THE CIVIL WAR IN TEXAS - AND GIVEAWAYS!!

We have a new look! Isn't it awesome? To celebrate the occasion we are sponsoring a giveaway ... books, prizes and a $50 gift card. So leave a comment at the end of this article to enter. Now let's talk about the Civil War in Texas.


Most Texas residents preceding the Civil War came to the Lone Star State from the Deep South, families and plantations which had slaves. Therefore, understandably, their sympathies resided with the South.

Governor Sam Houston's loyalty, however, remained with the Union, and he refused to even call for a secession convention. Secessionists then called on county judges to hold elections for delegates, and they gathered in Austin to vote on secession. Governor Houston tried to block them at that point
by calling a special session of the legislature. That measure failed when the legislature discovered that many of its members had been elected delegates to the secession convention. They voted for secession 152-6

When the secessionists required all state officials who had sworn an oath of loyalty to the old state constitution to affirm their loyalty to the Confederate States, Sam Houston remained in his rocking chair and refused to do so. The convention declared the office of governor vacant and the Lt Gov Edward Clark became the new governor of Texas.

Here in Waco, on New Year's Day of 1861 before the convention in Austin, Governor Houston spoke strongly against secession and was run out of town. The sentiments of most Texans clearly lay with South. However, Governor Houston refused President-Elect Lincoln's offer to rally Federal forces to prevent Texas from leaving the Union. He declared he would not raise arms against his state. He could only stand by helplessly as his beloved Texas sent  between 60,000 - 70,000 off to fight for a lost cause.

Very few battles actually were fought on Texas soil. Those that did occur were along the Gulf Coast to try to prevent supplies from coming through. The Union attempted to occupy Galveston, but the Confederates took it back quickly and occupied for the remainder of the war. The Union decided they could control the blockade as well from New Orleans.

A small coastal town, Indianola, was also occupied by the Union Army. At the time of the war, it was the second largest port because of the deep waters off the coast.

The Battle of Sabine Pass as another attempt to enter Texas, however 5,000 Union troops and 17 ships were turned back by 42 Confederate artillerymen in the narrow pass.

The Red River campaign was another attempt to bring the Union transports up the Mississippi River, then the Red River. However the invasion was halted and turned back at the Battle of Mansfield.

The last battle of the war, Palmito Ranch, was actually fought after Lee's surrender in Virginia. Union troops got on Texas soil, but the war was over, and it was to no avail.

Read about the Civil War in Texas in my novel, His Steadfast Love. And don't forget to leave a comment to enter the giveaway.

Golden Keyes Parsons writes historical fiction, and is also a popular retreat/conference speaker. Her highly acclaimed Darkness to Light Series (Thomas Nelson) chronicled the journey of her French Huguenot ancestors in 17^th century France. Her fourth novel, His Steadfast Love, is a Civil War novel set in Texas. Her latest release is a compilation of four novellas (WhiteFire Publishing) – a biblical fiction series entitled Hidden Faces, Portraits of Nameless Women in the Gospels. Golden lives in Waco, TX, with her husband, Blaine, where they enjoy their children, grandchildren and are avid sports fans of their alma mater, Baylor University. You can contact her at www.goldenkeyesparsons.com.

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LESSER-KNOWN TEXAS TRIBES--THE KARANKAWA

Laurie Kingery here--I'd like to continue my series on the lesser-known tribes of Texas with the Karankawa tribe. They became extinct by 1860, but they certainly made an impression while they existed because of their reputation as cannibals.

                                                   

The Karankawas, known in their language as the Auia, inhabited the coastal area of Texas from Galveston Bay in the Houston area south to Corpus Christi Bay. The meaning of their name is not certain; it may mean "dog-lovers" or "dog helpers" because they had dogs that were fox- or coyote-like.

There is speculation that the Karankawas came from the Carib Indians because they were so tall—the males averaged six to seven feet. But this has never been proven. The men were striking in appearance, usually naked and heavily tattooed and with pierced nipples and lower lips. The women wore their hair long and painted their entire bodies if married; single women had only a stripe from forehead to chin. Women wore deerskin shirts and breechclouts. Both sexes used shark and alligator oil to repel mosquitoes. The tribe practiced head-flattening.

                                                                

                                                                      

They did not farm, being a nomadic people that migrated between the barrier islands and inland present-day Texas. They took advantage of the bays and lagoons as well as the Gulf, eating oysters, clams, crabs, redfish, spotted seatrout and black drum. In the summer months, the shellfish were not safe to eat, and the fish migrated out of pass between the mainland and the barrier islands, so the Karankawa migrated inland. They may also have done so to get away from hurricanes. The picture below is a plaque marking the site of a Karankawa settlement on the west end of Jamaica Beach, Galveston Island.

                                                         

The tribe had some interesting customs. For example, they had three gender roles: male, female and a third group made up of men called berdache because they took on female roles and activities and played a special role in their religion. They were also passive sexual partners for some of the other men. The women sold and traded or even offered themselves to get things. Divorce was easily obtained before children were born to a marriage, but rare afterwards. They made a distinctive pottery with an inside coating of asphaltum, a natural tar that washes onto Gulf beaches, and lived in circular 10-12 foot huts covered with hides and mats. They travelled in dugouts made by the women of twisted-together poles. Their bows were of cane and 5-6 feet long, with arrows three feet long—the better to retrieve fish they had shot.

