The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Captain Sam Walker - Texas Ranger - Dec. 8th, 2003

www.texasranger.org ^

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
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for all those serving their country at this time.

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Captain Samuel Hamilton Walker
(1815 - 1847)

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In the 180-year history of the Texas Rangers, there have been many shining stars, but none glowed any brighter than Samuel Hamilton Walker.

Walker’s years of life were few. He was born in Prince George County, Maryland, in 1815 and was killed in Mexico on October 8, 1847. During those brief 32 years, he packed in 132 years of adventures. Wars, Indian battles, filibusters, and honors were all a part of his life. To top it off, he had one of the most famous pistols in history named after him.

Sam Walker

Very little is known about Walker’s early life. From surviving letters and reports, it appears that he was well educated. In 1832, while still a teenager, Walker ended up in Washington, DC. Four years later, in May 1836, he joined the army.

Over the next two years, he had two tours of duty in the Florida swamps fighting Chief Osceola’s Seminoles. For “exceptional courage” shown in the Battle of Hacheeluski in January 1837, he was promoted to corporal. This may seem a small honor today, but in those early years of army history, it was the norm that promotions could, and usually did, take years.

Walker did his duty until he was mustered out of the Army in 1838. Single and still seeking adventure, he headed back to Florida, where he had a job waiting for him. An old Army buddy, George Gordon Meade of Gettysburg fame, had also left the service and was supervising the construction of the Alabama, Florida, and Georgia Railway. Walker remained in Florida until 1841, when he departed for Texas to become a legend.


They were cruel protectors of their civilization on a cruel frontier. Against daunting odds, small companies of Texas Rangers defeated Comanche warriors, Mexican armies, cattle rustlers and bandits -- even Bonnie and Clyde.

Records indicate that Walker arrived in San Antonio in January 1842. He soon he joined the company of the man most would agree was the greatest Ranger of the post-Civil War era, Captain John Coffee “Jack” Hays.

By 1842, the Texas Revolution was six years into history, but the wounds on both Texas and Mexico were still bare and festering. Several Mexican invasions of Texas had occurred, most notably that by Raphael Vasquez in early March 1842. After plundering and looting San Antonio for two days, Vasquez had retreated to Mexico. Only President Sam Houston’s calm hand prevented a war, but he could not alleviate the ever-growing hatred felt by both sides.

In September of the same year, not even Houston could keep a lid on the situation when the Frenchman Adrian Woll led a Mexican army into Texas and again captured San Antonio. For ten days, Woll infested the city. Houston placed Alexander Somervell at the head of the Texas Army, with two sets of orders to either (1) show restraint or (2) invade Mexico.


John Coffee Hays,
"Captain Jack" of the Texas Rangers

Sam Walker was not about to miss a fight, and he quickly signed on as a scout for Captain Jesse Billingsley. Billingsley’s force joined up with Matthew “Old Paint” Caldwell, where Walker served with Jack Hays and Henry McCulloch. As Woll retreated back to Mexico, the Texans only had a few minor skirmishes with the invaders. The Rangers returned to San Antonio. For the next two months, they reorganized in what would become known as the [Alexander] Somervell Expedition. When they moved, they headed toward Mexico and peacefully reoccupied Laredo. The Texans stayed in Laredo only a short time before moving on down the Rio Grande to the town of Guerrero to resupply.

On December 18, 1842, General Somervell declared the expedition ended and ordered his 498 men back to San Antonio. One hundred eighty-nine of them refused to quit. They elected William Fisher their commander and continued with the invasion of Mexico. Jack Hays did not join them. He warned his comrades to abandon their foolish ideas, but they did not listen. Two of those who disregarded Walker’s request were Sam Walker and W. A. A. “Big Foot” Wallace.

On December 23, the Texans invaded Mier, just south of the Rio Grande. They were unopposed. After demanding and receiving supplies, they returned to the north side of the border. On Christmas Day, some of Fisher’s spies reported that 700 Mexican soldiers were in Mier. This was a fight worthy of the Texans. They re-crossed the river and attacked.



The Rangers were good, but even they couldn’t handle the overwhelming force of this enemy. On the next day, December 26, they were forced to surrender.

Unfortunately, Sam Walker was not one the Texans who surrendered. He had been the first Texan captured in the ill-fated expedition. The day before, he and fellow scout Patrick Lusk had been on a scouting expedition. Walker had come upon some Mexican soldiers and fired. He was attempting to crawl under a fence when a Mexican soldier grabbed him by his foot and held him tight until reinforcements arrived.

What followed would enrage Texans as nothing had since the Alamo and the Fannin Massacre during the Texas Revolution. It was the Lottery of Death. The Texans were marched to prison in Saltillo. On March 1, 1843, Santa Anna ordered all 176 prisoners lined up against a wall and shot. Fortunately, Governor Francisco Mexia refused to commit such an atrocity.

