By Oliveira H.R. No. 1027
75R16030 PAN-F
R E S O L U T I O N
1-1 WHEREAS, The city of Brownsville is celebrating the
1-2 sesquicentennial of its founding in 1848, and the Texas House of
1-3 Representatives is especially proud to recognize the legendary city
1-4 on this august occasion; and
1-5 WHEREAS, Intricately woven into the history of the Lone Star
1-6 State, Brownsville is Texas' southernmost city and the Rio Grande
1-7 Valley's largest city; the area surrounding it dates from the
1-8 colonial days of Imperial Spain, covering periods of exploration,
1-9 wars, revolutions, and infamous banditry; and
1-10 WHEREAS, First to arrive at this remote area on the Texas
1-11 coast were the Spanish explorers who found hundreds of native
1-12 Americans known as Coahuiltecans living there; they were followed
1-13 by colonizers and staunch families who came to tame the arid
1-14 wilderness: Alonzo de Leon in 1689, Jose de Escandon in 1746, and
1-15 Jose Salvador de la Garza in 1782; and
1-16 WHEREAS, For more than 300 years, the city has figured
1-17 prominently in the development of our state and five national
1-18 banners have flown over its settlements--Spain, Mexico, the
1-19 Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America, and the
1-20 United States; and
1-21 WHEREAS, With its rich military, commercial, transportation,
1-22 and agricultural legacies contributing to the development of Texas
1-23 and the United States, Brownsville has become a vital international
1-24 seaport, airport, and railroad interchange point on the Mexican
2-1 border; and
2-2 WHEREAS, Originally settled as part of Matamoros, Mexico, in
2-3 the latter half of the 18th century, Brownsville was first
2-4 chartered as a United States city in 1848; General Zachary Taylor
2-5 established Fort Texas (renamed Fort Brown after the death of its
2-6 gallant commander, Major Jacob Brown) in 1846 to confirm the Rio
2-7 Grande as the national boundary after the Republic of Texas became
2-8 a state; that incident resulted in the Mexican War, and the first
2-9 battles were fought here: Thornton's Skirmish, the Battle of Palo
2-10 Alto, and the Battle of Resaca de la Palma; here General Taylor
2-11 launched his invasion of Mexico, which was followed immediately by
2-12 the organization of the city of Brownsville by Charles Stillman;
2-13 several existing buildings of Fort Brown are now part of Texas
2-14 Southmost Junior College; and
2-15 WHEREAS, During the Civil War, Brownsville was the only port
2-16 available to the Confederacy to ship its cotton in exchange for war
2-17 supplies and it became the center of action for international
2-18 intrigue; stationed in Point Isabel and Brazos Santiago, the Union
2-19 Army forced the Confederates to evacuate the city in 1863, and the
2-20 stored cotton was burned to keep it from the Union Army, which
2-21 resulted in destroying Fort Brown and part of the city; and
2-22 WHEREAS, Brownsville was the capital of Texas from November
2-23 1863 to July 1864, when Brigadier General Andrew Jackson Hamilton,
2-24 appointed military governor of Texas by President Abraham Lincoln,
2-25 occupied the city with Union troops; Confederates retook the city
2-26 in 1864 and maintained control, rebuffing the Union forces in the
2-27 final battle of the Civil War at the Palmito Ranch under the
3-1 command of John S. "RIP" Ford; at this time, the war had been over
3-2 for several weeks; and
3-3 WHEREAS, The cattle industry developed on the Spanish land
3-4 grants here and spread throughout the west at the end of the Civil
3-5 War; Brownsville was the southern terminus of the Chisholm Trail;
3-6 during that same period, large irrigation projects were started
3-7 that were the beginning of the rich agricultural business in the
3-8 valley; and
3-9 WHEREAS, From the beginning, Brownsville was a key commercial
3-10 center for South Texas and Northern Mexico; transportation was
3-11 always crucial to its development, and the area was served by
3-12 sailing ships, covered wagons, steamboats, railroads, deep-sea
3-13 ports, and the earliest major international airport; and
3-14 WHEREAS, Commissioned officers and future generals were
3-15 stationed in the city: Robert E. Lee, Philip Sheridan, Braxton
3-16 Bragg, Don Carlos Buell, Edmund Kirby-Smith, James Longstreet, John
3-17 B. Magruder, George Gordon Meade, John Pemberton, John F. Reynolds,
3-18 George H. Thomas, Joseph Hooker, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, George
3-19 B. McClellan, Irvin McDowell, John Pope, John Sedgwick, Hamilton
3-20 Bee, John Pershing, and others; future presidents of three nations
3-21 lived there: Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis,
3-22 Porfirio Diaz, Manuel Gonzalez, and Mariano Arista; and men who
3-23 would one day be governors: A. J. Hamilton, Lew Wallace, Edmund J.
