Carole Sikes Artist / Writer in Austin, Texas

WHAT DO YOU KNOW about the Pig War in the new nation? The Pig War was a dispute between a hot headed Texan and an arrogant Frenchman in the primitive young town of Austin over a hotel bill in 1841 and beyond. I hope you find it amusing._________ Count Alphonse de Saligny, French Charge d’Affaires, represented France in the new Republic of Texas. He wrote to Paris of his delight and pleasure with the reception he received. This was before his confrontation at the Bullock Hotel. The Texas Congress was in recess so Saligny checked out to visit New Orleans. When receiving his bill he felt over-charged. He offered Bullock a lesser amount that was angrily refused. He left without paying and created an enemy. Upon his return to Austin, he rented a house and an office but his daily walk to the capitol caused him the discomfort of passing in front of the Bullock Hotel on Congress at Pecan (6th street)._________ He purchased 21 acres on a hill east of town to ...

ARMADILLO WORLD HEADAQUARTERS In my day Austin was ethnically divided by East Avenue. In 1960, Interstate 35 replaced this street. Today singles, couples, families, artists and musicians flock to live and operate in the convenient downtown neighborhoods east of US Interstate 35 displacing many of the older and earlier residents. Another coveted place to locate today is south of the river. Hip restaurants, bars, upscale hotels and residences are displacing the cowboy and red neck residents, the quirky retail stores and the souvenir shops that were there previously. In 1960 Austin was awash with hippies. The Armadillo World Headquarters (1970-1981) was Austin's legendary concert hall located on Barton Springs Road across the street from where the Long Center is located today. Eddie Wilson with Jesse Sublet(*) transformed an abandoned National Guard Armory into a music venue that was instrumental (pun intended) for Austin becoming the "The Music Capital of the World". It...

WHAT DO YOU KNOW about Waterloo? In 1838, Texas Vice President Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar arranged for Texas Rangers to take him to the Hornsby’s farm on the Colorado River to meet Jacob Harrell. Also in the party were James Rice, Willis Avery, Edward Fontaine and a slave. The destination was the very small, primitive and dangerous Anglo settlement called Waterloo in the new nation at the edge of Comanche territory. Upon arrival Lamar stayed in the relative safety of Harrell’s cabin. The Vice President was delighted with the beautiful violet foothills and the river valley that was covered with tall grasses. +++++new paragraph+++++ Mirabeau Lamar, poet and dreamer, became the second President of the Republic of Texas and had grand ideas for a new capital city on the Colorado River. The first and third president of Texas favored Harrisburg (Houston) as the capital and opposed almost everything for which Lamar stood, which included extermination of the Indians and Texas expansion to the we...

WHAT DO YOU KNOW about the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas? There are many large ranches in Texas. Arguably the most well-known is the King Ranch. Today it is more than Longhorns and their Santa Gertrudis brand of cattle. It is a corporation with many diverse holdings. Of the three enormous South Texas ranches to be established in the Wild Horse Desert, the Anderson Ranch was the first. In 1852, James H. Durst bought La Barreta, a deserted Mexican land grant. Richard King and Mifflin Kenedy bought their ranchland a year later in the same area. Durst died in 1858 and six years later his widow and two children moved to the more civilized town of Austin leaving the ranch with unscrupulous lawyers in charge. ______________________________________________________________________________ John B. Armstrong came from Tennessee to Austin, Texas. He met and married Mollie Durst, daughter of the late James Durst. Armstrong’s best man was Robert Kleberg, married to Alice King. This would be the fir...

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT Antonia’s leap off Mt. Bonnell? Note: Don’t miss Michael Barnes’ Think Texas columns every Tuesday in the Austin Statesman. He recommends a book by Noah Smithwick, The Revolution of a State. Barnes claims that Smithwick is the best story teller about the period 1830-1860; the “Old 300”was Stephen f. Austin’s first colony. __________________________________________________________________ Now, I have two tales to tell. (1) A frequently told legend and (2) A personal story about the descendant of a former president of Mexico. __________________________________________________________________ 1. The Legend: Mt. Bonnell is a favorite tourist site and a fine place to picnic while viewing Lake Austin. It was well known by the central Texas tribes of Indians as well as early settlers. Antonia was a Spanish maiden living in an early San Antonio mission. A Comanche chief kidnaped the beautiful Antonia. Her fian...

