I. Our semester is defined by the catalog as 1877 to the present
A. Occasionally we will have to back-up to understand the
events
of the late 19th century
B. But let's set the mood by stepping back into time -
to 1877
C. Step into my time machine - be sure to tell me what
you see, too
II. In 1877...
A. Ullyses S. Grant left the presidency and Rutherford
B. Hayes was
inaugurated with First Lady Lucy Hayes.
1. Porfirio Diaz was President of Mexico
B. 200,000 Texas longhorn went to Dodge City, Kansas,
on
"Long Drives"
C. First city boss in U.S., William "Boss" Tweed, was in
jail in NYC
for stealing millions
D. Socialism & other radical ideas were gaining support
E. Joining clubs, groups and organizations reached fad proportions
1. Included women's clubs, Elks, Moose, Knights of Columbus,
Masonic Lodges
2. American Humane Society founded in 1877 in Cleveland
F. Also in 1877, the leader of the Mormon Church, Brigham
Young,
died
G. For reading you might choose The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, published 1876, while the hit tune of the day
was "Frankie and Johnnie" and popular dances included
the waltz, polka and galop
H. Thomas invented the phonograph while George Baldwin Selden
drew the first sketch of an automobile, and the first public
telephone was installed in the U.S; Chesterm Greenwood
invented ear muffs, and Emile Berliner the microphone;
moons of Mars were discovered
I. The first Wimbleton held in England
2
J. First flag day celebrated in U.S. - 37 star flag - and
first Egg Roll at
the Whitehouse
K. Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in NYC and the first
department
stores opened by John Wanamaker in Philadelphia
L. Many African-Americans head West as Exodusters while
Henry O.
Flippen became the first African-American to graduate from West
Point.
M. Violence erupted in New Mexico's Lincoln County, in El
Paso's Salt
War, between labor and management during Great Railway Strike
of 1877 and the Molly Maguire murder trial, and in racial conflicts
especially in the South against African-Americans and in the
West
against the Chinese.
N. Wars against Indians continued, too, but the Nez Perce
and their
leader Chief Joseph surrendered
O. Wyatt Earp was lawman in Dodge City
P. Billy the Kid committed his first known murder and Sam
Bass robbed
the Mesquite train.
Q. Porfirio Diaz was President of Mexico
R. In Eastern Europe, the Russo-Turkish War ended with
creation of
the sovereign nation of Serbia
S. In Africa, European partitioning had begun, the Belgian
Congo created in 1876 while in South Africa the Dutch
Boers (i.e. "farmers" in Dutch) battled the Zulu people
for control
T. Meanwhile, John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil made $45
million profit while at the same time most Americans
were still suffering through the Panic of 1873 known
as the "Long Depression" - 20% unemployment,
wages declining, lasted to 1878
U. First zoning law passed in U.S. - regulate Chinese laundries
in
San Francisco
3
V. It was a time of change - especially in Dallas and Texas
1. In times of change not unusual to see different reactions to
that change.
2. In Texas we find a lot of denial; living in the past
3. Signs of this included:
a. 1876 constitution revealed effort to hold on to
the
"Old Texas"
(1) favored rural, farmers
(2) emphasis on property ownership
(3) elimination of remnants of Reconstruction,
decreased funding for education, no
protections for ex-slaves
b. In Texas, it had become something of an honor
to
be identified as an ex-Confederate, especially
if running for public office
c. Though slaves gone, segregation spread; future
of
African-Americans in Texas uncertain in 1877
d. The future was also uncertain for Tejanos; many
Texans
were still fighting the Mexican War that had actually
ended in 1848; violence and discrimination continued
in 1877
5. There were some new things in Texas that Texans embraced
a. They liked the image of cowboys that cattle drives
brought
(1) Brought good times to cowtowns like Ft.
