In January, 1874, when the Texas legislature assembled at Austin, a committee of its members was sent to Gov. E. J. Davis to inform him that it was ready to receive any communication which he wished to submit. He very promptly informed the committee that he did not wish to communicate with the legislature, because he did not regard it as a legal body.
The committee withdrew, and that night a portion of its members met at the office of the mayor of the city, and, after consultation, determined to install Richard Coke as governor, 55 and, if possible, get control of the state government. Coke took the oath of office; and next morning the legislature took possession of the upper part of the Capitol, Governor Davis and his followers holding possession of the lower part at the same time. Before noon of that day it was reported to the mayor that there was danger of a collision between the contending parties; whereupon City Marshal Minas Long was requested to summon a portion of the police force, to proceed at once to the Capitol and take possession of the stairs connecting the upper and lower stories, and, if possible, to preserve the peace by preventing the passage of men up or down the steps. The marshal and the police officers did their duty faithfully until they were relieved by the Travis Rifles, a local military company.
In the meantime, the Coke followers had organized, and it was agreed that Geo. B. Zimpelman, sheriff of the county, Henry E. McCulloch, acting temporary adjutant general under an appointment from Gov. Coke, and T. B. Wheeler, the mayor of Austin, should act as a committee and coöperate in the management of that party. On the evening of the same day, Major Russell, an officer on the staff of General Augur, who was in command of the Department of Texas, arrived in Austin and stated that he had been sent there by General Augur on a mission of observation. Major Russell said that President Grant had instructed General Augur that if there should be a collision between the contending parties and should be any bloodshed he (Augur) should take charge of the state government, and appoint a military governor.
As soon as the news brought by Major Russell spread, there was a concerted determination by the men at the head of the Coke party to use every available means—if necessary, to submit to insult, and even to risk their own lives—to prevent the calamity of having another military government in Texas. This determination dominated every act of the Coke leaders throughout that memorable contest. In pursuance of the policy of avoiding bloodshed, the mayor informed Governor Coke that there was a large lot of arms and ammunition in a storehouse on West Avenue; that there was no one in possession of said house; and that, if the governor would authorize it, the arms and ammunition would be removed at once to the city and placed where neither of the contending parties could get possession of them. Governor Coke said that he would see about it, and the matter was postponed until next morning.
During that evening and night there was an immense crowd of the Coke followers assembled in the upper part of the Capitol. Many of them were excited and made more than one determined effort to get to the Davis men in the lower story; and nothing but the persuasions of the cool-headed, conservative Coke men, aided by the determined stand taken by the gallant Travis Rifles and the police force, saved the Davis men from destruction. It is necessary to recite only one or two incidents to show the attitude and excitement of the crowd and to exhibit fully the determination of the Coke leaders to prevent a collision, although they could have overpowered the Davis men with no great danger. During the day the Coke followers had been permitted to go down the inside steps which led to the north of the building. After dark, the mayor and a friend of his. Joe Denton, who resided north of the Capitol, thinking they would still be permitted to go out this way, started down the steps. Before they had gone far they were ordered to halt. They continued to descend until they were told that if they came farther they would be killed. They then observed by the dim light that it was Major Degrees speaking, and that a white man and two negroes held guns leveled at them. The mayor insisted on going out that way, when Major Degress said, “Mayor, I have nothing against you; but I am ordered to let no person come down these steps tonight, and if you take another step these men will shoot you.” The mayor replied, “Major Degress, you have the advantage of me now, but I will see you again,” and then he and Denton went back up the steps. When the crowd heard and saw what had happened, they made a rush to go down the steps. The order was quickly given to the guard to keep them back. Excited voices came from the crowd, asking the mayor, “Didn't they say they would shoot you?” He replied, “It makes no difference what they said to me. Keep them back, keep them back.” Hearing this, the crowd made another rush to go down, and were checked only by the use of guns and clubs in the hands of the Travis Rifles and police.
Another incident which occurred that night, and which came near bringing on a collision was when an armed squad of Davis followers advanced toward a cannon, which young Haralson, one of the Travis Rifles, was guarding. Haralson, who knew no fear, brought his gun down on them and ordered them to halt. They did so, and retreated at once to the Capitol.
