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The Hidden History of Texas

By: Hank Wilson
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  • Summary

  • Here is were you will find The Hidden History Of Texas podcast. The episodes cover Texas history from the earliest days of Indigenous peoples to Spanish exploration, control by Mexico, the Anglo’s take over, Texas becomes part of the U.S., the confederates move in, and back to the U.S. The audio files are accurate and try to tell the story as best as they can from all sides of the issues. The hidden history of Texas is a history replete with heroes and villains of all sorts. There were good and bad people throughout Texas history, just as there were throughout world history.
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Episodes
  • Episode 44 – War with Mexico

    Episode 44 – War with Mexico
    Apr 7 2024
    War With Mexico Welcome to the Hidden History of Texas. This is Episode 44 – War With Mexico - As always, brought to you by Ashby Navis and Tennyson Media Publishers, producers of high quality games, productivity, mental health apps, and a comprehensive catalog of audiobooks. Visit AshbyNavis.com for more information. The 1846-1848 conflict known in the United States as the Mexican-American War was called the U.S. Invasion by Mexico. It was fueled by the expansionist views of President James Polk and was an example of his belief in the ‘Manifest Destiny’. He firmly believed that the United States was destined by God to own all the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific. After he became President and oversaw the annexation of Texas into the union as a State, he realized that since Mexico controlled everything west of Texas, it was standing in his way. Initially he tried to have Mexico agree to several small issues. After the Battle of San Jacinto, even though Texas and the United States claimed Texas was independent the fact was that Mexico had never officially signed a peace treaty. Polk wanted Mexico to recognize that the boundary between the United States and Mexico was the Rio Grande. He also wanted Mexico to sell Northern California to the United States. He did his best to pressure Mexico into accepting these terms, but he failed because nobody in Mexico would agree to giving up any territory to the United States and that especially included Texas. Polk was not a person to take no for an answer, and he grew increasingly frustrated by Mexico. On January 13, 1846, he ordered the army that was under the control of Gen. Zachary Taylor's, which was in Corpus Christi, to move to the Rio Grande. Needless to say, the Mexican government took this to be an act of war. The Mexicans responded by crossing the Rio Grande on April 25 at Matamoros and ambushed an American patrol. Much like President Johnson would do later with the Gulf of Tonkin incident to justify further involvement in Vietnam, on May 13th, Polk used this to convince Congress to declare war on Mexico. He claimed that this was because "American blood had been shed upon American soil." On May 8 and 9, even before the official declaration of war Taylor's army defeated a force of 3,700 Mexican soldiers under Gen. Mariano Arista in the Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma Initially the American forces tried to use the time-honored plan of blockading Mexican coastal cities and also occupying the Mexican states that bordered Texas. These plans were based on a very unrealistic belief that this would somehow coerce Mexico into giving up territory. In September General Taylor, accompanied by a significant number of volunteers that included many Texans, seized Monterrey. He then declared that General Arista had agreed to an armistice. Taylor succeeded in large part due to the role that Col. John Coffee Hays's Texas Mounted Rifles played during the attack on the city. Polk, however, was not satisfied with the armistice and he denounced it, forcing Taylor to drive further south to Saltillo and then east to Victoria. Meanwhile Gen. John E. Wool lead more troops from San Antonio with the initial intention of threatening Chihuahua, instead he turned and ended up joining Taylor’s forces. Not content with just Texas and Mexico, President Polk sent Gen. Stephen W. Kearny from Fort Leavenworth with instructions to seize New Mexico. Finally in July, as Taylor's forces were gathering, the navy sent its Pacificsquadron under Commodore John D. Sloat to occupy Monterey and San Francisco, California. From that post they joined a force of Anglo settlers who at the urging of the explorer John C. Frémont had established their own government. Although an August incursion into southern California failed, the area was eventually secured by a joint army-navy expedition under Kearny and Commodore Robert F. Stockton in January 1847. Meanwhile,
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    11 mins
  • Episode 43 – Texas finally becomes a State

