Vol 25 No. 02 - November 1947

Geo. W. Kendall in Tragic Enterprise

George W. Kendall

George W. Kendall, who founded the New Orleans Picayune in 1837, came to Texas in 1841 to accompany the ill-fated expedition to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was captured by the Mexicans and marched afoot, 2,000 miles, to Mexico City, where he was thrown into prison. After his release from a Mexican dungeon, returned to New Orleans, and after the war with Mexico, he came to Texas to live, and engaged in ranching only about twenty-five miles from Bandera, in what is now Kendall county, that county being named for him. This account describes the Santa Fe expedition, and gives Mr. Kendall's reasons for accompanying it. (Second Installment).

Mentions: Tom Hancock, Mr. Falconer, Doctor Brenham

Settlements in Frio County

J. L. Hiler

Excellent early history and pioneer genealogy of Frio County, TX written from first-hand, eye-witness perspective.

Mentions: a man named Moore who lived on Moore Hollow near where the town of Moore now is ,Bennett Settlement was named for a family of Bennetts who lived on the Leona ,Derby ,Bishop Hollow ,Sand Hollow ,There was quite a settlement along Live Oak Creek in what is now the Halff & Oppenheimer pasture ,names of the settlers were Carter, Pond, Roberts, Adams, Robinson, Everett, Franks, Brice, Burden,and Berry ,McKinney, Park,,Webb ,R. M. Harkress ,Pearsall ,Leakey ,W. C. Daugherty, ,Thompson, Daugherty, McMahon, Edwards, Oden, Woodward, Berry, Forest ,Charley Emsley ,Mr. Speed ,sheriff, then W. S. Hiler, Vinton, Harkness, Daugherty ,Mr. Blackaller ,Jose Mancha ,John Pulliam, from Uvalde ,Mr. Blackaller ,Jake Vinton ,Bill Allen ,a young man named Brown ,family named Massey ,Rufe Ridley ,Dempse Forrest ,Alex Zimmerman ,Jim Berry, Philo Crane, and Betty Crane Wilson ,Bill Allen ,W. J. Slaughter ,Ritberg ,D'Hanis ,the Woodward and Oge ranch ,Elm Creek ,W. C. Daugherty, Jesse Kilgore, W. S. Hiler ,Ed McGee ,Louis Oge ,Caven Woodward, Jim Newton, Tom Newton, Jose Angel ,Ralph Harris of Uvalde ,Blackaller, Allen, Speed, Shadley, Burden ,Rev. W. H. Marshall ,Rev. R. Warren Main ,Mrs. Campbell Mills, Miss Mary Oliver, Messrs, Woodman Foster and Arthur Earl McKinley, Mrs. W. W. Few ,Joshua Lee Hiler ,Nola H. McHenry ,Roe H. Tiner ,Mrs. B. A. (Sarah) Craig of Big Foot ,Nola Blackaller ,Daniel I. of Dilley, Lee R. and Wesley B. of Pearsall, and J. Louis of Denton; two daughters, Miss Mary and Mrs. P. M. (Annie Tom) Tillotson of Dallas.

An Outline of Texas History From the Texas Almanac for 1931
 The Irish Deserters

J. Marvin Hunter, Sr.

During the Mexican War, one of the incidents of the invasion of Mexico which caused much criticism and condemnation of military authority was the hanging of some Irish deserters and the lashing of others. Here is the account of the punishment of the deserters, known as the San Patrician Battalion.

Mentions: Amasa Clark ,General Twigg's Division ,fighting in Churubusco, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec ,Contreras ,Churubusco ,Tom Mahoney ,General Ampudia ,General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana ,Manuel Rincon and Pedro Maria Anaya ,General Worth ,Rincon ,Maria Anaya ,Popocatepetl ,Thomas Riley ,Chapultepec Castle ,Colonel W. S. Harney

The San Antonio-San Diego Mail Route

J. Marvin Hunter.

In the 1850's it required thirty days steady travel, day and night, by coach for a letter to reach San Diego from San Antonio, and that was considered quick time. When the San Antonio-El Paso link in the chain of mail routes which crossed the continent was welded, the first contract was awarded to Henry Skillman. The initial run was made with six wild mules and a Concord coach, guarded by a party of eighteen well armed, mounted men under the captaincy of the famous Indian fighter, Big Foot Wallace. This run required thirty days to cover the distance of six hundred and seventy-three miles to El Paso, due to the fact that only daylight runs were made, and there was no equipment for the various stations along the route. It must be borne in mind that the whole distance was infested by hostile Indians, and that these mail parties faced the ever-present danger of attack by superior numbers. The contract called for three mails a week, each way; but until after the Civil War no more than one mail a week, each way, succeeded in reaching the terminals. Here is the story.

Mentions: Dedrich Dutchover and E. P. Webster ,Anton Diedrich ,Fort Davis ,Franklin Coontz ,the Hueco Tanks ,I. C. Woods ,C. H. GIDDINGS, R. E. DOYLE. ,Mr. Silas St. John ,Mr. James E. Birch ,Adams & Company Express ,Mr. Isaiah C. Woods ,James B. Leach ,N. H. Hutton ,Col. P. St. Geo. Cooke ,Bancroft ,the Pima Villages ,Charley Youmans ,Warner's Ranch ,Jaeger's Ferry ,Jim McCoy ,John Capron ,James Laling ,William Cunningham ,Edward E. Dunbar ,Col. E. V. Summer.

True Stories of West Texas

N. H. THE LOST ARROWHEAD

Mentions: Kincaid ,Old Stone Ranch ,Camp Cooper ,George Kincaid and William Kincaid ,William and John Anderson ,George Reynolds ,Dr. James D. Day ,Weatherford ,Sam Newcomb.

A TRAIL DRIVER TURNS BANKER

Mentions: Bob Couts ,Citizens National Bank of Weatherford.