The prisoners were then ordered to San Luis Potosi. By March 25, when they arrived at Rancho Salado, another order had arrived from Santa Anna. He ordered that every tenth man must be shot. This time, there would be no Governor Mexia to stop the murders.



Who would die? One hundred fifty-nine white beans and seventeen black beans were placed in a jar. Each man dug his hand into the jar and brought out a bean. Anyone unfortunate enough to withdraw a black bean died. Walker and Big Foot Wallace both brought out a white bean and where spared. The leader of the Texans, William Fisher, also drew a white bean. However, Santa Anna would not hear of the Texas commander being spared, and he was shot.

For months, Walker and his fellow Texans were summarily beaten and worked, in some cases to death. On July 30, 1843, Walker escaped and managed to get on a ship headed for New Orleans. He arrived there in September.

Walker didn’t stay long in the Crescent City. He wanted to get back to Texas and start settling scores south of the border. He repeated his vows of vengeance so often to his friends that he earned a new nickname, “Mad” Walker.

[SAMWolf]

Walker would have to wait, however, before he could start extracting his vengeance. He rejoined Jack Hays and rode for the next two years, fighting Indians. It was during this time that he started down the road that would lead to his name being associated with one of the most fames handguns ever made—the Walker Colt.

Walker almost missed making that association. During one fight, a Comanche ran a lance through him. Though critically wounded, he recovered after several months and soon rejoined the Rangers. He was again wounded, though not as seriously. In fact, he was wounded so many times that his compadres soon hung another nickname on him: “Unlucky” Walker.

Texas Rangers Ft. Worth, Texas, 1887

While Hays and his men rode out against the Comanches, they were armed with the five-shot Paterson Colt. Until Samuel Colt invented the revolver, the Rangers were at a decided disadvantage against the Indians. Ranger weapons were single-shot. While a Ranger was reloading, a well-trained Comanche could have five or six arrows in the air toward him.

The Paterson revolver was first used in the pivotal battle of Walker’s Creek [not named after Sam Walker] on June 8, 1844. Walker participated, again under Jack Hays’ command. This minor battle of Texas Rangers vs. Comanches may have been nothing but a little skirmish, but it was significant because of the new weapon. After this, war the world over would never be the same again. The Paterson changed warfare: now the pendulum swung in favor of the Rangers.

Of course, “Unlucky” Walker was wounded yet again in this battle, thought not seriously. After recovering, he continued fighting Indians. On March 28, 1846, his Indian fighting days were over, however, and he was discharged from the Texas Rangers.

But his days as a Texas Ranger were far from over. In 1846, the United States and Mexico again went to war. Walker rode to Rio Grande to join General Zachary Taylor’s army. Taylor was impressed enough with Walker that he authorized him to raise a company of Texas Rangers to serve in the federal forces as scouts for his army.

In the following months, Samuel Walker’s deeds of daring made him a household word throughout America. The people of New Orleans were so impressed with the dashing Texas Ranger that they raised enough money to present Walker a magnificent horse named Tornado.

Walker gained his great fame doing what Texas Ranger commanders have done for 180 years—he led from the front. Sam Walker would be found where the fighting was the heaviest. His actions and those of his fellow Rangers, from the far South Texas battlefield of Palo Alto to the Mexican town of Monterrey, were so spectacular that all the Rangers covered themselves in glory. Walker himself rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. It was during the Mexican War that the rest of the world learned what Texas already knew: there were no fighting men in the world better than the Texas Rangers.

On October 2, 1846, Walker’s days as an official Texas Ranger finally came to an end. The Ranger enlistments were completed and he left Mexico with Jack Hays. After arriving in San Antonio, the duo traveled to Galveston, where they were treated to a gala ball and a dinner in their honor. Shortly thereafter, they sailed for New Orleans, where their arrival “created a sensation throughout the city.”

In New Orleans, the two future Texas Ranger Hall of Famers separated. Hays went to Mississippi and Walker headed for Washington, DC. Back on June 30, 1846, Walker had been appointed a captain of Mounted Riflemen in the United States Army. However, he was permitted to remain a Texas Ranger until his enlistment was completed on October 2.

With his appointment in the Army, Walker had to recruit, equip, and train his command. In pursuit of this goal, he spent the next six months in the east, raising money to buy arms and equipment for his men.

The First True "Six-Shooter"--This .44 cal. "Walker" Colt 1847 military model revolver, pictured here with the accompanying powder and shot flask, is stamped "B Co. #41." It is one of 100 surviving examples of the original 1100 prototypes designed by inventor Samuel Colt and Texas Ranger Captain Samuel Walker for use by the Texas Rangers and the U.S. Mounted Rifles in the Mexican War. (Metzger Collection, Texas A&M University Sam Houston Sanders Corps of Cadets Center)

By the end of November, Walker was in New York City. Sam Colt, the bankrupt developer of the Colt Paterson revolver, heard that Walker was in the city looking to buy arms. Colt, never one to stand on principal if a dollar was to be made, contacted Walker. He found an enthusiastic potential buyer. Walker and Colt became fast friends.