3-24 Davis, and Juan Nepomuceno Cortina; and
3-25 WHEREAS, Here revolutions were planned and
3-26 supplied--revolutions that altered the future not only of the
3-27 United States and Mexico, but Europe as well; 49ers passed on their
4-1 way to the California gold rush, some remaining to help build the
4-2 city; and
4-3 WHEREAS, Men of vision came to find fame and fortune:
4-4 businessmen turned ranchers--Richard King, Mifflin Kenedy,
4-5 Francisco Yturria, John Young, John McAllen, Adolphus Glaevecke;
4-6 pioneers who became farmers, merchants, builders of ports and
4-7 railroads, and persons of special talents--Charles Stillman, Louis
4-8 Brulay, Manuel Alonso, Simon Celaya, Jose San Roman, Manuel
4-9 Trevino, J. H. Fernandez, Albert, Peter, Nicholas, and Joseph
4-10 Champion, A. P. Barreda, Adrian Ortiz, J. L. Putegnat, Samuel and
4-11 Jeremiah Galvan, Jacob Mussina, S. A. Belden, Frank S. North,
4-12 Humphrey E. Woodhouse, Juan S. Cross, Victoriano Fernandez, Joseph
4-13 Webb, Thomas Carson, Patrick Shannon, Henry Miller, Andres Pacheco,
4-14 Henry M. Field, William Neale, S. W. Brooks, Stephen Powers, John
4-15 S. "RIP" Ford, J. T. Canales, Morris Edelstein, James Wells, and
4-16 many others; and
4-17 WHEREAS, Women capable of carving civilization from the
4-18 cactus and chaparral came also: Maria Josefa Cavazos, Una Rutland
4-19 Neale, Henrietta Morse Chamberlain King, Theresa Clark Clearwater,
4-20 Nora Kelly, and Salome Balli; and
4-21 WHEREAS, Men and women of the cloth came to bring the word of
4-22 God into a wild frontier town: Father Jean Maurice Verdet, Father
4-23 Pierre Karalum, Reverend Hiram Chamberlain, Melinda Rankin, and
4-24 Father Pierre Parisot, and the sisters of the Incarnate Word and
4-25 Blessed Sacrament, Saint Clare, Saint Angel, Saint Ephrem, and
4-26 Saint Dominic established the first parochial school; and
4-27 WHEREAS, The future surgeon general of the United States,
5-1 William Crawford Gorgas, came to work and conquer yellow fever,
5-2 providing the key to the building of the Panama Canal; Lieutenant
5-3 Abner Doubleday, who helped give us baseball, served there twice;
5-4 during the birth of air transportation, Amelia Earhart, Charles
5-5 Lindbergh, Les Mauldin, Claire Chennault, Ira Eaker, William
5-6 "Billy" Mitchell, Juan Trippe, Howard Hughes, Eddie Rickenbacker,
5-7 Tom Braniff, and others; until World War II, the airport at
5-8 Brownsville was the busiest international airport in the United
5-9 States; and
5-10 WHEREAS, The names of countless men and women who are a part
5-11 of Brownsville's unique history and who gave of their own talents
5-12 will forever leave their mark on the city's illustrious past;
5-13 Brownsville's sesquicentennial celebration will honor these
5-14 individuals and their contributions not only to Texas, but also to
5-15 the nation; now, therefore, be it
5-16 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 75th Texas
5-17 Legislature hereby extend its deepest appreciation to the citizenry
5-18 of Brownsville and extend best wishes to them for a most glorious
5-19 sesquicentennial celebration in 1998; and, be it further
5-20 RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
5-21 prepared to commemorate this notable event as a token of highest
5-22 regard by the Texas House of Representatives for the city of
5-23 Brownsville and its people.