Vol 22 No. 06 - March 1945

The Assault On The Alamo

By R. M. Potter, in The Texas Almanac, 1868

From the article: "The fall of the Alamo, the tragic results of which are so well known, so far as the final assault is concerned, have not been fully or correctly given in any of the histories of Texas. The reason is obvious when it is remembered that not a single combatant from within survived to tell the tale, while the official reports of the enemy were neither circumstantial nor reliable. A trustworthy account of the assault could only be compiled by comparing and combining the verbal accounts of such of the assailants as could be relied on for veracity, and adding to this, such light on the matter as can be gathered from the military documents of the day. As I was a resident of Matamoros when the event happened, and for several months after the invading army returned thither, I had opportunities for obtaining the kind of information referred to which few persons, if any still living in Texas, have possessed; and I have been urged to publish what I have gathered on the subject that an interesting fragment of history might be saved. Among the facts which have been perverted is the number of Mexican troops engaged in the campaign and the assault. The whole force with which Santa Anna invaded Texas in 1836 probably amounted to..."

Mentions: the cavalry regiment of Cuatla * Miatamoras * the dragoon regiment of Dolores * W. B. Travis. James Bowie * David Crockett * J. B. Bonham of South Carolina * Cos * Brigadier-General Amador * Los Zapadores * Toluca, Ximenes * General Castrillo * The battalion of Toluca * The Tolucan column * Colonel Duque * Lieutenant Dickenson * General Amador *

Some Early Parker County History

By Afton Winn

Parker County, Texas was organized in 1855. Pioneer life here was typical of pioneer life in Texas, but it lingered longer here than in many other sections and in many of its phases seems to have been more intensive. At the time of organization the county was on the extreme western frontier, and for many years it continued to be so. Rough, broken country amid its fertile stretches kept it from changing too quickly. Much of the land within its confines can never be changed by man. Thus, homespun, gourds, and one-legged beds continued in use up some of the hollows of Parker county until comparatively recent times. Here is some excellent early history of Parker County, Texas.

Mentions: The Pool, now better known as Poolville, 16 miles north of Weatherford * Jim Taylor * the Clear Fork of the Trinity river * Deputy Sheriff D. H. Sisk * Rev. Pleasant Tackett * Walnut Creek * Maggie Lee, a little orphan girl * Hugh R. Frazier * John Frazier and Joe Frazier * the Culwells *

Six And One-Half Years In The Ranger Service

MEMOIRS OF IRA ATEN, SERGEANT CO. D, TEXAS RANGERS (Continued from Last Month)

Third installment in an excellent and highly detailed four-part series of the fine service and notable exploits of Captain Ira Aten, a Texas Ranger and a peace officer during the 1880's and 1890's. The First installment contains great old photo of Captain Aten.

Mentions: Hon. John D. McCall * Adjutant General W. H. King, Captain L. P. Sieker, Quartermaster Frontier Battalion; Emmet White, sheriff of Travis county * Guthrie * among there brands were some belonging to the largest ranches in the Panhandle—the Long S, C. C. Slaughter, J J and JA, the largest ranch in Armstrong county, the XIT, the Capitol Syndicate ranch with 3,000,000 acres of land, and T Anchor of Randall county * Castro, Swisher, Randall, or Armstrong counties * Donley county * Clarendon * Andrew McClelland * Judge L. Gough * old Fort Sumner, New Mexico * Palo Duro Canyon * Ed Connell and Wood Saunders, two tried and trusted Ranger comrades * the Trujillo Camp * Endee, New Mexico * Tucumcari * the XIT Ranch Company * J. Evetts Haley * Mujeres Canyon * Cripple Creek, Colorado * John Armstrong * Will Collier * Ed Connell * Jim Latham * Captain Dan W. Roberts, Captain J. A. Brooks, Ira Men, James B. Gillett, Edand Lamb Sieker, * Dick Duncan and Walter Landers * Ben Williamson * Luvina Holmes * Picnic Jones * Judge Winchester Kelso * R. M. Lombard, Esq * Leigh Burleson * Richard M. Duncan * Mr. J. S. Clark of San Saba * Walter Landers * Tom Salmon * Sheriff Nolan, Mr. Staler, Coleman * Inspector Ballentyne * Hobbs' store * George Hobbs * Darling * Spofford * Howard Layering * Walter Landers * Mrs. Craven * Piedras Negras * attorney, named McMinn

The Daring Newton Gang

By J. F. Massey

Account of Willis Newton, a native Texan, born and reared in the Lone Star State, and his brothers, Willie, Joe and Jess, who were accused of more bank robberies than any other gang in the United States. For 12 years they robbed and looted, first in Texas, then elsewhere, until the firm hand of the law brought their exploits to a sudden halt.

