Oct 4, 2009 10:37 PM Posted by CBS11 Being an animal lover I was touched by the story of, “Oliver”. Oliver is a cat that lives with his staff in Keller. As you can see from the pictures, Oliver is a handsome gent who loves a good ball of string to chase and a relaxing scratch under his chin.
His Family, ah staff, are heart broken because Oliver has disappeared. Of course the whole family feels the loss deeply, but the young man who received “Ollie” as a birthday gift 5 years ago is taking the loss very hard.
Oliver’s staff isn’t sure what happened but they think he may have been taken from their back yard. All they want is their Oliver back, the family just isn’t the same without him.
Oliver is a rather handsome gent, mostly gray with white stockings, and a white spot above his mouth and on his chin. He also has green eyes.
By the way, the family is offering a reward for the return of the kitty; no questions asked. Oliver does answer to his name and has his claws.
Please look at the photos carefully and if you love animals as I do, please keep an eye out for my friend Oliver.
I have the number for Oliver’s family so if you do see him just e-mail me at MikeB@ktvt.com Oct 3, 2009 4:34 PM Posted by CBS11 In case you haven’t noticed the rain has arrived; a little early, but none the less it is here and from the looks of things it plans on staying awhile.
Ark building classes will commence in the engineering department as soon as we can set up the saws and figures out what a cubit is.
All joking aside we are in for a wet week.
First things first, we are the recipients of the moisture from the remnants of “Olaf”. Olaf, or what is left of it will move across the Baja over the next 24 hours.
The second item is a broad upper level trough which will continue to bring moisture and disturbances across north Texas for the next few days.
Number three is the old front which has turned into a warm front just north of the Texas coast and will begin moving north shortly. Dew points south of the front are in the 70’s which translates into juicy air.
As this front moves toward us our chances for any severe weather will increase Monday afternoon to evening as a cold front begins pushing into our northwestern counties.
As of now the front arrives between late Tuesday afternoon and early evening. If that isn’t enough, another front comes in Thursday around midnight, according to the afternoon models.
In short our rain coverage will be around 80-90% tomorrow then drop to the 30 to 50% range for the remainder of the week. Sep 30, 2009 2:06 PM Posted by CBS11 Eight miles north of Grosbeck you will find what is left of Cottonwood, Texas at least that was the first name of the small hamlet that would eventually grow to a population of roughly two hundred. Around 1895 Cottonwood applied to the Post Office Department for a post office but since there were a number of, “Cottonwoods” in Texas the request was rejected. Being of one mind the towns folk decided to change the name of their community to honor a book written by Lew Wallace. Lew Wallace was born in Indiana. Wallace would eventually become a lawyer, governor, Major General in the Union Army, statesmen, and finally the author of the book little Cottonwood, Texas would change it’s name too. Wallace started his military career by raising volunteers for the Mexican-American war of 1846 serving under General Zachary Taylor but never seeing combat. After the war Wallace returned to Indiana to practice law until 1861 when again he was called on to raise troops in Indiana. He would become a Colonel of the 11th Indiana Infantry. Then, following service in western Virginia he was promoted to Brigadier General. In 1862 Wallace became part of U.S. Grant’s forces that attacked Fort Henry on the Tennessee River. After the battle and eventual victory, Wallace was placed in command of the Fort and left behind while Grant headed for Fort Donelson near Nashville. Wallace was not happy about the decision but he was not forgotten and was soon on his way to the battle to organize reinforcements. Despite orders from Grant to avoid a fight, Wallace sent reinforcements to assist Gen. McClernand. The action saved the day and earned Wallace the rank of Major General. It is at the Battle of Pittsburgh Landing, or more commonly known as, “Shiloh”, that Wallace’s career was damaged under rather vague circumstances. Wallace was again left as a reserve force a spot in the road called, “Stoney Lonesome”, he would not be a reserve long. Early in the morning Grant was surprised by Gen. Albert Sidney Johnson and nearly routed. Wallace was called on to reinforce Gen. W.T. Sherman and this is where the controversy begins. According to Wallace; Grant’s orders were vague, unsigned and hastily written; considering Grant’s background not hard to believe. There were two roads Wallace could take and he chose the “high” road because it was in much better shape and would put him on Sherman’s