The Handbook of Texas is a digital state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) that is freely accessible for students, teachers, scholars, and the general public. The Handbook consists of overview, general, and biographical entries focused on the entire history of Texas from the indigenous Native Americans and the Prehistoric Era to the state's diverse population and the Modern Age. These entries emphasize the role Texans played in state, national, and world history.
Today's Popular Entries
On June 19 ("Juneteenth"), 1865, Union general Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and issued General Order Number 3, which read, "The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freed are advised to remain at their present homes, and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts; and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere." The tidings of freedom reached the approximately 250,000 slaves in Texas gradually as individual plantation owners informed their slaves over the months following the end of the war. The news elicited an array of personal celebrations, some of which have been described in The Slave Narratives of Texas (1974). The first broader celebrations of Juneteenth were used as political rallies and to teach freed African Americans about their voting rights. Within a short time, however, Juneteenth was marked by festivities throughout the state, some of which were organized by official Juneteenth committees.
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on June 28, 1914, set off a series of events that quickly led to a global war, called the Great War and later World War I, between the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and their allies against the Entente or Allied Powers of Great Britain, France, Russia, and later joined by Japan and Italy. The United States, determined to stay out of European affairs, formally remained neutral until declaring war against Germany and its allies on April 6, 1917, and stayed engaged militarily until fighting ceased on November 11, 1918. Texas and Texans made significant contributions to what was then called the Great War on the front lines, on the home front, and from positions within the federal government. Although U.S. involvement on the front lines was relatively short, events and conditions of the war created long-lasting changes in Texas militarily, socially, economically, and politically.
The Texas Revolution began in October 1835 with the battle of Gonzales and ended on April 21, 1836, with the battle of San Jacinto, but earlier clashes between government forces and frontier colonists make it impossible to set dogmatic limits in terms of military battles, cultural misunderstandings, and political differences that were a part of the revolution. The seeds of the conflict were planted during the last years of Spanish rule (1815–21) when Anglo Americans drifted across the Neutral Ground and the eastern bank of the Red River into Spanish territory, squatted on the land, and populated Spanish Texas. More alarming than these illegal residents, who only wanted to "settle and stay," were filibusters such as Philip Nolan, who commandeered portions of Spanish lands for personal gain and political capital. During the fading years of New Spain, its ruling council, the Cortes, worried about securing their far northern frontier and began to encourage foreign immigration to Texas, including Anglo American colonization. One who was eager to take advantage of a change in Spanish policy was Moses Austin, who received a commission from the Spanish governor of Texas to bring 300 families and establish a colony, thereby rebuilding some of his lost fortune associated with the Panic of 1819. Upon his death in 1821, his son and heir Stephen Fuller Austin fulfilled his father's vision and became the first empresario of Texas.
The battle of San Jacinto was the concluding military event of the Texas Revolution. On March 13, 1836, the revolutionary army at Gonzales began to retreat eastward. It crossed the Colorado River on March 17 and camped near present Columbus on March 20, recruiting and reinforcements having increased its size to 1,200 men. Sam Houston's scouts reported Mexican troops west of the Colorado to number 1,325. On March 25 the Texans learned of James W. Fannin's defeat at Goliad (see GOLIAD CAMPAIGN OF 1836), and many of the men left the army to join their families on the Runaway Scrape. Sam Houston led his troops to San Felipe de Austin by March 28 and by March 30 to the Jared E. Groce plantation on the Brazos River, where they camped and drilled for a fortnight. Ad interim President David G. Burnet ordered Houston to stop his retreat; Secretary of War Thomas J. Rusk urged him to take a more decisive course. Antonio López de Santa Anna decided to take possession of the Texas coast and seaports. With that object in view he crossed the Brazos River at present Richmond on April 11 and on April 15, with some 700 men, arrived at Harrisburg. He burned Harrisburg and started in pursuit of the Texas government at New Washington or Morgan's Point, where he arrived on April 19 to find that the government had fled to Galveston. The Mexican general then set out for Anahuac by way of Lynchburg. Meanwhile, the Texans, on April 11, received the Twin Sisters and with the cannon as extra fortification crossed the Brazos River on the Yellow Stone and on April 16 reached Spring Creek in present Harris County. On April 17, to the gratification of his men, Houston took the road to Harrisburg instead of the road to Louisiana and on April 18 reached White Oak Bayou at a site within the present city limits of Houston. There he learned that Santa Anna had gone down the west side of the bayou and the San Jacinto River, crossing by a bridge over Vince's Bayou. The Mexicans would have to cross the same bridge to return.