But as great a revolution as the Paterson revolver was, it had many shortcomings. Chief among them were being fragile and very cumbersome to reload. Walker had several suggestions to improve Colt’s pistol. However, the two men had a major problem—they didn’t have a Paterson to look at. Colt had gone bankrupt, and he had not saved a single weapon. Walker had not brought a pistol with him.

Colt was anxious to adopt whatever suggestions Walker wanted. He knew that Walker’s prestige with the Rangers and the Army could very well put him back in business in a big way. Colt agreed to modify his pistol with Walker’s suggestions, and Walker would try and get the government to buy them. Both men kept their ends of the bargain.

William "Big Foot" Wallace

What the two men brought to life was the legendary Walker Colt, the most powerful handgun in the world until the introduction of the 44-Magnum deep in the 20th century. The Walker was a magnificent piece of work. Fully loaded, the monster pistol weighed almost five pounds. Unlike the Paterson, which fired five shots, the Walker would fire six times.

Walker returned to Washington and secured an appointment with President James Polk. Hearing Walker explain the new pistol that Colt could produce, the President and Walker went to the office of William Marcy, the Secretary of War. President Polk ordered him to purchase the weapons. Marcy passed the purchase order for 1,000 Walkers at twenty-five dollars each to Lieutenant Colonel George Talcott, the Ordnance Chief.

While Colt was producing the pistols, Walker raised his company of men, gave them some training, and departed for Mexico. He arrived at Vera Cruz, Mexico, on May 10, 1847. On June 26, the first batch of revolvers was sent to Walker at Vera Cruz. However, it took a long time for shipments to travel from the northeast United States to Vera Cruz, Mexico, and it would be months before the weapons arrived.

A nice 1870s photo of two Texas Rangers.

After a month at Vera Cruz, Walker and his men moved inland to Perote Castle. Perote Castle held no fond memories for Sam Walker. It was here that he and his comrades were imprisoned during the ill-fated Mier Expedition. It was also from here that Walker and some of his fellow prisoners had tunneled out of the prison and made their escapes.

[SAMWolf]

A legend, possibly a myth, has been passed down from this era. The story goes that Walker and his fellow Mier prisoners were forced by their captures to erect a flagpole. According to the legend, Walker swore that one day a Texas flag would fly from this same pole. Other stories say it was an American flag, but since this was a Texas expedition manned by Texans, it would seem strange that Walker would vow to raise an American flag. Either way, the story continues that when Walker had planted the pole, he placed an American coin--a dime--under the flagpole’s base. The first thing Walker did when he arrived at Perote was retrieve the coin.

Whether the story is true or not, Walker had no trouble remembering his vow of vengeance when he looked at his former prison. It was a vow that would have to wait, however. For the next four months, Walker and his men worked overtime keeping General Winfield Scott’s supply line open, lest the American army starve. The men never went hungry.


Frontier Fighters. Rangers from a unit of the Frontier Battalion helped retame Texas after the Civil War. In the 1870s, the Rangers apprehended or killed over 3,000 desperados, including Sam Bass and John Wesley Hardin. (photo from collection of Mike Cox, Austin, Texas)

Walker and his men operated as Texas Rangers against the Mexican guerrillas, who were working to keep the American army’s supply line severed. Even though they were officially listed in the United States Army, that was as far as it went. Walker, his men, and their contemporaries always referred to themselves Texas Rangers.

Throughout these months, Walker and his men fought without the great pistol named after him. On October 4, only four days before his death, Walker finally received two of the soon legendary pistols.

General Joseph Lane was moving his command to Puebla, where Santa Anna waited with 4.000 men. Lane stopped in Perote. He conferred with Walker and decided to attack the Mexican forces. Walker and his Rangers would lead the assault. The Rangers would have it no other way. Later, many of those who knew him best said that Walker was obsessed with capturing the Mexican dictator.


Ranger Camp. The Ranger's numbers generally declined thoughout the last quarter of the 19th century. However, as shown in this photo taken in 1887, they were often called to the field to preserve law and order within Texas. (photo from collection of Mike Cox, Austin, Texas)

Even though instructed by Lane to stay within support distance of his force about three miles from Puebla, Walker ordered his men to draw sabers and charge. Walker’s men hit the Mexican Army a full forty-five minutes before Lane’s main force could join the battle. But by then it really didn’t matter. The enemy was beaten.