Worth
b. Texans also liked the railroads
(1) Dallas 1872; Ft. Worth 1876
c. Did not like all the results, though - brought crime
(1) 1876 some 3,000 fugitives in Texas
(2) 100,000 horses stolen 1875-8
(3) But Ft. Worth thrived in these conditions
- part of
today's downtown was known as "Hell's Half
Acre"
6. Dallas also thrived but in a different way - more involved
in
the business environment stimulated by the Industrial
Revolution
a. In 1877, Dallas was settling down
b. Most infamous had left like Belle Starr and Doc
Holiday had left town in 1876
(1) BELLE STARR, the bandit queen
(a) born Myra Maybelle Shirley in
Carthage, Mo., 1848
(b) an educated middle-class child,
family hit hard times after Civil
War and moved from Missouri
to Texas (Scyene)
(c) she was bitter, life of "little
rich girl"
over
(d) became involved with various
criminal types such as
bank robber Thomas Younger
(e) married James C. Cole 1866
(f) had daughter "Pearl" or Rosie Lee
1868
(g) Cole got involved with criminal
Cherokee by name of Tom Starr
(h) fled to California in 1869
(i) had second child, James in 1871
(j) she returned to Texas, left kids
with
parents, met Cole in Oklahoma,
moved back to Texas
(k) Reed killed
(l) married Sam Starr in 1880, 3/4 Cherokee,
moved to Arkansas
(m) 1882 arrested, convicted larceny,
served 9 months
(n) 1886 arrested again & she surrendered,
Sam on the run; she found not guilty
(o) Starr killed
(p) took up with Jack Sevier (a.k.a.
Jack
Spaniard), half Cherokee, hanged
1889
(q) took up with Creek Indian Jim Judy
(a.k.a. Jim Starr)
(r) Pearl became prostitute, Belle did
not
approve & even tried to get Pearl's
daughter, Flossie
(s) Belle murdered mysteriously while
on horse
(t) Epithet - "Shed not for her the
bitter
tear, Nor give the heart to vain
regret, 'Tis but the casket that
lies here, The gem that fills it
sparkles yet." died 1889, two
days before 41st birthday
(2) DOC HOLIDAY came to Texas for climate due
to t.b., began practicing medicine but
couldn't due to illness; turned to gambling
(a) lst violent confrontation in Dallas with
saloonkeeper, Jan. 2, 1875;
arrested
(b) then killed a prominent citizen, fled
(c) became Faro dealer in Jacksboro near
Ft. Richardson; killed soldier so fled
to
Colorado, Wyoming, N. Mexico and
back to Texas
(d) at Ft. Griffin, Texas, met "Big Nose"
Kate
Elder, a prostitute/dancehall girl;
tumultuous relationship
(e) also met WYATT EARP - legendary
lawman of Dodge City, Kansas
in 1870s
(f) fled to Dodge City after killing another
man
(g) helped Earp in a confrontation,
became
friends but continued to move around
(h) with Earp in 1881 at Gunfight at
OK Corral,
Tombstone, Arizona; no conviction
(i) died in 1887, Glenwood Springs,
Co.
c. But, they had been replaced by a new breed of
criminal -
the train robbers
(1) in 1877, the talk of Dallas was the big
Mesquite train robbery by Sam Bass
(a) illiterate, orphaned at 13, would
up in
Denton as cowpoke, herded cattle
to Kansas & took pay to Deadwood
where he lost it; began robbing
(2) but by 1878, he too had been killed at
Round Rock, Tx, by lawmen
8. Dallas was a bustling city, and by 1890, the biggest
city in Texas only to be surpassed by Houston and San
Antonio in 1900
9. May show clip of "The Pioneer Spirit"
a. The Industrial Revolution was having a big impact on Dallas
b. Economic class more evident with opening of "poor farm" near Hutchins in 1870s
c. Trinity River Navigation Co. brough steamships to Dallas in 1890s
d. Commerce St. had a toll bridge
e. Railroads, fire engines, and first Texas city with phone - Here in the Sanger Brothers Department Store to Sander estate (Dept. Store now El Centro College)
f. Water ysstem began in 1881
g. Electric lights came in 1883
h. State Fair organized 1887
i. Oak Cliff founded 1887 - merged with Dallas in 1889
j. 1888 Dallas Hams Baseball and first skyscraper (N. Texas Bldg.)
k. Electric cars replaced mule drawn trolleys
l. 1891 football game - Dallas beat Ft. Worth
m. 1897 first movies
10. But in other ways, Dallas and Texas stuck in the past