flank sooner. Trouble was, when Wallace arrived Sherman had been pushed back and Wallace was now BEHIND the Confederate lines. Wallace felt he could attack from his present position and hit Johnson’s troops in the rear, but a message from Grant asking where he was and why he wasn’t at the landing confused Wallace and he counter marched back to Stoney Lonesome. Little came of the incident until casualty reports began filtering out and civilians demanded answers. Grant’s superior at this time was Gen. Halleck who quickly placed the blame on Wallace and re-assigned him to the defense of Cincinnati a less than glamorous posting. Wallace eventually saved part of his reputation by loosing the Battle of Monocacy to Jubal Early’s troops, the loose allowed the Washington defenses to prepare and repel Early at Fort Stevens, the south’s northernmost incursion. After the war, Wallace asked Grant to, “set the record straight” in his memoirs, but Grant declined. Wallace went on to become the Governor of the New Mexico territory from 1878 to ’81. He was the man who granted amnesty to many who took part in the Lincoln County War, including Billy the Kid if Billy would testify against others involved in the war but because of political pressure from forces running New Mexico at the time he was forced to re-nig on the deal and Billy went back to his outlaw ways. While serving as governor, Wallace finished the novel he had been working on, the novel that became the best selling novel of the 19th century. The book has never been out of print and has been made into a movie four times. One historian even believes Wallace based the main character on his own life due to the similarities. The book… Ben-Hur, the name the little town of Cottonwood chose to go into Texas history with. Sep 30, 2009 10:23 AM Posted by CBS11 Since around 1990, this North Texas community has been one of the fastest growing and desired areas in the DFW area. Considering its humble beginnings, it is a testament to the staying power and grit of Texans. Athol was first settled in the 1850s; but little happened until the Texas and Pacific Railroad began laying track in the hamlets direction in the 1870s. The city fathers, or in this case, father, decided it would be a good idea to move the town next to the proposed rail line; so, in 1881 H.W. Wood donated the land for the town site and told the railroad the citizenry would be happy to change the name of Athol to that of the railroad’s representative, if they would turn the town into a regular stop on the line. Ah the ego, what a powerful tool of persuasion... a deal was struck and little Athol became Keller, Texas. Almost 100 years later it was not the railroad; rather Alliance airport, that caused the town to nearly double in size to 27,000 thus assuring the residents a bright future as part of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Sep 25, 2009 2:58 PM Posted by CBS11 If you enjoy going to the state fair of Texas you have probably walked by, “The Ladies of Texas” and never given them a second look but when you attend the fair this year stop if you will for a moment and think how lucky we are to live in such a great place.
Running the entire 1,000 foot length of the Esplanade of Fair Park stands the Centennial Building. Created by George Dahl, the building represents that Texas spirit that says to all who come here Texas is bigger and better.
Part of the building was actually built in 1905 with the remainder built in ’35 and ’36. The original building was built to replace the wooden structure which burned down in 1902. When the structure opened in 1905 it became the primary exhibit area for the state fair.
For the 1936 Exposition the main part of the building was called the transportation building while the extension wing was called the “Chrysler Building” because Walter Chrysler’s vehicles were on display there.
Within the three large porticoes of the Centennial Building stand three of, The Six Ladies of Texas. The “ladies” represent each of the nations whose flag has flown over our great state. Each is 20 feet high standing on a 12 foot pedestal. In front of the Centennial building you will find Spain. The lady is wearing a lace mantilla with a scarf. On the scarf a lion which represents Spanish royalty. Spain held sway over Texas until 1821 when Mexico declared its independence and took over Texas as a province.
The next is the center portico where you will find the lady of the Confederacy. Texas was one of the first seven states to leave the union in 1861 along with N. & S. Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.
In the easternmost portico you will find the Lady of the Republic of Texas. There is a large Lone Star behind her head. Helen Ramsay, a Texas Centennial Rangerette posed for the statue. The sculptor, Lawrence Stevens, who sculpted the three statues on the north side, said of Miss Ramsay, “she had a figure comparable to the Venus de Milo.
