Texas history from the Texas State Historical Association
10/24/1845: Pioneer German authors killed by Indians
On this day in 1845, two pioneer German-Texans, Friedrich Wilhelm von Wrede Sr. and Oscar von Claren, were killed and scalped by Indians at a place referred to as Live Oak Spring, ten to twelve miles from Austin, probably near Manchaca Springs. Wrede made an initial trip to Texas in 1837 and traveled and made notes of his observations in America. He returned to Germany in 1843 and compiled and published Lebensbilder aus den vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika und Texas (1844). Wrede’s travel book is a generally realistic account of the opportunities and difficulties of colonists on the American frontier, especially in Texas. The book helped to influence prospective German settlers to come to Texas, despite the negative effect of Wrede’s own violent death in Texas the following year. Wrede returned to Texas in 1844 as an official of the Adelsverein. His companion in death, Oscar von Claren, immigrated from Hannover to New Braunfels, Texas, probably early in 1845. His family correspondence indicated his interest in the botany and wildlife of the New Braunfels area, and he collected turtles and snakes to sell to naturalists in Germany. He wrote Indianer bei Neu Braunfels im Jahre 1845 (1845), a group of essays depicting Texas Indians.The two authors were buried at the site of the massacre by United States soldiers, who gave them military honors. Wrede’s son, Friedrich Wilhelm von Wrede Jr., settled in Fredericksburg but returned to Germany after the Civil War.
10/25/1886: Texas State Fair opens in Dallas
On this day in 1886, the Texas State Fair opened on a section of John Cole’s farm in north Dallas. A rival organization, the Dallas Exposition, opened its first fair the following day. Both fairs were successful and together drew over 35,000 people a day. Eventually, the two groups decided to merge and form the Texas State Fair and Dallas Exposition, which eventually became the State Fair of Texas.
10/26/1930: First football game played at Cotton Bowl
On this day in 1930, the Southern Methodist University Mustangs beat the Indiana Hoosiers 27-0 in the first football game at the brand-new Cotton Bowl in Dallas’s Fair Park. The 46,000-seat stadium was on the site of Fair Park Football Stadium, built in 1921 with a seating capacity of 15,000. A milestone in the history of the stadium occurred on January 1, 1937, when the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs beat Marquette University 16-6 in the first Cotton Bowl Classic. The classic became an annual tradition matching the Southwest Conference champion against a highly rated opponent, and now primarily features teams from the Big 12 and Southeastern Conference. The stadium was renovated extensively in 1948, 1949, 1994, and 2008, bringing its official capacity to 92,100. The Cotton Bowl served as the home of the Dallas Texans of the National Football League in 1952, the Dallas Texans (now the Kansas City Chiefs) of the American Football League from 1960 to 1962, the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL from 1960 to 1970, and the Dallas Burn (now FC Dallas) of Major League Soccer from 1996 to 2005. It also hosted several matches during the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The last Cotton Bowl Classic held in the eponymously named stadium was played on January 2, 2009. However, the site still hosts the annual clash between the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Oklahoma, the State Fair Classic between Grambling State University and Prairie View A&M, and the Heart of Dallas Bowl.
10/27/1891: Company chartered to connect Texas and Brazil by rail
On this day in 1891, the Pan American Railway was chartered by a group of Boston investors to connect Victoria, Texas, with Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The residents of Victoria, anxious to have an independent rail outlet to compete with the Southern Pacific-controlled lines radiating from the city, offered a $150,000 bonus to the company. By August 1892 the line had been completed from Victoria to the Guadalupe River, a distance of ten miles, but funds were not available to bridge the river. Victoria refused to pay any installment on the bonus until additional mileage had been constructed. No regular trains were ever operated on the Pan American, and the track was soon abandoned.
10/27/1877: Pride of Galveston launched in Scotland
On this day in 1877 the Elissa, an iron-hulled, three-masted barque built at the shipyard of Alexander Hall and Company of Aberdeen, Scotland, was launched. After a long and varied career the vessel was purchased in 1974 by the Galveston Historical Foundation as a restoration project to complement the Strand Historic District, the Victorian market center of the city. The restored nineteenth-century full-rigged sailing ship is now berthed at Pier 21 in Galveston, just off the Strand, and is visited by 60,000 to 70,000 tourists a year.
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