But Texas Ranger Sam Walker never knew. He was dead by the time the battle was over. His life ended as he was moving through a churchyard and a bullet snuffed out his life. There are conflicting reports as to the fatal wound. One says that he was shot through the head and another claims he was shot in the back, with the bullet passing through the left shoulder and passing above the heart. Either way, his death was immediate.

Walker’s body was returned to San Antonio for burial. Twenty years later, on April 21, 1856, San Jacinto Day, his body was exhumed and reinterred in the Odd Fellow Cemetery beside another great Texas Ranger, Richard Gillespie.

At the time of his death, Walker’s fame was nationwide. His passing was news in every major newspaper in America. In 1846, there was even a Broadway play, The Campaign on the Rio Grande, or, Triumphs in Mexico, whose main character was Sam Walker.


In 1846, the fledgling state of Texas prepared to do battle once again with Mexico. This time the U.S. Army backed the Texans and Rangers. Ranger Captain Sam Walker was sent back east by General Zachary Taylor (old rough 'n ready) to meet with Sam Colt concerning the manufacture of 1000 special holster pistols for use by the Rangers to tame the Texas frontier and quell the Mexican mess on the border. Walker was selected because of his knowledge of Colt firearms. The new revolver was to be bigger, 'half as long as your arm", and better than the Paterson.

At this time Colt was bankrupt and his factory had been sold at a Sheriff's sale for $7000.00. Colt commissioned Eli Whitney's manufacturing company to make the new revolver and the infamous Walker Dragoon was born.

In 1846, the Texas legislature formed Walker County. It was named for Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, not Sam Walker. When the Civil War started, however, there was a major problem: Robert J. Walker was a Unionist. This would never do in a Confederate Texas. In 1863, the Texas legislature decreed that the name of the county “should be named to honor the memory of Captain Samuel H. Walker, of the Texas Ranger Service.”

Late in his life, Walker traveled to Washington and New York City. He kept his date with destiny and Sam Colt as an officer of the United States Army. He may have been a member of the United States Army at his death, but he and his peers considered this shining star a Texas Ranger.

Additional Sources:

www.forttours.com
members.aol.com/thomask2/wildwestshow
www.lsjunction.com
banjo2.virtualave.net
www.houstonpbs.org
www.texasrangers.org
www.cimarron-firearms.com
users.ev1.net

[SAMWolf]

Ranger stories from the book, Texas Ranger Tales, Stories That Need Telling, by Mike Cox:

Back in Texas on September 9, 1843, after escaping from Mexican custody along with two other Texans-including the man who would one day deliver his eulogy-Walker soon signed up to ride with the legendary Ranger Captain John Coffee Hays. In the words of a contemporary writer, Texas was "then embroiled with the abrasions of the great Camanche [Comanche] race and the minor tribes strewn along her northern frontier." Mindful of these "abrasions," in January 1844 the Congress of the Republic of Texas authorized Hays to organize "a Company of Mounted Gun-men, to act as Rangers."

Hays recruited his men in February and March and went to work on the frontier. All the Rangers were armed with a new weapon, originally purchased by the Republic for its navy: a five-shot revolver manufactured by a Connecticut gunsmith named Samuel Colt. Walker and the other Rangers soon got a chance to use the new pistols.

On June 8, 1844, near a creek in the Pedernales River watershed, at a point Hays later described as about fifty miles north of Seguin (no other communities existed in the area at the time), the Rangers-including Walker-tangled with seventy to eighty Comanche and Waco Indians. Hays reported some Mexicans also were in the party.

This is how Hays described the fight in his official report:

After ascertaining that they could not decoy or lead me astray, they came out boldly, formed themselves, and dared us to fight. I then ordered a charge; and, after discharging our rifles, closed in with them, hand to hand, with my five-shooting pistols, which did good execution. Had it not been for them, I doubt what the consequences would have been. I cannot recommend these arms too highly.

The Rangers killed twenty-three of the hostiles, badly wounding another thirty. Hays lost one Ranger to Indian arrows with Walker, Robert Addison Gillespie, and another Ranger suffering wounds.

Walker later assessed the fight in this light:

Col. J. C. Hays with 15 men fought about 80 Comanche Indians, boldly attacking them upon their own ground, killing and wounding about half their number. Up to this time these daring Indians had always supposed themselves superior to us, man to man, on horse…the result of this engagement was such as to intimidate them and enable us to treat with them.

This battle changed the history of the West. It marked the first time Rangers had been able to fight the Comanches with an effective close range weapon that did not have to be reloaded after each shot. In firing an estimated 150 rounds, Hays and his men shot 53 Comanches in a running battle. The Rangers had the frontier equivalent of the atomic bomb on their side.

The Comanches, though clearly at a disadvantage in weaponry, still were extremely competent in using their bows and arrows and lances.

