ililflilKHlii c^t^ f ^ /^'t The Story of Corpus Christi By MRS. MARY X. SUTHERL.\XD Edited by Frank B . Harrison PUBLISHED 1916 Corpus Christi Chapter Daughters of the Confederacy COPYRIGHT APPLIED FOR Ci PRESS OF Rein & Sons Company houston, texas N9 i ::^ ^ ■4-^ i ^ Mary A. Sutherland DEDICATION TO THE SOLDIERS OF THE CONFEDERACY, THEIR WIVES, DAUGHTERS AND SONS WHO EVER STRIVE TO KEEP ALIVE THE GALLANT, DEVOTED SPIRIT OF THE OLD, AND COURAGEOUS, OPTIMISTIC SPIRIT OF THE NEW SOUTH, THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTION- ATELY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR AND CORPUS CHRISTI CHAPTER, DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY. N^ PREFACE The Story of Corpus Christi, presented in this liook form as the labor of Mrs. Mary A. Sutherland and with biographical sketches by Mrs. Sam Rankin, Eli T. Merri- man and others, does not undertake a general and compre- hensi\e review of the many years' history of Corpus Cliristi and section, nor does it pretend to detail the many activities that have contributed into making Corpus Christi the beauti- ful gem city of the Texas Coast. Rather the efforts of the author have been devoted to presenting in plain narrative form, a recountal of the days when Corpus Christi was young, of the trials and tribulations that fell to the lot of her residents in the war periods, and finally to emerge as a fast growing and progressive city of the Southland. If an error has been made it has been of the head and nut the heart. Honest effort has been made to present a book that will reflect great credit on Corpus Christi and her people and to be remembered with pride l)y Corpus Christi- ans in the years to follow. With the author the work has been a labor of love. For years it has been with her, a cherished ambition to give to the people of Corpus Christi a history of their city. Through the untiring energy of Corpus Christi Chapter, Daughters of the Confederacy, the volume has been published with the hope that it will meet with the approval of those men and women who know and lo\e the Corpus Christi, of yesterday and todav. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. p^ge. The Story of Corpus Christi i The discovery of Corpus Christi. First settlement on the site of our present city. Village first occupied by Span- ish Garrison. The legend of Casa Blanca. The first white man to reach Corpus Christi. CHAPTl'lK II. Landing of General Taylor 6 When the United States declared war on Mexico. Gen- eral Taylor and troops in camp at Corpus Christi. A fight between soldiers and snakes. When Jefferson Davis, U. S. Grant were stationed in Corpus Christi. CHAPTER HI. Mexicans Attack Americans 9 Americans attacked while attending Mexican haile. Headquarters of General Taylor on Water Street. Taylor and his army depart for Mexico. The old Military Cemetery. CHAPTER IV. Indian Depredations 14 One of the early depredations. When yellow fever in- vaded Corpus Christi in 1854. An early day ball, given by the enlisted men. Bookkeeping in the early days. Begin- ning of the Civil War. CHAPTER V. The Civil \\ar 19 Civil War days in Corpus Christi and vicinity. Pre- sentation by ladies of first Confederate flag. Blockading fleet of the Federals at the two Passes. When John Ireland was Military Governor of Corpus Christi. CHAPTi:R VI. Th e Last Flag of Truce 23 How the Confederates sent out the last flag of truce. Federals liombarded Corpus Christi August 7, 1802. The landing of the enemy. viii Table of Contents CHAPTER VII. p^gp A Trap for the Enemy 28 How the Rebels trapped the Federals. Attempts to prevent Rebels from gathering salt. Two lucky soldier boys find Mexican coins. CHAPTER VIII. When the War Ended 32 Two negro regiments officered l)y white men, first to occupy Corpus Christi. The Ku Kkix Klan. The first bicycle and the first baseball games in Corpus Christi. CHAPTER IX. First Carpetbagger Governor 38 E. J. Davis left Corpus Christi to rule Texas as the first Carpetbagger Governor. Corpus Christi again visited by yellow fever, claiming scores of victims. Death of the be- loved War-Time Priest, Father Canard. CHAPTER X. Some Early Day Merchants 42 The early day wagon trade and pioneer merchants. Building of the Texas-Mexican Railroad. Captain Richard King an early day ranchero and progressive. Trouble with Mexican freebooters. Mexicans make raid at Nuecestown. CHAPTER XI. The Author Reaches Corpus Chrlsti 48 How Corpus Christi appeared in 1876. Jangle of Mexi- can words first impressed visitors. The cattle and sheep industry. CHAPTER XII. The Man W'ith the Hoe 52 Early truck growing in Nueces County. Building of the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railroad. Early day baseball teams and some historic games. The arrival of Colonel Ropes and the Ropes boom. Building of the St. Louis. Brownsville & Mexico Railroad. Building of the ladies' pavilion. Epworth League Encampment. CHAPTER XIII. When Fitzsimmons Trained in Corpus Christi. .... 59 Tn the summer of 1895 Fitzsimmons trained in Corpus Christi. The first naval show on Nueces Bay. The first electric lights and the first automobile. Table of Contents CHAPTER XIV. Page. The Visit of Presidkxt Taft 62 President William H. Taft visited Corpus Christi in 1909. Entertained at the home of Mrs. Henrietta M. King. CHAPTER XV. The Aumimstratiox of Dan Ri:id 65 The administration of Mayor Dan Reid, his accom- I)lishments and his untimely death. Early day social aflfairs. The annua! halls of the Corpus Christi Volunteer Fire Department. CHAPTER XVI. So-ME Early Entertainments 69 The arrival of the lightning rod agent and medicine shows. The first street carnival. The first city hack and how it was used at an election. Inc<^rporation of Corpus Christi. The Mavors of Corpus Ciirisli since incorporation in 1852. " . CHAPTER XVII. Corpus Christi Schools 78' When Colonel Kinney hrought a circus to Corpus Christi from New Orleans. Carnival given by Master Butchers. Early day puldic and private schools. CHAPTER XVIII. Th e Pastores 82 The Mexican Pastores held at the Vuletide season. Tlie Mexican in South Texas. Mexican amusements. Early newspapers. CHAPTER XIX. Early Xewspaper Articles 88 The first public school enrolled one hundred and forty- six pupils. The first fire engine. The first bonus raised by citizens was to dig channel. Items from early issues of Corpus Christi newspapers. CHAPTER XX. The Tmrst Churches ■ 92 Methodist Sunday School organized in 1858. Building of Protestant Church buildings and organization of congre- gations. The murder of George Hatch. Table of Contents CHAPTER XXT. Page. SoM E Early Settlers • 95 Short biographical sketches of James Hunter, Mark Downey, Colonel Spann, George French, M. Lichtenstein, R. G. Blossman, Capt. James Thompson, August Ricklefsen, John Uehlinger, James McKenzie, Thomas Beynon, Captain Oliver, W. B. Wrather and others. The civic works of Eli T. Merriman. CHAPTER XXH. Other Pioneer Residents 102 Short biographical sketches of pioneer Corpus Chris- tians. CHAPTER XXHI. The Life of Colonel Kinney 104 Colonel Kinney killed in Matamoras in 1865 while a skirmish was in progress between two Mexican factions. The Kinney-Jones land title cases. Some hard cases of eviction. CHAPTER XXIV. Haverty Versus McClane 106 Sherifif John McClane goes to Chicago and "kidnaps" D. Haverty, sutler in a negro regiment. Haverty later causes arrest in Chicago of McClane. How the case terminated. CHAPTER XXV. Civil War Battles at Corpus Christi 1 1 1 Two engagements between the North and South on Corpus Beach during the Civil War. Confederate Camp organized in 1910. CHAPTER XXVI. Stories of Early Days 116 First white child born in Corpus Christi was Andrew Baldeschwiller. The old crossing at the reef. CHAPTER XXVII. Our Mexican Citizens 120 Stories that illustrate the typical Mexican resident of South Texas. Story of Raids By Mexican Bandits 123 Corpus Christi Postmasters 129 Beginning and Ending of Civil War 130 Some Early Settlers 132 The Daughters of the Confederacy 140 The Corpus Christi of Today i45 The Story of Corpus Christi By MRS* MARY A. SUTHERLAND T iniuiruiiMiiiiiiiiDiiitiiiiiiiiQiiiiiiiimiciimiimiiiDniiiiiioioniNiiiiiinimiMmiiaiiiiiiuiiMniiiiiiiiiiiOMiiiiiiiiiDiiMimiiiiuiuriiiniiiLj^^ CHAPTER I. Corpus Christi, quietly, queenly and beautiful, she lies on the warm white sands, like a mermaid taking a rest after her bath in the sparkling waters at her feet. The first knowledge we have of our beautiful Bay of Corpus Christi, is derived from ancient French Chronicles. In 1687 the ill-fated La Salle, in his search for the mouth of the Mississippi, visited and claimed this coast for the Crown of France, and in his search undoubtedly visited our shore, but went no further inland. The Bay was discovered on a Catholic festival day. Corpus Christi Day, and hence the name Corpus Christi. Our first information of a settlement on the site of our present city, is of a little Mexican settlement which, about the beginning of the last century, was surprised by a band of Indians and the inhabitants killed or carried into captivity, and a small boy, after years of roaming with his captors, escaped and returned, living on and being a constant em- ployee of the Santa Gertrudis Ranch until the time of his death, when he was a very old man. The original Mexican village above mentioned was located about where the Kenedy Pasture Company Building now stands. There can be no douI)t but that this was a favorite fishing ground for the wild tribes of Indians roving this section of the country, which teemed with food ; fish to be had for the taking, and great oyster beds uncovered at low tide. The adjoining prairies were covered with deer and buffalo. The Indians held possession here for years after the destruction of this village, using the same as a hunting and fishing ground. The village mentioned was imdoubtedly established here during the occupancy of this place by a Spanish garrison, and The Story of Corpus Christi left to its fate upon the withdrawal of the troops. The troops at this point were commanded by Captain Enrique Villareal, who afterwards received a grant of land from the Spanish Government, extending from what is known as the "Oso," on the south, to Nueces Bay, a distance of about fourteen miles, on the north, and from Corpus Christi Bay on the east, to Barranca Blanca, about 28 miles, on the west, which grant was by his heirs sold to Captain H. L. Kinney. While Captain Villareal was stationed here, he sent a report to his King, reporting the discovery of a rich silver mine in this section of the country, two days' ride from Corpus Christi, stating that he, Villareal, had opened this mine, and was working it with a detachment of soldiers to guard it, and that the Indians had surprised and killed the entire party, and that he needed a stronger force of men to reopen it. There the report ended, and to this day no one knows the locality of this mine. Two days' journey at that time meant the distance that could be traveled by an ox team be- tween dawn and sunset. About this distance from Corpus Christi stands the old deserted ruins of Casa Blanca (White House). Of this old ruin no one living knows one word of its story. White and silent it stands on the hillside, with great trees growing up through its chimneys, and vines climbing over its doorsills, the very picture of desolation, guarding its secrets well. As the Spaniards hid all their mines, on the evacuation of the country after the War of Independence of Mexico in 1810, did they hide this mine so closely that it remains a secret to this day to the white man who pastures his flocks upon the site. Many men have sought in vain for this Eldorado. That there is documentary evidence of this lost city is borne out by a circumstance occurring years after the Spaniard, with his plumed hat and silver spurs, and the fierce Indian, with bloody tomahawk, had blazed his last trail and gone into the Great Beyond. In 1868 a young ranchman bought land, built a home, and brought his young bride to live on this lonely ranch near the Silent City. They noticed and spoke of a peculiar mound of stones standing near their home, remarking that it seemed The Story of Corpus Christ: 3 to be built by hands, and not a natural heap of boulders, but were too busy to investigate. During the following winter, one wild night when a Texas Norther, of the wet variety, was whooping over the plains, and the inmates of the ranch home were snug behind closed doors, the dogs began to bark- wildly, keeping it up for several hours. Their master sup- posed they were defending the sheepfold against some wild animal, knew they were to be trusted, and did not go out. What was his surprise next morning to see that the mound had been removed during the night and a gaping hole opened at its base. Who came, from where, for what, no one knows. But so many years had elapsed since the desertion of the place that we can only suppose that the discovery of some old record, perhaps in Mexico, or even in Spain, might have incited the hunt. The ranchero, though full of curiosity, was glad that his confidence in his dogs had kept him in, being sure that his visitors would not have scrupled to add another tragedy to the list, if interrupted in their hunt for buried treasure the stones had been placed to mark. What? Vale Casa Blanca and your Mystery. The Conquistadore has gone, his camp deserted, and the places that knew him are glad to know him no more. Next we read of an efifort to colonize our sister County of San Patricio, and a colony was placed at the town of that name. One was also formed for Mission Refugio, another at Copano. At each place there was a Spanish Mission and small garrison of Mexican troops. Going back, in 1824, we have the very first news of a white man in Corpus Christi, the sole survivor of a vessel wrecked on Padre Island, pulled across the bay in a yawl, and who found a home with a few Mexicans then here. He afterwards removed to Refugio, where he lived to a great age. From him we learned much lore of early days, and of some things which had puzzled us. Particularly as to how the earliest inhabitant earned his living. One word enlightened us — Smuggling. Our bay was an ideal spot for this industry, and though the life was hard and wild, good money was made at it. In "Lynn's Fifty Years in Texas," we read that the author came to Corpus Christi in 1829 with a cargo of goods purchased in New The Story of Corpus Christi Orleans for the Mexican trade ; that a man named Wright was to meet him here with a pack train to carry the goods to Rio Grande. Wright failed to appear, and Lynn went to Matamoros for a train, leaving his boat at Flour Bluff. On the journey he stopped at various Mexican ranches on the trail, and was well treated by rancheros, who reminded him of the Patri- archs of Bible days, living by their flocks and herds, all being pious, God-fearing Catholic people, holding morning and evening prayer, but not