The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, July 1961 - April, 1962 Page: 51
663 p. : ill., maps (some col.), ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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San Antonio Welcomes the "Sunset"-1877
of San Antonio. In a more serious vein, another speaker, Galusha
Aaron Grow, president of the International and Great Northern
Railway and former congressman of Pennsylvania, noted that
San Antonio was "perhaps the largest city on the continent today
that had remained so long without railroad connection." Fol-
lowing other speeches, the first day's ceremonies ended with a
reception in the Menger which was thronged with celebrants
anxious to extend their congratulations to the platform guests.14
Social activities resumed at eleven the following morning as
a "mass of moving people" streamed into the Menger for the
governor's reception. For three hours elegantly dressed ladies,
military officers stationed in the city, and the local gentry mingled
with the out-of-town guests. Many San Antonians had extended
hospitality to the visitors at an even earlier hour. Local persons
called at the Menger in their carriages and escorted the excur-
sionists to points of interest in the city, in particular San Pedro
Springs and the missions.
At least one of the guests was hardly in a mood to continue
the festivities. During the night a prankster in the Menger moved
clothing from one room to another. While most of the travellers
laughed heartily at the episode, one irritated gentleman came
down to breakfast in clothing which was far too tight and a small
hat. On one foot he wore "a No. 5 Congress gaiter, and on the
other a No. 12 cow hide boot."
That evening everyone moved toward Wolfram's Garden on
Bowen's Island. Music, torches, flag bedecked trees, the moon,
the stars, beer and wine, and the seemingly omnipresent Chinese
lanterns provided the setting for the oratory which began at
8: OO P.M.'5
Judge Columbus W. Upson presided at this gathering and
introduced the speakers including the governor, the lieutenant
governor, and the chief justice of the state supreme court. While
each was felicitous in his expression, one idea was prevalent in
the statements made by several. Now that San Antonio had a
railway it was unthinkable that the state should be divided. The
railroad was the factor which would hold the state together. This
14Ibid.
1 Ibid., February 21, 1877.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, July 1961 - April, 1962, periodical, 1962; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101195/m1/71/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.