"In this encounter," Graham's Magazine reported only a few years later, "Walker was wounded by a lance, and left by his adversary pinned to the ground. After remaining in this position for a long time, he was rescued by his companions when the fight was over."

Walker was taken to San Antonio, where he recovered from his wounds. Despite his close call, Walker stayed with Hays until the Ranger company ran out of funding. In 1845 he served in another Ranger company, this one led by Gillespie. On March 28, 1846, Walker was honorably discharged from the "Texas Mounted Rangers." But more rangering lay ahead.

[SAMWolf]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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[SAMWolf]

FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Monday Morning Everyone

If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

Glad to BUMP this educational, Historical, 2nd AMMENDMENT, Gun Rights, THREAD!!!

:o)

Loved it too!!!

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Sam.

[Iris7]

There are plenty of Texas Rangers I admire, but I have a very great respect for Frank Hamer in particular. He was shot and left for dead many times. As I recall he had seventeen through and through bullet wounds. He never betrayed a snitch. His word was always good. Whatever he promised he delivered, and all on both sides of the law knew this. He lived quietly and frugally, and had devoted family. He was an excellent shot, and said that a charge of buckshot in the air "looked like a swarm of bees."

Hamer was canned out of the Rangers when he wouldn't tell the Governor who an informant of his was. Later the same Governor (Liberal Democrat, natch, a sort of early Pat Schroeder) called him back to stop the Barrow gang, "Bonny and Clyde". The movie of the same name is almost all vile lies, by the way.

The best story I have heard about Frank Hamer concerns the police force of an early oil boom town. The cops there were totally on the take, murderers and shakedown artists. Hamer went there alone to bring them in. He walked through the town, talked to the cops, and told them to come in to be arrested the next morning. They all did. They did not bring in their firearms when they came in to be arrested, though, so Hamer sent them home to bring their guns in. The arrested cops all went home, got their guns, came back, and surrendered to Hamer quietly.

Contemplate the man that Hamer must have been.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, SAM and everyone else at the Foxhole.

[The Mayor]

Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. —2 Kings 6:16

Faith knows that God is working behind the scenes.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on December 08:
65 BC Horace Rome, lyric poet/satirist (Satire, Odes)
1626 Christina, queen of Sweden who abdicated after becoming Catholic
1731 Frantisek Xaver Dusek, composer
1765 Eli Whitney (inventor: cotton gin and uniformity method of musket manufacturing: beginning of mass production)
1861 William Crapo Durant founded General Motors
1861 Aristide Maillol, France, painter/sculptor (Seated Woman)
1865 Jean Sibelius, Tavastehus Finland, composer (Valse Triste, Finlandia)
1879 Paul Klee, Swiss/German painter/tutor (Bauhaus)
1886 Diego Rivera, Mexico, painter
1894 James Thurber (writer: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, My World and Welcome to It, The Last Flower, Is Sex Necessary?)
1899 James "Pigmeat" Jarrett pianist
1899 Sarah Williamson US missionary in Liberia
1925 Hank (Henry) Thompson (baseball)
1925 Jimmy Smith (modern jazz organist: Walk on the Wild Side)
1925 Sammy Davis Jr. (entertainer, singer: The Candy Man, What Kind of Fool Am I, Faraway Places; member: The Rat Pack)
1930 Flip (Clerow) Wilson (comedian: The Flip Wilson Show: Geraldine: "The Devil Made Me Do It!")
1930 Maximilian Schell (Academy Award-winning actor: Judgment at Nuremberg [1961]; The Odessa File)
1936 David Carradine (actor: Kung Fu; acting family: son of John, brother of Keith and Robert)
1937 James MacArthur (actor: Hawaii Five-O: Dano of "Book 'em, Dano"; son of Helen Hayes)
1939 James Galway, Belfast Ireland, flutist (18k gold flute, Royal Phil)
1939 Jerry Butler (singer: For Your Precious Love, He Will Break Your Heart, Only the Strong Survive, group: The Impressions)
1943 - Jim Morrison ('The Lizard King': singer: group: The Doors: Light My Fire, Love Her Madly, Riders on the Storm)
1947 Gregg Allman (musician: keyboards, guitar, vocal: group: Allman Brothers: Ramblin' Man; Cher's ex)
1953 Kim Basinger (actress)
1964 Teri Hatcher Sunnyvale CA, actress (Lois Lane-Lois & Clark)