another word does he tell us of our little city. Again we learn that prior to 1846, a Mr. Moore, with his wife and daughter lived here. Their house, a neat adobe, stood on the site of the Corpus Christi National Bank, and was torn away when the Bank was built, late in the years of eighteen hundred. A Mr. Belden, who was married to a Spanish lady, also lived here, and he and the Moores were the only Americans here at that date. The old Belden house stands yet on Mesquite Street near the Arroyo. It is a certainty that the bold Buccaneers often visited our bay for fuel and water, as they kept guard on the nearby high seas for the rich galleons of Spain, loaded with the loot from the Aztec Temples. For more than two centuries these freebooters sailed and robbed the robber, and not until 1820 did the last one sail away from these waters. Jean Lafitte in that year, act- ing upon a hint from our Government, set fire to his head- quarters on Galveston Island, called in his scouts, and has the doubtful honor of being the last pirate ever on this coast. From this time we have no record of events for the years between 1820 and 1846. That a trade was built up with the interior, and Mexico, is borne out by the fact, as the few Americans here in 1846 were engaged in some business netting a living. Occasional boats from New Orleans and Mobile visited the settlement. As to whether or not they paid duty on their cargoes, is not our affair. Our bay, with its many tributaries, was an ideal spot for the contraband. The trade was with half civilized people, and if the earliest inhabitants risked life and prop- The Story of Corpus Christi 5 crty in the venture, they were a brave, hardy race. The risk was theirs, and they were paving the way to give this near I'^arthly Paradise to the people who could make a white man's country of it. From 1840 to 1846 there were various Colonies brought to nearby sites. The Irish Colony of San Patricio, the Mis- sion Refugio, and what was then known as Sabardie, a mission near Goliad. These earliest emigrants suffered ter- rible privations. In 1834 two schooners were wrecked at the bar, on St. Joseph's Island. Cholera appeared among them, and it is estimated that four out of every six found a resting place 'neath the waters of the Gulf, as the sur- vivors were not able to give them Christian burial, and they were cast over without ceremony. The survivors were fin- ally carried to Copano on rafts, by ^Mexican soldiers, where they made rude shelters of poles and bedding. Eventually they traveled on to other villages where a few of their coun- try people had preceded them, to get a foothold, only to be harried and their last belongings burned, and they driven from the State by the Revolution of 1836. Many of them came back, some of the best names, of the best citizens in the surrounding country, were borne by the families at that time. An incident of the landing of the unfortunates at Copano was told by an eye witness. A party of Indians went out to help them land, as there was no dock and they had to wade ashore. The Indians were friendly, but as they approached the barge, holding out their arms to clasp the children, the poor mothers clasped them tight and went over the opposite side. Poor mothers and poor babies ! We are forcibly reminded of the saying. "Between the Devil and the deep blue sea." The women of that time realized its meaning. One of the children oft" that boat, who remembered that trip, lived many years in Corpus Christi, dying only a few days ago. On June 2^, 1845, Texas became a State of the Union. The Story of Corpus Christi CHAPTER II. Landing of General Taylor. On May ii, 1846, the United States declared war against Mexico. During the autumn months of 1845, our eastern horizon went mad. Clouds of white canvas appeared, long lines of barges, towed by fussy little tugs, traveled across the water. General Taylor's army of occupation had arrived and camped upon the disputed territory. Mexico claimed the Nueces River as the dividing line, while Texas claimed south to the Rio Grande. Texas had become a State of the Union, June 23, 1845, ^^^ Uncle Sam was backing her rights. Slowly the fleet crawled into this unknown bay, and putting in close to shore they anchored, and men and horses sprang into the water and waded ashore. Where the Epworth League was located, was the landing place, and soon long rows of white tents dotted the plain, and the American officer, in all his bravery of gold epaulets and nodding plume, exercised his blooded steed on the snowy shell beach. Long lines of infantry followed. Cannon was tmloaded, parked camps surveyed, and guards placed. General Taylor was at home in Texas, or Mexico as the case might seem ! The troops were put to work to clear the ground, no small work at that time as the grass was as tall as a man's head, and like all the Texas coast, the ground literally swarmed with serpents, principally the rattler, though all the native varieties were present ; the soldiers even claiming that the sea serpent landed nightly and gave battle to the land forces. One still night the rattle of the numerous snakes created a panic in the camp of the Seventh U. S. Infantry, and they fled, to a man. Following the beach they came south to the Bayou, where they stopped with the artiller}^ men until day- light, when they returned and killed one hundred and four- teen snakes in and around camp. The soldiers, in addition to making camp, were put to work to build long embankments of saiid as a windbreak and The Story of Corpus Christi protection from the Northers. They may Ije plainly traced today, long mounds of earth lying east and west. Some years since, the writer was able to trace several redoubts, one very plainly at the foot of Hughes Street, near the bay. About the center of block fourteen, west side of Chaparral Street, was an enclosed space of about fifty feet square, with only one entrance. This, an ex-soldier told me, was undoubt- edly the magazine, but in the march of progress those old landmarks have gone, and only the long rows of windbreaks remain, mute witnesses of the days when the brave men faced an unknown foe, and won for the white race one of the fairest spots in all Texas. In that great army of occupation came many in the heyday of youth, whose names later were to become known throughout the world. Here on our beach landed the Mississippi Yagers, so called because armed with the then new Yager rifle. This regiment was commanded by Col. Jefiferson Davis, soon to win laurels in Mexico, and later to be the only President of the Southern Confederacy, a soldier, a student, a scientist, a gentleman. A bright man in each role, but reaching the grandeur of his life and manhood when old and poor, a manacled prisoner in Fortress Monroe, he defended, at immi- nent risk of his life, the people and the cause which he had served so faithfully, and during the remainder of his life, was an honor to the land which gave him birth. U. S. Cjrant was a young officer in this command, and noted as a fearless horseman. The story- goes that he pur- chased an untamed horse from a native. No one would go near the vicious brute, and the Captain took him in hand. With the help of his entire troop he mounted and away over the brush and briar, through thorn and chaparral, went this blue streak, occasionally approaching camp only to have the maddened animal bolt anew, much to tiie edification of his brother oft'icers and the men, but a few hours later he rode into camp with a thoroughly subdued mount. Another story of the Captain was that he went one evening to call upon the only American lady of the village. Some of his brother offi- cers, thinking he was monopolizing too much of her time, f^nt some one to trim up his horse, which was tied at the The Story of Corpus Christi gate (now the Corpus Christi National Bank). When the officer came out he found an apparent mule standing at the rack. He hunted the miscreant in vain, consigning the poor, disfigured and disgraced steed to the pack or wagon train. He purchased and mastered the mustang. With this brave galaxy came the afterward noted Rebel, General Longstreet, and the equally to be distinguished, General Sherman, who won fame by marching through Georgia, and on that same march to the sea, the undying hate of the Georgian, which was plainly demonstrated a few years since, when his son, Father Sherman, started to follow the route his father had burned his way through some forty years before. No less a personage than our own Colonel Theodore Roosevelt called off the escort, and not wishing to see a new Civil War organized, the trip was abandoned. The Story of Corpus Christi CHAPTER III. Mexicans Attack Americans. One night some of the enhsted men attended a Mexican baile or dance on the hill. The Mexicans attacked the Amer- icans, killing one man and chasing the others into camp. Although war had not been declared against Mexico at this date, there was no love between the races. Longstreet, Sherman and others not mentioned, headed a party and made an informal call upon the revelers, killing four men, burning every jacal (called hackel) on the bluff, and running every Mexican ofif the hill into the brush. Some of the wives of the officers and men came out. as did the sutler and other camp followers, and Corpus Christi soon had a little American Colony. General Taylor's headquarters were on W^ater Street, in block four, in a concrete or adobe house, lately torn down to make room for a warehouse built by John Jordt, pioneer furniture dealer. The only American young lady in the colony was wooed and won by a gallant Captain of the volun- teers. Captain Berry, who returned at the close of the w^ar and married her. She died after a short and happy married life, mourned by all who knew her. She left an infant son, now one of the sterling citizens of a sister city. But the day and the order to advance came. There was wild riding to and from the various camps. Groups of orderlies and staff officers came and went again to head- quarters, and if the mermaids were looking at that scene of brilliant array, which was gathered that April morning on the borders of their domain, they saw the American soldier at his best. And if a mermaid is gifted with second sight, they must have shed tears, lots of tears, knowing that some of the hearts beating wnth enthusiastic patriotism were never to reach that boundar}^ river in dispute, that others were to sleep their last sleep 'neath an alien sky, while others were 10 The Story of Corpus Christi to suffer the tortures of a Mexican dungeon, and come back broken in health and return home to die. The order was given and the advance was on. Long Hues of cavalry led the way over the plain. The artillery bumped its slow pace over unmarked roads, followed by the infantry, and they in turn by miles of wagon train, great pack trains, each, wagon drawn by six large mules, for the army of occupation must carry its subsistence with it. The noisy little tugs and transports, with a part of the troops, were sent to Point Isabel, about one hundred miles south of Corpus Christi, at the mouth of the Rio Grande. The landing of these troops, and the advance of General Taylor's land forces deeply stirred Mexico. Taylor reached the river and founded Fort Brown (now Brownsville). In moving down the river to form a junction with his forces at Point Isabel, he was met by a Mexican force, and the first battle of the war, Palo Alto (high tree), was fought on May 8, 1846. The next day the battle of Resaca de la Palma was won by American arms. These battles were fought on Texas soil, near Brownsville, on the 8th and 9th of May, 1846, though the war with Mexico was not de- clared until May 11 of that year. The Mexicans, smarting over the loss of Texas, were eager for the fray, and pre- cipitated the war by which they were to lose more territory, but to this day they believe that Texas fought that war, and among the ignorant class, and there is legion of him, every American or citizen of the United States, is a Texan. They hate him only as an Indian can hate. Taylor with his victorious army crossed the Rio Grande, and we travel back over his well marked trail with our story. But on the route back, a few miles north of Browns- ville, we come upon a veritable horror. At the Arroyo Colorado, a party of Americans (civilian traders), following in the wake of the army, camp for the night. The next morn- ing the sun beat upon a rifled camp, and sixteen stark bodies, but one of the bodies moves, crawls slowly to the shade of the brush, where later he is found, covered with knife wounds, by a Mexican farmer. He was but a young Ameri- cano, and he was carried to the Mexican women of the fam- ily. They hid him and nursed him back to health. Captain The Story of Corpus Christi U Rogers lived many years in Corpus Christi, and his children and grandchildren are today of our best citizens. Back to our starting point ! How hard to realize that many years have flown. Today perhaps there are some- where, a few old cannon in some home, a sword or epaulet, cherished as souvenirs of that splendid army. The ships, the wagons, the horses and the men are dust. A few long mounds of shell, a cemetery which was surveyed by Taylor's engineers, a few old traditions, is all that is left of that army. That some of them died here we know, hence the ne- cessity of a cemetery. They lie in long forgotten gra\es. A few years since a letter was received by the Woman's Ceme- tery Association, asking if the grave of one Colonel Hodge- kiss could be traced. It could not, and only from that letter do we know that Colonel Hodgekiss served with Taylor, and died in camp here, and was buried on the hillside. In later years, officers and men of other times and other wars were laid beside him, and for the last few years the ladies of the Cemetery Association cared for the Cod's Acre in this old Military Cemetery, now Bay View. In a beautiful spot, overlooking two bays, lies the dust of heroes, men who ser\-ed in the Texas Army, the Mexican War, Indian Wars, Ci\ il War (both sides), and one poor fellow who died in camp here during the Spanish-.\merican War. 'Neath a lonely mound, marked by a simple marble slab, lies all that is mortal of Captain Van Buren, of the Mounted Rifles, who was mortally wounded in an engagement with the Indians in 1854, the stone erected, according to the epi- taph, by his only sister. On the face of the stone is the mark showing where it was struck by two grape shot during the bombardment of the city by the Union fleet during the Civil A\'ar. Beside it lies another stone, shattered by shots hred at the same time. .\ busy city has grown up on all sides of the old ceme- tery, and at the foot of the hill stand the depots of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad, and the San .\ntonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad ; and ever busy life surges around the spot to which the early settler always carried his gun. ever on the lookout for the skulking savage. 