March Timeline
March 1
1836 - Thirty-two brave men arrived at the Alamo from Goliad to assist Travis and the rest of the gallant defenders.
1836 - George C. Childress called the delegates to order at Washington-on-the-Brazos to begin the Convention of the Republic.
March 2
1793 - Happy birthday, Sam Houston.
1836 - The Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Texas was adopted unanimously.
1836 - The Battle of Agua Dulce Creek was fought.
1885 - The 16,000 pound cornerstone of the present-day capitol in Austin was laid.
March 3
1836 - John W. Smith was sent as a courier for Travis with one final letter of help to the Convention.
1836 - James Bonham returned to the Alamo, knowing he would die, yet telling Travis no other help was coming.
March 4
1837 - During Andrew Jackson’s last days as President, Texas was recognized as its own republic.
March 5
1836 - Charles Goodnight, co-founder of the Goodnight-Loving Trail, was born in Illinois.
March 6
1836 - Though you may not be from Texas, pause for a second and remember the men who died at the Alamo, both sides, because they fought for something they all believed in.Remember the Alamo.
March 7
1862 - John B. Hood took command of Hood’s Texas Brigade. Fort Hood in Killeen is named for this brave soldier.
1901 - The bluebonnet became the Texas state flower.
March 8
1798 - Mathew ’Old Paint’ Caldwell was born in Missouri on this day. He and other Texans were attacked at Salado Creek in September, 1842, forcing the Mexican soldiers back.
March 9
1731 - The first group of settlers from the Canary Islands came to Texas. Founding the Villa de San Fernando, they were led by Juan Leal Goras.
1846 - Gen. Zachary Taylor moved his army from the Nueces River to the Rio Grande. He established Fort Brown there.
March 10
1842 - The ’Archive War’ between the cities of Austin and Houston was started. Sam Houston, who wanted the government moved from Austin to Houston, was stopped by citizens of Austin who didn’t want the archives to be moved.
March 11
1836 - Sam Houston arrived at Gonzales after travelling from Washington-on the-Brazos and took command of the Texas Army.
1884 - In San Antonio at Jack Harris’ vaudeville theater, Ben Thompson and John King Fisher were killed.
March 12
1829 - Though Lorenzo de Zavala was given a grant to get five hundred families to settle in Texas, he never established the settlement. Due to political disagreements with Santa Anna, Zavala came to Texas, even signing the Texas Declaration of Independence.
1914 - Now permanently berthed in Galveston, the second battleship Texas was commissioned.
March 13
1842 - President Sam Houston began retreating across Texas, gathering reinforcements as he went. Preparing to fight Santa Anna’s troops again.
1884 - After one of the biggest funerals Austin had ever seen, Ben Thompson was laid to rest in Oakwood Cemetery.
March 14
1836 - The Battle of Refugio occurred.
1845 - New Braunfels was bought by German settlers.
1852 - Originally called Camp San Saba, Fort McKavett was established in Menard County. Named for Col. Ranald McKavett who led an Indian attack in Palo Duro Canyon from this fort in 1874.
March 15
1826 - Rafael Gonzales stepped down as governor of Texas and Coahuila.
1881 - Abilene was established by the Texas and Pacific Railroad and West Texas cattlemen as a stock shipping point.
March 16
1836 - The ad interim government of the Republic of Texas was established and David G. Burnet was the first president.
1861 - Sam Houston refused to support the Confederacy and Edward Clark became governor.
1896 - The Supreme Court settled the boundary dispute between Texas and Oklahoma.
March 17
1837 - In Fannin County, Fort Inglish was established. Named for Bailey Inglish this site would later serve as the town of Bonham.
1864 - A Confederate attack on Corpus Christi happened.
March 18
1866 - The War Department issued an order to dispose of all camels in the possession of the government. The camels had been imported as a ’transportation and communication improvement’ experiment. The headquarters was near Killeen.
March 19
1836 - The Battle of Coleto erupted. Colonel Fannin surrendered to Colonel Urrea.
1840 - The Council House Fight, a battle between the Comanches and Texans, occurred.
1903 - Judge Roy Bean died on this day and was buried in Del Rio.
March 20
1687 - LaSalle was reportedly murdered by two of his men as they searched for the Mississippi River.
1721 - The Marquis de San Miguel de Aguayo came to San Antonio and was honored by seeing the mission that was named for him - San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo.
March 21
1801 - Philip Nolan, referred to as ’The Man Without a Country’ and whom the Spanish government felt wanted to be the ’King of Texas’, was shot and killed by Spanish soldiers.
March 22
1864 - Edmund J. Davis and his federal troops were defeated near Laredo. Davis would later become governor and served from January 1870 until January 1874 despite the fact he was extremely unpopular.
March 23
1859 - Fort Stockton, a popular spot for Indians because of the natural springs in the area, was established.
March 24
1883 - A cowboy strike in the Panhandle started one of the many protests against the fencing and low wages for cowboys who earned about $35 a month. Three hundred twenty-five cowboys went on strike and got their pay increased from $1.18 per day to $1.68.
March 25
1825 - A State Colonization Law, which offered a league of land to settlers who would live on the land and develop it, was passed.
1843 - Black beans were drawn on 26 February, deciding who of the doomed Mier Expedition would perish first. Every tenth man was executed although Santa Anna had wanted them all to die.
March 26
1846 - Established by Gen. Zachary Taylor, Fort Polk, named for President James Polk, was founded in Point Isabel.
1918 - Gov. W.P. Hobby signed a bill which gave women primary suffrage, but not until 1920 were women given the vote.
March 27
1836 - The Goliad Massacre occurred on this date, on what was Palm Sunday. Few of the 400 escaped. Senora Alvarez, ’The Angel of Goliad’, saved some of the men’s lives.
March 28
1836 - Sam Houston continued his retreat across Texas. He reached San Felipe on this day, recruiting and training more soldiers.
March 29
1813 - The Battle of Rosalis was fought near the junction of Salado Creek and the San Antonio River.
1836 - Capt. Moseley Baker burned San Felipe when he saw an ’army’ heading to the town. The ’army’ turned out to be a herd of cattle.
March 30
1751 - San Francisco Xavier Presidio was formally approved by the viceroy.
1870 - President Grant declared that Texas’ reconstruction period was finished. However, Texans didn’t feel it until Gov. Edmund J. Davis was finally out of office in 1873.
March 31
1878 - John Arthur ’Jack’ Johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champ was born in Galveston.