The Cortina Wars is a name given to armed conflicts precipitated by a Mexican rancher named Juan Cortina. Juan Nepomuceno Cortina was born in 1824 in Tamaulipas, Mexico into a cattle ranching family. His mother, Trinidad Cortina inherited some property in the late 1820s that was in the general area of what we know as Brownsville and Matamoros, located on both sides of the Rio Grande. At this time, the Rio Grande geographically divided the two areas, but it was all part of Mexico until after the Mexican-American War, which essentially moved the Mexican border from the Nueces River to the Rio Grande.
Continue reading Juan Cortina, patriot or bandit?Tag: history
Col. Richard E. Cole, Doolittle Raider
(Image credit: U. S. Air Force. Cole is on the front row, to Doolittle’s right.)
Just a little more than one month after the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo on April 18, 1942, details were released to the media about the military action. The occasion was an award ceremony honoring pilots and crew of the historic attack. In an Associated Press report out of Washington on May 22, the identity of the leader was revealed to be Brig. Gen. James H. Doolittle. Coming only a few months after the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into World War II, the raid shook the Japanese belief that the U.S. could not reach them on their own soil. In addition, it greatly improved the morale in the United States at a time when it was extremely low.
Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor
Before the Texas Revolution, the official religion of the area was Roman Catholicism according to Spanish law. Landowners were required to espouse the Roman Catholic faith and many did so in order to obtain title to their land. However Protestant families moved to the area prior to and following the Texas Revolution. R. E. B. Baylor, a Baptist, came to Texas in late 1839. By then, there were already a number of Baptist families in Texas. After a couple of failed efforts, the Baptist Union Association was formed in the fall of 1840 and included churches from La Grange, Travis and Independence. Baylor was a circuit judge and was an ordained minister. By about 1845, there were hundreds of fellow Baptists in the area. Among other things, the Association had been concerned about education and formed an Education Society of which R. E. B. Baylor was selected to be President.
The Governor’s Bible
There are two Texas traditions involving state governors and the Bible. They are referred to as the “Supreme Court Bible” and the “Governor’s Bible.” The following is the story of the Governor’s Bible. We will talk about the Supreme Court Bible in a later article.
Battle of the Neches
(Image credit: TexasCherokeeNation.org)
On July 16, 1839, the last major battle between Texas forces and the Cherokee tribe along with other tribal bands took place. The Cherokee had first come to Texas shortly after the turn of the century, long before the Texas Revolution, and had settled near the Red River. Much of the time thereafter, their leader was Chief John Bowles, pictured in the image above, also known as Diwal’li. There are other variations of his name, but we will refer to him as Chief Bowles. The Chief was thought to have been born around 1756 to a Cherokee mother and a Scotch-Irish father. He is said to have had the features of both parents including reddish hair, Cherokee features and freckled skin.