12 The Story of Corpus Christi But few of the soldiers' graves are marked, but we know that they lie there. Owing to the efforts of Post Com- mander E. J. Kilmer of the Grand Army of the Republic, the graves of the Union soldiers have been marked by a marble stone. A large stone bearing the simple words, "To the Memory of Confederate dead, who lie in this and ad- jacent cemeteries," was erected a few years since by a local historical association, whose names will appear later. Sometime in the Forties, one Colonel Kinney purchased the Villareal tract of land, bordering on the bay shore, upon which the city now stands, and it became known as Kinney's Ranch. The Colonel was a progressive man, and willing to di- vide the good land with others, he started a real estate boom that would be up-to-date even in this fast age. We read of his agents in far away Ireland, England, Scotland, and even the Northern Isle of Man was on the list. Supposedly also in Germany, as we got German Colonists of a superior class. In truth, all of the earliest arrivals were of a staunch, pros- perous class. We read in an unpublished history, which was written by a highly gifted lady, whose father emigrated at an early date, that each head of a family was required to bring farm- ing tools, and provisions for a year, also clothing and general supplies. All of them brought some money, but alas, many of the tools were never to kiss the virgin soil. And provisions that would keep sweet in the climate from which they came, would soon be unfit for use in our warm zone. This lady's father was of the earliest colonists, who for some strange reason, in this and other parts of the State, passed the good lands and tried to found cities in impossible nooks. For proof, San Felipe, Washington, Velasco, Anahuac, San Pa- tricio are recalled. I can call to mind but one of the early places which held its own, San Antonio, and she owes her prosperity to the God-given water, pure and plenty. This with the seemingly inborn instinct of her people to tear down anything standing in the way of their progress. A sister city is kin to San Antonio, only while she pays tribute to Alamo City. San Antonio, like our city, has won out, and we will The Story of Corpus Christi 13 visit and enjoy her streams and parks. If we have not the same, we have water, salt water with fish in it, and oysters and crabs and shrimp, sea food for the taking. This was a golden age for the Bay Sailors who unloaded the heavy draught steamers at Aransas Pass, lightering the goods across the bay to the city. Years afterward an old Bay Captain told me that his banner trip netted him an even five hundred dollars, this on a cargo of flour. Never less than one hundred dollars a trip was cleared. When we say Aransas Pass, we mean Aransas Pass, the pass from the Gulf, between Mustang and St. Joseph's Islands, which has borne the name since it was charted. Situated on the North Bay Shore, between here and Rockport, a town sprang up, known as Aransas Harbor. In the boom in the eighties, later it appeared as Aransas Pass. We are surprised that no attention was paid to the change in name, as it is, to say the least of it, misleading. The Washington telegrams occa- sionally give the news of appropriations for Aransas Pass, and of work progressing at that point. Naturally, to a person not on the ground, it would seem that the Government was doing a lot of work there, while in reality there has never been an appropriation of any kind for this little place. The citizens of the simon pure pass accommodatingly named their postoffice Tarpon (later changed to Port Aransas), but to the outside world, to the Government Engineers, and to all of this country, Aransas Pass is still at the same old spot as in the days of Lafitte, and of the early settlers, where in the near future a great seaport will be built ; Government Dredges have dug a chan- nel from thence up to the wharves at Corpus Christi. 14 The Story of Corpus Christi CHAPTER IV. Indian Depredations. During the years between the Mexican and Civil Wars our people led an easy care-free life, an occasional Indian scare, or the arrival of a bad man who shot up the town, were about all the excitements of the times. The Indians raided near, and occasionally shot an unwary hunter or trav- eler. One of the earliest depredations mentioned was the killing of a white man near the site of the Court House. He had gone out to bring the cows in for the evening milking. This was out of town at this time. Another man journeyed out and camped at the reef north of town, meaning to cross in the early morning while the water was calm. Later his poor, mutilated body was found by stock hunters, wagon burned and horses gone. But the saddest story of all was that of young Dolan. Like all boys he wanted a gun. His mother sent to New Orleans by a friend and got the gun for his sixteenth birth- day. A proud and overjoyed youth he was the day it ar- rived. Taking a Mexican boy with him, he crossed the reef to try it out. No doubt their progress across the two miles of open water was watched by hidden savages on the other side. Soon after arriving on firm ground, they were con- fronted by the warriors and a fight for life was on. The boy dropped the gun, and fatal error left it, as they kept at a distance as long as he held it. Then they seized it and the poor boy was slain with his own gun. The Mexican boy, true to his training and the Indian blood in his veins, wormed his way through the chaparral and escaped. Late that night he returned, bringing to the v.-aiting parents the heart-rending news that their only boy lay dead under the stars. An old chronicle says that this was the saddest funeral ever held in Corpus Christi, a party of armed men having gone over in the morning and brought the body home to the mother, who never forgave herself for buying the gun which, was the cause of the tragedy. This The Story of Corpus Christi 15 was the last Indian murder in the immediate vicinity of Corpus Christi. It occurred sometime in the fifties. If memory serves aright, it was at the house of this Mrs. Dolan that Captain Van Buren, before mentioned, died on the ninth day after being wounded. As the story goes, he got up that morning and asked Mrs. Dolan to make him some soup, saying he felt hungry. She went to do his bid- ding. She had almost hnished preparing the meal when his attendant, an enlisted man. called her to come ([uick. They barely got him to his bed when he breathed his last. Poor boy, barely a fortnight before, he with his regi- ment, Maryland Mounted Rifles, went on a scout after a band of Indians, reported nearby. They found them near the mouth of the N-ueces River, and had a fierce fight. Of this I can get no report of casualties, and only Van Buren's lonely tomb remains to tell the story of days which tried men's souls, and of the death of the young and gallant officer. This year of 1854 was destined to be a sad one for brave little Corpus Christi. A foe more deadly than painted savages was on its way, a foe which in that day and time we could not fight, sailing across our bay in open daylight, met with open arms it came, and deadly was its visitation. In the summer of that year a Mexican fruit vessel, peddling her cargo from port to port, touched at our wharf, and did a brisk business. What a boon, rich, ripe fruit to a people who grew nothing at home, great golden oranges, bunches of bananas turning from green to gold, which might be kept for days, lemons, limes, colossal pineapples, mangoes, the very air was laden with the rich odor of fruit. The merchants came and bought for their stores, the householders bought for their families, nearby rancheros hearing of the unusual treat, came in to get a share, the Mexican citizens came from the hill to hear the news and palabro with their countrymen. First and last, almost every soul in the place visited the vessel in its week's stay, and everyone who visited the vessel had been exposed to that deadliest of Southern diseases, the vomito of Mexico, yel- low fever of the American. Within two weeks the town was a fever ward, and the Grim Reaper gathered toll in almost every home. Mothers 16 The Story of Corpus Christi were left with a family of small children, thousands of miles from native land or kinsmen. Fathers had to leave the little ones neglected while they left them to toil for food, while in some cases both parents were taken. Scarce a family escaped, but the cold weather came, or the disease died out for the want of new victims. The Christmas of 1854 was a sad holiday. Corpus Christi, the stricken, mourned its dead. Shortly after this a detachment of soldiers were sta- tioned here. Of this command I know very little, except they were regulars commanded by Major Chapman; his old headquarters, a very pretentious house for that time, still stands and is in possession of his descendants, who rank as one of the oldest families. Some of his men, at expiration of enlistment, remained here. One of them, an old Sergeant, related to me stories of the good old times of his youth, all forgotten except one, of a grand ball given by the enlisted men for the benefit of the widow of a comrade recently dead. Meetings were held, committees appointed, tickets pro- cured and sold at two dollars each, all the officers and many citizens purchasing. The next question was as to invitations. A flutter went down soapsuds row, and there was an overhauling of finery in the officers' kitchens, and the boys were told off as to who they were to escort to the dance. Working for one of the officers was a girl named Lucindy. Now Lucindy was no beauty, nor was she young. Although ladies were scarce, no one would agree to go with her. Up spoke my friend, the Sergeant, from the kindness of his Irish heart, "Til take Tushindy, bedad, and the laddie that don't dance with her can meet me out byant the corral after roll call tomorry morning." Needless to tell that for once poor Lucindy was the belle of the ball, and had partners to spare. A goodly sum was raised for the widow, the officers attended, and the ball was a success. About this time there was a little episode typical of the time and place. A couple of Mormon missionaries arrived and began to hold meetings in a warehouse on the waterside, for men only. Amusement was scarce and the men attended regularly. The meetings had been on nightly for some time, and the Saints felt that they were gaining ground rapidly. The Story of Corpus Christi 17 This night the speaker was in the midst of an impassioned appeal for recruits. Suddenly he stopped as if stricken dumb. His jaw dropped and he stood as if petrified, but only for a moment. Then things began to liven up. Into the room marched the good wives of the congregation. The leading lady carried a very dead cat by the tail, this she brought down across the open mouth of the speaker, while her cohorts hurled eggs and other missiles at the pair. Again and again the cat descended, wielded by a strong arm. The Saints sought the open air in undignified haste, not waiting for their hats, made a wild dash for the hill, over its brow they went, crashing through brush, racing like unto wild cattle. They were known to Corpus Christi no more. The ladies then proceeded to dismiss the meeting, in which ceremony they used the remainder of the ammunition. The narrator, who was one of the congregation, told the writer that he did not return to the bosom of his family for several days, not until a general amnesty was declared, and though his hair was as the driven snow, his eye lit up with the fire of youth at the memory of the Mormons' last meeting. People of that day had a higher business morality than we of the present day, that is, they paid their debts more promptly, the merchants did a general credit business, and as far as recalled no one went "broke." Judge Fitzsimmons, then a young man. afterward an eiTicient County Officer, for years holding the office of County Judge, told the follow- ing story : "A nearby ranchero traded at the store of W. X. Staples, where I was at the time bookkeeper. The old fellow came in about twice yearly, and settled up. One day, as usual, he came in for his account. I called the amount, he hesitated awhile before taking the bill. 'No, sor. that's not right,' he said, laying it back on the desk, and reaching down into his pocket he handed out a stick covered with notches. *No, sor, you have charged me twinty cints too much; I'll not pay it.' Running his finger down the stick he counted. 'This is ten dollars ; this is five ; one-seventy, two forty-five, terbacce twinty-five. ax for John, seventy-five ; one tin wash- pot for the old woman, two-thirty ; one dollar, what the divil ? 