The three statues standing in front of the automobile building were sculpted by Raoul Josett. His statues represent Mexico, France and the United States.
So the next time you are at the State Fair of Texas, take just a moment to remember all the Texans who have gone before us and all that will follow.
Mike Burger Sep 5, 2009 6:23 PM Posted by CBS11 A fairly quiet day with the exception of some showers/thunderstorms once again forming to our west and north. Some of the storms in Montague and Cooke Counties may move into Wise and Denton a bit later but they are currently showing little movement.
These storms shouldn’t be severe, but lightning, strong wind and small hail are always possible.
Tomorrow we should have a rather nice day. I’ve left a 20% chance of morning showers in just to cover the bases but most if any rain should be in the eastern counties.
Labor Day: Mostly sunny and warm with the high near 93 degrees. Wind will remain light.
High temps during the week will range from 91 on Sunday to the mid 90s by mid week. As of now are next chance of rain will arrive with a rather weak cool front Thursday night into Friday morning.
Mike Burger
Sep 3, 2009 11:54 AM Posted by CBS11 For years the largest hailstone recorded in these United States fell near Coffeyville Kansas. For those of you interested in cowboys and the old west, Coffeyville is also the home of the infamous Dalton Brothers, a real rootin tootin bunch of bad hombres. They met there end in their hometown when they tried, unsuccessfully, to rob two banks at once. The boys were recognized as they rode into town, (you don’t have to be smart to be an outlaw) and they were shoot to pieces but back to the point of this story. The Coffeyville hailstone weighed in at 1.67 pounds with a circumference of 17.5”. Incidentally, that hailstone fell to earth on September 3rd, 1970 and Coffeyvillians have held onto that record with a tight fist until it was pried from their hands by the folks of Aurora, Nebraska. In June of 2003 a hailstone fell in Aurora that measured 18.75” in circumference, but weighed in at a paltry 1.3 pounds, a mere “cube” compared to the Kansas ice; but these hailstones pale in comparison to the largest chunk of ice to ever fall from the sky... sort of. Let me take you back to the late 30s or early 40s and where else but Texas, Waco to be exact because, “everything is bigger in Texas!” It was a cold gray rainy day when a traveling salesmen checked into a Waco hotel. Some say it was the Raleigh but no one can be sure and no one can remember the gentlemen’s name... but those are unimportant facts. Anyway, the man asked the bellboy to bring him a block of ice and some ginger ale not unusual when half pints of booze were the most popular size at that time. The bellhop put the ice in the sink and was quickly tipped by the salesman. It was then the salesman noticed the gray sky turning to an inky black the wind picked up and in minutes pea sized hail began falling on the street, soon it turned to dime size then quarter size. Passersby began gathering underneath the hotel awning and started picking up some of the stones; while just above them, the salesman was becoming well oiled by demon rum. He decided to have a little fun at the yokels expense. Since the locals liked hailstones so much he would give them something to tell their children and grandchildren about. He turned on the hot water and rounded the remaining block of ice into a sphere then without further adieu he tossed the “ice ball” out the window. Imagine the look in the eyes of the citizens in the street when this huge chunk of ice hit the ground! They quickly gathered up the stone and called the local newspaper, after all they knew a record size hailstone when they saw it. A bit later the salesman came down to the lobby to see how his practical joke was working out... oh boy was it working, he decided he should fess up and tell the truth, besides, he wanted to see the disappointment on their faces when he told them he had just played a joke on them and it really wasn’t a BIG hailstone but no one was buying his explanation; after all who would believe someone with liquor on his breath. Well, not only did the newspaper print the story but Ripley’s Believe It Or Not bought the story and with the advent of WW II the story was spread around the world by the servicemen from McLennan County Texas. So if someone should ask you where the largest hailstone was found you can tell them Waco Texas, the hard part will be keeping a straight face when you tell the tale. -- Mike Burger Aug 23, 2009 5:33 PM Posted by CBS11 Thunderstorms have been firing along a front to the south and southwest of the Dallas/Fort Worth area Sunday afternoon. The storms are expected to continue until after sundown.