This entry is currently being revised and the new version will be available soon!
The Comanches, exceptional horsemen who dominated the Southern Plains, played a prominent role in Texas frontier history throughout much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Anthropological evidence indicates that they were originally a mountain tribe, a branch of the Northern Shoshones, who roamed the Great Basin region of the western United States as crudely equipped hunters and gatherers. Both cultural and linguistic similarities confirm the Comanches' Shoshone origins. The Comanche language is derived from the Uto-Aztecan linguistic family and is virtually identical to the language of the Northern Shoshones. Sometime during the late seventeenth century, the Comanches acquired horses, and that acquisition drastically altered their culture. The life of the pedestrian tribe was revolutionized as they rapidly evolved into a mounted, well-equipped, and powerful people. Their new mobility allowed them to leave their mountain home and their Shoshone neighbors and move onto the plains of eastern Colorado and western Kansas, where game was plentiful.
Rhodes was eighteen miles northwest of Brazoria in northwest Brazoria County. A Rhodes post office was established in 1888 and discontinued in 1890, when service was transferred to Damon Mound. The town was evidently named for Joseph A. Rhodes, its first postmaster. In 1890 the community had two general stores, a sawmill, a gin, and a population of fifty.
Fiesta San Antonio, previously called Fiesta San Jacinto, is a ten-day festival held every spring in San Antonio. It originated in the 1891 flower parade conceived by Ellen Maury Slayden, wife of Congressman James L. Slayden, as an April 21 salute to the heroes of the battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto. A group of San Antonio women formed the Battle of Flowers Association. The first parade was moved a day ahead to accommodate the schedule of visiting President Benjamin Harrison, but it was then delayed for four days by bad weather. With the arrival of fair weather, participants in carriages pelted one another with flowers as they rounded Alamo Plaza. By 1895 an elaborate weeklong celebration surrounded the Battle of Flowers Parade, and the first queen was chosen. In 1909 the Order of the Alamo was organized, with John B. Carrington as president, to oversee some features of the carnival, including the election of the queen and her coronation. The Battle of Flowers Association continued to coordinate the parade, as well as a children's fete and a band competition, the forerunner of today's Band Festival. The parade tradition lapsed briefly during World War I, but another tradition was started-the Pilgrimage to the Alamo. By the 1980s the Daughters of the Republic of Texas were sponsoring this event, in which participants march from the city's Municipal Auditorium to the Alamo to hear the names of Texas men who died in the battle of the Alamo. The fiesta was not very old before the crowning of a king was added to the week's activities. Before a King Antonio line was established in 1916, kings were chosen by the Spring Carnival Association, the Downtown Business Club, and the Chamber of Commerce. Early monarchs were dubbed Selamat (tamales spelled backward), Omala (Alamo backward), King Cotton, Zeus, and Rex. In 1926, when the Texas Cavaliers were organized by Carrington, the king began to be named from their ranks. In the same year Mrs. Alfred Ward of the Battle of Flowers Association founded the Oratorical Contest for college students, to encourage writing on some phase of Texas history.
Freddie Joe Steinmark, University of Texas football player who became a national symbol of courage and determination, was born on January 27, 1949, in Denver, Colorado, the son of Fred Gene and Gloria (Marchetti) Steinmark. His father had been a professional baseball player and encouraged him in all sports, so that Freddie had an early introduction to football, playing during his elementary and junior high school years on the Rough Riders team of the citywide Young America League in Denver. At Wheat Ridge High School there he lettered in football, baseball, and basketball; throughout his entire sports career, Steinmark's teams rarely lost a game. He ranked twenty-fifth scholastically in his high school graduating class of 530, and in his senior year he received the Golden Helmet Award from the Denver Post as the outstanding scholar-athlete in Colorado; he also received the Colorado Hall of Fame award as the state's outstanding high school athlete. In 1967 he received a football scholarship to the University of Texas at Austin. Despite his relatively small size, 5 feet, 10 inches, about 160 pounds, Steinmark was a valuable addition to the Texas Longhorn team. He, played defensive back on the freshman team and started in that position on the varsity during his sophomore and junior years. As a sophomore he was the team's leading punt returner and was named an All-Southwest Conference athlete-scholar while majoring in chemical engineering. On December 6, 1969, when Texas and Arkansas were rated first and second teams in the nation, respectively, he played in the game at Fayetteville, called the "Big Shootout," that gave the national championship to the Texas Longhorns. The game was important in sports annals because it determined the national football champion on the one-hundredth anniversary of college football and was witnessed by one of the largest television audiences in history. President Richard M. Nixon was in attendance and congratulated the team personally.