18 The Story of Corpus Christi — Oh, yes, two gallons whiskey for Auld Jerry's wake,' and so on to the end of the stick. Meanwhile the clerks hunted and added wildly, the overcharge of twenty cents was actu- ally found, and the old man, who did not have a speaking acquaintance with the alphabet, settled up and cut a new stick." And now I come to the saddest story of all, the begin- ning of the Civil War. There was no telegraph in those days, and our mail by boat, via Indianola, was often overdue, but in due time the news of bombardment of Sumter came, and in a day the peace of not only the nation, but of our little town was gone. A great part of our population being of foreign birth, naturally supported the Government, which gave them liberty and protection, while others, born under a Southern sky, ardently espoused the cause of their people, and the sun which had shone so merrily as it peeped over the waves that morning, went sadly to bed, leaving in darkness a sadly divided city. The Story of Corpus Christi 19 CHAPTER V. Civil War— 1861. The bugle sounded and the cavalry sprang into life. Drums beat the long roll and the infantry hep, hep, to the cortimand of its olTicers. Captain Wm. Maltby, with his Lieutenants McDonough and Russell, and a force of men, sailed over and fortified Aransas Pass. The ladies of the city got together and fashioned a Confederate flag. This flag was presented from the old Court House steps, to the Company of Captain Neal. The flag was presented by Miss Mary Woessner, who stood on the steps surrounded by her schoolgirl friends, all dressed in white, and the hardy war- riors stood ranked below, for only warriors dwelt on the frontier of this day. The banner was presented in a neat speech, which voiced the sentiment of her hearers. A new nation had been born ; here was her emblem. \\\ B. Wrather received the flag on behalf of the Company, and promised to carry it to victory or death. The wildest enthusiasm pre- vailed, and again the town was a military camp. The blockading fleet arrived at the two Passes, Corpus and Aransas, and promptly bottled Corpus Christi. Federals landed and established camp on the southern end of Mustang Island, at Corpus Pass, over which bar they brought light draught vessels, both armies at times visiting the Islands. We quote from Confederate Military History, Texas Volume: "On May 3, 1863. the enemy attempted to land on St. Joseph's Island, were repelled by small force commanded by Captains E. E. Hobby and B. F. Neal. Colonel A. !M. Hobby, Commander at Corpus Christi, reports that the men were exposed to heavy rain and without food. They num- bered sixty-four, armed with forty guns. The enemy was many, the three boats'coming in single file. The first launch was captured, with six new Sharp rifles and cartridge boxes and one ammunition chest. The other boats fleeing back to the fleet; the captured boat was dragged across the Island to Aransas Bay. Of more importance was the recapture of 20 The Story of Corpus Christi ten bales of cotton, which had been confiscated at some point on the coast, by the enemy and placed there pending ship- ment North, for cotton sent to Mexican border meant shoes, clothes, food, medicines, ammunition. At that date cotton and gold were synonymous terms, with cotton slightly in the lead. To the Union Camp on Mustang went the citizens who refused to accept the Confederacy, where they were given shelter, and later transportation to New Orleans." I am wrong in saying that all of our foreign born citi- zens stood by the old flag, there were notable exceptions. Of names I can call to mind are the good and old names of Von Blucher, of same family as he of Waterloo ; Colonel Loven- skiold, a highly educated gentleman at one time a teacher here ; John Uehlinger, for many years after the war a lead- ing merchant ; August Ricklef sen, who died many years since ; Andrew Dove, a native of Bonny Scotland, and un- doubtedly others whom the writer did not know. The names mentioned are all borne today in Corpus Christi by good people, representative people, hence knowledge of them. To Corpus Pass, to run the bar for the United States Government, as Pilot, came one Captain Grant, and with him his family. After the war he remained on the Island and became a cattle raiser. His house became a landmark to all Bay folks, hunting parties and sight-seers, for its unbounded hospitality. The Captain and his good wife have gone to their reward, the children have founded homes nearer the haunts of men, and the old home, like the shallow Pass, is deserted. The cry of the sea bird and the moan of the wave is the only sound to be heard today on the spot where half a century ago armed men and ships kept watch on a hostile coast. South of Mustang Island lies Isla del Padre, rich in legends of pirates and buried treasure, and in years agone, after a storm at sea, coins might be (and were) picked up on the Gulf shore, Spanish coins worn smooth by the waters. They probably came from some long forgotten wreck, as it was gradually torn apart by the raging waters, mute messen- gers from the past, of the days when Spain held sovereignty of the Southern seas. This is the only treasure ever reported. This Father of Islands reaches southward to the Mexi- The Story of Corpus Christi 21 can border, and to it came, in those days, traders willing to do business with either side, traders of various wares, but principally cattle dealers, not particular as to whose cattle, gathering herds on the mainland by the light of the moon, crossing them by fords across Laguna Madre, and selling them to the enemy for use of camp and fleet. The owners of the cattle objected to this trafific. An expedition was organized to capture the Mexican bandits engaged in it. They reached the vicinity of the camp and were carefully advancing when the freebooters, who had been warned by pickets, fired upon them from ambush, from the sandhills. Two men were killed by the first volley and the surprise threw the party into a panic. They gathered up their dead and began the march home. We never heard the name of one of the men killed. The other was Lawrence Dunn, and to his widow and little children came the terrible news. Mr. Dunn and wife, a few years earlier, had left all the comforts of civilization, and sought fortune in the Western wilds, and this was the parting of the young wife and husband, she alone to care for the young family. Truly, we of this day cannot realize w^hat the women of that day suffered, one long agony of suspense and fear. Later another scouting party went down and captured two young men, deserters, making their way to the enemy. They were brought back, tried by courtmartial, and hanged to a tree, near where Mesquite Street crosses the Texas-Mexican Railroad tracks. They were buried beneath the tree, which shortly died (as trees, according to tradition, do when a human being is hanged to their branches), and the exact spot where two young lives went out in dishonor was lost trace of. That some of the citizens did not sanction the findings of the Court was proven several years later, when the Honorable John Ireland was a candidate for Congress. Colonel Ireland had been in command of Corpus Christi at the time of the execution. During his canvass he spoke to a small audience here. The writer heard his denial of being responsible for this unfortunate happening. In his speech he said, "The man who says I had art or part in the death of these men is a liar. As Commander of this Post. I was ordered to see the sentence executed. As a soldier I obeyed 22 The Story of Corpus Christi orders." He was a soldier and a patriot, and the fortune of war brought this most unfortunate episode into his hands. All this time the small garrison at Aransas Pass was holding its own against the fleet. On the i6th day of No- vember, 1863. Colonel Bradfute with Maltby's Company of Eighth Infantry and Garrett's Battalion, boarded the steamer Cora and attempted to rescue the garrison at that point, but were not able to reach them. On November 17, after a severe fight, the brave defenders surrendered and w^ere car- ried prisoners of war to New Orleans, where they remained until the close of hostilities. The way being open, the ves- sels entered the bay, and Corpus Christi was at their mercy. The Story of Corpus Christi 23 CHAPTER VI. The Last Flag of Truce. Prior to this time we sent out the hist fhisj^ of truce e\er sent out by Confederates from here. The story was told me by one of the bearers of the fhig, an old Bay Captain, member of the Hobby Regiment at that time. This is Cap- tain Hawley's story : "I was ordered to get a boat and crew and go on a cruise with Captain Mann. I secured a little sail boat and a crew of two men and waited at Central Wharf for orders. The Captain came down, the white flag was raised, and we were ofif, envied by every man in sight. We felt jubilant, for we were to have a view of the enemy, and the old familiar Gulf. All went well, we reached the Pass, sailed boldly out and headed for the vessel on duty as Blockader. When within a hundred yards the order to halt came from her decks. W^e lowered sail. 'WHiat boat is this?' came next. 'Flag of truce.' answered our Captain. 'Come aboard,' was the next order. W^e lowered our yawl, the Captain took his seat, and I and one of the crew took the oars. We rowed to the side of the vessel and he climlied aboard. A sentinel on deck looked over the side and called. 'Hey, you, com% aboard,' as he pointed his gun in our direc- tion, and looked fierce. W^e wonderingly obeyed, and when we stepped on deck the Captain was getting his. The crew was having fun at his expense. He was dressed as became a dashing cavalry officer of the South, grey uniform, soft hat with plume, gauntlets and silver spurs. Unchided by the marine officers, the sailors were making fun of the angr>- officer, his communication refused by the officer in command of the vessel, who threatened to hang the whole Rebel gang. About this time I saw a boat's crew going over our little vessel. They ran her in near shore, setting fire to her. "Captain Mann pointed to our little flag of peace, and said things about usages of civilized warfare, but was ordered below. ]\Iv comrade and myself were ordered into a small boat, where we found the remainder of our crew, one man. 24 The Story of Corpus Christi We were carried to a nearby transport which landed us later in prison in New Orleans. I never saw Captain Mann after our hurried parting on ship, though he survived the war. Though he used lurid language, derogatory to the flag, the Yank and that particular crew, they did not carry out their threat of hanging him. After getting on the transport and having time to think, the ludicrous side of it struck one of my crew, as to the desire of Corpus Christi citizens to come with us. He commenced to laugh, then to roll, and we could only get from him, 'John Bell wanted to come, Sam wanted to come. Miss Brown told me to beg a little coffee from them for her.' His conduct attracted the notice of the crew. The wily fellow seeing this, kept it up, and actually got released and sent back to the Texas Coast as insane." In speaking of different men as Captain, let me explain that at that date almost every man you met had this prefix. Captains were as common here as were Colonels in Ken- tucky, as the greater part of our men worked on the bay, and had boats of various sizes and descriptions, so Private Hawley of Hobby's Regiment was known as Captain Haw- ley in civil circles. He came here just prior to the war to work on a dredge boat belonging to his father, who had a contract of opening a channel from Aransas Pass up to the city. This dredge was new, and its owner had placed his moderate fortune of about twenty-seven thousand dollars in it. Some of its machinery was invented by himself. At the beginning of trouble, the elderly owner went North, the son remained to keep watch o\er the boat which was laid up at what is known as shell bank, in Corpus Christi Bay. Later the enemy, on its first trip into the bay, burned her to the water's edge. Although the son had joined in the war with the South, the father was a staunch Union man, but he never received a cent for his loss, or the work he had done previous to war. The work on the channel was stopped for half a century. In 1910, the Bowers Dredging Company arrived with two dredges to deepen our channel from Aransas Pass to Corpus Christi. I find by consulting Confederate Military History, that the P>derals bombarded the city on August 7, 1862. That they must have entered by Corpus Pass is obvious as the The Story of Corpus Christi 25 defenses at Aransas Pass did not surrender until the follow- ing day. Non-combatants had been notified to leave, and had gone out to camp in a grove about three miles west of town. There was more noise than damage to life in the assault on the city. One man of the Confederate cavalry was killed by a round shot. He fell at about the intersection of Chaparral and Power Streets. Many houses were struck, but being of adobe, not much damage was done. Fortunately no fires were started. Many of the shots fired in that day are still to be seen. Notably, two unexploded shells on the lawn of E. T. Merriman, on Water Street. Some ludicrous incidents occurred during the fight. One man nailed to his bed with rheumatism, in the upper story of a building (still standing), on the corner of Chaparral and Peoples Streets, refused to be moved, said he preferred death to the pain of being lifted to a stretcher. A round shot struck the house, passing a few feet above him. He arose with a bound, cleared the stairs in a couple of jumps, and led the party of belated stragglers up and over the hill, and got into the camp ahead of the field, and from that day until his death, years later, he never had a tinge of his old rheumatic enemy. This is true to the letter. A warehouse in which hides were stored was struck by an exploding shell, and hides filled the air. A Johnny Rebel legging it nearby glanced over his shoulder and yelled, "My God, they are shooting goat skins at us." The Con- federates returned the fire, but being poorly armed, did little harm. One battery was stationed at the foot of Belden Street. G. B. Williams and James McKenzie were of this command. Mr. Williams told me that on the night before the fight they were drilled, the commands being whispered, fearing to draw the enemy's fire, so near were they. One lady still with us, told me she remained under fire during the entire time. She was about a mile from town with her young sister who was very sick with fever. The phyiscian said to move the patient meant death, and this brave woman and the doctor remained by the bedside. Shot and shell fell in the yard, but they were unharmed. To add to her trials, her husband was in the beleaguered port of Aransas, which was surrendered the next day, and long weeks must elapse 26 The Story of Corpus Christi before she could get news of his fate. He returned at the close of the War, and as a leading jurist and District Judge, was one of our most respected townsmen. Judge J. C. Rus- sell, pioneer and soldier, was known to all the Southwest. The enemy finally landed near the reef and under cover of the guns of the fleet, marched down and occupied the town, the Rebs holding the brow of the hill. The fight was kept up all day. The enemy having taken possession of the light house, then standing exactly in front of where the Col- ored Congregational Church now stands, posted a signal man in the tower, and held all north of that point. In the old chronicle written by an eye-witness, a pathetic incident of the day is related. The Confederate cavalry, hastily sum- moned from their camp west of town, met a man and two boys going out to a nearby ranch. These they arrested to hold until the fight was over. Tihs party had left their home near Salt Lake very early, knowing nothing of the immi- nent attack on the town. The cavalrymen told their prisoner that positively they were suffering with hunger. He knew many of them, and told them to send a man with his son to his house and get some bread, which was cooked. The soldier taking the little fellow on his horse and keeping to shelter of the brush, went to get the bread while his regi- ment moved up to the attack. He found a whole-souled woman at the house who gave him all the bread on hand, and told him she would have more baked in an hour, so throughout the day came the hourly messenger to carry hot bread to his comrades who held the line. This noble pair who gave food to the hungry soldiers was Mr. and Mrs. Priour. Their children and children's children are still with us, and the name stands for honesty and integrity even unto the third and fourth generations. Mrs. Priour was an ac- complished woman, and taught the only school open during this bitter period. When we pause to think of the scarcity of food, particularly breadstuff, we realize the generosity of the act, an unselfishness truly grand. The poor, hungry cavalrymen who accepted her bounty might at any time have laid down their guns and stepped into a land of plenty, but they were men of the South and of a heroism unequaled in history, the first people of the earth to build monuments to The Story of Corpus Christi 27 defeat, and at the same time build a new South on the ruins of the old, and hold as strongly to their customs and tradi- tions in defeat as they would have done had victory blessed them. Both parties drew off at nightfall of this day of much fighting, barren of results. From this time the little town was occupied by first one and then the other. 