All of this activity is moving to the southwest due to a high pressure ridge centered near San Angelo. There have been numerous severe thunderstorm warnings generated Sunday afternoon but none in the immediate North Texas area.
Models are showing some scattered activity for Monday and Tuesday afternoon with a ridge setting right on top of North Texas that shouldn’t have much chance of causing any problems.
Temperatures will begin warming up Monday with highs in the upper 90’s for the next three to four days and lows in the mid 70’s.
By Thursday a cold front will approach from Oklahoma and bring another chance of rain our way. At this time it looks like there will be a 20% chance of rain for both days.
Bill is just barely a hurricane, 75 mile per hour winds and will continue a northeastward track toward Newfoundland, Canada. Currently the storm is 385 miles southwest of Cape Race. Some Buoy reports of near 40 foot seas were recorded earlier today near Nova Scotia, Canada.
MB Aug 21, 2009 5:37 PM Posted by CBS11 YARD, TX. Yard is a small community 20 miles north of Palestine on FM 321. Originally part of the Tennessee colony Yard supposedly received its name when Bruce Gray owner of the first store sent a list of possible names to the postal department and accidentally included a customer’s request for a “Yard” of cloth.
YELL, TX. is found can be found northwest of San Marcos. Originally called West Point the town was moved a half mile to the north and renamed after an early settler, Mordecai Yell. When postal authorities complained of confusion with the town of “Tell” the name was changed to “Good” and finally to “Best” and now you know the rest.
In 1879, the Texas Legislature appropriated three million acres of land to pay for a new state Capitol, what may have been kept quiet was the fact the land was in the unsettled and dangerous panhandle of Texas. In 1882 one Mathias Schnell of Rock Island Illinois took the contract and gave part of it to an investment syndicate. Schnell finally gave all the land to the group when rumors of bribery began circulating. The syndicate named the land the “XIT” ranch and planned on using it for ranching until it could be sold.
Amos Babcock arrived in Mobeetie in 1882 with a letter from Gen. Phil Sheridan to the post commander at Fort Elliott. He was given an ambulance and mules, a wagon, and a wall tent to begin his survey of the land. The party traveled 950 miles in thirty-six days to map the vast expanse of land. The property stretched 220 miles along the Texas-New Mexico border. The party also discovered a mistake in earlier surveys that eventually saved Texas a strip of land over a half mile wide and 310 miles long.
With the aid of English investors the owners decided to use the land for cattle and at the same time the decision was made to enclose the entire ranch in barbed wire. It would become the largest fenced ranch in the world for some time.
“ Barbecue” Campbell was the first ranch manager, his name came from the “Bar BQ” brand he used on his ranch. In 1885, the first herd of longhorns were brought to the ranch by Abner Blocker who reportedly came up with the XIT brand with his boot in the dust. Campbell wanted a brand that couldn’t be changed easily.
Legend has it the XIT stood for “Ten In Texas” since the ranch encompassed all or part of ten counties, Dallam, Hartley, Oldham, Deaf Smith, Parmer, Castro, Bailey, Lamb, Cochran and Hockley. There was also a school of thought that “XIT” really meant, “Big In Texas”.
By 1887 the heard had grown to an average of 150,000 head of cattle and 781 miles of XIT range had been fenced. At one time the ranch employed 150 cowboys, used 1,000 horses and branded 35,000 calves in one year. The ranch also had holdings in South Dakota and as far north as Miles City Montana where they would drive cattle to fatten for the Chicago markets.
By the turn of the century the ranch had 325 windmills and 100 dams with 94 pastures and 1,500 miles of fence. Unfortunately such a large operation had more than its share of problems, rustlers, Indian raids, drought, and prairie fires. For these reasons the ranch rarely if ever turned a profit. By the 1920s the ranch had dwindled to a mere 450,000 acres which was later reduced to 350,000 acres and In 1963 the last of the XIT was sold to Hamlin Y. Overstreet.
The records of the XIT are housed in the Panhandle-Plains museum in Canyon and the old general office building can be seen in Channing. Every year memories of the XIT come alive in Dalhart with the “XIT” reunion complete with parade, rodeo, cowboys and memories when the “XIT” was king.
