Texas Brave and Strong Podcast

In the previous podcast, I talked about how the Texas State Capitol Building in Austin was financed by raising funds through the sale of 3,050,000 acres of vacant land in the Panhandle of Texas. The land purchase was conducted by a Chicago firm, which created the Capitol Syndicate purchased the land in 1882. An immediate decision was made to use the land for cattle ranching until they could see an...

Nestled in the rolling Hill Country Region of Texas, in the city of Austin, sits the Texas state Capitol building. Today’s sunset red granite building is a far cry from the Republic of Texas’ 1839 log-cabin Capitol building. A key feature of this early national Capitol was an eight-foot high stockade fence offering protection during Indian raids. By 1853, the State of Texas had joined the Union an...

The old man sat with his nutcracker systematically working the lever, cracking, and shelling pecans. About every fifth nut went into his mouth as he worked. The little girl climbed up on a chair beside him. “Can I crack nuts, too, Grandpa?” He grinned at her. “Crack or crack and eat?” Her smile was mischievous. “Both.” “Well they are mighty good eatin’. I’ll tell you what, since we only have one n...

The Battle of Plum Creek and the events leading up to it are famous in the annals of The Republic of Texas’ History. The famous Battle of Plum Creek was sparked by the unfortunate Council House Fight in 1840.  Early that year, The Penatekas or “Honey Eater” Comanches—suffering from attacks by Cheyenne and Arapaho, and from battles with the Texas Rangers, in addition to facing dwindling number...

Teaser: Dreams of a agricultural socialist utopia began in Paris and spread to North Texas in the 1800s A dream of a socialist utopia. . . It began in Paris in 1848, but who would have guessed it would soon spread to Texas to the limestone cliffs overlooking the Trinity River?  A wave of unsuccessful political revolutions swept across Europe in the mid 1800s. After the failed revolutions, Eur...

Teaser: During the buffalo slaughter, a tiny frontier woman sheltered buffalo calves and saved the breed. Mary Ann Dyer (known as Molly) was born in Tennessee. However, her lawyer father moved the family to Fort Belknap, Texas in 1854, when Molly was 14. Both her parents died shortly after the move and young Molly assumed responsibility for the care of her five brothers, teaching school to provide...

Teaser: The Chuckwagon, the cowboy cook’s rolling pantry—how rancher’s kept hungry cowboys fed on the trail. Most ranchers will tell you that cowboys are always hungry, so one ranch challenge is to satisfy that hunger. The ranch cook-shack is where cowhands gather for meals when they are close to home. On the move, the chuckwagon is where the cook rules and dishes up tasty fare including cowboy be...

Teaser: Texican, Texian, or Texan? The difference is all in the timing. Description: Did you know Texans haven't always been known as Texans? The proper term has changed over time- depending upon the political structure. Here's a quick review of 25 years of history that took citizens from Texicans to Texians to Texans.

Teaser: The traveling circus braved rough, muddy roads bringing fierce beasts and special acts to Texans. Description: Eldrid's Great Circus and Menagerie actually traveled to Texas towns in the late 1850s. A reading from Laurie's novel, GONE TO DALLAS, recreates a fun and historically accurate circus experience for fictional characters in her book.

Teaser: From Bugtussle to Fairy and from Muleshoe to Ding Dong, Texas towns (and some counties) have unique names. Description: Many Texas town names are surprising and perplexing. Prepare to chuckle, scratch your head, and just enjoy the unusual names of Texas cities, towns, and "spots in the road"- from Dime Box to Egypt and Stranger to Telephone.

In Part Two of the Bush Craft interview, Laurie and bushcrafter Harley Retherferd talk more about the outdoor survival skills needed by early travelers to the West.

In Part One of Bush Craft, Laurie interviews Harley Retherford, a young bushcrafter from the beautiful Ozark Mountains in northeastern Oklahoma (Cherokee Nation Territory). They discuss the key outdoor survival skills which pioneers—especially those on foot or on horseback--needed to survive as they traveled to and settled in early Texas.