28 The Story of Corpus Christi CHAPTER VII. A Trap for the Enemy. The Rebs noticed that the enemy invariably landed when they departed, so some Napoleon of the Art of War, laid a trap for the undoing of the party giving information to the enemy. Under cover of darkness a party of soldiers sailed across to Ingleside. Next morning the remaining part of the Garrison made a pretended departure. The party in the boat approached the city across the bay from the direction of the enemy's stronghold, beating up and down in front of the city, they watched for signals. The signals soon appeared. From the upstairs east window of the old Seaside Hotel (still standing) a wdiite sheet was hung. The boat stood off and on until the crew was sure of their man, and sailing in they arrested him at the wharf where he had come to meet them, not learning his mistake until they landed. The old man (I have forgotten his name) must have felt as did Benedict Arnold when he heard of Andre's cap- ture, and the feeling was made more acute by the suggestion of the crowd as to a just punishment. Death was the general verdict, the only difference of opinion being as to how. Everything including plain hanging was canvassed. A short imprisonment and a long scare was what he received. Tlie enemy occasionally picked up a stray Johnny and carried him off to prison, and once the Johnnies retaliated by capturing one Captain Kitterege who made himself ob- noxious by his too frequent visits. Later he fell into durance vile, while foraging for eggs and butter at Flour Bluff. I do not know anything more than his capture by one Captain Ware, who died a few years since in the Old Soldiers' Home at Austin. To a man from Northern Virginia, or the Army of Tennessee, our share of the War looks like the antics of the Home Guard, but we had just as much enthusiasm as had the men who stormed the heights of Gettysburg. One great drawback was our poverty of arms. \\'ith these in The Story of Corpus Christi 29 plenty, or sufficient to give each man a gun, the enemy would not have raided our coast. 1 now relate a story as it was told to me. As an Ameri- can, I am ashamed of it, Init inclined to believe it a com- panion piece to the one of the man who signalled from the vSeaside window. A company of negroes had landed in town and gone on a scouting trip a short distance in the country. On their return four of them were missing. The night passed, and next day and night. The Commander raved that they had been caught and hung by the Rebs. Coing to the prison he ordered the prisoners to draw lots, saying he would retaliate by shooting an equal number. The doomed men drew lots and were actually on their way to their execution when the four demoralized negroes appeared. They had been lost on the prairie. Whether the sentence would have been carried out, had they not returned, we cannot say. The ofificer was white, and we can hardly think that such extreme cruelty would have been resorted to, but, using the Mexican saying, "quien sabe." It was war times, and war is horrible, par- ticularly civil war. Our town being in an isolated i)art of the country, and new, we can understand that at times personal matters naturally crept in. and private feuds paraded as patriotism, but to the credit of our people, I am glad to say that with the exception of the two boys hanged for desertion, there were no executions during the entire W ar, and by all mili- tary law, they had forfeited their lives. The little fleet of bay boats gradually disapjieared. as the enemy burned each one as caught. Some incidents are told of this one-sided warfare. One Captain Sands (who later Inirned another boat on Corpus Reach), was chased down the lagoon. He had a cargo from Mexico, for Corpus Christi, and was attempting to steal up an inside route. See- ing ca[)ture was certain, he headed his boat for shore. Ha\- ing a bag of gunpowder on board, he laid a fuse and jumped olT, making his escape to cover, but the expected explosion did not come. Afterward he knew he had carefully laid his train to green coffee. Another, of a man who attemiUed to pass danger line in 30 The Story of Corpus Christi darkness. The wind was light and he sat and steered care- fully all night. In the earliest dawn he noticed a familiar landmark as the last thing he saw when darkness fell. He had grounded on soft mud and had steered a standing boat throughout the night. Not relishing a chance at prison, he too waded to safety, leaving the boat to its sure fate. Great activity was practiced by the enemy in preventing the Rebs from making or gathering salt. The whole South suffered from need of this item, and the writer remembers seeing the floors of old smokehouses dug up, and a very dirty looking article of salt extracted from the soil. This was used to cure meat. The very best we could get was a coarse grade, but of course our own people could get salt for home consumption from the bay, but any attempt to boil in quantity on bayside was promptly attended to, and little bloodless brushes with the Yanks kept us busy, they coming and getting a few prisoners occasionally, and the town changing hands continually. But the end was near. Our troops neither received nor expected pay. Confederate money had gone out of circulation. The trade on the border brought a little specie. This, with "swapping" articles, was our medium of exchange. There were two lucky boys in the cavalry company near here. In the last days of the War' the command halted at ni^ht and made camp in what is known as the sands. Two of them slept on one blanket, a little apart. What was their surprise in the morning to find that the wind, eddying against their bodies, had swept the sand away, and left a little pile of coin exposed near their bed. One of the men told me that the money was Mexican dollars or coins of early date. That they were in small piles, one on another, as if they had been placed in a box and buried, though no sign of the box remained. The bunkies divided the find, something over three hundred dollars, equally, and had the envy of com- rades while it lasted. But the War was over, though we did not know it until some six weeks later, and the last fight of the War, the last gun fired for the lost cause, was on our border. In February, 1865, General Lew Wallace, in command of Federals at Brazos Santiago, with Mr. Charles Worthington, a Texas The Story of Corpus Christi 31 Unionist, met General Slaughter and Colonel Ford of the Rebel Army at Point Isabel and signed a local truce pact. General Wallace, to win fame in later life by writing "Ben Hur," proposed cessation of hostilities, saying that if every man of this army on both sides was killed it would not afifect the result: "You, Colonel I'ord, keep your men on your own territory and I will do the same." The Texans sought a spot where wood and grass were plenty and went into camp, keeping out a few pickets for form's sake. Thus a couple of months passed. On May 12. 1865, Ford's scouts reported the enemy in their territory, at Palmetto Ranch, which they burned that night. Ford, never slow in a fight, ordered an advance, and on the 13th the forces met. The fight soon became a rout, as the Rebs had a field battery of three guns which did good service. The enemy lost some thirty, dead and wounded, and one hundred and thirteen prisoners. Getting near the Yanks' defenses. Colonel Ford ordered a halt, for which he was never for- given by his men. They wanted to go on, but the wary old Indian fighter smelled a trap. His officers raved, even ac- cusing him of white feather, but halt they did, and had not quit shouting till the neWs of Lee's surrender came. Why, or by whose order the truce was broken was never known. For particulars of this last fight, ofificers and commands en- gaged, see Confederate Military History, Texas Volume. History repeats, on this ground was fought the first battles of the Mexican W'ar and last of the War of Secession. 32 The Story of Corpus Christi CHAPTER VIII. When the War Elided. The War was over. The enemy marched into town and went into camp. Two negro regiments, officered by white men, were the Federal forces. The citizens were generally well treated as compared with other parts of the South. Excepting raids by the negro soldiers on hen roosts and gar- dens, and considerable thieving from residences, there was no serious trouble, though in two cases there came near being tragedies. A negro going into a yard for water, peeped into the kitchen window and saw a lady kneading bread. He stuck his head in and demanded a loaf. "Why," said the frightened woman, "It is not baked, I am just making it." To the woman's horror, he threw up his pistol and fired, knocking a great piece of plaster from the wall, then dis- appearing before anyone came to her aid. Another white woman went to a nearby cabin to carry food to an old negro in her employ who was sick. As she left the place and turned to shut the door, someone in the dark fired three shots into the door above her head. No harm was done save to the nerves of the poor near-victim. The officers of our re|^iments seem to have been a very gentlemanly lot, and being Northern bred, of course saw nothing wrong in commanding negroes, believing they were doing missionary work in learning the ex-slaves to be good soldiers and citizens. That they would never be the first has been proven time and again. Never more forcibly than in shooting up the city of Brownsville, a few years since, for the sole reason that Brownsville was in Texas. As to his citizenship, half a century of freedom has not proved him a success. Reconstruction was on ! Our people, as stated, fared well. They were mostly foreign born, and few of them owned slaves. Colonel John Moore, in command of a bat- talion camped near by, rode in to surrender and make terms for his men. He found headquarters of the Yankee com- The Story of Corpus Christi ' 33 mander established in his residence, still standing on North Water Beach. What bitter thoughts must have passed through the mind of the old Southerner, a scholar and a gentleman to his fingertips, to enter the door around which his children had played in happy childhood, where he had ever been met by the smile of a wife and greeting of kins- men, a prisoner, willing to meet his fate, asking for himself nothing, for his men best terms which might be granted. The Commander, 1 am glad to say, was a soldier. He refused the Colonel's sword, telling him it was the fortune of war, and to meet defeat as bravely as victory, and com- plimented the Southern Army. He told him the terms of surrender and invited him to consider this his home and he (the Yankee) as the guest. I am sorry I cannot give the name of this noble officer, whose words of sympathy to his vanquished foe were above jewels to the broken man. Yester- day a capitalist, today a stranger in his home, slaves freed and the ruins of a tine dredge boat nearby. Colonel Moore came to Corpus Christi to finance and aid in a scheme to make a great seaport here, and if the War had not interfered the chances are that we, and not Cialveston, would have been the earliest seaport, and the story of the great storm in Galveston, in which thousands lost their lives, would have remained untold. The Colonel brought his family back to the old home and he and his loval)le wife spent the remaininf^ years of their lives with us. The story of his surrender was told to the writer by his daughter. Mrs. Conklin, for years a teacher in our schools. She remembered vividly the early days of the War, and a certain red silk dress of hers which was used to give color to a Rebel flag which the patriotic ladies fashioned, perhaps the one presented by Miss \\'oessner. afterwards Mrs. W'. R. W rather. The white officers of the colored regiments formed a club and set up a mess hall in a house, yet standing on the lot adjoining and north of the Methodist Church, on Mes- quite Street, and honestly curbed as far as possible the out- lawry of their command. As the citizens did not hold the bitterness of other sections of the South, they soon became quite an acquisition to the society of the little town. Sc^me 34 The Story of Corpus Christi of the married men brought their families, and in the return of prosperity the War was ahnost forgotten. The negro at that time was an unknown quantity to the Northern people. The officers were soon disillusioned. But good women came to West Texas, just as they go to Africa today, burning with zeal to do the work of the Master, and to help those poor people over which the abo- litionist had howled for years. They came, they saw, they fled. Uncle Tom's Cabin on the stage and Uncle Rastus' Cabin on the Nueces was different. Besides, the negro had no respect for "No poor white trash what 'sociate with nig- gers," but they started fair. The Congregational Church, which stands near the site of the old light house, was built for both w^hite and black worshipers. A very few whites attended for a while and then it was given over to the negro. The ground upon which it stands has grown to be very valuable, but the Northern Society who own it refuse to sell. The members of the present day are a very orderly, quiet people, not given to holding all-night sessions as are their more tuneful Methodist and Baptist brethren, who have been bought out and moved out of sounding distance. And may the old church stand for many years, mute monument of the days gone by, and failure of fanatics to force social equality on a stricken people. But the War was over ! The troops held on the border awaiting developments in Mexico were disbanded when news of Maximilian's death came. Good-byes were said to the enemies who had become friends, and Johnny went march- ing home. But two of the handsomest young officers were held prisoners of war, and watched their comrades go, held as firmly and securely as was President Davis in his prison cell in Fortress Monroe, and our grateful Government never demanded their release, nor did they ever once attempt to escape, for the bonds were silken and the captors two fair daughters of the South. They became of the South, veritable South Texans, living the remainder of their days in the South : Captain E. H. Wheeler and Captain Barnes Down- ing, both of whom have answered the last roll call, their deaths regretted keenly by all who knew them. Right here I want to say that various reasons have been The Story of Corpus Christi 35 given as to a better feeling existing between the Xorth and South, the Spanish-American War being one reason as- signed. That is not the cause of this feeHng, nor is it the lapse of time, for the Southerner has a retentive memory. Acquaintance is the cause. The people of Northern birth who simply thought they were taking their lives in their own hands when they came South, found differently, made friends and intimacy begot respect. If we had been ac- quainted we might never have fought, but we did fight, and as Americans, I believe we are a little proud of the scrap. It w-as such a war as none but Americans could have waged, and ended as never a war before. We all went home and to work to make up for lost time. True, the Ku Klux Klan gave a little trouble, but a great good was done by them in wresting the vState from negro rule. Corpus Christi being out of the black zone, did not have a Klan, but there w^ere thirty thousand in the State. The writer, at that time in Houston, began to hear strange stories from the negro cook. Even though common sense told us it w^as a trick, it gave us an uncanny feeling. Nightly sights were seen by colored church-goers, and more par- ticularly by colored attendants of political meetings. The recital of them caused creepy feelings. A couple of old covered forts on Buffalo Bayou seemed favorite stamping grounds for spooks. Imagine a crowd of darkies coming home from a perfectly orderlji meeting, held nightly, for the purpose of finding where to get forty acres of land and a mule, and getting no nearer an understanding than that in the event of election of certain Carpetbaggers, they would get both mule and land, and a pension, reported of various amounts. Imagine the meeting closed after an almost all night session, and the crowd going home in a body. Out of the fort issued groans, unearthly cries ; out pops a man all in white, without a head, another with both arms missing, an- other whose white clothes are covered with blood, while flames issue from the mouth and eyes of a black fellow. Another, but nobody to see more of the sights; a Gilpin race is on, and no threat or entreaty will get a darkey out after nightfall. 