Columns/Opinions

Claire Lee Chennault was born in Commerce, Texas Sept. 6, 1893. Chennault is a French name, but the family had been American for several generations. He was descended from French Huguenots. He was related to Sam Houston on his mother’s side and Robert E. Lee on his father’s side. He had resigned from the Army Air Corps under presser from superiors and had accepted a post with the Chinese Air Force. To organize, equip, and train the Chinese Pilots. Chennault arrived in China in June 1937, and the Japanese attacked and invaded China in August of that year. His Chinese pilots were not ready and he had an air war on his hands. He needed trained ghter pilots to take on the formidable Japanese air forces. After several secret meeting in Washington D. C. President Roosevelt gave permission to Chennault to recruit ghter pilots from the American forces. The O.S.S. set up a system for money and supplies to be furnished to the three newly formed squadrons of the Flying Tigers.

When the civil war soldiers returned home to Texas they found a devastated economy. e leaders of Texas and the returning soldiers began looking for ways to begin again and get Texas back on her feet. In 1866, cattle in Texas were worth only $4 a head, compared to over $40 a head in the North and East. Because of a lack of market access during the American Civil War, this situation had led to an over stock of longhorn cattle in Texas. Many began looking at all those longhorn cattle, thousands and thousands of them. ere was money in the East and lots of folks got rich from the war. But how to get the cattle there was the problem. During the war a man named Jesse Chisholm had blazed a trail from the Red River through Oklahoma to the railhead in Kansas. at trail could be used to get the cattle to a shipping company started by Joseph G. McCoy that he opened in Abilene, Kansas, in 1867.

Not only was the Super Bowl played this weekend, the Hospice Ball and a GOP debate were thrown in for good measure. Now, the Hospice Ball is a formal a air, dinner and dancing with fund raising as its main goal. I did my best to stop a wardrobe malfunction by taping my le foot into my shoe. I didn’t try any dancing, but just for normal walking the duct tape worked great. Taping you shoe is not embarrassing, kicking your shoe o into the church yard and going to retrieve it is embarrassing. It was a fun time, great table mates and the food was very good. I had all the fun I could stand and I was still in bed by 9:30. Now a DVR is a wonderful thing, we got up Sunday morning and Debbie and I were able to watch the GOP debate. I’m pretty sure Rubio won, but everyone did well. Ben Carson will not win the nomination, but surely there is a place for someone with that knowledge and class in the winner’s administration. I really didn`t watch much of the Super Bowl.

The Camp County Youth Project Show Committee is hosting the 2016 Camp County Youth Project Show on Saturday, Feb. 20. Location for the event is at the Pittsburg Independent School District Agricultural Barn complex, located at 402 Broach Street, next to the Central Administration building. The Show will start at 10:00 a.m. with rabbits, poultry, swine, goats, and agricultural mechanics projects being shown. Also, in the Aubrey E. Pilgrim Agriculture Building, at the same location, the Committee will also be hosting its Camp County Skills of Expression, which is open to all Camp County residents of any age, not just the youth. There will be categories of photography, art, and baked goods. For a full list of rules and categories, please stop by Texas Country Farm Supply or the Camp County Extension Office.

The Civil war had ended and the returning soldiers and leaders of Texas began looking around for a way to jumpstart the Texas economy. Many began looking at all those longhorns that had been breeding for 200 years practically unmolested. Cattle drives were not new for Texas as herds were driven east to Louisiana, or south to Mexico but were limited. The markets in the East were teeming with new money. Business had been good in the North, the war had brought prosperity to many. The railroads through the south had been destroyed by the war, so rail to and from the East was limited. The eastern beef was expensive, and steak for the common man was out of reach. So a group of Texas ranchers pulled together a large herd and headed north for the rail head at Sedalia, Mo. But the drive was thwarted when the farmers of eastern Mo. stopped the drive. The farmers were afraid the stock would trample their crops and formed another armed blockade.

Just as the football season is winding down the political pre-season is over. The games count and we are starting with the Iowa caucuses. The causes will be long decided by the time the paper is out so just think of it as a primary. The four top teams are as follows: Team Hillary: (Lie. Steal. Cheat. Marry men we don`t love and hide national security e-mails - or not.) Team Sanders: (Uncle Bernie believes in big government, and everything free for the non-worker). Team Trump (you too can live like a millionaire, just vote for me and I will return America to greatness.) And finally, Team Cruz (I will hunt down Putin and kill him. I will eat his heart in my first 100 days in office) Yes, there are others, but like my beloved Cowboys they aren`t making the playoffs. Can you not visualize at some point Trump declaring Hillary is just too ugly to be a president? Unless you are “drunk voting” can you see anyone with a job voting for Bernie?

On Dec. 13, 1826 Mexican Colonel Mateo Ahumada and Colonel Saucedo moved against the Edward’s rebels. When Austin was made aware of the designs of the Edwards, he wrote letters to many of the leading citizens of Eastern Texas, pleading and reasoning with them on the dangers and consequences of resisting the Mexican government. Austin rallied other colonist against Edwards and his attempt at open rebellion. Haden Edwards wrote letters too. He wrote to the same colonist Austin did along with the Cherokee, the Caddo, the Alabama and the Coushatta tribes, soliciting them to join him with promises of large land grants. Austin o ered to negotiate with Edwards, but he refused. On Jan. 22, 1827, Mexican regular army Colonel Ahumada moved towards Nacogdoches along with an Anglo-setters militia raised by Austin. All was not going well inside the Edwards camp either, there was much bickering and in ghting as to what to do.

Dear Debbie: First of all, congratulations on being back at the Gazette. Things were not the same during the time you ‘retired.’ Second, the article in this week’s edition concerning the demolition of the hospital was especially interesting to me since I could have been the first baby born there, but it was not to be.

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There are so many individuals seeking the nomiation of president from their parties, I`m not sure where to start. Donald Trump is a bully. His cup runneth over with con dence, not knowledge. If he toned it down, I would like him better. But it would kill his numbers. Hillary Clinton’s claim to fame is she married to former President Bill Clinton, but I don’t think he was quali ed either. Hillary would kill for the chance to be president and I’m not sure she hasn`t. Ted Cruz (my personal choice) is so quick witted, but he even reminds me of a devil worshiper. Bernie Sanders thinks ISIS has a better retirement plan than anything we offer and wants to know why. If we raise taxes we can have the best. I will give Trump this, he nailed it when he said Jeb Bush has low energy. By the way Jeb`s dad was the last person I think deserved the office. George H. W. Bush had a number of jobs that prepared him for the presidency. He was truly qualified. He lasted one term.

President Obama will give his last “State of the Union” address this week (Jan. 12) and I think he will lay out his plans for his last year in o ce. Did I say plans? I mean demands. ere still won’t be any pledges about working with Congress to get necessary laws passed. I think there will be promises made, and of course they will need to bypass Congress and sign executive actions when they are needed. ese Congressmen and women were voted in by the common people; therefore, they are not special enough for Obama to be taking their advice. From my understanding, there will be an empty chair symbolic of the loss of lives from gun violence close to the podium. Just where is the empty chair going to be placed for the soldiers and government agents that were killed because of the trained leadership was red by Obama? ey were no longer needed because they disagreed with the way Obama was leaning.