Pulp fiction of the American Wild West from—of all places—Germany!? In the 1870s, you could spend a dime and revel in the western adventures of Buffalo Bill, Kit Carson, or Jessie James. For a half dime you could buy a novel featuring Fancy Frank of Colorado or Daisy Dare. Western pulp fiction of the 1870s had captured the imagination of America! One publisher—Beadle and Adams—turned out 2,200 wes...

1886: The year the cattle froze. . . Cattlemen in the Texas panhandle faced a big problem in the early 1880s. While the lack of fences on the open range meant their cattle had an almost solid sea of grass, this blessing also meant that cattle from the ranches outside the state to the north drifted south to escape colder winters, moving onto the land used by the Texas panhandle ranches. This mass m...

A Mexican’s eyewitness account of the hours after the storming of the Alamo… You probably know the often told story of the Battle of the Alamo which began in earnest on February 25th, 1836 and ended on March 6th. But do you know how the story ended AFTER the siege concluded with the successful storming of the Alamo by General Santa Anna and his Mexican forces?

You’ve seen them. If you haven’t, you’re in for a treat. Bluebonnets line the highways and byways in Texas in late March to mid-April, their blooms turning fields and the sides of the roads into oceans and rivers of blue. Painters show up to paint them, parents plop their small children into the dense flowers for photographs, traffic jams occur along well-known bluebonnet trails, and small towns h...

Higher education came to The Republic of Texas in 1840 with the Republic’s Congress officially approving the charter of Rutersville College in the new town of Rutersville, located six miles northeast of LeGrange. Although founded by a group of Methodists, the co-ed school was open to all religious denominations. Its two-story main building was completed the following year. By 1844, enrollment was...

History lives at San Antonio’s famous Menger Hotel, and if you can believe the legends, so do numerous ghosts. Bearing the title of the oldest continuously-operating hotel west of the Mississippi. the Menger’s story began in 1840 when twenty-year-old German Immigrant William Menger arrived in San Antonio and started the Western Brewery—Texas’ very first brewery—built on part of the site where the...

The man and the little girl leaned against the corral fence looking in at the cattle. “Are these the ones we want to buy?” the child asked. “I like their long twisty horns.” “Yep. These are the ones we want. Their horns set them apart from other cattle. Notice how no two Longhorns are like. Colors and color combinations run the gamut from solid to speckled. I’m planning to leave this auction with...

What five letter word stands for Texas just like an oil man in a stetson hat or a rodeo cowgirl? C-H-I-L-I . . .Chili. Yep, when you find a steaming bowl of authentic, spicy chili on the kitchen table or on a cafe menu, the chances are pretty good that you’re in Texas. Chili is a passion in Texas. Some would even say a bowl of the thick, meaty stuff can be a religious experience! But’s what the hi...

The white-haired man and the young boy sat side by side warming themselves in front of the fireplace. The man turned to the boy. “Robert, did I ever tell you about the time I rustled cattle?” The boy’s eyes grew wide. “Grandpa, You were a rustler? I thought rustling cattle was a bad thing.” “Yep, usually is. But in this case it was a good thing and at the behest of General Robert E. Lee during the...

The next time you’re tempted to complain about traffic, stop and think about traveling to Texas in the early to mid-1800s when the rush was on! Compared to today, travel was certainly slower and more difficult at best. Train travel wasn’t available yet on the routes to Texas. So, unless you were a single person coming on horseback, you needed a covered wagon.

Let’s talk about Fletchers’ corn dogs, fried butter, roller coasters, Big Tex, football and prize hogs. Have I conjured up the Texas State Fair for you? Join me for a whirlwind trip through the 135 years of the Texas State Fair’s history—hitting just some of the high points. Then, I’d like to transport you back to the very first fair held in Dallas and the tiny log cabin village that started it al...

Shhh. . .listen . . .can you hear it? The singing? It’s faint, but if you really concentrate you can hear it. It’s getting louder now. I think . . .Yes, I think I can make out the tune. dada da dada. . . Texas our Texas…It’s the state song!

Beginning as early as the 1830s, settlers coming into Texas from Illinois, Missouri, and the southern states most likely traveled along what was known as “The Trail of Tears.” The Trail of Tears was made up of over 5000 miles of land and water trails taken by native American tribes during the US government’s “Indian Removal” project. This massive undertaking starting with The Removal Act of 1830,...