36 The Story of Corpus Christi Nobody wants a mule, meetings deserted, and the white man comes into his own, a bloodless victory ! The writer heard the fearsome stories in the kitchen, and repeated them to a grave-faced man who headed the table, also the house. He had followed Lee and limped as a result. He seemed to take great interest in the recitals, and long afterward the writer knew that the husband took a little time from his numerous lodge meetings to go to spook festivals in the old fort, in which there had never been a gun fired nor a man hurt ; and in later years he told of the fun and of the "wailing cry of distress." Don't think it was ever published, this way of giving the signal, drawing up right arm and striking out as if dealing a blow, you called, "I'm Sampson, I'm Sampson." At the peril of your life, if you were a Sampson, you must rush to his rescue. A strange item in the Houston Post caught my eye a year or so ago. Nothing less than a call to arms of the old Klan to clear the city of thugs and murderers. Poor old man who made this call ! The men who rid the State of negro rule so many years ago, and who kept the secret to death, are gone, and their like will be seen no more. Every effort was made by officers of the Government to catch the Ku Klux Klan, but every man on the police force was a member. One night the news got out that a sleuth, a Federal Captain, had scared all the secrets from a badly frightened member. He and a couple of detectives would visit the lodge and get evidence, the scared member planning to give the boys a little exercise. They came masked took three extra seats in the room, the only vacant ones by the way, that were not numbered ; every member had a number and sat in the chair with the corresponding number. To their surprise they were bound, carried down the stairs and to the banks of the bayou, where the sentence pro- nounced before leaving the hall was to be executed. Weight- ed by the neck, they were to go into twenty feet of muddy water. How they pleaded. After much deliberation and wrangling they were spared, and if either or all of them are living to this day, I doubt if even yet they could see the joke, or know that not a man there would have had a hand in murder, and were all most prominent citizens. That The Story of Corpus Christi 37 crimes were committed by masked men and laid at the door of the Klan is true, but the members were a high-minded people and never a crime was committed by the sworn mem- bers. They took this method of saving the South from the crying disgrace of negro rule by working on their super- stition. Early memories recall the first bicycle ever brought to Corpus Christi, two of them in 1869, and every lady turned out to see them on a Sunday afternoon, and the merry riders were invited to stop at every beer joint and refresh. Xo Sunday law those days ! Perhaps for that reason they had to climb on a fence to mount, and led a very wobbly way down Preston Street. And the first ball game! The umpire carried a hand- book, and when a chap swatted the ball, grabbed him by the shoulder and trotted him to first. The girls came out and walked past, and watched from nearby galleries, never dreaming that in the years to come ladies would go to ball games, and one of them at least would give up good money for the privilege of watching a game, and feel a taste of heaven when her team won and a strong smell of the other place if they lost. 38 The Story of Corpus Christi CHAPTER IX. First Carpetbagger Governor. Corpus Christi bears the doubtful honor of having given up the only Carpetbagger Governor who ever misruled Texas. E. J. Davis left Corpus Christi to fill the Governor's chair, and notwithstanding his reputation throughout the State, he was liked at home. A polished gentleman as to manners, a diligent and willing nurse in the fever epidemic of '67, he visited the homes of the lowly, putting his hand to the work as it came. An old friend of mine remembers him with gratitude. He came to her assistance and with his own hands helped to lift a dying sister to a cot, and helped carry it a distance of three blocks that the sister might spend her last moments with her mother, who was also low with the fever. But he went to Austin, the choice of the Carpetbagger, and Corpus Christi knew him no more. On the night before the departure of his family, a lovely moonlight night, Mrs. Davis walked with a friend on Broadway, in front of the Davis home, yet standing with its old-fashioned dormer windows. That the moonlight begets strange fancies we all know, but the old moon was more fantastic than usual that night, and the proud woman, starting on a journey to public obloquy, dreamed dreams. She told her friend that this journey was only the first step to the White House, and to this moon craziness only can we ascribe future events. Texas was under negro rule, who were led by unscrupu- lous white men. The law was a dead letter, and only that the former slaves had a fear of, and respect for former own- ers, did the white race escape untold horrors. As it was the situation was bad enough. Murders were committed and towns were placed under martial law and compelled to .pay immense sums of money. When the right of franchise was granted to ex-Rebs, those ofificers and gentlemen were forced to register before negro officials. The Story of Corpus Christi 39 Many of them, like Hiick I'inn's father, (Icclared they would not vote, but better counsel prevailed, and vote they did, early and often, and not only this, but \oted the negro with them ; not with the negro's consent, but he had been told to vote the blue ticket, and he Noted without knowing that the white man's ticket had lieen printed on their exact shade of blue paper. The story goes that when the result was heard in Austin, Governor Davis wildly telegraphed to General Grant to send troops to sul)due the wild and woolly Texans, but that great and truly good man refused to inter- fere, and down from the wall came his picture, and the lady of the mansion put her foot through it. l'',xit I'. J. Da\is from the Texas horizon. Sound the loud timbrels from desert to sea ! Texas had triumphed and her people were free after fi\e years of sheol. What wonder that we got a reputation. There were some scores which could be wiped out in blood only. Mrs. Davis was a daughter of the South, and 1 am told that her family were Southerners. One, a Captain F.ritton, a Confederate surgeon, died here in the epidemic of '07, and the family name is perpetuated by the Britton- Motts. They were of tlic earliest settlers, and I have heard that her father was a Colonel in the regular army. A family of high standing, and we will lay it all to moon madness flnd let it go at that. No man or woman either knew at that day that in less ♦han half a century these bleeding, conquered people would »ihine throughout the world as something new in history, who. by their industry and thrift would build a new South. Hands unused to toil grasped the plow and wrung wealth from the bosom of old mother earth. Trades, hitherto despised (no aristocratic .Southerner thought of a trade for his sons, nor would he ha\e allowed him to learn one), were fostered, and with the aid of the dollars of our Northern Ijrother, who was willing to swap them for a part of the rich land, an era of prosperity came, and men and women look back to those days with pride, though they were tinged with horror. But back to Corpus Christi again. In July of 18O7, ^ man came to Corpus Christi on horseback from Indianola, 40 The Story of Corpus Christi crossing the reef on the wagon road, and entering town put up at the largest hotel, the Ziegler House. Next day he was sick, and the kind-hearted people visited him, and as was the custom of that day, nursed him. Less than thirty-six hours later he was a corpse, and the dread yellow jack was feeling his way into every home. Within ten days he was holding the poor little helpless town in his relentless grasp, and the scenes of '54 were again being enacted. The daily, twice, thrice pilgrimages to the old cemetery, until one day in August there was a death rate of eighteen. In a white popu- lation of scarce four hundred, whole families died. In two cases in the new Catholic Cemetery, recently opened, hus- band and w^ife were found buried in the same grave. Of these couples, one left two little girls. A gentleman present at the time told me that the saddest sight of the time was these little ones getting up in the morning and hunting for their parents through the house and yard. Both had died during the night and had been removed to await burial. But thank God for the Christian faith of our people, the orphans were cared for and none were neglected ! One of our greatest losses in this epidemic was the death of our War-time Priest, Father Canard. He had re- mained with his people during the bitter days of the War, aiding the women and children, keeping a little school, Mrs. Priour's, cheered and helped by his presence and advice. When the fever came he worked day and night, not only with his own people, but with any who needed help. He died as he had lived, literally in harness. Died, no ! He went to his rest, mourned by every man, woman and child in Corpus Christi, of every faith, for Father Canard was a Saint who loved mankind, and like many of his kind, went to his reward, with the noble character of his deeds known only to his narrow surroundings. But today the eye of the gray-haired man or woman who knew him will light with love when they hear his name, and everyone can tell of some simple childish pleasure which he had given. Anything of interest to them, was never too small to engage the learned Father's attention. One woman told me this story. Her hair was white, but she remembered her very first pair of shoes. Her mother got them for her. She took the lovely The Story of Corpus Christi 41 things to show to Father Ganard, as the modern miss would exhibit a watch or a locket. He duly admired, then sug- gested fitting them, but the poor little feet must be washed, and three times were they scrubbed before Father agreed they would do. Then stockings must be had, and home again she went, leaving the precious shoes with the Father. Back again, and another wash to take ofif the recent travel stains, the good Leather advising and helping. She was shod, a girl of ten, for the first time, and felt as if 'T could never take a step," she said. I thought of this incident a short time since, seeing a mother purchase a pair of shoes for her daughter. The latter day mother paid four dollars for the shoes, and had the clerk mark the price at six, telling me the daughter would not wear the shoes if they cost less. But times change, and perhaps it is better to wear shoes at six per pair than no shoes at all. But I am old-fashioned, and think what was lacking in shoes in those days, was made up into man and woman, and human kindness. Father Ganard sleeps in the Catholic Cemetery here, and we love to think of him as a Southerner, but he was too good and great to belong to one section, and his memory is a heritage of all. 42 The Story of Corpus Christi CHAPTER X. Some Early Day Merchants. Just after the close of hostilities the merchants came back, and with them new ones to establish business here. Pat Whelan, for nine terms Sheriff of Nueces County, and one of the most efficient officers in the State, gives me the following list of merchants in business here at the time he came in 1866: E. Morris, J. B. Mitchell, George Evans, P. Hoffman, W. N. Staples, Felix Noessel, John Woessner, P. Doddridge, banker, C. Kale, and then or shortly after there was William Headen, afterwards Headen & Mallory, and M. Lichtenstein, a dry goods merchant, whose sons today have the largest store in the city, or as for that matter, in this section, and which would be a credit to the largest city in the State. Money was plentiful in those days. Bags of silver and golden eagles were the medium of exchange. No paper money for the trader in that time. Just about the close of the hostilities a party of horse traders visited the lower country, buying a great drove of animals. They paid in notes on defunct Confederacy. The news went out that paper money was no "bueno," and to this day no Mexican wants green backs, checks or anything but hard money. About this time the \\'estern Union Tele- graph Company erected a line to Brownsville via Corpus Christi. So eager were our people to get the news that the line came in as the crow flies, across lots. This gave our city trouble later when telephone and electric wires came, but all is satisfactorily arranged now, each company having its territory specified. The next thing of importance to shake the city was the proposal to build the Texas-Mexican Railroad from here to the border, at Laredo. Meetings were held, and strange as it may seem now, the project was hotly