Hector Pérez García, a physician, surgeon, civil rights advocate, community leader, political activist, and founder of the American G.I. Forum, was born in Llera (south of Ciudad Victoria), Tamaulipas, Mexico, on January 17, 1914, son of college professor José García and Faustina Pérez García, a schoolteacher. In 1917 when the Mexican Revolution endangered the family, the García parents, together with seven children, fled to the United States, legally taking up residence in Mercedes, Texas, in 1918. Initially the family members had to perform manual labor to sustain themselves, later Hector's father joined his brothers in the dry goods business. The accomplished parents were to instill in all of their children the value of education, so much so that Hector and five of his siblings would go on to obtain degrees in medicine.
The strong Texas interest in flags is shown in public and private displays of the "Six Flags Over Texas," i.e., the flags of the six countries that have ruled over Texas: the Kingdom of France, the Kingdom of Spain, the Mexican Federal Republic, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America, and the United States of America. Spain has had four significant flags during its occupation of the New World. The royal banner of Castile and León, bearing two lions and two castles, was used as a state flag and ensign from around 1230 to around 1516. From 1516 to May 28, 1785, Spain used a state flag and ensign consisting of a modified red saltire on white to signify the house of Burgundy. A variant of the state flag and ensign 1580 to 1640 depicted the complete Spanish coat of arms on a white field. King Charles III established the familiar Spanish flag, with horizontal stripes of red-gold-red and the simple arms of Castile and León as the Spanish ensign, effective on May 28, 1785, and as the Spanish state flag on land, effective March 8, 1793. These flags were used until April 27, 1931.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848, ended the Mexican War, recognized the annexation of Texas to the United States (consummated nearly three years before), ceded to the United States Upper California (the modern state of California) and nearly all of the present American Southwest between California and Texas, and attempted to protect the interests of the existing population in the cession. The treaty traced the boundary between the United States and Mexico from the Gulf of Mexico up the main channel of the Rio Grande to the southern boundary of the Mexican province of New Mexico. The line followed the southern boundary of New Mexico to its western boundary and north to the first branch of the Gila River, then down the Gila to its intersection with the Colorado River, and finally along the old Spanish-Mexican division line between Upper and Lower California. The exact boundary was to be surveyed and marked by a joint commission to be appointed by the two governments within a year.
Special Projects
Handbook of Dallas-Fort Worth
The tremendous growth of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex from the 19th through 21st centuries far outpaced the recorded history of this economically vital area. Texas is often associated with its rural ranching history, yet as the decades passed, the cultural and economic identities of Lone Star State evolved to reflect the increasing importance and influence of the urban areas. No area in Texas illustrates this transformation better than DFW—a well-traveled location during the cattle trailing and early railroad eras that blossomed into a modern financial and cultural hotspot in the present day. We need a more complete documentation of the DFW metroplex, and the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) seeks to correct this imbalance in the historical record.
Handbook of Texas Medicine
Texans lay claim to a dynamic medical history. The state has borne witness to deadly disease outbreaks, the establishment of world-renowned medical institutions, and the discovery of new therapeutics and cures. From the first documented surgery on Texas soil by Cabeza de Vaca in the sixteenth century to the innovative research spearheaded by university laboratories to develop vaccines and therapeutics for COVID-19, the medical story of Texas is reflective of the many ways Texans have engaged to protect and promote their health and well-being. Today, the healthcare industry represents a significant share of the Texas economy, contributing more than $108 billion to the state’s GDP, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Yet, despite the fundamental role medicine has played in shaping the growth and development of the state, a comprehensive and authoritative medical history of Texas remains unfulfilled. With the development of the Handbook of Texas Medicine, TSHA proudly presents a unique opportunity to address this disparity.
