The Junior Historian, Volume 15, Number 1, September 1954 Page: 29
32 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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THE JUNIOR HISTORIAN
The Albany school saw great expan-
sion during the first half of the I88o's,
but a real crisis was faced during the
drought of 1886 when the school dis-
trict was reduced to four square miles.
This was half the size of the district
created in 1883. By May, 1899, how-
ever, the trustees authorized additional
school expansion; a second story was
added to the school. Two large class-
rooms, a large auditorium, and a cupola
on the roof to the house the old school
bell were added to the school.
By 1892 the enrollment had risen to
approximately three hundred. The school
was much too small, and the wooden
building was considered unsafe to use
after 1907. The trustees then leased the
building used by Reynolds Presbyterian
Academy, four blocks west of the pres-
ent high school campus, and the Albany
school was located there for two years.
The first half of the twentieth cen-
tury witnessed many changes and im-
provements in the Albany school system.
The district in 1954, the centennial year
of public education in Texas, had been
enlarged to embrace 588 square miles.
This was a great contrast to the four
miles which comprised the school dis-
trict in the hard times of 1886.
KARANKAWA-A LOST TRIBE
[continued from page 16]
Bahia Mission. After this incident, the
Indians constantly wavered between the
influence of the Americans and the Mex-
icans who, at the time, controlled Texas.
By 1843, only about forty or fifty
members of the starving Karankawa
tribe survived. The remaining members
separated into two bodies; one settled
on Padre Island near Corpus Christi,
and the other settled near the Ric
Grande. The reports on the fate of the
first group are uncertain, but it is pre-
sumed that the Indians were swept away
by a tidal wave on the island. The sec-
ond miserable group was attacked by
Texans for robberies committed by the
Indians and in I858 the colorful Ka-
rankawa Indians became extinct.John James Audubon, famous for
his studies of American birds and bird
life, visited in Texas in 1837 and made
paintings of birds and animals he saw.
THE TEXAS GUNFIGHTER
[continued from page 14
his life on a snap shot from hip level
if he had a chance to aim. Accuracy
counted more than speed, and the gun-
fighter knew that he would gain nothing
by an aimless first shot if his opponent
killed him before he could shoot again.
The old maxim says, "Take your time
and don't get flustered."
Another fallacy is that concerning
"fanning." This practice consists of
holding the pistol against the hip and
slapping the hammer with one hand
while the trigger is held down. This is
a good way to empty a pistol in a hurry
and hit nothing. The old-timers some-
times fanned a pistol just to see how
fast they could empty it, but fanning
was never used in a fight with any effect,
except possibly the death of the fanner.
Accuracy was obviously impossible.
It has been said in recent times that
modern target experts could make the
old-timers look sick in a shooting
match. This is probably true. It is sur-
prising to learn that many of the gun-
slingers were not especially good shots
so far as target shooting was concerned;
they did not concentrate on hitting
match heads at fifty paces, but on hit-
ting men at thirty paces or less before
the aforementioned men could hit them.
Cold nerve and a steady hand were the
requirements, rather than simply a
steady hand, as in the case of the target
expert.
The gunfighter was literally a pistol
fighter, but the famous old rifles as well
as the pistol played a great part in the
taming of the West. Although the rifle
was not so widely used in close fighting
as the pistol, a few gunfighters learned
to use it in such affrays by shooting
from the hip. This could be done rapid-29
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Texas State Historical Association. The Junior Historian, Volume 15, Number 1, September 1954, periodical, September 1954; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391347/m1/31/: accessed June 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Texas State Historical Association.