opposed by some good citizens. What ! Do away with our wagon trade ! Never . Even up to recent years the writer has heard some of the old-timers bewail the new times, and thev never The Story of Corpus Christi 43 realized that if we did not build the road, other towns would. Our wagon trade was doomed, and the long line of wagons, with their picturesque drivers, who had broken and kept the trail for nearly two centuries, were soon to make their last journey across boundless prairies where the bison, the elk and the deer roamed free. They, like the wagons, were doomed. The buffalo is extinct in his wild state, though forty years ago the writer purchased dried buffalo flesh from gro- cery stores in Corsicana, and saw wagons fitting out to go on hunt for his hide. A promoter by the name of Uriah Lott planned our first railroad, and Captain Richard King of Rancho Santa Gertrudis financed the project for the first forty miles. Cap- tain King was at this time one of the wealthiest men in this section. His herds grazed upon thousands of acres of free domain. He operated, and with his then partner. Captain Kenedy, owned one or more steamboats on the Rio Grande. Captain King stood for progress, and his presence in this section was a public boon. In those days herds were driven overland to Kansas to market, and King and Kenedy were perhaps the largest shippers of the State. During the War the enemy made a special raid from Brazos Santiago to his ranch home to capture him. He wa^ absent, but in the early morning light they saw a man on the gallery, and without warning shot the faithful servant to death, thus showing their fear of the man they sought. His life reads like a romance, and if told to the letter, would not be credited. » One story I will tell as it was printed in the Corpus Christi paper at the time. The Captain had been in Corpus Christi, and while here hired a newly landed German boy to drive his coach. The party left the city and drove out to the Petronilla Creek, stopping for lunch on the near side of the stream, contrary to usual custom of pulling up opposite bank before stopping. After an hour's rest they started on the last half of the journey, and as they breasted the oppo- site slope, were fired on from ambuscade. The poor Dutch boy ended his journey right there, being killed instantly. The spirited horses, scared by the shots, ran away, but fortu- nately kept to the road. Out of the brush rode four Mexi- 44 The Story of Corpus Christi cans and gave wild chase, but the ranch was reached with no further loss. Next day when officers reached the spot of attack they found that the scheme had been well laid. The men had posted themselves in easy range and cut away all intervening twigs so as to command the usual shade where travelers stopped. Only the stopping short of the usual place saved the party from swift death. This was only one of his hairbreadth escapes, but he did escape his wily ene- mies, the Mexicans, who did not want white men in the grazing country, and were the direct opposite of Captain King. They were prepared to fight progress, are fighting it today in the Rio Grande Valley, but like the buffalo, their day is done, and go they must. Captain King died some years since in San Antonio, sur- rounded by his family and loving friends, and was buried in that city. His former partner. Captain Kennedy, died a few years later in Corpus Christi. He sleeps in Brownsville, where the murmur of the Rio Grande sings solemn requiem to the memory of a man who made history on her bosom. The names of King and Kenedy will be remembered as long as English and Spanish are spoken on the border. About this time there was much trouble in the adjacent country from raids of Mexican freebooters, the natural aftermath of civil war. On both sides of the Rio Grande robbery and murder were frequent, and men and boys going out to drive in the milch cows buckled on a six-shooter or carried a gun. One sad day four coffins were carried to the cemetery in wagons draped in black. These young men were found murdered at a ranch on Laguna Madre, two of them German boys who had only gone down there a few days earlier to do some carpenter w'ork. Their tool boxes had never been opened, showing that the robbers must have arrived about the same time they reached the ranch, Penes- gal by name, owned, we believe, b)' Captain Kenedy. The Sheriff's posse who went out to investigate, found that rob- bery was the motive. Among other booty a sugar barrel had been emptied. A broad trail led southward, along which every little way a little spot of brown sugar was seen, as if carried in a slightly leaky package. Southward into the Brownsville road the trail was lost, all except the sugar pats, The Story of Corpus Christi 45 and these led on to Corpus Christi, and to a hut on the hill, where the remainder of the sugar and other booty was found. The sugar sack was found with a small hole in it. Needless to say, this gang was rounded up and Judge Lynch held a long session. An old man living west of town made a pfjor li\ing by drawing and selling water to passing teamsters. One night his neighbors on the Oso saw his house in flames. They hurriedly mounted and rode to his help. On getting in sight they saw a party of horsemen riding off. Next day the charred remains of the old man were found in his house, bound with trace chains, showing undoubtedly tliat he had l^een burned alive. This man's name was Murdock. On the morning of Good Friday, 1875, a wild, inco- herent messenger arrived in Corpus Christi. The Indians were right at his heels, he said, and had murdered every soul between here and the Nueces River and had burned every ranch. There was a wild scurry on ever}^ hand. The Indian raid was a certainty. The band was discovered some twenty miles from the city, all mounted. They took charge of everyone they met, taking their horses and compelling pris- oners to march on foot. Coming to Nuecestown, then called the Motts, they attacked the only store, conducted by Mr. Noakes. The owner barricaded the door and fought them off until they set the place on fire. Then he and his family escaped by a secret passage made for just such an emer- gency. The store was burned to the ground, though the robbers secured some loot. This was proven later. Coming on toward town, they arrived at Juan Saens (pronounced Whan Size) Ranch, fi\ e miles west of the city. Here the Mexican family of that name met them. One of the boys of the ranch spoke to the robbers, and quick as a flash he was shot, falling dead in his tracks. It is supposed that the boy recognized the robber. Here the bandits held a con- sultation, they learned that a messenger liad reached the city, so they turned back, still marching their prisoners in the middle of the road. Among them was Miss Allen, who with an old gentleman. Judge Gilpin, was driving in to at- tend Easter service in the Episcopal Church; Mrs. E. D. Sidburv, her daughter-in-law, Mrs. James Scott, with driver 46 The Story of Corpus Christi and maid, and many others whose names I do not recall. After going some distance the robbers rode off and left the prisoners, after taking everything of value which they had. including their shoes. The ladies hid in a corn field, afraid for a long time to answer the calls of a rescuing party, thinking the bandits had returned. On Skidmore's Ranch the women, one with an infant six months old, now Mrs. Bibolette of Palestine, hid in an arroyo. When their men came to hunt them with shouts and shots, they trembled and kept still. One of the men had a bright idea, and they began singing hymns. One of the ladies told me that she had heard fine singing, but never anything to compare with the grand old "Nearer My God to Thee," as it came floating over the prairie in the gloaming. The cowboys were rewarded by calls, and the poor women ended a bitter experience. In the meantime, what was happening in Corpus Christi t There was a military company here, the Star Rifles. It was said of them that they led the way to Central Wharf and aboard the Morgan Line Steamer, Josephine, which happened to be in that day, ready to defend women and children. The schooner Leona, belonging to N. Gussett, was also in. and various small boats. The whole population went to the boats ready to go at a moment's notice. A com- pany of brave men mounted their steeds and away to meet the marauders. They found that they had retreated and followed. They came upon them and received their fire. One man named Swank was shot dead from his horse. Fearing an ambush the party halted and the enemy re- treated unmolested. Mr. Swank was a young man, a car- penter, who had lived several years in Corpus Christi. His comrades brought his body back to the old cemetery, and a few years since a friend of his youth, Mrs. Helen Dority, had a neat tablet placed over his last resting place. Only this friend remembered the man who died in defense of the town in which he had neither kith nor kin. Later the trail was taken up again by a reinforced party, and strange to say, the trail led to nearby ranches. One young Mexican had a gunshot wound in his arm, wrapped in a towel, recog- nized as one taken from a looted store at the Motts. Truth compels me to say that Judge Lynch again held court, and The Story of Corpus Christi 47 I am afraid that he this time worked on the theory that it is better that ninety and nine innocent ones suffer than one guilty man escape. They no doubt intended to loot Corpus Christi. but their hearts failed as they got near. The}^ kept the prisoners to keep them from spreading the news. They learned at Juan Saens that a messenger had brought the news in, as he passed that point on a dead run, had discov- ered the raid near Motts, and they were afraid to risk a battle. This was the last raid in our vicinity, the raiders being discovered as our own Mexicans and not Indians from up the Rio Grande, as was first supposed. 48 The Story of Corpus Christi CHAPTER XI. The Author Reaches Corpus Christi. The writer first saw Corpus Christi in May, 1876. In those days Corpus Christi was reached by a weekly steamer from New Orleans, a mailboat from Indianola or a stage from San Antonio. We came via Indianola, and missing the mailboat at that place, remained over one night. This was the year after the first great storm, and some feeble attempt had been made to straighten up the half destroyed houses. Naturally, the people who had spent their lives there tried to look at the bright side, saying this was the first and likely the last sto^m. Fortunately the city did not recuperate, fortunate because they were again and again visited by destructive storms, and just eleven years later the town was entirely obliterated, the flames aiding the wind and water in the fearful and fatal dance of death, and today the cry of the seabird and the lap of the tide are the only sounds to break the silence. A few scattered concrete cis- terns, heaps of brick marking the site of chimneys, is all that remains of a once prosperous town, where lovers wooed, children played, and a bright future promised, a fine harbor, a new railroad and a rich country nearby. An old town too it was, as towns rank in Texas, and many of the early settlers of interior towns bade farewell to the great waters there. To get near to this harbor the town was founded on sand, a very low point of land running out from the hills, seven miles distant, to meet the waters, and between the hills and the beach was a low marsh, always overflowed at high tide, a veritable death trap, as are too many of our coast towns today. But we will not mention names for fear of giving ofifense. People who found their houses on sand do not like to hear the subject discussed, more certainly if they are in the real estate business. We boarded a small boat, "Star of the South," with Captain Sewell, and leaving Indianola in the morning ar- rived next morning in Corpus Christi. Sailing across the The Story of Corpus Christi 49 bay and watching our future home across the sparkling water, I thought of a vision of Heaven. The beautiful wood- covered blufif with its two church spires, Congregational (colored) and Presbyterian (old), were the first visible ob- jects. No smokestacks in those days, no steam whistles! A perfect picture in a perfect setting was the Corpus Christi of May, 1876. Near the beach I noticed a little garden. Everything looked so bright and green. The corn was in roasting ear, while in Central Texas from where we had come it was just peeping above the ground. We bade good- bye to Captain Sewell, who had lived all his life on the water, and who was destined later to find a grave 'neath the waters of the Gulf. He, with his boat, was lost while coast- ing up from Point Isabel to Rockport, and his body was never found, nor any trace of his boat, one of the long list of lost at sea. Walking up Chaparral Street I saw that thoroughfare literally filled with ox carts and wagons. Some of the ve- hicles had as many as six yokes of oxen, and the patient animals were lying down in a seeming tangle, reaching from curb to curb, chewing the cud and waiting the crack of the whip, the signal to begin the long, hot journey across the prairies to and beyond the Mexican border, carrying in their wake a whifif of civilization. Clothes, shoes, hats, cook stoves, sewing machines, oil lamps, clocks, any and every- thing, bought with proceeds of sales of hides, tallow, dried meat, wool, etc. It seemed to me that everybody spoke Span- ish, and that the only swift thing in evidence was their tongues. To every new-comer the language seemed to be a perfect rapid fire jangle of words, but right here I got my first lesson in Spanish Aztec. The only word I could distinguish seemed like "star wano." Everybody seemed to be saying it. After thirty years I think it is the proper word and should be our motto, typical of our people. Through sunshine and shadow, days of prosperity, days of depres- sion, the cheery word was ever in evidence, and over our portals in letters of gold should be written Esta Bueno. The words fit our city, our country, and if not our people it is because the motto is hardly strong enough. We would 50 The Story of Corpus Christi have to cull all the languages, getting the best from each, and then fall short of fully expressing our respect for our old citizens. Though we may differ in politics, religion and various items of public import, we are closely allied on all matters of civic and personal interest. The Corpus Christi of that day and time was a town of considerable wealth, many stockmen making their homes here. Our little weekly paper. The Free Press, carried two of its four pages covered with hieroglyphics, illustrating cattle brands and notices to the general public that they would feel the strong arm of the law if cattle bearing these brands were killed. To those notices there was one notable exception. At the foot of one column of marks and brands stood the usual notice, but it read