Save Texas History

With the Astros playoff push starting today, did you know that baseball Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby (1926 World Series Champion, and the highest career batting average in National League history) had deep Texas roots?

His great-grandfather, Reuben Hornsby, was a settler in one of Stephen F. Austin's colonies. His 4,428.4-acre land grant along the Colorado River made him one of the first colonists in what is now Travis County.

You can see his original title here:https://cdn.glo.texas.gov/ncu/SCANDOCS/archives_webfiles/arcmaps/webfiles/landgrants/PDFs/1/0/2/8/1028918.pdf

The famous Mexican cartographer Antonio García Cubas created this map of Tamaulipas, which still includes the region between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande as part of the Mexican Republic following the U.S.-Mexico War.

His map is an example of the “in-between” nature of mid-nineteenth century borderlands and suggests a nuanced view of South Texas’ history.

Learn more:
https://medium.com/save-texas-history/locating-the-in-between-south-texas-and-antonio-garc%C3%ADa-cubas-map-of-tamaulipas-1858-5f170e7d3006

On this day in 1922, the first radio station in San Antonio began broadcasting.

WOAI - San Antonio was founded by G.A.C. Halff, and it joined the National Broadcasting Company in 1928. The station held a weekly Sunday broadcast of San Antonio Symphony Orchestra conductor Max Reiter’s “Musical Interpretations.”

Learn more:
https://www.tshaonline.org/texas-day-by-day/entry/313

Maria Calvillo was a landowner whose story highlights the property rights of women on the frontier of Mexican Texas.

After enduring much hardship, Calvillo was granted possession of land in 1834 that is currently part of the Rancho de las Cabras State Historical Site.

Learn more:
https://medium.com/save-texas-history/women-as-land-owners-on-the-mexican-frontier-mar%C3%ADa-calvillo-s-story-11747a91ee6e #.ch9dlvx0w

This week in Texas history, Oliver Loving made his last cattle drive across the Goodnight-Loving trail in 1867.

After the Civil War, Loving partnered with Charles Goodnight to drive over 2,000 head of cattle from Texas to Colorado.

On his third drive, Loving was attacked and later perished at Fort Sumner on September 25, 1867. He is remembered as the “Dean of Texas Trail Drivers.”

Watch here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBSiTGXgE3I

On this day in 1964, the Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg bought the Nimitz Hotel.

Built in the late 1840s, this hotel was visited by many historic figures and was reopened as the Admiral Nimitz Museum in 1964. Today, the museum is part of the National Museum of the Pacific War and remains an important historical site.

Learn more:
https://www.tshaonline.org/texas-day-by-day/search?month=9&day=22

As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15-October 15, did you know that Tejano leaders José Antonio Navarro and José Francisco Ruiz were the only two men born in Texas to sign the Texas Declaration of Independence?

As passionate advocates for Texas’ liberty, the two statesmen were willing to risk their lives for a free society in Texas.

Learn more:
https://medium.com/save-texas-history/tejano-founding-fathers-jos%C3%A9-antonio-navarro-and-jos%C3%A9-francisco-ruiz-7582af98229d #.3r4ki0jtt

This week in Texas history, railroad promoter William Crush staged the crash of two steam trains for a crowd of onlookers in an attempt to boost ridership, which ended in disaster…

Watch the full video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm1JZ9o_T0U

Meet J.B. Sauceda at the 2026 Save Texas History Symposium Reception!

J.B. Sauceda is the Host and Executive Producer of Texas Country Reporter, one of the longest-running television programs in American history, and a contributing writer and photographer for Texas Monthly. His work has also earned him a Lone Star Emmy Award.

Join us for dinner and fellowship, which will feature a special keynote address from Mr. Sauceda. (Note: This is a separately ticketed event.)

Register for our Symposium and reception here:
https://sthsymposium.vfairs.com/en/ #

“Mapa de los Estados Unidos de Méjico” is an 1828 map that provides a comprehensive view of the state of Coahuila y Texas, established shortly after Mexico gained its independence in 1821.

This map, which is part of our Holcomb Map Collection, is also an example of widespread plagiarism that was prevalent in the cartographic world during the nineteenth century.

Learn more:
https://txglo.medium.com/mapa-de-los-estados-unidos-de-m%C3%A9jico-1828-81ff4c7ba88b