. An aerial view of Texas would divide our state into three regions: the Atlantic-Gulf Coastal Plain, the Great Plains of Central North America and the Rocky Mountain system. The Coastal Region has heavy soil and a variety of vegetation. East Texas is a region spanned with lush farms and pine forests. The area produces pork, beef, poultry and dairy products. The Central Texas Prairies Region extends from Austin northward to the Red River. Rich, black soils produce grain, cotton and livestock- support crops. Texas comes from the Spanish word, tejas, meaning friends” or allies.” Early Spanish explorers and mission- aries applied the name to the territory between the Trinity and Red Rivers called the Land of the Indians. THE INDIANS The first Europeans found many Indian tribes in Texas and a variety of native cultures — the Caddoans of East Texas; the Karankawas along the Gulf Coast; the Wichita and Tonkowa tribes in Central Texas; the Coahuiltecans, a number of small tribes who lived south of San Antonio; and the Apaches, who lived in the western part of the state and later were forced to share their land with the Comanches. Among the nomadic Comanches was the famous Quanah Parker, one of the last Comanche war chiefs. He was the son of Chief Nocona and Cynthia Ann Parker, a captive white woman. The Comanches were superb horsemen and warriors and made life unsafe for settlers until about 1875. SPANISH AND FRENCH EXPLORERS In 1519, Alsonso Alvarez de Pineda mapped the Gulf of Mexico’s coast. Pineda spent 40 days at the mouth of the Rio Grande River — which he called River of Palms” — and recommended a settlement be constructed at the site. Two hundred years later the first settlers arrived. The first Spaniards to enter Texas were Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and three companions. In 1682, a trader from Canada was the first settler in Texas. The 1763 Treaty of Paris gave Florida to England from Spain in exchange for Spain retaining possession of western Louisiana. Between 1763 and 1821, Texas was ruled by the Spanish, then by Mexico before winning independence.

Page 21 text:

the Russell's daughter. John promised to marry Lucy upon his return in one year. Before John's return, Indians raided the Russell ranch and killed the family. Outraged, John sought Lucy’s murderer. One day, he sighted a savage Indian holding a shield resembling a stretched deer skin. On the shield was a scalp of beautiful hair —blonde hair like Lucy Russell's. Reports from the county near Lucy Russell's home show the combined population of two counties declined from 3,752 in 1860 to 1,585 in 1870. Texans raised the hue-and-cry: We need protection from the Indians by the U.S. Army. When President Grant assumed office in 1869, peace advocates persuaded him to adopt a policy of diplomacy, rather than force, with regard to the Indian problem in Texas. It wasn't until the raid at Salt Creek in May of 1871 that General of the Army William Tecumseh Sherman and Randolph B. Marcy, inspector general of the Army, recognized and acknowledged the indiscriminate slaughter of settlers in Texas. TBe Salt Creek Massacre led to the arrest of Kiowa leader Satana and two other Indian leaders, Satank and Big Tree. Satana refused to stand trial and was shot trying to escape. Satank and Big Tree were tried and convicted for the murders at Salt Creek and sentenced to hang. Their sentences were later commuted to imprisonment. The chiefs were paroled in August, 1873. The War Department now unleashed its troops against the Indians, forcing a westward movement that would annihilate the Indian way of life. The movement allowed for the expansion of the Texas range-cattle industry, the existence of farmers and agriculture and the growth of industry. An endless Indian crusade to prevent extinction of the buffalo resulted in bitter, cruel deaths for both Indians and settlers. The buffalo and the land were both sources of survival, existence and worship for many Indians. Death in defending such rituals was considered honorable. Lithograph taken from the Rare Collection of the Texas Dallas History and Archives Division, Dallas Public Library. NEW--- ' FRONTIER I ilm and pictorial essays depict the nd pn befoi years before and after the Civil War as the most colorful in Texas history. Four years before the war, in 1860, only the bravest souls settled west of a line extending from Henrietta southward through Belknap, Palo Pinto, Brownwood, Kerrville and Uvalde to Bracketville. The lack of protection from the army during the Mexican-American War left settlers in Texas defenseless. Country west of a line drawn from Gainesville to Fredericksburg was abandoned by all but the most courageous. Many lived in stockades and watched each evening in terror as smoke surrounded the summer moon. Charred cabin skeletons stood like enormous gravestones for slaughtered families. One wanderer. Cowboy John Allen, camped near the Russell family stockade. For his protection the family agreed it would be best for him to move inside. John fell in love with Lucy,

Page 23 text:

COLONIZATION, REVOLUTION AND PIONEER INSTITUTIONS Simultaneous with the Mexican Revolution, the Indians slowed the westward expansion of settlers. In 1817, Secretary of War John C. Calhoun initiated the policy of removing all Indians from the American frontier to the Louisiana meridian — the western extremity of the timberlands and beyond. In conjunction with this action, effective in 1825, land laws of Spain and Mexico became more attractive to settlers than those of the United States. By 1820, land was selling for 50 times less in Texas. The movement of settlers into Texas was largely the story of two men, Moses Austin and his son, Stephen Fuller Austin. On Dec. 3, 1820, the elder Austin approached Gov. Antonio de Martinez in San Antonio, requesting permission to establish a colony of 300 families in Texas. Moses Austin died soon after his return home, and it was Stephen F. Austin, then 27 years old. A large part of Texas was once Comanche country. Pictured here is Quanah Parker, one of the last Comanche war chiefs, son of Chief Nocona and Cynthia Ann Parker. Photo from the Rare Collection of the Texas Dallas History and Archives Division. Dallas Public Library. who would complete his father's task. Stephen F. Austin later earned the title, Father of Texas. By the beginning of the Texas revolution, the name Texan represented a group of tough, self-reliant individualists. After three centuries of Spanish rule, the sensitive Mexicans were unprepared for self-government. In 1825, President John Quincy Adams offered Mexico $1,000,000 for the removal of the border to the Rio Grande River. President Andrew Jackson raised Adams' offer. Again, Mexico declined the offer. It was becoming apparent a violent solution was the only course of action. Folk tales say Americans never fought better than they did in Texas. They fought for a new way of life — as cattlemen and farmers on the brazen Texas frontier. While life on the early frontier has sometimes been compared to the Old South, most Texans could only dream of large plantations. They were small subsistence farmers with primitive homes and farming methods. Inadequate frontier transportation systems were later updated to increase the efficiency of mail and cattle delivery and cotton exportation. Early settlers worried about Indians, epidemics, weather and crop failure. Early Texans acquired a reputation for lawlessness. Settled towns provided a sanctuary for saddle-weary range riders. In 1850, the state had no spare towns. Galveston, with its 4,177 citizens, was the largest. San Antonio and Houston followed. Austin, long buffeted by Indians, had only 639 residents. Riding the crest of a population boom, San Antonio's population rose to 8,236 by 1860. The best buildings in town were usually the hotels Service was often poor. An exception was the full two-and-one-half-story Menger Hotel, on the Alamo Plaza in San Antonio. The building of fine-cut stone, together with its carpiets, decorations and furniture, cost $16,000. Only wealthy p eople could afford a room in the Menger. The rank-and-file slept in the wagon ya rds.