Tag: texas

Kate Ross Padgitt and Steamboats on the Brazos

Kate Ross Padgett was born January 6, 1851 and was the first white child born in Waco.  Her parents were Shapley Prince and Catherine Fulkerson Ross and they lived in a log cabin built near the Brazos River.  Her older brother was Lawrence Sullivan (Sul) Ross who was a young child when the family moved to Texas.  The exact location of the home is thought to be on the west side of the Brazos near downtown Waco, near the intersection of what was then Bridge Street and First Street, roughly where the Waco Suspension Bridge meets the river today.  There was a natural spring nearby.  The cabin was later replaced by a hotel, the first hotel in Waco, when the Ross family moved to a home near 12th and Dutton streets.

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Bill Pickett

Bill Pickett was born to Thomas Jefferson and Mary Gilbert Pickett in Jenks-Branch, Williamson County, Texas in 1870, one of 13 children.  His heritage was African-American and Cherokee.  He is credited for having invented the method of steer wrestling commonly called “bulldogging.”  For this, his showmanship and his other skills he became the first person of African-American descent to be inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, among his other honors.

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Electra Waggoner Biggs

Electra was a well known sculptor in addition to being one of the heirs to the Waggoner Ranch holdings.  She was born in Fort Worth on November 8, 1912 and died in Vernon on April 23, 2001 at the age of 88.  Her father was E. Paul Waggoner, a familiar name to residents of North Texas, and her mother was Helen Buck Waggoner.  She was the granddaughter of W. T. Waggoner, who with his father Dan was a founder of the ranch.  She was the great granddaughter of Solomon Waggoner who first came to the plains.

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Fort Stockton

Fort Stockton was originally an adobe fort built in 1859 by the United States Army as a means of protecting travelers, freighters and the mail service.  It was located near what was known as Comanche Springs, the source of Comanche Creek.  It served as a way point on the Old San Antonio Road, the Butterfield Overland Stage route and the Comanche Trail to Chihuahua, Mexico.

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