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Deaths which occurred on December 08:
0644 Omar I, 2nd kalif of Islam, murdered
0899 Arnulf of Carinthia, last emperor of Austria-France, dies
1587 Mary, Queen of Scots (1560-1587), executed
1596 Luis de Carabajal, 1st Jewish author in America, executed in Mexico
1643 John Pym, English House of Commons member, dies at about 59
1709 Thomas Corneille, French dramatist, dies at 74
1785 Antonio Maria Mazzoni, composer, dies at 68
1907 Oscar II Frederick King of Sweden (-1907)/Norway (-1905), dies
1978 Golda Meir, Israel's PM (1969-74), dies in Jerusalem at 80
1980 John Lennon, assassinated in NY by Mark David Chapman at 40 [H]
1982 Marty Robbins country singer, dies at 57
1992 William Shawn, US editor-in-chief (New Yorker, 1952-87), dies at 85
1993 Carlotta Monti, lover of WC Fields, dies at 86
1994 Antonio Carlos Jobim, Brazil composer (Girl From Ipanema), dies at 67
1997 Leon Poliakov, historian, dies at 87
1997 Bob Bell clown (WGN's 1st Bozo), dies at 75

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 CORLE JOHN T.---PITCAIRN PA.
1965 RICHTSTEIG DAVID JOHN---CEDAR CITY UT.
[09/30/74 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1966 ASIRE DONALD H.---POMONA CA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 06/21/89]
1966 HYDE MICHAEL LEWIS---BOULDER CITY CO.
[REMAINS RETURNED ID 04/17/91]
1968 REX ROBERT ALAN---RANDOLPH UT.
[REMAINS RETURNED 09/96]
1969 PIRRUCCELLO JOSEPH S.---WRIGHT PATTERSON AFB OH.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
1660 The first Shakespearian actress to appear on an English stage (she is believed to be a Ms. Norris) makes her debut as Desdemona.
1710 Battle at Brihuega: English General Stanhope captured
1776 George Washington's retreating army crosses Delaware River from New Jersey
1777 Captain Cook leaves Society Islands
1792 1st cremation in US, Henry Laurens
1813 Ludwig von Beethoven's 7th Symphony in A, premieres
1846 Hector Berlioz's "La Damnation de Faust" premieres
1849 Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Luisa Miller" premieres in Naples
1852 Gustav Freytag's "Die Journalisten" premieres in Breslau
1854 Pope Pius IX proclaims Immaculate Conception, makes Mary, free of Original Sin
1857 1st production of Dion Boucicaults "Poor of New York"
1861 CSS Sumter captures the whaler Eben Dodge in the Atlantic. The American Civil War is now affecting the Northern whaling industry.
1863 Abraham Lincoln announces plan for Reconstruction of South
1863 Pres Lincoln offers amnesty for confederate deserters
1863 Jesuit Church of La Compana in Santiago Chile catches fire, 2,500 die in panic
1864 Pope Pius IX publishes encyclical Quanta cura ("Syllabus errorum")
1869 20th Roman Catholic ecumenical council, Vatican I, opens in Rome
1874 Jesse James gang takes train at Muncie KS
1875 Aleksandr Ostrovsky's "Volki i Ovsty" premieres in St Petersburg
1876 Suriname begins compulsory education for 7-12 years
1880 5,000 armed Boers gather in Paardekraal South-Africa
1881 Vienna's Ring Theater destroyed by fire, kills between 640-850
1886 American Federation of Labor (AFL) formed by 26 craft unions; Samuel Gompers elected AFL president
1895 Battle at Amba Alagi: Ethiopian emperor Menelik II drives Italian General Baratieri's out
1896 Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of Missing 3 Quarter" (BG)
1899 Natal: British fall/burst out belegerd Ladysmith
1902 Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr became Associate Justice on Supreme Court
1909 Bird banding society found
1913 Construction starts on Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco
1914 British & German fleets battle at Falkland Island
1914 Connie Mack sells Eddie Collins to the White Sox
1914 Irving Berlin's musical "Watch your Step" premieres in New York NY
1915 Jean Sibelius' 5th Symphony in E, premieres
1921 Eamon de Valera publicly repudiates Anglo-Irish Treaty
1923 German-US friendship treaty signed
1923 Labour/Liberals win British parliament
1923 Salary & price freeze in Germany
1931 Coaxial cable patented
1934 Friedrich Wolf's "Professor Mamlock" premieres in Zürich
1936 NAACP files suit to equalize the salaries of black & white teachers
1936 Anastasio Somoza elected President of Nicaragua
1938 Highest temperature for December in US recorded in La Mesa CA
1938 LP Beria follows Nikolai Jezjov as head of Russian secret police
1940 1st NFL championship on national radio; Bears beat Redskins 73-0
1941 San Francisco 1st blackout, at 6 15 PM
1941 Extermination Camp Chelmo opens
1941 London: Dutch government declares Japan the war
1941 Russian 16th army recaptures Krijukovo
1941 US & Britain declare war on Japan, US enters WWII
1942 8th Heisman Trophy Award: Frank Sinkwich, Georgia (HB)
1943 U.S. carrier-based planes sink two cruisers and down 72 planes in the Marshall Islands.
1946 Army rocket plane XS-1 makes 1st powered flight
1947 "Caribbean Carnival" opens at International Theater NYC for 11 performances
1948 "Marinka" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 168 performances
1948 14th Heisman Trophy Award: Doak Walker, SMU (HB)
1948 Jordan annexs Arabic Palestine
1949 Chinese Nationalist government moves from Chinese mainland to Formosa
1949 Jule Styne's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" premieres at Ziegfeld Theater NYC for 740 performances
1951 "Tree Grows in Brooklyn" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 267 performances