                                                                

The first Europeans to come across this tribe were the Spanish, such as the explorer Cabeza de Vaca, who wrote favorably about them because they took care of him and his band when they ran aground in Galveston Bay in the 1530's. He then lived with the tribe for several years. Some of the tribe became Christians and lived in missions; others went to live with the Lipan Apache.

DeVaca denied the Karankawas were cannibals; in fact he admitted he and his own men had resorted to cannibalism when they shipwrecked. Others insisted that the tribe did indeed indulge in ritual cannibalism of their enemies, believing that eating their captives' flesh would transfer their power to the Karankawa. Some sources indicate the victims were not always dead when this flesh was taken, but sliced off while the victims were tied to a stake. The flesh was roasted in front of the victims and eaten.

                                                        

When the pirate Jean Lafitte was kicked out of Louisiana and came to live in Galveston in 1817, the Karankawas tried to retrieve one of their women who had been taken to his so-called "kingdom of Campeche" but had to retreat after the pirates inflicted heavy casualties. The Indians didn't get along with the Anglo settlers in Stephen Austin's Mexican colony either, and sided with the Mexicans in the Texas war for Independence. Their chief, Jose Maria, and most of his warriors were killed. An early Texas Ranger, Noah Smithwick, called them "The most savage-looking human beings I ever saw."

The last known remaining Karankawa was killed by Mexican general Juan Cortinas in 1858, though in 2009 an army veteran of Vietnam, Bosnia and Desert Storm claimed to be the last descendant.

                                                                  

I hope you've enjoyed this look at a very colorful, vanished Indian tribe.

                  Blessings, Laurie Kingery

                                             

All photos courtesy of Wikimedia and Wikipedia

Jean Lafitte and Pirate Treasure

by Kathleen Y'Barbo

Growing up on the Texas Gulf Coast, the shrimp came right off the boat to our dinner table, and the beach was just down the road. Many summer days were spent wading in the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico or looking up and down the sandy shore for sand dollars or sea shells to bring home. And then there were the tales of pirate treasure left behind by the mysterious pirate Jean Lafitte.

Depending on who is telling the story, Jean Lafitte was  born in one of several regions in France or in
the French colony of Sant-Domingue (present-day Haiti). Most biographers agree that his was a seafaring childhood as one of six children. Some would argue that much of his early years were spent in the marshland and bayous of South Louisiana, though it is thought that this was claimed due to Lafitte's almost encyclopedic knowledge of the area later in life. Details beyond these are sparse, but it is widely agreed based on records at the time that Jean Lafitte was living and working in New Orleans by 1806. Many say his arrival was much sooner. Few doubt that he was the captain of a network of men, called Barataians, who preyed on vessels and hid away their ill-gotten gains in the bayous.

Whenever the date, the purpose of his presence in New Orleans was much more obvious. Lafitte and his brothers captained vessels that brought goods into the city, and thanks to the Embargo Act of 1807, these were often goods sold on the flourishing black market rather than in reputable stores. Based in the Barataria region, Lafitte was able to navigate marshes and keep ahead of anyone who might be in pursuit. Later, during the War of 1812, the Lafitte brothers used their ability to procure items on the black market to aid the battle against the British by providing flint for muskets that would otherwise have been useless.

Public opinion of the Lafitte brothers waxed and waned in the ensuing years, and finally under pressure from authorities he once aided, Jean Lafitte sailed off to make his new home in on Galveston Island in a colony he called Campeche. As if to taunt anyone who dared to come against him, he built a home that stood above the others on the island and then had it tinted a brilliant crimson color. Though almost 200 years old, the remains of that red house, called Maison Rouge, still stands at 1417 Harborside Drive in contrast to the modern city and port that grew up around it.

Rumors circulated that Lafitte was up to his old tricks of pirating vessels and hiding the spoils just as he had done while based in Barataria. In 1821, the United States Navy ousted him from the island and sent his men off to sail other waters. Some say he was wounded at sea several years later. Others disagree and claim that Lafitte lived to a ripe old age in some undisclosed foreign country. Just as his early years are shrouded in mystery, so are his later years.

Perhaps because of the air of mystery surrounding the enigmatic pirate, stories circulated of treasures buried by Lafitte and his Baratarians, treasures that were lost or forgotten over the years. With hurricanes pounding the coast every few years, it isn't hard to understand why a marker might be moved or the signs that were so obvious when something was hidden are obscured or obliterated. Certainly many generations of treasure hunters have searched, and it is likely that many more will continue to do just that. All it takes is for a few pieces of eight or gold doubloons to be detected under a few layers of Texas sand or Louisiana bayou mud and the hunt is on again.

So, what do you think? Is there buried treasure along the Gulf Coast?

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Want to read more about treasure hunting? Like stories of Southern romance with a dash of steampunk? Perhaps you have a preference for handsome Pinkertons who dabble in the latest inventions? Millie's Treasure, the second book in The Secret Lives of Will Tucker series, releases August 1. See the trailer for this Romantic Times Top Pick here: Millie's Treasure.

Bestselling author Kathleen Y’Barbo is a multiple Carol Award and RITA nominee of forty-five novels with almost two million copies of her books in print in the US and abroad. A Romantic Times Top Pick recipient of her novels, Kathleen is a proud military wife and an expatriate Texan cheering on her beloved Texas Aggies from north of the Red River. To find out more about Kathleen or connect with her through social media, check out her website at www.kathleenybarbo.com.

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