Handbook of Texas Women
The Handbook of Texas Women project strives to expand on the Handbook of Texas by promoting a more inclusive and comprehensive history of Texas. Texas women make Texas history, and TSHA wants to significantly recognize the various ways women have shaped the state’s history at home, across the state, nationally, and abroad. The impacts of women on Texas history are often overlooked, and as more and more people are accessing information using smartphones, tablets, and other mobile technologies, this project will seize upon the unprecedented opportunities of the digital age in order to reshape how Texas women’s history will be understood, preserved, and disseminated in the twenty-first century.
Handbook of Texas Music
What is it about Texas music? Trying to define it is like reviewing a dictionary. There is way too much detail to try to pin it down. However, this much is clear: Texans have given American music its distinctive voice, and that's no brag, just fact.
Handbook of Tejano History
The TSHA is proud to announce the launch of the Handbook of Tejano History, which contains more than 1,200 entries, including 300 new entries, detailing the critical influence of Tejanos on the Lone Star State. Released on March 29, 2016, to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the Tejano Monument unveiling on the Capitol grounds in Austin, the Handbook of Tejano History is the culmination of a two-year effort involving dozens of researchers, educators, students, and Texas history enthusiasts committed to capturing and sharing Tejano contributions to Texas life and culture. Originally conceived in partnership with the board of directors of the Tejano Monument, Inc., the Association’s Handbook of Tejano History joins a number of other important initiatives born out of the legacy of the Tejano Monument, including the Tejano History Curriculum Project and Austin Independent School District’s Cuauhtli Academy/Academia Cuauhtli.
Handbook of African American Texas
African Americans have been part of the landscape of Texas for as long as Europeans and their descendants. Spanning a period of more than five centuries, African American presence began in 1528 with the arrival of Estevanico, an African slave who accompanied the first Spanish exploration of the land in the southwestern part of the United States that eventually became Texas. While African Americans have been subjected to slavery, segregation, and discrimination during this long history, they have made significant contributions to the growth and development of Texas. They have influenced Texas policies and social standards. Living and working with other ethnic groups, they have helped create a unique Texas culture. Historians have not always acknowledged the role that African Americans have played in the Lone Star State. Although numerous studies of Texas’s past appeared in the twentieth century, until 1970 there remained too many empty pages in the history of the state concerning the black population. This situation has changed since the 1970s, but the need to capture more of the African American experience still exists. For this reason, we are happy to launch the Handbook of African American Texas.
Handbook of Civil War Texas
At 4:30 on the morning of April 12, 1861—one hundred and fifty years ago this spring (2011)—Confederate States of America artillery opened fire on United States troops in Fort Sumter, South Carolina, beginning the American Civil War. Texans, who had voted overwhelmingly in February 1861 to secede from the Union and then watched their state join the Confederacy in March, thus became involved in a four-year conflict that would take the lives of many and leave none untouched. Texas escaped much of the terrible destruction of the war for a simple reason—United States troops never managed to invade and occupy the state’s interior. In sum, the Civil War exacted a huge price, primarily in terms of lives lost and ruined in the Confederate Army and in the privations of those left at home. However, the conflict had two vitally positive results for Texas: It freed the state’s more than 200,000 enslaved people, and it destroyed the curse of the ‘Peculiar Institution’ for the entire society of the Lone Star State.
Handbook of Houston
The Texas State Historical Association and the Houston History Alliance (HHA) are proud to announce the launch of the Handbook of Houston, which contains more than 1,250 new and existing entries highlighting the significant impact Houston has had on the state, the nation, and the world. Launched on March 2, 2017, the Handbook of Houston is the culmination of many years of historical research.
Rock and roll legend born in Vernon
88 years ago today
Seed of modern art museum planted in Fort Worth
132 years ago today
40 years ago today
Get the FREE! Texas Day by Day delivered straight to your inbox:
This Week's Popular Entries
Our entries are accessed thousands of times per day from all over the globe. But we need your continued support. Please consider purchasing a recurring membership or making a donation.