1951 American League alters its restrictions on night games, adopting National League's suspended game rule & lifting its ban on lights for Sunday games
1952 1st TV acknowledgement of pregnancy (I Love Lucy)
1952 French troops shoot on demonstrators at Casablanca, 50 die
1952 Isaak Ben-Zwi elected President of Israel
1953 19th Heisman Trophy Award: John Lattner, Notre Dame (HB)
1954 Maxwell Anderson's "Bad Seed" premieres in New York NY
1954 WPTZ TV channel 5 in Plattsburgh NY (NBC) begins broadcasting
1955 21st Heisman Trophy Award: Howard Cassady, Ohio State (HB)
1955 Brooklyn catcher Roy Campanella wins his 3rd MVP Award
1955 Turkish government of Menderes forms
1956 1st test firing of the Vanguard satellite program, TV-0
1956 Guy Mitchell's "Singing the Blues" single goes #1 for 10 weeks
1956 16th Olympic games close in Melbourne, Australia
1959 Dom Mintoff demands independence for Malta
1959 President Eisenhower watches Pakistan vs Australia Test Cricket at Karachi
1960 Expansion Los Angeles Angels sign a 4 year lease to use Dodger Stadium
1961 Larry Costello scores 32 consecutive points without a miss (NBA record)
1961 Antwerp Belgium diocese forms
1961 South Africa vs New Zealand, Durban debuts for Eddie Barlow & Peter Pollock
1961 Wilt Chamberlain scores the 2nd highest total in the NBA - 78
1962 114-day newspaper strike begins in New York NY
1962 "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" closes at Shubert NYC after 300 performances
1962 Failed coup in Brunei
1962 Funeral for Queen Wilhelmina of Holland (New Kerk, Delft)
1963 "Girl Who Came to Supper" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 112 performances
1963 3 fuel tanks explodes when jetliner is struck by lightning crashing near Elkton MD-Only case of lightning caused crash, 81 die
1963 Mickey Wright/Dave Ragan Jr win LPGA Haig & Haig Scotch Mixed Golf
1965 Abe Burrows' "Cactus Flower" premieres in New York NY
1965 Nikolai Podgorny succeeds Mikojan as President of USSR
1965 Pope Paul VI signs 2nd Vatican council
1966 A terrible Yankee trade, Roger Maris for Card's Charlie Smith
1966 US & USSR sign treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons in outer space
1967 Beatles "Magical Mystery Tour" album is released in UK
1967 NHL California Seals change name to Oakland Seals
1969 Greek DC-6B crashes in storm at Athens, 93 killed
1969 Police surprise attack on Black-Panthers in Los Angeles
1972 United Airlines airplane crashes at Chicago's Midway Airport killing 45
1973 "Seesaw" closes at Uris Theater NYC after 296 performances
1973 39th Heisman Trophy Award: John Cappelletti, Penn State (RB)
1974 Soyuz 16 returns to Earth
1974 Greek monarchy rejected by referendum
1974 Irish Republican Socialist Party forms
1974 Sandra Post wins LPGA Colgate Far East Golf Open
1975 "Raisin" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 847 performances
1976 UN General Assembly re-elects Kurt Waldheim Secretary-General
1976 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1977 43rd Heisman Trophy Award: Earl Campbell, Texas (RB)
1977 Portugal's premier Soares resigns
1978 Commencement of the 1st day/night WSC cricket supertest at VFL Park
1980 "Bravo" network premieres on cable TV
1981 France performs nuclear test
1982 Clark Gilles fails in 7th Islander penalty shot
1982 Demanding an end to nuclear weapons, Norman Mayer, holds the Washington Monument hostage - After 10 hours, police kill him; he has no explosives
1982 "Herman Van Veen: All of Him" opens at Ambassador NYC for 6 performances
1982 Suriname army leader Bouterse murders 15 opponents
1983 9th Space Shuttle Mission-Columbia 6-lands at Edwards AFB
1983 Richard Baker, Zen teacher, steps down from abbotship of San Francisco Zen Center
1984 Ringo Starr appears on Saturday Night Live
1984 73rd Australian Men Tennis: Mats Wilander beats K Curren (67 64 76 62)
1984 Europe & 64 developing countries sign Lomé III treaty
1985 Ken O'Brien's 96 yard TD pass (New York Jet record) to Wesley Walker
1985 60th Australian Women's Tennis: M Navratilova beats C Evert (62 46 62)
1985 Laurie Rinker/Larry Rinker win LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
1986 House Democrats select majority leader Jim Wright as 48th speaker
1987 Flyers' Ron Hextall becomes 1st goalie to actually score a goal
1987 Jack Sikma (Milwaukee) begins NBA free throw streak of 51 games
1987 Occupied Palestinians start "intefadeh" (uprising) against Israel
1987 President Reagan & Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev sign a treaty eliminating medium range nuclear missiles
1988 Knick's set NBA record of 11 3-pointers & sink Bucks, 113-109
1989 Great Britain performs nuclear test
1990 Galileo Earth-1 Flyby
1990 Indians agree to a lease new ballpark in Gateway (Jacobs Field)
1991 Russia, Byelorussia & Ukraine form Commonwealth of Independent States
1991 Kris Tschetter/Billy Andrade win LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
1992 Galileo's nearest approach to Jupiter (303 km)
1992 NBC announces that "Cheers" will go off the air in May 1993
1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is signed into law by President Bill Clinton. NAFTA, a trade pact between the US, Canada, and Mexico.
1993 30 killed at religious rebellion in Algeria
1993 4th Billboard Music Awards
1993 Dow-Jones hits record 3734.53
1993 Storm hits West Europe, 11 killed in England
1994 Darryl Strawberry indicted on tax evasion charges
1994 Fire in cinema in Karamay China, 310 killed