WHAT DO YOU KNOW about the Battle of Plum Creek? In 1838, Mirabeau Lamar, the second president of the new nation of Texas, moved the capital from the boggy bayou near Harrisburg (Houston’ choice) to the settlement of Waterloo with its hills, creeks, canyons and Comanche Indians. Edwin Waller laid out new streets in a grid and the village was renamed Austin. President Lamar wanted to exterminate all Indians and expand the new nation to the U.S. West Coast. Houston’s volunteer army, the militia and the men under San Antonio’s Mayor Sam Maverick’s company of Rangers (1) were occupied with fighting the Indians in this battle ending near Plum Creek in central Texas. = new paragraph= This on-going battle with several Indian tribes began in San Antonio, moved to the Gulf Coast town of Linnville where U.S. Custom Houses were located, then back through Victoria and ended along a creek near Lockhart, Texas.= = It was January 9, 1840, three Comanche Chieftains road into San Antonio to talk peace....

1.From my book, Hudson Bend and the Birth of Lake Travis, Publisher: History Press, S.C. 2014 2.Texian is the term for Anglo colonists in Texas. 3.From a Texas History by Stephen Harrigan entitled Big Wonderful Thing. 4.For comparison: total number of Texans killed at the Goliad massacre and at the Alamo in San Antonio is 800 5.ANA is probably the correct spelling of the name although many prefer Santa Anna I HAVEN'T RESOLVED THE ELIMINATION OF PARAGRAPHS WHEN I COPY AND PASTE FROM MY ORIGINAL DOCUMENT TO THE BLOG. I'm so sorry. Carole Sikes

WHAT DO YOU KNOW about Sam Houston, controversial Texas hero? He was stereotypical of a tall, powerful, get-it-done-my-way man. Picture actor John Wayne or perhaps Donald Trump (say it as you think it) or Lyndon Johnson (get in your face to say it). Houston was a tough, heavy drinking Tennessean very different from Texas hero Stephen F. Austin who as a boy went to private school in Connecticut and as a Texan was eager to get along with Mexico. For Sam it took his second wife Margaret to civilize him. Houston had been Governor of Tennessee before becoming a Texan. Our son married a Tennessee girl. Her handsome Memphis grandfather once said, in his wonderful southern drawl, “From Texas? You know the story about folks heading west from Virginia? If they could read and write they stopped in Tennessee, if not they went on to Texas.” (1) I thought truth be told because I have seen several old real estate deeds with an “X” for a signature. May 1836, a convention at Washington on the Bra...

Note: Once again the Google Blogger has eliminated the indentions on paragraphs in my current blog. Again please accept my apology for a difficult read. Thanks, Carole

September 3, 2020 Stephen F. Austin was an entrepeneur and a diplomat, a cut above the public figures on the frontier both in education and political instinct. He took up his late father's (1) work as a land developer in Texas. He attempted to work with the Mexican government, and did with some success, until Texas won its independence from Mexico in 1836. A few years later the village of Waterloo was renamed after Stephen F. Austin who became the new nation's first Secretary of State. Spanish missionaries were the first white men attempting unsuccessfully to deal with the Native American tribes. Austin made treaties with the friendlier eastern tribes in Texas. The Karankawa Indians along the east Texas coast killed many colonists so militias were formed to drive the threat away. Spain accepted Mexican Independence from Spain in 1821. Mexicans living in Coahuila y Tejas, called Tejnos, settled north of the Rio Grande River, mostly around and in San Antonio de Bexar. It was 1...

August 15, 2020 WHAT DO YOU KNOW about Bastrop? El Camino Real, "the King's Highway" (1) was blazed as early as 1691 to reach the unsuccessful Spanish missions in the wilderness of east Texas. This route crossed the Colorado River where the Baron de Bastrop established a colony in 1823 that was later abandoned because of Indian raids. Pioneers, both American and Mexican, were seeking land in Texas. A stockade was built and troops were stationed to protect the traffic along El Camino Real. Mexicans crossed the Rio Grande River onto land south of San Antonio. Many anglos settled in east Texas and along the Colorado River on bends upstream from Bastrop named Reed, Powel, Hemphill, Wilbarger, Pope, and Hornsby Bends. Rueben and Sarah Hornsby generously made their farm a stopping place for neighbors to collect mail and exchange news. Newcomers were welcome to stay there while seeking land farther north.  In 1832, Josiah Wilbarger offered four men, prospective immigrants, a ...

WHAT DO YOU KNOW about the Galveston’s Maceo family? In the late 19th century Galveston was an important port rivaling Ellis Island. The Moodys, Kempners and Sealys controlled Galveston. Remnants of elegance still exist in the grand Galvez Hotel and old homes north of downtown. Ten years after the 1900 flood, Galveston began to rise as a gambling center. The Maceo brothers arrived in 1913, becoming friends with the Beach Gang while barbering the prominent citizens of the town. Prohibition (1919-1933) lead to moonshining and Sam in his barber shop at the Galvez and Rose in his shop downtown, offered samples of their wine. They became partners with illegal distillers by storing liquor in their beach house before it was shipped to Middle America. In the early 1920s Soda Stands on the streets were a front for liquor sales and these agreeable boys were becoming wealthy. They attended the First Baptist Church on Sundays and they were known, liked and respected. The Beach Gang and another, ...