As there was danger that the Davis men, whose situation was desperate, and who had doubtless heard of President Grant's order, would bring about a collision, and as it was an extremely cold night, it was determined to spike the cannon and take all the Coke guards up stairs. After the gun was effectively spiked and the Coke men withdrawn, a Davis guard was placed in charge of it, who tramped there in the cold until early next morning. Then Major Degress, who was a fine artillery officer, appeared with a squad of his men and with ammunition to load the gun, it is supposed, with the intention of turning it on the upper portion of the Capitol, for the purpose of compelling the Coke followers either to surrender or abandon the building. Degress had the snow cleaned off the gun and was preparing to load it, when he discovered that it was spiked. He and his squad seemed thoroughly disgusted, and retired to the basement of the Capitol, while the Coke men, who had been watching them, laughed and jeered.
That same morning General Steele, who had succeeded General McCulloch as adjutant general, went to the mayor and stated that he would send a squad of the Travis Rifles to take charge of the arsenal about which the mayor had spoken to Governor Coke the day before, and that the governor requested the mayor to go with the Rifles and to use all necessary means to prevent bloodshed.
The Travis Rifles were commanded by Lieutenant Albert Roberts, who had done gallant service as a boy in the Civil War, and who now holds a very important position under the United States Government. They proceeded at once to the arsenal on West Avenue. It was a long, low stone building running lengthwise with the street, and had very large doors and windows. There was a low picket fence between the building and the street. Lieutenant Roberts halted his men just outside the fence within a few steps of the building and faced them towards it. Just as he did this, there was a clash of arms in the building and guns were immediately seen pointing out of the doors and windows towards the company. The Rifles at once brought their guns to their shoulders pointing in the direction of the doors and windows. The mayor, who was near the head of the column, sprang forward, threw up his hands, called out “Don't fire,” and asked Lieutenant Roberts to march his men away quickly and take them out of sight. The Rifles were rapidly marched away in the direction of town, leaving the mayor alone in front of the arsenal.
Mr. Hamp Cox, who was in command of the arsenal, met the mayor at the fence. The mayor demanded the surrender of the arsenal, when Cox informed him that he had been put there by Gov. Davis and could not surrender it. In the meantime, Lieutenant Roberts had returned to the mayor, and both insisted on the surrender of the arsenal, informing Cox that they could take it by force, but did not wish any bloodshed. They proposed to him that if he would surrender, they would take the arms and ammunition and place them where neither party could use them, and would give him a receipt in the name of the Coke government for them.
To this proposition Cox agreed, and the mayor began to write the receipt in a pocket memorandum, when a wild yell was heard and Captain Hill, a white man, leading twenty or thirty negroes, came running from the direction of the Capitol. Lieutenant Roberts at once rejoined the Travis Rifles where they were in waiting. The mayor advanced some distance, meeting Captain Hill and the negroes, who had their guns presented in his direction. He threw up his hands and cried “Don't fire,” then stood awaiting their approach. Hill rushed up to the mayor and seized him roughly by the shirt collar, saying, “I arrest you.” The mayor demanded, “By whose authority?” Hill replied, “By the authority of Gov. Davis,” and said to his men, “Come around him, boys; come around him, boys.”
The negroes in the arsenal had rushed out and met the others just as Hill had arrested the mayor. They swung their guns over the mayor's head and said, “Yes, d—n you, you thought you had us, but we've got you. Hurrah, boys, hurrah!” They seemed as excited and wild as savages. Hill, who still had his hand in the mayor's collar, pulled him toward a small gate on the west side of the avenue, the negroes surrounding him and keeping up a regular pandemonium with their oaths and yells of exultation. The mayor, believing the Travis Rifles would try to rescue him and thereby bring about the dreaded collision, while Hill was pulling him in one direction, was watching for the company in the opposite direction, in which it had retired. He saw the Rifles come around the corner, ready to charge, and at once elevated his right hand as high as possible and energetically motioned them to retire. Although the negroes were thick around him, he kept his hand in motion until the Rifles had retreated.