different. It was an in- vitation to any poor person, anyone in need, to kill and use for food any calf in above brand, the only proviso being that they save the hide and use the meat. Think of it in our day and time, when meat in our local markets is a little higher priced than in the Northern cities. The name signed to this invitation was one of which Texas may well be proud, John Timon of San Patricio, a pioneer who helped make this country ; a man whose charity was as broad as the prairie over which he hunted his herds, and as beautiful as the flowers which blossomed thereon. He obeyed the Scrip- tural injunction and got his guests from the highways. His friends had cattle and to spare. The poor, improvident Mexican was the recipient of this grand largess. The sheep industry was at its apex at this time and a great many rancheros were in that business. Strange to say there was no friction between the sheep and cowman such as have disgraced other sections of the Southwest, but the removal of the tariff off raw wool killed the sheep busi- ness and we went back to longhorns, grazing in common on the unfenced land. Naturally the herds got tangled and our District Court ran overtime settling ownership of cat- tle, a golden era for the lawyers of that day. But about this time Glidden invented barbed wire fencing. The coun- try was soon covered with a network of it, and for years there has not been a case in court growing out of ownership The Story of Corpus Christi 51 of cattle, and the animal known as the MaAcrick is as com- pletely extinct as the buffalo. The longhorn was superseded by blooded stock, the festive cowboy has doffed his jingling spurs and high-heeled boots, and his trusty six-shooter is covered with rust. The old days, the old boys, and general picturesque setting has gone, and the places that knew him. will know him no more. 52 The Story of Corpus Christi CHAPTER XII. The Man With the Hoe. The man with the hoe next began to arrive and made a feeble attempt at farming, but the drought discouraged him. Next a couple of German farmers arrived, rented a piece of ground near town, and hauled water w^ith which to set cabbage plants. No rain fell and no water ever touched the field except the one time, and this cabbage patch was the talk of not only the town but this section, and we learned that the finest of cabbage would thrive. That cabbage nur- tured on the near coast dews was of superior quality. Then we all planted cabbage and became the largest cabbage mart in the world. Solid train loads of this vegetable went to hunt the corned beef of the East and North. The farmer jingled coin in his pocket. Then the winter of 1900 ar- rived, and with it the 13th of February, the coldest day ever recorded in Texas. Thousand of birds flying ov.er Nueces Bay, north of town, were frozen, and falling into the bay, were swept to the southern shore by the fierce Norther raging, where they lay in a long windrow, in some places several feet deep. From the tiny robin to the great crane, all kinds were there. Fish were torpid and came to shore in schools, but this cold was unprecedented, and man as well as fish and fowl felt the Arctic weather and kept close to the fireside. On the morning of the 14th. the grow- ing cabbage looked as if it had been permaturely boiled. A view of the landscape looked like ruin to the planter. In desperation he sought a later crop. The only thing possible so late in the season was cotton. This was an experiment. Cotton was planted in between cabbage rows. The cabbage revived, made a fine crop, which brought a big price. Later the fields were white with the snowy staple, and the farmer jingled money in both pockets. Since that time we have learned that we can grow almost anything, and are certain that we are on the eve of great agricultural prosperity, and in a few years The Story of Corpus Christi 53 will be shipping solid trains of citrus fruits to the Eastern markets. Where gins are now established, ginning at times the bale-to-the-acre cotton, a few years ago no man would have thought of putting a dollar in a gin in this cottonless country. The Aransas Pass Railroad was the second to reach our town and put us in touch with the United States, as the Texas-Mexican had placed us in close communion with our sister Republic. When our railroad was first built into Mexico we had several large excursions in from there. As our hotel room was limited, the citizens received the excur- sionists in our homes, got up boat races, ball games, and gave at least two grand balls, all free, in their honor. But, but. BUT, while they were a good people, polite in the ex- treme, they were not our style, no more than were we theirs, so we give them welcome and let them hunt their own domi- ciles henceforth, which seemed to give satisfaction to all parties concerned. At an early day we equipped a ball team, but haxing no one to play but Rockport the sport languished. As soon as the railroad put us in touch with San Diego and Alice we re\ i\cd, and had some famous games on the diamond at the intersection of Chaparral and Fitzgerald Streets. The writer, along with the balance of the population, attended regularly. We remember one game between the Uniques of San Diego and our team which went merrily on the whole afternoon. Each side rolled up a score of twenty- four, and the game was declared a draw. Proudly the two teams marched into town, side by side. Nobody's feelings were hurt that day. Again we were playing. Corpus Christi at the bat, one man down, one on first and one at bat. The batter hit and ran for first, man on first ran for second, changed his mind and legged it back in time to meet batter at first. Both claimed base and ])roceeded to settle this dispute according to Marquis of Tipperary rules, much to the delight of the crowd. During the rather heated dis- cussion both were touched out, retiring the side. Later we organized two teams, the BluiT City's and Corpus Christi Browns. What battles were fought on that diamond, and what feeling expressed by the partisans. The Blufifs regu- 54 The Story of Corpus Christi larly held the victory. They had a famous pitcher, and no inducement could win him away from his team. Poor Frank Larkin, soon to go down to death under his engine in Mexico, one of nature's noblemen and one of the first and best ball players in Southwest Texas. Of the old Browns I remember a few names : Johnny Mitchell, Lee and Henry Berry, Hiram and Alvin Ellis, Frank Trabue, Hugh Sutherland, Charley Williams, Jim Hill, Ralph Barnes, Walter Timon, and others. Of the victorious Bluffs, Frank Larkin, Edwin and Walter Dove, E. J. Shaw, B. Legge, F. Wissinger, and others. The old boys are scattered now. Some have crossed the Divide, and the few left in the old town are sedate gentlemen. There are silver threads among their locks, and they play their games over again from the grandstand, while watching a hired team cavort over the field. And now, about 1891, we were to have an awakening, and old fashions and times go out together. One bright day Colonel Ropes reached town and started an up-to-date boom. His ideas were all right, but he came on about twenty years too soon, afld did not fully understand his subject. He bought land and laid off a city in the southern suburbs, built a dredge to cut a canal across Mustang Island to deep water. This dredge started in all right, cut a channel about fifteen feet wide and ten feet deep for about a hundred yards into soft sand, of which the island is composed, broke down, and the sand drifted into the channel behind, shutting her in. Her bones lie there yet. He also built the magnificent Alta Vista Hotel, but was not able to finish it. He laid oft" a city around the hotel, graded the streets, built a beautiful home for himself, which he never occupied, and built other homes for sale, graded miles of streets, and a road from the city to his hotel, and started and graded miles of a new pro- posed railroad to Brownsville. Any one of his schemes would have paid if undertaken singly, but he spent oceans of money and did not finish" any one thing. The old settlers watched the progress of events, and marveled. Some few went in on the boom and got stung. A money panic came on, and everything stopped. Laborers and contractors failed to get their wages, and The Story of Corpus Christ: 55 people who had rushed in began to move on to the next boom town. It was sad to drive out to the hotel and see the beautiful building vacant except a caretaker. The new resi- dences were never occupied. Later they were gradually de- serted as they were too far from town for homes for people living in the city. Tiie Methodists of this section built a large tabernacle a mile south of the hotel, a college and other buildings. They were later removed, and later the same church came into the possession of a far better locality for their encampment grounds. Colonel Ropes went back from whence he came, and our bubble was burst. Our town had been invaded by speculators, horse racers, and a host of drifting population ready for a land boom in Texas, or a land rush in Indian Territory. They came in companies and platoons. The place was so overcrowded that people li\ed in garrets, sheds, tents, any shelter. They traded in every- thing and anything, from a terrier to a ranch, provided it could be bought on time. This class was the first to go, they brought nothing with them and they carried nothing away. But many good people also came and were carried away by the excitement. Highly colored and overdrawn literature was sent out and prospective buyers came. This class invested in real estate, bought anything offered. Two old gentlemen fought with canes for the privilege of paying nine hundred dollars for a lot near the Alta Vista Hotel. A big lot sale was held in the unfinished hotel, and lots were sold rapidly. Two years later lots in the same locality were offered for as low as ten dollars per lot, with no takers, and the greater part of this property was aban- doned to original owners, or sold for taxes. And now the better part of the story comes. The Brownsville Railroad is built, the town has grown south- ward in the last few years, and the schemes planned by Colonel Ropes have become realities, the lots have returned to their boom values and more, and fortunate the men who bought real estate and kept it. It was a long wait between the collapse of the boom and the healthy reaction which came gradually and surely, but the investment paid big in the long run. 56 The Story of Corpus Christi Many bought options on land, and this also paid, but many of the investors were poor people and expected, as per circular, to make enough on the first crop to pay for the land and start a bank account. They lost and many of them deserted their holdings. To add to the distress, the Bank of Doddridge & Davis closed its doors. The news came like a thunderclap and the old town awoke with a bound. All sorts of stories were abroad, and as usual in such cases, the ones losing least howled loudest and longest. This event drove the last nail in the coffin of the boom, and things looked blue. The depositors were eventually paid sixty cents on the dollar. All sympathized with Mr. Doddridge, a good, honest man, self made, and whose greatest sin was his trust in his fellow-man. He never recovered from the shock of the destruction of his life work, dying a few years after the bank failure. The depositors took their per cent., and — "Esta Bueno," let it go at that. But the blow fell heavily on the new people who made part payment on homes. Many of them were old people, and they not being able to meet payments were forced to go. As if our troubles were not sufficient for the day thereof, we had a terrible drought that year. We were at a halt for a long time, had overbuilt, and houses in many cases were let to caretakers, rent free. The sound of the saw and hammer were strange for several years. Our new hotel, the Miramar, built by a local stock com- pany, on the beach where the Spohn Hospital now stands, burned to the ground, the guests barely escaping with their lives. Our cup of sorrow was running over, and for awhile we lost heart. But things began to pick up gradually. The women, as ever, in time of trouble, were to the front. The Monday Club was organized. Among their first work was the founding of a library for the High School, re- claiming and beautifying Artesian Square, a little park in the heart of the city. Under the rule of woman it was changed from an unsightly weed-covered spot to a thing of beauty. In this park is our famous mineral well. Some cures made by this water are but little short of miraculous. I would be afraid to tell them, as I scarce credit it if I had not The Story of Corpus Christi 57 known the history of the cases, knew the patients before and after taking, so to speak. The water has never been exploited. It is free, and only those who test know its virtues. Then the Women's Cemetery Association was formed. They opened new cemeteries and cared for the old one. Later, under the leadership of Mrs. G. R. Scott, a committee of ladies met at the market hall and voted to form a stock- company and build a public meeting place. The latter was discussed from all points, one of the women declaring that there was not enough ready money in Corpus Christi to erect the hall. Airs. Scott was elected president, a committee of four directors appointed, being Mrs. Jessie Grififin, Mrs. Joshua Smith, Mrs. E. A. Born and Mrs. Mary Suther- land. Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Born later resigned, and Mrs. John Jordt and Mrs. P. Dunn were appointed in their places. Mrs. S. A\'. Rankin was secretary and Miss Mildred Seaton was treasurer, and the Ladies' Pavilion (now Olympic) was the result. The ladies hold the real honor of being the first stock company ever formed here who paid their stock- holders in full, with legal interest for every day they used it. This building was a boon to the town, as we had out- grown the old City Hall. While the women were in charge there were several notable conventions held there : Texas Bankers. Texas Medical Association, Secretary of War Dickinson spoke there at the time President Taft visited the city, political meetings of both parties, Inland Waterway Convention at which the Governor of Texas spoke, Texas Press Association, and others. But the most important of all the meetings, also in its bearing and future prosperity of the city, was the reception given the Committee of Texas Epworth League, who were seeking a place for their annual encampment. \\'e met the ladies and gentlemen of that committee, talked matters over, showed them our bayside, on a beautiful shell beach, off which there is to be found the finest bathing grounds anywhere. Each August for eleven years the City of Tents stood near General Taylor's old camp ground. Another army was here, bent on a far different and greater conquest than the American Army of occupati(