The use of camels by the military was first proposed in 1836 by Maj. George H. Crosman, a West Point graduate. The idea came up again twelve years later when Maj. Henry C. Wayne endorsed the concept with a study for their use in the southwest. It was backed by Jefferson Davis, a U.S. senator from Mississippi at that time. In 1853, the Secretary of War established the U. S. Camel Corps with a grant from Congress for $20,000 to bring camels to Texas. On March 3, 1855, Maj. Wayne was made the commander of the corps and was dispatched to the Middle East to procure the exotic livestock. The U. S. Supply ship stopped in Tunisia, Malta, Greece, and Turkey bringing 33 camels with saddles and tack to America. One died, but a camel calf was born on the journey which landed in Indianola on the Texas coast. The caravan was moved to San Antonio while the ship left for a return voyage. Feb. 1857, Camp Verde in Kerr County became headquarters for the U.S. Camel Corp. The original herd was joined ...

During Prohibition, Governor Pat Neff worked with a more punitive state law than the Federal Volstead Act. Neither laws had deterred the Glen Rose cotton farmers from their very lucrative Moonshine business. The farmlands and hills were awash with distilleries. Bootleggers, whiskey haulers and even prominent citizens were in on the take from thirsty folks in “dry” north Texas. One of the “bootleggers” was former policeman Tom Darnaby and the County Attorney’s son Bryan Roark. Another distillery owner was cotton farmer Jim West and his two sons. Twenty five year old Dick Watson and his boyhood friend, Pruitt Merrill hauled moonshine in glass jars to dealers and speakeasies in Dallas and Ft. Worth. Respected Dr. William B. Pruitt, a licensed physician, organized all of the operators into a syndicate of distillers and haulers. He then bribed the local law officers so the illegal organization would not be bothered, while taking his cut of the considerable profits. Governor Neff sent Te...

June 2020 WHAT DO YOU KNOW about Texas Rangers previously published in the Westminster Banner. Some had trouble getting into my June blog and the essay about Texas Rangers, if you did, try this: Get to your browser by clicking the big "e" symbol (or however you bring up your browser). Next type in my name, Carole Sikes. That should bring several options. Select carolesikes.blogspot.com. Or carolesikes artist.com or carolesikes texas blog.com It was reported that when using the fastest way by typing the above into the band at the top of the screen htts://www.carolesikes.blogspot.comthere would be a message that my blog was not safe. Not true, I blogged my paintings for years. Hope you enjoy essays about things TEXAS. There will be trivia, legend and a little history thrown in. I'm encouraged by the comments. Thanks and keep them coming.

    WHAT DO YOU KNOW about the Texas Rangers?   In 1886, the state legislature officially recognized the Texas Rangers but their revered reputation was established earlier. Many young men drawn to danger and adventure came to Texas. They were Indian fighters and fought Mexico for Independence with Sam Houston in the Battle of San Jacinto and later they fought alongside the U.S. Army in central Texas.(1) They participated in the last great Indian Battle of Palo Duro Canyon when Comanche Chief Quanah surrendered. Rangers, training with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders in San Antonio, went with him to Cuba for the Spanish American War.(2) As early as 1835, Indian fighters called a “Corp of Rangers” provided security for the early colonies. They were paid by the provisional governments. Extra money was earned by trading horses and plunder. They rode with no baggage, no tents and they ate what they shot. They were skillful and resourceful but rough and undisciplined. ...

 After a life changing move and retirement from painting, I'm writing. I've spent a my life living in Texas. In the past I wrote a column for the weekly Lake Travis View entitled IN HUDSON BEND. Upon moving back into Austin I wrote a book published by The History Press of South Carolina, HUDSON BEND AND THE BIRTH OF LAKE TRAVIS, available on Amazon. Currently I contribute to and serve on the Editorial Board of the Westminster Writers Journal. Also I write short essays, under the heading WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT TEXAS, for the monthly newsletter called the Banner. It is my intent to create a new blog, but this time it will NOT be about paintings. Please join me for comments and fun facts and some astonishing history of Texas in a random order. My hope is to attract natives as well as newcomers and wantabe Texans. Your comments will be welcome. www.carolesikes.blogspot.com  for my WHAT DO YOU KNOW about Texas series. Thanks!