Frontier Texas!

09/02/2026

"On this day in 1830, Seth Ingram, a surveyor and merchant, shot and killed John G. Holtham in San Felipe de Austin, the center of Stephen F. Austin's colony. Ira Ingram, Seth's brother and business partner, had quarreled with Holtham, a lawyer of unsavory reputation, over the latter's drunken intrusion into Ira's yard. Holtham demanded an apology for being expelled from the premises. When Ira ignored him, he circulated handbills defaming Ira as a 'coward, a rogue, and a man without honor.' Seth Ingram confronted Holtham as he was posting one such notice in the streets of San Felipe and ordered him to remove it. When Holtham refused, pistols were drawn, and Ingram killed Holtham. Ingram was arrested along with another business partner, Hosea H. League, who had been a bystander during the incident, and both were confined almost incommunicado for sixteen months, chained to the walls of the half-completed meetinghouse of the San Felipe ayuntamiento. They were eventually acquitted and released." - tshaonline.org

09/01/2026

Happy September, everyone!

08/31/2026

This summer, we hosted a workshop for Region 14 teachers showcasing Texas history resources! Speakers included the The Texas Center at Schreiner University, State of Texas Longhorn Herd at Fort Griffin, Texas Historical Commission, Texas State Historical Association, University of North Texas, Fort Griffin State Historic Site, and The Alamo. Many thanks to all the hands it took to put this together!

Interested in booking a tour at Frontier Texas? Call 325-437-2800 to schedule!

08/30/2026

On this day in 1862, Hood's Texas Brigade played a distinguished part in the battle of Second Manassas. After a Union assault was broken up by artillery fire, Confederate general Longstreet launched his First Corps, with the Texas Brigade in the lead, in one of the most successful counterattacks of the Civil War. The Fourth Texas Infantry, under the command of Lt. Col. B. F. Carter, captured a federal battery of artillery, losing eleven killed and twenty wounded in the process. After the battle the commander of the brigade, Gen. John Hood, encountered the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, who playfully asked him what had become of the enemy. Hood answered that the Texans had chased them across Bull Run "almost at a double quick." A regiment of New York Zouaves was shattered by the assault, and, seeing their brightly uniformed bodies scattered about the next morning, a Texan officer wrote that they gave the battlefield "the appearance of a Texas hillside when carpeted in the spring by wild flowers of many hues and tints."

08/28/2026

08/27/2026

On this day in 1866, Elizabeth Ann Carter Clifton finally began her six-week trip home after being a captive of Plains Indians for two years. Her capture in the Elm Creek Raid in Young County was just one of a series of tragedies she endured during her life. Born in 1825 and married at age sixteen, Elizabeth and her first husband, Alexander Joseph Carter, a free black, started a ranch near Fort Belknap in Young County. Carter was murdered in 1857, and Elizabeth was married twice more in the next five years. Her second husband disappeared, and her third was also murdered. Nevertheless, she successfully managed the Young County ranch and operated a boarding house. During the Indian raid and subsequent captivity, Elizabeth also lost her daughter, son, and two grandchildren. She was finally rescued in November 1865, but had to wait many more months at the Kaw Mission at Council Grove, Kansas, as she cared for other released captives and fought to make arrangements for transportation home. Eventually she was reunited with her surviving granddaughter, who had also been a Comanche captive.

tshaonline.org

08/26/2026

Happy International Dog Day! Did you know that Texas has a state dog breed?

08/25/2026

On this day in 1849, Thomas Short ostensibly admitted his role in a cattle theft operation in a confession printed in the Texas State Gazette. His confession was surprisingly imaginative and vivid given the fact that he was only sixteen at the time. The Short family, headed by patriarch John Short (1790-1847), had settled near La Grange in Fayette County, where they engaged in agriculture, milling, speculation, trading, and controversy. They supported an underground railroad for runaway slaves. By repeatedly reselling the slaves at intervals along the way north and thereafter assisting with their escapes, they profited from their altruism. A similar cattle theft operation and counterfeiting ring with principals in five states, according to the Huntsville Texas Banner, resulted in the public hanging of John's son William Short and the incarceration of John's son-in-law William Greenbury Sansom as the first inmate of the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville. Other members of the family were implicated but not tried and convicted; young Thomas had been one of these, and was acquitted because of his youth after his confession appeared in print.

tshaonline.org

08/24/2026

Tickets are on sale for the West Texas Wine Festival. 🍷 Grab your spot today and join us on October 17!

We are excited to announce this year's lineup of fantastic Texas Wineries (with more to come)! 🍷 🍇

Interested wineries, sponsors, and attendees, reach out to [email protected] for more info!