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Treason on La Salle
March 19, 1687 - La Salle is killed by several of his own men at an unknown East Texas location -
Spanish Raid
1759 - August - Spanish troops on a retaliatory raid are defeated by Indian residents of a large encampment at Spanish Fort in present-day Montague County. -
Mexicos Rebelious Begining
1810 - Sept. 16 - Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costillo and several hundred of his parishioners seize the prison at Dolores, Mexico, beginning Mexico's struggle for independence from Spain. -
Gutierrez-Magee Expedition
1812 -August 8 - About 130-men strong, the Gutierrez-Magee Expedition crossed the Sabine from Louisiana in a rebel movement against Spanish rule in Texas. -
Fredonian Rebellion
1827- January 31 - This so-called Fredonian Rebellion is an attempt by empresario Haden Edwards to separate his colony from Mexico. The rebels flee when approached by Mexican troops -
First bloodshed of the Texas Revolution
1832 - June 26 - First bloodshed of the Texas Revolution takes place at Velasco when Texans, transporting a cannon from Brazoria to Anahuac -
Come and take it!
1835 Oct. 2 - Mexican troops attempt to retrieve a cannon that had been given to Gonzales colonists for protection from Indian attack. The skirmish that ensues as Gonzales residents dare the Mexicans to "come and take it" is considered the opening battles of the Texas Revolution are challenged by Mexican forces at Velasco. The Mexicans surrender on June 29 -
Remember the Alamo!
1836 March 6 - 3-day siege of the Alamo by Mexican troops led by Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna ends on this day with a battle in which all remaining defenders are killed. -
Capture of Santa Anna
• April 21 - In a battle lasting 18 minutes, Texan troops led by Sam Houston defeat the Mexican army commanded by Santa Anna at San Jacinto near present-day Houston. Houston reports that 630 Mexican troops were killed and 730 were taken prisoner. Of the Texas troops, nine of a force of 910 were killed or mortally wounded, and 30 were less seriously wounded. -
Council House Fight
1840 March 19 - Comanches, led by a dozen chiefs, meet with officials of Texas government to negotiate a peace treaty. Believing the Comanches to have reneged on a promise to release all white prisoners, the Texans take the chiefs prisoner. During the Council House fight that follows, 35 Comanches are killed, as are seven Texans. -
Council House Fight Retaliation
• Aug. 5 - Near Hallettsville, Comanches, in retaliation for the Council House Fight, begin killing and looting their way across Central Texas. Texas Rangers and a volunteer army defeat the Comanches on Aug. 11 at Plum Creek near Lockhart. -
Battle of Palo Alto
1846May 8 - Battle of Palo Alto near Brownsville is first major battle of the two-year Mexican War -
Cortina War
1859 July 13 - Violent clashes between Juan "Cheno" Cortina and Anglo lawmen begin in the Brownsville area in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Texas Rangers and federal troops eventually halt the so-called "Cortina War" in 1875. -
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Union Movment Massicre
1862Aug. 10 - About 68 Union loyalists, mostly German immigrants from the area of Comfort, in Central Texas, start for Mexico in an attempt to reach US troops; 19 are killed by Confederates on the Nueces River. Eight others are killed on Oct. 18 at the Rio Grande. Others drown attempting to swim the river. Their deaths are commemorated in Comfort by the Treue der Union (True to the Union) monument.
October - Forty-two men thought to be Union sympathizers are hanged at various times during Octob -
Battle of Palmito Ranch
1865 - May 13 - The Battle of Palmito Ranch is fought near Brownsville, after the official end of the Civil War, because word of the war's end at Appomattox on April 9 has not yet reached troops in Texas. -
Salt Creek Massacre
1871 - May - Seven men in a wagon train are massacred at Salt Creek, about 20 miles west of Jacksboro, by Kiowas and Comanches led by chiefs -
Battle of Palo Duro Canyon
1874 Sept. 28 - Col. Ranald Mackenzie leads the 4th US Cavalry in the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon, south of present-day Amarillo, an encounter that ends with the confinement of southern Plains Indians in reservations in Indian Territory. This makes possible the wholesale settlement of the western part of the state. -
The El Paso Salt War
1877 - Sept. - The El Paso Salt War is the culmination of a long dispute caused by Anglos' attempts to take over salt-mining rights at the foot of Guadalupe Peak, a traditionally Mexican-American salt source -
Fence Cutting Wars
1884 - Fence-cutting wars prompt the Texas Legislature to pass a law making fence-cutting a felony -
First Military Air Flight
1910 - March 2 - Lt. Benjamin D. Foulois makes first military air flight in a Wright brothers plane at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. -
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Mexican Civil War Spills Across The Border
1911-1920 - Mexican civil war spills across the border, as refugees seek safety, combatants seek each other, and Texas settlements are raided for supplies by all sides in the fighting. Pancho Villa and his followers are active along the border during some of this time. -
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World War 1
1917-1918 - World War I. -
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World War 2
1941-1945 - World War II. -
George W. Bush
2000 - Former Texas Gov. George W. Bush elected President of the United States.