Mentions: Crystal City * the Rondout train robbery * a daring bank robbery near Ballinger, Texas * the Winters bank * the First National Bank and the Hondo State Bank at Hondo, Texas * Pat Murphy * The First State Bank at Boerne * The New Braunfels State Bank * J. S. McMillan, alias Joyce * Herb Holloday * A. O. Van Riper * Gene Holloday * Pistol Hill, a section of Tulsa's underworld

Texas: The Land Of Friendship

By Mrs. B. T. Grainger.

A San Angelo Pioneer Passes On

By J. Marvin Hunter.

Account of Mrs. Mary Tankersley Lewis, long time San Angelo resident and early settler and member of the Tankersley family, who were among the first settlers of the Concho country. She was born at Camp Colorado, in Coleman county, Texas, in 1861, and moved to the head of the South Concho with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fayette Tankersley, at the age of four years. Here is her story.

Mentions: Spring Creek * the corner of Magdalen and Concho * She was married to Wilson F. Lewis in 1881 * Mertzon * the famous Dove Creek Battle * Captains Totten and Fossett * Head-of-the-River * Hackberry Creek in Mitchell county * Mrs. Donald Gilchrist * Lt. Roy W. Lewis

The Carankawa Indians

J. W. Kuykendall

"Both history and tradition preserve the names of several tribes of Indians, which had become extinct, or blended with other tribes, before the State was colonized by Anglo-Americans in 1821, at which time the tribes with which the settlers came in contact were the Comanches, the Wacoes, Towacannies, Ionics, Kechis, Lipans, Tonkawas, and Carankawas. The last named were the most remarkable. The men were of large stature, six feet high, and the bow of every warrior was as long as his body, and as useless in the hand of a man of ordinary strength as was the bow of Ulysses in the hands of the suitors of Penelope, but when bent by one of these sons of Anak, it sped the "cloth yard" arrow with deadly force two hundred yards. These Indians navigated the bays and lakes with canoes, and subsisted, to a considerable extent, on fishes. They were believed by many of the early settlers to be cannibals, but it is probable that the only cannibalism to which they were addicted was that occasionally practiced by the Tonkawas, if not all the Texas Indians. This consisted in eating bits of ..."

Further Mentions: a negro tribe on the Zambezi, called the Ajawa * a certain chief called Neria * the Waanahuila Creek, six miles east of Goliad, then called La Bahia * the state of Tamaulipas * Mr. Saul Scharlack * Mrs. Stanley Banks * Dr. and Mrs. P. I Nixon * Paul Adams, and Miss Lina Twigg * Miss Frances Donecker * Mr. L. W. Kemp of Houston; Dr. and Mrs. H. Bailey Carroll of the University of Texas, Austin; Dudley R. Dobie of San Marcos; E. R. Dabney of Austin ; D. K. Martin, Miss Ruth Coit, Miss Frances Donecker, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Banks, Dr. and Mrs. P. I. Nixon, Dr. Judkins, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Naylor, Mr. and Mrs. Chris. Emmett, Col. M. L. Crimmins, Mr. and Mrs. George Isbell, Paul Adams

A PIONEER TEACHER.

Obituary of Miss Minnie Hudspeth, a pioneer teacher of the Hill Country.

Mentions: Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Hudspeth * the Maudsley Select School for Girls * the Sam Houston State Normal at Huntsville * Kerrville * Admiral Chester Nimitz * the Charles Schreiner Bank * John Leibold * Anton and Eddie Leibold of Bandera * Mrs. Helena Ruede of Moore, Texas