Dac Crossley's Western Blog

A Line in the Sand

Here's how we learned Texas history back in Kingsville, in the 1930's -- From a little cartoon book entitled "Texas History Movies." The cartoons ran in the Dallas News in 1926-27. We were handed booklets of the series in about 1938, and read them in a class at Flato School. You can get your own copy from Amazon. Those cartoons were, for me, visual evidence of my mother's Texas history stories.

Here's Colonel William B. Travis in the Alamo, drawing a line with his sword, inviting all who would stay and fight to the death to step across that line. Jim Bowie had to be carried across. Only Moses Rose, a Frenchman, declined. He slipped the walls and escaped.

Rose is the only source of information about that line in the sand. And he didn't remark on it until two decades later. None of the handful of survivors, women and children, ever commented on Travis' line.

Today's historians question the event. Did it really happen? Did Travis draw his sword and scratch that line?

The thing is, in times past, others used that ploy to rally their comrades. Ben Milam drew a line when he challenged Texians to attack the Mexican army holding San Antonio - "Who will go into San Antonio with Old Ben Milam?"

Perhaps Moses Rose remembered Ben Milan's line?

Ben Milam's assault was successful. In vicious hand-to-had, house-to-house fighting, the Mexicans were defeated. General Cos surrendered the city to the Texians. But Ben Milam was killed. Shot by a sniper high in a cypress tree as he entered the Veramendi house.

That old twin-trunked cypress still stands. According to historian Frank W. Jennings, it's visible on the riverbank at the intersection of Commerce Street and Soledad. I located it easily near the Holiday Inn riverfront when I visited last April.

In front of the Alamo chapel there's a gold streak embedded in the concrete, commemorating Travis' line. And yes, Mom, I would go into San Antonio with Old Ben Milam.

Dac Crossley
May 27, 2011

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." - St. Augustine.

The Eternal Bookshelf

A friend asked me to recommend some vacation reading. What should he lug along to the beach? (He's already read my novels; I made sure of that!).

Got me to thinking – What books are the permanent magnets in my bookcase? Not necessarily those books in the “Wow, I enjoyed that” category. I mean the ones that sit in a reserved spot on my "Essentials" bookshelf. Those books I pick up and enjoy over and again. Books that take you deep, deep.

Here are four of mine:

“Wicked,” by Gregory Maguire (1995). The old L. Frank Baum books we read as children – and, of course, the movie – introduced my generation to the beauty of fantasy. Maguire takes it up a notch with the story of the Wicked Witch of the West. The tale of The Wizard of Oz becomes fantasy at a new, intriguing level. Food for thought.

“The Great Plains,” by Walter Prescott Webb (out of print). We Texans know Webb for his rose-colored history of the Texas Rangers. His socio-ecological history of America’s Great Plains is much stronger. Eighty years old but highly readable today. I used it as a basis for lectures in Ecology. Written before the dust bowl years, The Great Plains is strangely pertinent today.

“The Eternal Frontier,” by Tim Flannery (2001). This Australian author takes on the history of North America and its peoples, beginning with the big Cretaceous meteor and moving forward through the ages. Flannery writes more as a novelist than a historian. His story of our continent is wide-ranging and beautifully detailed. I read this one over and over, and give it as a present. I want to know more!

“Texas History Movies,” based on comic strips published originally in the Dallas Morning News (1926-1927?). This little comic book was handed to us in grade schools in Texas, and it’s where many of my generation learned the story of the Texas Revolution. Once you start reading it you can’t put it down. It’s still available in several reincarnations, from on-line book sites. Get a copy for the kids – and for yourself.

Okay. What’s on your "Essentials" Bookshelf?

Dac Crossley
May 13, 2011

“The only sin is mediocrity.” – Martha Graham.

Outlived my age?

Maybe it was the first day of May. That undefinable something in the air, sunshine, shadows of newly-green leaves displayed on the sidewalk, gnats swarming over a pine seedling. The exuberance of springtime, and Dac does something whimsical.

I have a habit of ending my blog entries with little tidbits of wisdom or epigrams I've gleaned someplace. Yesterday, I pulled a little trick with the quotation, expecting to hear some responses. Nothing!

Have outlived my entire generation?

I cited: "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit." - Lamont Cranston.

Did no one recognize that? No one at all?

In the good old days (here it comes!) we used to gather around the kitchen table with our projects, and listen to the radio. Tuesday night was comedy night. Fibber McGhee and Molly. The Great Gildersleeve. Nice little half-hour programs.

Saturday night was mystery night on the radio. Mister District Attorney. The Texaco Star Theater.

And - The Shadow! "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" And - "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit."

Lamont Cranston was The Shadow!

Honestly. I must have outlived an entire cohort of old geezers.

Dac Crossley
May 2, 2011

"Dear Future Generations: Please accept our apologies. We were roaring drunk on petroleum." - Kurt Vonnegut.

Refuge in the Menger Hotel

When in San Antonio, I seldom fail to take breakfast or lunch in the historic Menger Hotel. Or grab a beer in its smoky barroom. Built in 1859, the Menger was there just in time for the Civil War.

On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered and the entire Trans-Mississippi west of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas was thrown into chaos. Those Confederate armies hadn’t surrendered. What should they do? Confused, they dithered; commands crumpled, desertions were frequent, armies collapsing. Gangs of deserters plundered the area, virtually unopposed.

General Jo Shelby made up his mind. He would not surrender. He would go to Mexico. He marched his command out of Arkansas, through east Texas, constantly fighting brigands who had recently been comrades-in-arms.

San Antonio, Texas’s largest city, was right in his path. On June 16, 1865, when Shelby camped nearby, San Antonio’s mayor approached and asked him to restore order there. Shelby’s troops “scoured San Antonio’s bars, boardinghouses and whorehouses, rousting the troublemakers, and drove them from town.”

In the fashionable Menger Hotel Shelby found a number eminent visitors, Confederate generals, judges, legislators, driven to this sanctuary by approaching Yankee armies. The Menger was the final refuge for many, including Texas Governor Murrah who decided to accompany Shelby down from Austin. From the Menger, Shelby planned his escape to Mexico.

From his second-story balcony, Jo Shelby observed the arrival of an old man in tattered clothing, white with road dust. He registered under the name of “William Thompson.” Shelby recognized him; he was General Edmund Kirby Smith, who was in charge of all Trans-Mississippi Confederate armies. The roll call was nearly complete.

A week later, on June 25, a large part of the core Confederate leadership, along with Governor Murrah and others, left the Menger and set out for Eagle Pass and Mexico. Under the protection of General Jo Shelby, the youngest and boldest among them.

And the Menger - was it ready for the cattle drives soon to come? Or - Teddy Roosevelt?

(I'm reading General Jo Shelby's March by Anthony Arthur).

Dac Crossley
May 1, 2010

"The weed of crime bears bitter fruit." - LaMont Cranston.