    Episode 43 – Texas finally becomes a State
    Mar 23 2024
    This is Episode 43 – Texas finally becomes a state - I’m you host and guide Hank Wilson. There is a major misconception among people today about exactly what Texas and Texans wanted when they rebelled against Mexico. Some of today’s Texas citizens believe the reason was the settlers wanted to be an independent country. That’s not true, while wanting to be free of Mexico, the vast majority of those who were living in Texas at the time wanted to be a part of the United States. That was a major source of conflict among the early politicians, and that’s why there was not a major push for statehood until the mid-1840s. In 1844 Texas held its final presidential race. The citizens elected Secretary of State Anson Jones. Due to his backing by Sam Houston, Jones easily won the election. He was inaugurated on December 9, and his administration’s policies included economy recovery, trying to establish peaceful relations with the Indians, and a policy of nonaggression against Mexico. Perhaps most importantly, he began to tackle the idea and process of having Texas annexed by the United State. He, more than anyone else is known as the "Architect of Annexation." (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The thing he and those who were in favor of annexation knew was important was timing. He wasted no time in beginning his effort and he instructed Isaac Van Zandt, Texan who was the official chargé d'affaires to the United States, to not negotiate any treaty until they could be assured the United States Senate would ratify it. Almost simultaneously President John Tyler reopened negotiations on annexation and Mexico began expressing interest in becoming an ally of Texas. Meanwhile, Mexico told the United States that she would declare war if the United States approved annexation. Two events, both of which were embarrassing to Texans, would help spur American interest in annexing Texas. In 1841, then Texas president Lamar, as part of his dream to have Texas expand all the way to the Pacific Ocean authorized what is known as the Santa Fe expedition. This was one of those grand adventures that was doomed from the start. The group got lost, they were attacked by almost every tribe along the route, and when they actually reached New Mexico they were met with armed resistance. The entire expedition surrendered without firing a shot, were imprisoned in Mexico City, and eventually released in 1842. Also in 1842, Mexico invaded Texas. A force of 700 lead by Gen. Rafael Vásquez entered Texas and seized San Antonio. They only stayed for two days before travelling back over the Rio Grande and returning to Mexico, but their presence in Texas caused many Anglos to become very nervous. Since Sam Houston had taken office from Lamar, in March of 1842, he instructed the Texas representative to Washington, James Reily, to begin to explore the possibility of annexation. The federal government was receptive because the British had indicated they wanted to help mediate the Texas-Mexico issues. Of course, this would have provided England with an opening to establish their influence in Texas affairs. Meanwhile President Tyler, a Whig who adhered to the traditional Southern support of slavery, was a proponent of annexation and by October discussions that would lead to the eventual annexation of Texas by treaty had begun. The treaty was completed on April 12, 1844, and signed by Secretary of State John C. Calhoun, Isaac Van Zandt, and Van Zandt's assistant, J. Pinckney Henderson. Texas was an issued during the U.S. presidential election of 1844. Democrat James K. Polk, of Tennessee, ran under the slogan "the Re-Annexation of Texas and the Re-Occupation of Oregon.," He was trying to capitalize on the growing belief among Americans that it was their destiny to control the entire continent. He won by a very significant amount. Since Polk would not take office until March of 1845,
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    13 mins
  • Episode 42 – Texas Becomes a Nation

    Episode 42 – Texas Becomes a Nation
    Mar 18 2024
    Episode 42 – Texas becomes a Nation – well sort of and not a very successful one. As soon as the provisional government heard about the victory at San Jacinto, government officials headed to the battlefield. Once there they began negotiating with Santa Anna to end the war. May 14 at Velasco, Santa Anna signed two treaties, one for public consumption and the other one was signed and kept secret. The public treaty officially ended hostilities with Mexico and restored settlers private property. Prisoners on both sides were to be released, and the Mexican forces would move south of the Rio Grande. All very popular with everyone. The secret treaty, which would have caused an uproar if the details were made public agreed that Santa Anna would be taken to Veracruz and released. In return, he agreed to have the Mexican government approve the two treaties and to negotiate a permanent treaty. That treaty was to acknowledge that Texas was to be independent of Mexico. It was to also recognize the national boundary as the Rio Grande. Even though the two treaties had been signed, things were not exactly peaceful. In fact, military activity continued along the Gulf Coast. On June 2 Maj. Isaac W. Burton, who was in charge of a company of twenty mounted rangers, noticed the vessel Watchman at anchor in Copano Bay. He grew suspicious and had his men capture it. Once they boarded it they discovered that it carried supplies intended for the Mexican army. On the seventeenth of June, Burton then seized two more vessels, the Comanche and the Fannie Butler. They were also carrying supplies for the Mexican army which had a value of $25,000. Meanwhile the Mexican Congress renounced Santa Anna, refused to honor his treaties, and demanded that the war with Texas continue. Once word of the Mexican government’s actions reached Texas, people began to demand that Santa Anna be put to death. Santa Anna, his secretary Ramón Martínez Caro, and Col. Juan N. Almonte had already been put aboard the Invincible to be returned to Veracruz, but the ship had not yet set sail. Gen. Thomas Jefferson Green, a recent arrival from the United States demanded that President Burnet remove the Mexicans from the vessel and put them into confinement. Which he agreed to temporarily do. Santa Anna was not executed, instead he was sent to Washington D. C. where he met with President Andrew Jackson. Jackson did send him back to Mexico where Santa Anna discovered he had been deposed as President. Meanwhile back in Texas, Thomas Jefferson Rusk who had been a general during the battle of San Jacinto and was appointed to the position of Secretary of War, asked President Burnet to relieve him of his command. To succeed Rusk on June 25 Burnet appointed Mirabeau B. Lamar to the post of secretary of war. BUT word arrived that Gen. José de Urrea was moving Mexican army troops towards Goliad, (remember the Goliad Massacre, which took place during the revolt? Texans were still very angry over the slaughter that took place) Rusk changed his mind about retiring. But since Lamar was now officially the Secretary of War, Burnet was hesitant to do so. At that point Thomas Jefferson Green and Felix Huston, who had come into Texas with a contingent of volunteers from Mississippi, began to agitate against Lamar. This caused the soldiers to turn against Lamar and Rusk returned to command. Urrea failed to show up at Goliad so Rusk once again vacated his command and the army chose Huston to replace him. More unrest continued in the ranks of the Army as many of the officers openly defied the government. They even threatened to impose a military dictatorship. Internal squabbles were not the only problems the government faced. On May 19th, a force of Comanche and Caddo Indians attacked Fort Parker, in what is known as the Fort Parker Massacre, and captured two women and three children. One of those children was a nine-year-old girl by the name of Cynthia Parker.
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    14 mins
Education World Social Sciences
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