Texas Almanac, 1952-1953 Page: 49
[674] p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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BRIEF HISTORY OF TEXAS 49
of Texas and the Louisiana Purchase and
south of Oregon was ceded to the United
States which, however, paid Mexico $15,000,-
000
The administration of Governor Henderson
(Feb. 19, 1846, to Dec. 21, 1847), and that of
Gov. George T. Wood (Dec. 21. 1847, Dec. 21,
1849), which followed, were given, aside from
the interruption by the events of the Mexican
War, to the organization of civil government
in Texas. Having attained political security
within the Union, Legislature and the Gov-
ernor were faced with the tremendous task
of instituting state and local government
under the new constitution.
The first of Texas' many boundary prob-
lems was settled during the administration
of Gov. P. Hansbrough Bell (Dec. 21, 1849-
Nov. 23, 1853). Texas after winning its inde-
pendence had laid claim to all territory north
and east of the Rio Grande, from its mouth
on the Gulf of Mexico to its source in south-
ern Colorado, and it claimed a vaguely de-
fined area even north of this point.
The difficulty was disposed of by a prol l-
sion of the Compromise of 1850 by which
Texas accepted $10,000,000 for its claim to
all land north and west of the present bound-
ary lines of the Trans-Pecos region and Pan-
handle. Since that time there have been
minor disputes over boundary lines, but the
Compromise of 1850 settled definitely the
claim of Texas to half of what is today New
Mexico. as well as certain portions of Colo-
rado. Wyoming and Montana. The new state
was badly in need of the money because a
debt of more than $5,000,000 (large in that
day) hung over it. Bell did not finish his
second term, resigning to become congress-
man He was succeeded briefly by J. W.
Henderson, Lieutenant Governor, Nov. 23,
1853. to Dec. 21, 1853.
Money for Public Schools.
The administration of Elisha M. Pease
(Dec. 21, 1853, to Dec. 21, 1857) witnessed
the establishment of the public school per-
manent fund, through the appropriation of
$2,000.000 of the $10,000.000 received from the
United States under the Compromise of 1850,
to school purposes. This is regarded by his-
torians as a step that put the Pease admin-
istration on a par with the presidential ad-
ministration of Lamar in fostering education
in Texas. Among the other outstanding fea-
tures of Pease's administration were the
passing of the first law granting lands to
ailroads to encourage building in Texas, the
so-called Cart War in 1857 between Texas and
Mexican teamsters on the freight route be-
tween San Antonio and the Gulf ports, and
the attainment of political importance in
Texas of the Know-Nothing party. For his
second term Pease ran in opposition to the
Know-Nothing party, defeating its candidate,
D. C. Dickson.
Increasing bitterness over the question of
slavery and secession clouded the administra-
tion of Hardin R. Runnels (Dec. 21, 1857, to
Dec. 21. 1859). It marked also the passing of
the only serious attempt that Texas ever
made to settle its Indian population within
its own bounds, the two reservations near
Fort Belknap being abandoned.
Runnels was defeated in the elections of
1859 by Sam Houston. Houston and Thomas
J. Rusk had been named the first United
States Senators in 1846. Houston, after re-
election to a second term, left his seat in
March. 1859. He had in the meantime run
against Runnels for Governor in 1857, but
lost. In his victory in 1859, Houston was
aided materially by support of the Know-
Nothing Party. This party, which opposed
foreign immigration and had as its slogan,
"America for the Americans," gained con-
siderable strength in the United States and
in Texas immediately prior to the Civil War.Texas Secedes.
Beginning Dec. 21, 1859, Houston served
until March 16. 1861, when his office was de-
clared vacant by the State Government fol-
lowing secession and reorganization under
the Confederacy. Houston was deposed be-
cause he refused to take the new oath of
allegiance to the Confederacy. Like many
other Southerners of his day, Houston was
a Unionist. Texas had seceded by action of
the secession convention Jan. 28, 1861, and
ratification by the people Feb. 23, Houston's
last official service to Texas was beset by
trouble including the several forays of the
Mexican freebooter, Juan Cortinas, into the
Lower Rio Grande area, where he captured
several points, including Brownsville, before
being driven back into Mexico by the Texas
Rangers.
When Houston was deposed, Edward Clarke,
who had served as Lieutenant Governor, was
sworn' in and served through the remainder
of 1861 (March 16, 1861, to Nov. 7, 1861),
supervising military organization of the state
under the Confederacy. Clarke stood for re-
election, but was defeated by a narrow mar-
gin by Frank R. Lubbock.
TEXAS IN THE' CONFEDERACY
Because of its isolated position Texas was
the scene of relatively little military action
during the Civil War. The Lubbock admin-
istration (Nov. 7, 1861, to Nov. 5, 1863) wit-
nessed most of Texas' participation. An ex-
pedition under Gen. H. H. Sibley early in
1862 captured Santa Fe, N.M., and surround-
ing territory. However, this thrust proved
unsuccessful because of the arrival of supe-
rior numbers of United States soldiers and
the difficulties of operating distances from
base of supplies.
The most important engagements of the
war probably were the capture and recapture
of Galveston, the principal port of the state.
The Texas coast was blockaded from the
beginning of the war, and on Oct. 4, 1862,
Galveston was captured by United States
forces. On Jan. 1, 1863, however, the Con-
federate forces under Gen. John B. Magruder
recaptured Galveston, attacking simultaneous-
ly by land and sea. The attack from the sea
was made by two steamers, on the decks of
which fortifications had been erected with
bales of cotton. Galveston remained in the
hands of the Confederates until the end of
the war.
In September, 1863, Sabine Pass was at-
tacked by gunboats of the United States
Navy convoying a force of 5,000 soldiers,
whom it hoped could be landed for on inva-
sion of Southeast Texas. A force at' Sabine
Pass under Lieut. Dick Dowling hotly re-
sisted the federal attack and repulsed it with
heavy losses. There was also United States
Army activity along the Mexican border in
the Rio Grande Valley where a lucrative
business had grown up in the export of cot-
ton which was bringing a fabulous price at
the time because of the federal blockade of
all Confederate ports. It was in the Lower
Valley in May, 1865, that the last shot of the
War Between the States was fired.
Pendleton Murrah was elected to succeed
Lubbock 'and served from Nov. 5, 1863, to
June 17, 1865, when he fled to Mexico with
the fall of the Confederacy. Gen. E. Kirby
Smith, who commanded the Confederate de-
partment including Texas, surrendered May
30, following Lee's surrender April 9. After
the departure of Governor Murrah for Mex-
ico, *Lieut. Gov. Fletcher S. Stockdale became
Governor, but Gen, Gordon Granger of the
United States Army had been placed in com-
mand of Texas, and A. J. Hamilton was ap-
*There is a question as to whether Stockdale
actually became Governor before General Granger
assumed command. Some historians think that he
should not be included among those who served
in this office.
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Texas Almanac, 1952-1953, book, 1951; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117137/m1/51/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.