Hill and his mob took the mayor into the enclosure, down a very steep hill, into a hollow, out of sight of the streets. The men were formed in double ranks and the mayor placed in front of them. As soon as it was somewhat quiet, the mayor said, “No doubt you think it very brave for thirty or forty armed men to arrest one unarmed citizen.” Hill said, “Let's see if you are not armed,” and began to search the mayor, who remarked, “Search to your heart's content. I am armed with nothing but a penknife and the majesty of the law.” Addressing the negroes, he continued, “As mayor of Austin, I command you to disperse and not commit a breach of the peace. Coke has been elected governor of Texas by fifty thousand majority. The people are determined he shall be governor. Your great friend, General Grant, has refused to interfere, because he knows the Coke people are right and that the Davis followers are wrong. You all know me; you know that I live in Austin, and that here is all I have. You live in Austin, and all you have is here. It is not to the interest of the whites and blacks of this city to be fighting each other. If the conflict is kept up, you are all liable to be killed. A few bad white men are misleading you, and when they get you into a fight with the white people, cowards as they are, they will run away and let the white people kill you. I again order you to disperse and go to your homes.”
To the mayor's surprise, when he stopped talking at least half of the negroes stepped out of the ranks and said, “Nobody shan't hurt Mr. Wheeler, so dey shan't.” He then said, “I am going to town for your good, for if I don't go you will all be killed.” Hill stepped in front of the mayor and said, “You shall not go.” The mayor replied, “As a free American citizen I have a right to go where I please if I am not interfering with the rights of some other person,” and at the same time walked rapidly towards Hill, who began to back up the slope until he got to the gate of the arsenal enclosure. On reaching that, he said, “You can tell your people that we will hold this arsenal or die on the door sill.” The mayor replied, “If you and your little crowd stay here one hour, you will all be dead men.”
Two bad negroes had followed the mayor up the hill presenting their guns as if ready to fire at him. He told them several times to change the position of their guns and not to shoot. They did not shoot, but kept their guns in the threatening attitude. When the mayor and Hill reached the gate, Cox, who belonged to the same fraternity as the mayor and who had observed the conduct of the two negroes, placed himself as near the mayor as possible, following him entirely across the Avenue and until the negroes ceased their threatening demonstration.
The mayor ran rapidly toward town, meeting along the way armed men and turning them back. He soon heard the long roll, which was being beaten on Congress Avenue. 56 Just after he was arrested some person had ridden on horseback up this avenue crying out, “The negroes have the mayor.” Thereupon the stores were closed and the people assembled en masse, with such arms as they could secure, near the red brick building occupied by the Tobins as a drug store. 57 Major Mart Royston, who had been treasurer under the Throckmorton administration, was in command, and was trying to get order out of the confusion. As soon as the mayor arrived one of the men seized him and rushed him to the front of the crowd, saying, “Here he is, boys.” Just then a long-haired, frontier-looking fellow said in a loud, drawling voice, “Come on, boys, let's go and take 'em; we've been fooling about it long enough.”
The mayor stepped into better view of the crowd and answered in the same drawling voice, “Hold on, boys, let's talk about it before we go. I am safe and have not been hurt. Do not be excited about my arrest.” A voice in the crowd asked, “What kind of a writ did they arrest you with?” The mayor placed his hand in his shirt collar and replied, “By a collar writ.” At this the crowd laughed; and, taking advantage of their temporary good humor, the mayor recited the message which President Grant had sent to General Augur, and entreated them for their own security and happiness and for their love of Texas not to do anything that would afford an excuse for placing the State again under military government. He begged them to keep quiet, to do nothing rash, to go to their homes, and assured them that if they would do so the contest would end satisfactorily, the Coke administration would rule Texas, and they would again be a free and independent people.
Just as the mayor stopped speaking a note was handed to him from Judge Ireland, who was then a State senator, suggesting that the saloons be closed. The mayor at once sent requests to the saloons to close until 12 o'clock next day. No men ever responded to a request more promptly, and nothing did more to give quiet and peace than that note from Judge Ireland and the general compliance with his suggestion by the saloon men of Austin.
About this time Hill and his men were seen going in the direction of the Capitol. Gradually the crowd dispersed, going to their homes and places of business. Later in the day the arms and ammunition were taken from the arsenal and stored in a house in town by men led by Captain Dave Wilson, now of the Avenue Hotel. Cox at first refused to surrender. Captain Wilson informed him that they did not wish to hurt him or any other person, but that they had come after the arms and were going to have them, whereupon Cox at length gave way. Just before night, quiet being restored, Governor Davis went out of the executive office and Governor Coke went in.
