Wise About Texas

During World War II, Texas played an important role in training pilots and bomber crews.  The city of Dalhart contributed to the war effort by building an airfield.  Practice bombing missions took place over the panhandle by the famous B-17, B-24, and later the B-29.  One night in 1943, a young B-17 crew set out on a 40 mile round trip to bomb a lit square on the practice range.  50 miles later, t...

The 2020 coronavirus pandemic has been a trying time for Texans.  But we’ve been through much worse.  The harsh climate, tropical ports, lack of medicine, etc. has resulted in Texans enduring several pandemics and epidemics through the years.  From yellow fever to cholera to smallpox, it seems as though we’ve seen it all.  Texas is sometimes a tough place to live, but Texans have alway...

Austin is famous for its music scene.  Willie, Waylon, Jerry Jeff and so many others helped Austin become weird.  But before any of them there was Kenneth Threadgill.  A preacher’s son, Threadgill loved music.  He especially loved Jimmie Rogers and his yodel.  Threadgill opened a tavern that provided musicians a place to play, and college kids a place to listen.  Kenneth Threadgill and his h...

In April, 1836, two armies converged at Peggy McCormick’s ranch on the banks of the San Jacinto River.  In just 18 minutes, the Texian Army routed Santa Anna and the portion of the Mexican Army he commanded.  Texas was free!  Almost immediately, the area was revered as hallowed ground in the history of Texas.  Visitors clamored to see the place where Sam Houston and the Texians claimed victo...

Originally established in 1721 along the banks of the Guadalupe river, Presidio La Bahia was moved to its present location along the banks of the San Antonio river in 1749. Since then it has been a critical location for worship, trade, protection, battle and commerce. The presidio has been taken and re-taken as Texas has earned its reputation as one of the most contested places in North America. P...

James Fannin fancied himself an accomplished military commander. But in March of 1836 he had trouble deciding where and when to move. He finally headed for Victoria but decided to stop and feed his animals. Fannin didn’t realize how close the Mexican army was but he soon found out. Surrounded, without supplies, desperate, Fannin surrendered to Mexican General Urrea. The battleground where Fa...

The twin sisters were two cannons graciously manufactured and donated to the cause of Texas liberty from the people of Cincinnati.  They served Texas well at the Battle of San Jacinto and played a key role in Texas independence.  You can see these great guns of liberty at….wait minute…no you can’t.  We’ve lost them.  Where could they be?  Theories abound, but evidence is th...

Old Washington, better known as Washington on the Brazos, began with a ferry crossing on the Brazos River along the La Bahia road. The convention of 1836 would cement Washington’s place in Texas history. In an unfinished building, donated to the convention for free, the Texians declared independence, elected a government and drafted a constitution. In this episode you’ll hear from Texa...

Stephen F. Austin chose to set up the capitol of his colony on the banks of the Brazos River where the El Camino Real crossed the river. He envisioned a major metropolitan area as the center of immigrant activity in his colony. He named the town San Felipe. San Felipe de Austin became the second largest town in Texas before Sam Houston ordered it burned in advance of Santa Anna’s army in 183...

144 years ago, the Texas Army was long on spirit, but short on guns. Artillery, that is. How would they take on Santa Anna without some "hollow ware?" Enter the good people of Cincinnati, Ohio. They formed a committee, the "Friends of Texas," to support our war effort. They sent two cannons to Texas and they reached the Texas Army just in time. Used to great effect at the Battle of San Jacinto, th...

On December 7, 1941, Mess Attendant Doris “Dorie” Miller was doing laundry, one of the few jobs available to African American sailors in the U.S. Navy at the time.  When his ship came under attack, Miller rushed to help his fellow sailors.  Though not trained, and not allowed, he manned an anti-aircraft gun and engaged the attacking Japanese planes.  For his bravery and his willingness...

 In 1629 a group of Jumano Indians suddenly appeared at a New Mexico mission, eager to learn more about Christianity.  The excited and grateful Franciscan priests wondered what motivated this sudden interest.  The tale the Indians told seemed unbelievable.  A “lady in blue” had appeared to them instructing them to seek out the priests and teaching the Indians the sign of the cross.  Th...