For more on the ranch you can read, 6,000 miles of fence: Life on the XIT Ranch of Texas, Laura Hamner’s “Short Grass and Longhorns.
Aug 20, 2009 11:15 AM Posted by CBS11 At one time Galveston one of America’s busiest ports and the original port of call for the Republic of Texas; but had it not been for a couple of hurricanes Galveston may have turned out to be only a foot note in history compared to Indianola. Indianola as it turned out was the best deep water port between New Orleans and Vera Cruz, Mexico. The town was originally called Indian Point and served as a military camp during the Texas revolution. In 1846 Indian Point became the point of entry for German immigrants headed to the German settlements began by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels. The town changed its name to Indianola, the “ola” being the Spanish word for wave. From 1846 to the 1870s Indianola was second only to Galveston as Texas’s primary port. It was here in 1857 that Secretary of War Jefferson Davis sent a cargo of Camels to be taken overland to Arizona where they were to replace horses and mules to transport supplies for the U.S. Army. That experiment didn’t work out to well, but that is another story. Indianola was also the eastern terminus of the southern Chihuahua Trail, the military road to San Antonio, Austin and Chihuahua Mexico and the road to San Diego California, the shortest overland route to the Pacific. During the Civil War the union shelled and looted the city twice, first in 1862, then again in 1863 but after the war the town began to prosper. In 1869 Indianola added another “first” to its list of accomplishments by making the world’s first shipment of mechanically refrigerated beef to New Orleans on the steamship Agnes. In 1871 rail service was begun into the interior of the state and the population soared to 5,000, then in 1875 a devastating hurricane was the beginning of the end. On Sept. 16th Gale force winds slammed into Indianola and by 5PM the wind was blowing at 82 mph and gaining in strength, by midnight Sgt. C.A. Smith of the Signal Corp wrote, “it must have been fully 100 mph.” The storm surge pushed the waters of Matagorda Bay inland 20 miles, “until the back country of prairie was an open sea.” At midnight the tide changed and survivors believed the worst was over, they couldn’t have been more wrong. As the wind shifted to the NNW all the water that rushed inland now headed back to the sea. The surge had taken 18 hours to move through Matagorda Bay, its exit lasted a mere 6 hours. The storm killed 176, left a schooner high and dry 5 miles inland and killed fifteen thousand sheep and cattle. The stunned citizens were proud of their port and town so the decision to rebuild on the same site was made... a decision that would prove to be a disaster. In August of 1886 a tropical storm began in the Lesser Antilles and on August 12th it roared into the Dominican Republic as a CAT 2 storm, retained its strength it moved into southern Cuba but lost a great deal of strength over Cuba’s mountains. Then finally on the 18th of August it moved into the Gulf of Mexico. As the storm neared the coast of Texas it quite literally exploded into a monster CAT 5 with wind estimated at 155 mph; at the time the strongest ever recorded. Finally on Aug. 20th the storm slammed into Indianola as a CAT 4. The pressure at landfall was recorded at 925 millibars, making it the fifth strongest hurricane known to have struck the U.S. and by wind speed the fourth most powerful to hit the U.S coastline. By the 21st the hurricane had moved inland and Indianola was gone. Since the storm made landfall during the day only 46 lost their lives, many less than the 1875 hurricane. It is believed a fire started in one of the buildings when a lamp was blown over; all but two buildings were destroyed along with two and a half miles of railroad track. This made communication and rescue next to impossible immediately after the disaster. In Victoria seventy-five homes were destroyed and over 100 damaged, certain parts of town were, “almost literally swept from the earth,” while in Galveston the forty ton schooner, “Liviona Perkins” was capsized with three crew members lost. Damage was estimated at $200,000 in 1886 dollars. But most importantly, the rivalry between Galveston and Indianola was gone forever. Galveston reigned supreme until 1900 when it was that cities turn to feel the fury of a raging hurricane which swept the island as clean as if nature had used a broom and even though Galveston re-built its time as a major port had also been swept away by the wind and now Houston reigns as “the” port of Texas as long as nature allows it. | |