Juneteenth read 23,321 times in the past week
Helium Production read 2,609 times in the past week
Texas Revolution read 2,115 times in the past week
World War I read 1,932 times in the past week
Republic of Texas read 1,642 times in the past week
Rhodes, TX read 1,396 times in the past week
Flags of Texas read 1,321 times in the past week
Quintanilla Perez, Selena [Selena] read 1,197 times in the past week
San Jacinto, Battle of read 1,109 times in the past week
Steinmark, Freddie Joe read 994 times in the past week
Comanche Indians read 930 times in the past week
Fiesta San Antonio read 922 times in the past week
Recent Additions
Every one of our entries is written, fact-checked, and reviewed by our team of professional and academic historians. It is the time, dedication, and support from both our staff and people like you—through your recurring memberships and donations—that makes it possible for us to continue producing quality work that you can trust.
Runnels, James Edward [Pete] 1 day ago
Montgomery, Ellie Alma Walls Mims 1 day ago
San Antonio Water Works Company 5 days ago
Arizmendi Mejía, Elena Irene 5 days ago
Fisher, Vernon Lane 6 days ago
Camfield, William Joseph [Icky Twerp] 6 days ago
Read, Julian Otis 6 days ago
Capps, Sarah Angel Brooke [Sallie] 2 weeks ago
Austin Rape Crisis Center 2 weeks ago
Kraft, Clarence Otto [Big Boy] 2 weeks ago
Bush Dome Reservoir and Cliffside Field Terminal 2 weeks ago
Southwestern General Hospital, El Paso 3 weeks ago
Irby, Lovita Ann Choat 3 weeks ago
Sueltenfuss, Sister Elizabeth Anne 3 weeks ago
Carter, Zephyr James Chisom 3 weeks ago
Hok, Ng Che 3 weeks ago
Charlton, Thomas Lee 3 weeks ago
Akers, Frederick Sanford 4 weeks ago
Goldthwaite, Aniela Priscilla Gorczyca 1 month ago
Rabb, Frank 1 month ago
Search the Handbook
This Week's Popular Entries
Our entries are accessed thousands of times per day from all over the globe, and we are here because of you. Please consider a recurring membership or a gift.
Juneteenth read 23,321 times in the past week
Helium Production read 2,609 times in the past week
Texas Revolution read 2,115 times in the past week
World War I read 1,932 times in the past week
Republic of Texas read 1,642 times in the past week
Rhodes, TX read 1,396 times in the past week
Flags of Texas read 1,321 times in the past week
Quintanilla Perez, Selena [Selena] read 1,197 times in the past week
San Jacinto, Battle of read 1,109 times in the past week
Steinmark, Freddie Joe read 994 times in the past week
Comanche Indians read 930 times in the past week
Fiesta San Antonio read 922 times in the past week
Rock and roll legend born in Vernon
88 years ago today
Seed of modern art museum planted in Fort Worth
132 years ago today
40 years ago today
Get the FREE! Texas Day by Day delivered straight to your inbox:
Recent Additions
Every one of our entries is written, fact-checked, and reviewed by our team of professional and academic historians. It is the time, dedication, and support from both our staff & people like you—through your recurring memberships & generous donations—that makes it possible for us to produce quality work that you can trust.
Runnels, James Edward [Pete] 1 day ago
Montgomery, Ellie Alma Walls Mims 1 day ago
San Antonio Water Works Company 5 days ago
Arizmendi Mejía, Elena Irene 5 days ago
Fisher, Vernon Lane 6 days ago
Camfield, William Joseph [Icky Twerp] 6 days ago
Read, Julian Otis 6 days ago
Capps, Sarah Angel Brooke [Sallie] 2 weeks ago
Austin Rape Crisis Center 2 weeks ago
Kraft, Clarence Otto [Big Boy] 2 weeks ago
Bush Dome Reservoir and Cliffside Field Terminal 2 weeks ago
Southwestern General Hospital, El Paso 3 weeks ago
Irby, Lovita Ann Choat 3 weeks ago
Sueltenfuss, Sister Elizabeth Anne 3 weeks ago
Carter, Zephyr James Chisom 3 weeks ago
Hok, Ng Che 3 weeks ago
Charlton, Thomas Lee 3 weeks ago
Akers, Frederick Sanford 4 weeks ago
Goldthwaite, Aniela Priscilla Gorczyca 1 month ago
Rabb, Frank 1 month ago