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
World : Human Rights Week (Day 2)
Guam : Lady of Camarin Day
Japan : Enlightenment of the Buddha
Spain, Panamá, Canal Zone : Mother's Day
Spain : School Reunion Day
Uruguay : Beaches Day/Family Day
US : Christmas Card Day
Hi Neighbor Month

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Religious Observances
Buddhist-Japan : Enlightenment of the Buddha
Roman Catholic : Solemnity of the Conception of the Virgin (Immaculate Conception)

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Religious History
1775 Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter: 'This is faith: a renouncing of everything we are apt to call our own and relying wholly upon the blood, righteousness and intercession of Jesus.'
1854 Pope Pius IX defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in his apostolic letter, "Ineffabilis Deus." It asserted that by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, Mary was freed from original sin "in the first instant of conception."
1907 Christmas seals were sold for the first time, to raise funds to fight tuberculosis. Today, Christmas seal income is used primarily in the fight against birth defects.
1962 The Rev. John Melville Burgess was consecrated as suffragan Bishop of Massachusetts -- the first African American bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church to serve a predominantly white diocese.
1981 In one of its major rulings regarding the issue of the separation of Church and State, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of student organizations holding religious services at public colleges and universities.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"He who laughs last probably doesn`t understand the joke."

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Question of the day...
If a turtle doesn't have a shell, is he homeless or naked?

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Murphys Law of the day...(Issawi's Law of Frustration)
One cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs -- but it is amazing how many eggs one can break without making a decent omelette.

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Amazing Fact #106,823...
Table tennis balls have been known to travel off the paddle at speeds up to 105.6 miles per hour.

[SCDogPapa]

Texas Ranger Bump

I think we could use a thousand or so Rangers on the Mexican border,,,right now!

Mornin' Sam!

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone in The FOXHOLE!

[WaterDragon]

The best story I have heard about Frank Hamer concerns the police force of an early oil boom town. The cops there were totally on the take, murderers and shakedown artists. Hamer went there alone to bring them in. He walked through the town, talked to the cops, and told them to come in to be arrested the next morning. They all did. They did not bring in their firearms when they came in to be arrested, though, so Hamer sent them home to bring their guns in. The arrested cops all went home, got their guns, came back, and surrendered to Hamer quietly

Wow! I'd have wanted to live in HIS town!

[WaterDragon]

SAM, I've begun saving these little histories you and snippy do for us, as reminders to younger members of the family of parts of American history they may not have heard, and might want to explore a bit. Good morning, and thank you!

[HiJinx]

a thousand or so Rangers on the Mexican border

Hmmmm....I like that idea....

And I know of a coupla dozen ol' soldiers who'd join up in a heartbeat!

[SCDogPapa]

a coupla dozen ol' soldiers

Well,,someone needs to close the gate!

[Prof Engineer]

That's 3x what we have now. Besides 1 Ranger per 100 miles ought to be more than enough.

[Prof Engineer]

1 per 1000 miles. grrr

[bandleader]

Dear SAMWolf,I was supposed to be in St.Mere Eglise today tooling around in a VW Passat!Blizzard grounded me but that turned out to be a good thing!!Last night,my oil-burner went out.It seems that my oil man missed a delivery!!!My house wouldn't have been checked by a neighbor until Thursday!!!!!!!What should I do to him?