Did you know? James Britton "Brit" Bailey, a Kentucky legislator, arrived in Texas in 1821 after being investigated for forgery. Brit entered Stephen F. Austin's Brazoria Colony as a member of the Old 300. He later fought at the Battle of Jones Creek in 1824 and the Battle of Velasco in 1833. However, Brit never gained the respectability he so coveted in Texas. He died in 1832, an alcoholic reclus...e by some accounts. His last request was that he be buried standing up, his gun on his shoulder and a jug of whiskey at his feet. It was reported that Brit said of this strange request - "Bury me standing up, facing west, so no one can look down on me even in death." After his death, residents reported seeing a ball of light near his grave site. many believe the eerie light, known as Bailey's Light, was Brit's ghost in search of more whiskey!
Did you know? John Lang Sinclair of Boerne, Texas composed: The Eyes of Texas in 1903. Sinclair, a student at the University of Texas wrote the song on a piece of scrap laundry paper at the request of his roommate, then band director, Lewis Johnson. Johnson needed a lively tune for a minstrel show to benefit the University track team. Sung to the tune of, I've Been Working on the Railroad, Sinclai...r's title lyrics were taken from UT President, Dr. William Lamdin Prather. Prather constantly warned students around campus that, "The Eyes of Texas are Upon You." The UT Student's Association copyrighted the song in 1936 as the official school song. Today many still mistake the song for the official state song!
Did you know? Sophia Porter, who participated in the Runaway Scrape, claims to have arrived at San Jacinto after the battle and nursed Sam Houston's badly wounded ankle. She married Holland Coffee in 1839. The newlyweds traveled north to the Red River and Coffee's Station. They established Glen Eden Plantation and the town of Preston. During the Civil War, she earned the nickname, the Confederate ...Paul Revere, for her ride across the Red River to warn Col. James G. Bourland, that Northern troops were at her plantation and searching for him. Legend says that Sophia plied the Northern troops with wine to keep them inebriated while she rode to warn Bourland. Today, Glen Eden sits at the bottom of Lake Texoma!Mike Kearby's Texas Copyright 2011