In the meantime, some person had filed a complaint against Hill and the negroes for an aggravated assault on the mayor. The returns of the election for comptroller and treasurer had been made to the governor and were then in the possession of Governor Davis. He refused to deliver those returns unless the complaint was dismissed. A committee from the Senate, headed by Lieutenant Governor Hubbard and one from the House, headed by the Honorable Guy M. Bryan, waited on the mayor to learn what he would do about it, stating that without those returns they could not declare who was elected treasurer and comptroller, and that without those officers the administration could not proceed, as they would have no money to pay expenses. The mayor saw Governor Coke about the matter, who gave him the same information, but said further that the mayor had been too greatly outraged for the governor to advise him to dismiss the cases. The mayor replied that he could not permit his personal feelings or the fact of his rough treatment to interfere with the inauguration of a free government for Texas, and he at once sent a note to Governor Davis saying that if he would send the returns by the bearer the cases against the negroes would be dismissed. The returns were sent, the treasurer and comptroller were at once installed, and the people were again permitted to enjoy the blessings of a free democratic government.
During reconstruction, when the military headquarters were at Austin, there was constructed what was known as the “Bull Pen,” in which persons arrested by the soldiers were confined.
This Bull Pen was located near the road leading from the city to where the dam was afterwards constructed. It was circular in form, from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet in diameter, with no covering over it. It had been constructed by placing logs twelve to fifteen feet long in the ground on their ends with a plank walk near the top on the outside, on which the guard walked to watch the prisoners. For these, small “A” tents were the only protection from the sun and rain. There was no floor to any part of it, and, unfortunately, it was located on a clayey, sticky soil. The first time I visited the Bull Pen I suppose there were from fifty to one hundred prisoners in it. There had been rain, and the mud and slush were shoe-mouth deep.
It was not necessary to file a complaint, or even charge a person with an offense, to have him placed in that most uncomfortable prison. One or two instances will be sufficient to give an idea of the tyranny and oppression which were exercised by the military in those trying days. A negro by the name of Simon Alexander came to Austin from Freestone County and informed Ceneral Reynolds that he had been whipped by some young white men of that county. General Reynolds sent a squad of soldiers to Freestone and arrested Judge McCracken, Dr. Gibbs, Messrs. Deming, Ross, Roark, and a number of the other most prominent citizens of that county, and brought them in a wagon, under guard, to Austin and placed them in the Bull Pen. I happened to meet them while visiting another prisoner; and, seeing by their appearance and conduct that they were first-class citizens, I asked them for what they had been imprisoned. They stated that they had never been informed of the charges, and requested me to see General Reynolds and learn, if possible, what was alleged against them. I immediately went to General Reynolds and asked him with what offense they were charged. He replied that there was no charge against them, that no complaint had been filed against them, but that they had been arrested and would be held as hostages until the young men who Alexander said had whipped him would come to Austin and surrender.
As some of the men were in delicate health, and their lives would be endangered by remaining in the Bull Pen, they were paroled and permitted to get rooms in the city on conditions imposed by General Reynolds that they would not leave the city, and that I would be personally responsible for them. They were kept in the city several weeks before the young men, Messrs. Oliver and Davie, could be communicated with. In the meantime, arrangements were made with the commanding general that if Oliver and Davie would surrender he would not send them to the Bull Pen, but that they could remain in the city on the same conditions under which the other prisoners were held. Oliver and Davie appeared, and were taken before General Reynolds; when an order was issued discharging Judge McCraken and his associates, and Oliver and Davie were kept in Austin to be tried by a court martial.
A Mr. Fowler, who owned a large plantation on the opposite side of the river from Webberville, was arrested on some flimsy complaint made by a negro. Although he was over seventy years old and in feeble health, he was placed in the Bull Pen, where the exposure gave him pneumonia, and he was moved to the city and died in a very few days.
Much more could be written on this unpleasant subject; but these two instances will certainly be sufficient to show the oppression to which the people were subjected under the reconstruction régime, and to contrast therewith the blessings our people now enjoy under a free civil government.
56. The principal business street of Austin.
57. About half a mile east of the arsenal building.
How to cite:
Wheeler, T. B., "REMINISCENCES OF RECONSTRUCTION IN TEXAS", Volume 011, Number 1, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, Page 56 - 65. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v011/n1/article_6.html
[Accessed Sun Mar 21 22:00:56 CDT 2010]
