Texas History - Monthly Column

LONE STAR DIARY
by Murray Montgomery

Lone Star Diary - Texas History Columns

• Warrior’s Weekend at Port O’Connor, Texas 4-10-08
• The adventures of John Himes Livergood 3-20-08
• Black Cowboys 2-3-08
• Mystery Creatures 12-24-07
• A time to honor our military veterans 11-9-07
• Is Jesse James really in that Missouri grave? 10-4-07
• Old Tunes Bring Back Memories 8-8-07
• Deaf Smith - Eyes of the Texas Army 7-5-07
• Remembering the Bastrop Chronicler 5-19-07
  John Holmes Jenkins
  
• Letters from the Alamo 3-27-07
• Yoakum's Soda-Pop War 1-24-07
• It's a Wonderful Life 12-6-06
• "The Grand Old Lady On The Square" Lavaca County Courthouse 10-18-06
• The Demise of Bad Man Buckley 9-1-06
  During the days of early Texas, there were many a scoundrel packing guns and causing panic and mayhem amongst the town folk. Hallettsville had one of the worst of these villains..
• A True Texas Woman 7-20-06
• The Most Distinguished Tramp 6-21-06
• Murder of Local Doctor During Reconstruction 5-22-06
• The Half-breed Savage 4-20-06
  Quanah Parker
• The First Shot May Have Been Second 3-18-06
  'Come and Take It' and the Battle of Velasco
  
• Texas Rangers and the Battle of Plum Creek 2-19-06
• The Old Iron Bridges of Lavaca County 1-19-06
• Christmas is a special time 12-20-05
• Hallettsville Photographer Left a Legacy of Memories 11-18-05
  Henry Jacob Braunig
• Black Soldiers in the Confederate Army 10-17-05
• Wild Woman of the Navidad 9-13-05
  "The Navidad isn’t really much of a river, as rivers go – it’s not very famous and can’t be compared to the stunning Guadalupe or majestic Colorado, when it comes to beauty. But the little old Navidad just might have a claim to fame that the others can’t equal. You see, the Navidad has a past of mysterious and wild creatures, of the two-legged variety, living along its winding path...."
  
• The Man From Nickel: Leslie Jones Askey 8-19-05
  The classic example of an entrepreneur.
  
• Rustlers and outlaws were common in early days 7-19-05
  "Folks living in Lavaca County in this day and time might be surprised to know that back in the 1870’s, 1880’s and 1890’s this was quite a wild place..."
• Bunting Family Cemetery 6/15/05
• Richard Gaertner's Story 5/14/05
  Every town needs a storyteller and Moulton is fortunate to have a mighty good one in a feisty fellow named Richard Gaertner.
  
• Thomas Lenz 5/2/05
  "All three of the high-school pals saw action in Vietnam – two survived and one, Tommy Lenz, would die a month after his 21st birthday and just a week before he was due to come home. He had volunteered to go on a mission to replace a man who was ill..."
  
• Old Turner Hotel Uncovered by Hallettsville Fire 3/21/05
• Macario García, Veteran of D-Day 2/16/05
• The Lost Treasure of Padre Island 12/11/04
• Remembering Leesville 10/15/04
• Survivor tells of dreadful ordeal... A captive of the Comanche 9/8/04
• The Horrors of Bataan 7/17/04
  The story of one survivor...
• Brazoria County brothers make guns for the South...
  The Dance boys and their guns 6/9/04
• The Angel of Goliad 5/19/04
  "A tenderhearted Mexican lady who will forever be remembered for her many acts of kindness during those dismal days of the Texas Revolution."
• Richard Kimble and Almaron Dickinson, Heroic hat makers at the Alamo 5/12/04
• Savior of The Alamo... Remembering Adina De Zava 4/20/04
  "If it hadn't been for her efforts, the Alamo might well have been replaced by a parking lot."
  
• The history curse... It's got to be true or I'm not interested! 9/1/03
  "It seems to me that these moviemakers should strive for authenticity when it comes to portraying history. Anyone who studies Texas history can tell you that these "true" stories are an adventure all their own."
  
• This family tree has roots made of cedar 8/03
  The early cedar choppers didn't really maintain a home - many lived out of a wagon, sleeping in tents and traveling from one cedar brake to another ... Living off the land, they hunted their meat ....
  
• The story of Gregorio Cortez 7/03
  He was considered a hero by the Mexican people; to the Anglos he was the "sheriff killer" and needed to be hung.
  
• Eyewitness to the Battle of the Alamo -
  An Unidentified Mexican Soldier's Personal Account of the Historic Struggle 9/5/01
• Midget sub commander tells of his role in the attack on Pearl Harbor 7/17/01
  Glad to be first Japanese prisoner of war!
  
• The Killing of John Wesley Hardin 5/6/01
  "...There are several different versions as to how Hardin was killed. ... Regardless of which version is true, the fact remains that John Wesley Hardin died as he had lived - violently. ..."
  
• The Battle of San Jacinto, April 21, 1836 4/19/01
  Saturday, April 21, 2001, will mark the 165th anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto. Because of the eventual consequences of this encounter, the battle is considered, by many historians, as one of the most important in world history.
  
• 1st Lt. Loye James Lauraine, Jr. 4/8/01
  "He was young, only 26 years old, when he gave up his life to save others...... He was a hero and was posthumously awarded this nation's second highest honor, the Distinguished Service Cross. ....."
  
• Life and Times of a Goliad Survivor 3/24/01
  "..... the young man could have avoided all the misery he endured at Goliad because the Mexicans offered all captured Germans the opportunity to join their cause - Ehrenberg refused the offer saying that he considered himself a Texan......"
  
• A Survivor's Account of the Goliad Massacre 3/11/01
  "There is a day in Texas history that quite possibly could be considered one of the most tragic. On that day, March 27, 1836, General Santa Anna ordered the execution of some 380 Texas army soldiers - they were prisoners of war. ....."
  
• Life on the Trail 2/12/01
  "The cowboy legacy is very much alive in Texas and it has been that way for a long time. After the Civil War, times were tough in Texas and throughout the South. Men returning from that devastating conflict found it hard to make a living. Texas, it seemed, was short on everything; everything that is, but cattle. ....."
  
• The Crusty Old Baptist 1/29/01
• "Little Butch" Comes to Gonzales, Texas 1/15/01
• The Great Elephant Stampede 1/8/01
• The Lost Cannon of Lavaca County 12/18/00
• Riding the Stage, in Old Texas - Stagecoaches from Gonzales to Galveston 12/6/00
• The Wreck of the Acadia - This blockade runner sleeps with the fishes just off the coast at Surfside 11/21/00
• Wild Times in Old McDade - Outlaws and vigilantes in McDade
• Dogs in Church - Vintage wit from Gonzales County 10/27/00
• Mass Grave in Gonzales (1905) - Still a mystery today 10/10/00
• From Cost, Texas to Normandy Beach - A World War II hero 9/26/00
• Bailey's Light - A Brazoria ghost tale 9/15/00
• The Alcalde Hotel, Gonzales, Texas - Rooms with a past 9/3/00