 In 1891, one cowboy murdered another over the ownership of a brindle bull.  Other cowboys branded the bull so that all would remember the crime.  Some say the bull wanders the trans-pecos to this day, appearing whenever a certain crime occurs.  Hear about a bull branded MURDER in the latest episode of Wise About Texas.

Brian Kilmeade, best known as a host of Fox & Friends and the Brian Kilmeade show, is also a lover of history.  In his latest book, Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers, Kilmeade takes on the story of Texas independence.  As a Texan, I couldn’t resist finding out why a New York author might want to write about Texas independence. In this interview, you’ll learn wh...

Right after the civil war, women weren’t really expected (or even thought capable) to be in business.  But of course, Texas women proved them wrong.  Lizzie Johnson was a school teacher, but she was also a writer and discovered how lucrative the cattle business could be.  So she became a cattle baroness and Austin real estate mogul.  Learn more about the Texas Cattle Quee...

Award-winning author Stephen Harrigan visits Wise About Texas to discuss his new book–a history of Texas titled Big Wonderful Thing . Mr. Harrigan talks about how, as a journalist and novelist, he approached the colossal task of writing an entire history of Texas. Among other topics, he discusses his favorite Texas stories, the impact of our history on Texas, and a writer’s view of the...

What could be better than a good vaudeville show? A runaway mule, of course! One day in Nacogdoches, it’s said that a runaway mule changed the course of comedy history. Is it true? You bet your life…

Ben Kilpatrick was an outlaw.  He rode with Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid and the Wild Bunch into western infamy.  The law caught up with him and he went to prison where he met Ole Hobeck.  They two decided when they got out, they’d go into business together.  Being outlaws, that business was train robbery.  So they set out for the barren landscapes and lonely railroad tracks of West Texas...

Oliver Loving was a trailblazer…literally.  He drove cattle to Illinois, Louisiana, and Colorado.  With Charles Goodnight he blazed a new western trail intended to avoid the Indian threat.  Impatient as he was brave, he rode ahead to Santa Fe and was immediately attacked.  However, he held off hundreds of Comanches while one of his men went for help.  Through luck, or fate, or toughness, or...

When Texans talk about the Declaration of Independence, they usually mean the one signed at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 2, 1836. Occasionally, we refer to the Goliad declaration of 1835. But there was one before all of them. In 1813, Texans in San Antonio de Bexar declared the province of Texas to be independent. The wording sounds familiar in places but the principals are timeless, and very...

Texas has 254 wonderful counties.  But we might have 284, or maybe we did but are down some.  Or are we?  What???  Learn about counties of Texas that were created, disappeared, were repealed, or maybe still exist.  Oh yeah, we gave a couple to the USA (you’re welcome, New Mexico) and Oklahoma stole one.  Learn more in the latest epi...

Born into poverty and raised in north central Texas, Bessie Coleman wanted to fly.  But in the early 20th century, nobody in the United States would teach a black woman to fly an airplane.  So Bessie Coleman learned a new language, traveled a world away, and realized her dream.  A pioneer pilot, Coleman came home and became famous.  She used her talent and her perseverance to s...

This bonus episode features an interview with Dr. Jody Edward Ginn, Ph. D., who was a consulting historian on the new Netflix movie The Highwaymen.  The movie stars Kevin Costner as former Texas Ranger Frank Hamer and Woody Harrelson as former Texas Ranger Maney Gault.  The movie tells the story of the chase and killing of two of the most vicious killers in American history.  In the interview, Dr....

Bonnie & Clyde were on the run for two years.  They committed small time thefts but big time murders.  They were killers, pure and simple.  They drove fast and far, laid low, and had help all over their territory.   But they always came home. Over 1000 men from various law enforcement agencies, including the new FBI, couldn’t catch them.  So we needed one Texas Ranger, and that man was F...

The great depression was hard on everyone everywhere, and Texas was no exception.  People couldn’t work, could barely eat and just needed a break.  The people wanted excitement, they wanted romance, they wanted something to cheer for…even if it was evil.  That’s when a petty chicken thief met a beautiful wanna-be movie star, both from the poor side of town.  They set off on one o...