The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 3, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 16, 2008 Page: 5 of 16
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Wednesday, Jan. 16,2008
The Clifton Record
Famed French Explorer Finds Texas By Mistake
Unaware he was off the
coast of Spanish Texas and not
present-day Alabama, the
French explorer La Salle went
ashore on Jan. 20,1685.
Louis XIV of France re-,
warded Rene Robert Cavelier
with the title of Sieur de la Salle
for his epic trip down the Mis-
sissippi River in 1682. The 39-
year-old adventurer was the
first white man to trace the conti-
nental tributary all the way to its
mouth. He stopped just long
enough to name the vast expanse
for his monarch and to claim Loui-
siana for his native land.
T\vo years later in the midst
of a long, drawn-out war with
Spain, La Salle presented the
king with an ambitious pro-
posal. With only two ships and
200men, he could checkmate their
This Week
In Texas
History
By Bailee Haile
ancient adversary in the New
World and replenish the national
treasury at the same time.
Louis was all ears. He was
so impressed by La Salle’s plan
to build a fort at the mouth of
the Mississippi and to raid the
silver-rich provinces of north-
ern New Mexico that he
doubled the modest request to
four vessels and 400 men.
But there was a catch. The
king balked at giving La Salle
complete control of the ven-
ture. He could chart the course
and call the shots on land, but
Captain Sier de Beaujeau
would be in charge at sea.
Realizing it was Louis’ way or
no way, the explorer accepted
the condition. The expedition
sailed in July 1684 with each co-
commander determined to un-
dermine the other’s authority.
The aristocratic La Salle did
not win any popularity contests
with his nose-in-the-air person-
ality. He angered the crew by
refusing to stop and refill the
wine casks. The upset sailors
retaliated by throwing an all-
night drunk outside his sick
room, as he lay near death with
a tropical fever.
To the crew’s dismay, La
Salle recovered. The journey
resumed minus a ship seized by
Spanish pirates.
The remaining trio somehow
MAINOR ... Continued From Page One
description of an incredible
demonstration of his character,
and his courageous stance
against injustice. It has been
said that Mainor’s poem “cap-
tures moments in time, moods
and memories, and to hear and
experience this reading can be
very inspiring and deeply re-
warding. The poem itself pro-
motes basic human good
qualities — it promotes the
character and ideals and prin-
ciples of Dr. King.”
It has further been stated
that “the aim and goal of this
very important and significant
composition is to foster and ad-
vance tolerance, and non-vio-
lence, and justice and equality.
The efficacious and eminent
words fo this poem provides in-
spiration and a guiding light to-
ward peace and freedom.”
The general public is invited
to this meeting to experience
the words in poetry, as ex-
pressed by the poet, that not
only celebrate the life and
death of a person of great char-
acter, good and high repute, but
Mainor’s critically raved vi-
gnettes render, represent, and
reflect esteem, honor, regard,
and respect—and dignity, that
“all of us should aspire.”
Presidential candidate U.S.
Sen. Barrack Obama joined a
host of U.S. congressmen and
women celebrating the poet
laureate, in his own personal
way. In a comminique Obama
sent to Mainor on Nov. 6,2007,
he said: “Your work has in-
spired countless Americans
and will doubtless continue to
do so for generations to
come...Poets laureate have a
...
It m
fc. J
1 1
4
Epilogue of a King
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
To the people that he led
I have a dream, he said
A dream that every hill will be exalt
A dream that violence will be halt
A dream that mountains will be made low
A dream that black folk and white folk hand in hand will go
A dream that crooked places will be made straight
A dream that racial hatred we will eradicate
The very nature of his soul
To his people he would behold
Even though with conception, they would still insist
Please tell me, what manner of man is this
This gentle, kind and loving man
Who will be forever known throughout the land
Who was thrown in jail, often mistreated
Who was bombed and beaten, but never defeated
He was always innocent of their cruel deeds, but
He kept on pressing, and continuing his pleads.
With not just let my people go
But end these wars, he hated so
With not just, equality for the black of the land
But dignity and respect for every man
He was tired of violence
He was tired of shootings
He was tired of killings
He wanted peace
He wanted love
He wanted freedom fulfilling
The question came to say, as it left his way
How much should a human have to pay, before you call him a man
The answer bitterly said, not until you’re dead
So Martin found his way to the Promise Land
Martin kept himself ready, by day and by night
Upholding his battle for freedom his fight
He would let nothing stand in his way
No man could make him stop
Until upon that blessed day
When he visited the mountaintop
Then, — Then he cried out world, I’m ready
If this is to pay the price for man
I am not afraid, I’m not worried about it
For I have seen the promised land
He tried to help somebody
He tried to feed the hungry
He tried to love somebddy
He tried to serve humanity
Now the burden is on you
It really isn’t necessarily hard
But be swift my countrymen, he said, act now
For mine eyes have seen the glory
Of the coming of the Lord
Oh Lord do let thy will be done
And if in my favor Lord
Let the ol<
My country tis
Oh thank God, let freedom ring
Free at last, Free at last
Thank God almighty we’re Free at last.
— Rayfer Eari’e Mainor
my favor Lord
>ld hymns be sung
intry tis of thee, of thee I sing
long and distinguished history
of utilizing their craft to the bet-
terment of our nation. Your con-
tributions to the literary
community are invaluable and
I thank you for sharing in your
gifts”
Mainor is recipient of The
Melvin B. Tolson Award “For
Excellence in Creative Writ-
ing:” On Oct. 26, 1969, he be-
came the youngest poet in the
world to be named poet laureate
“For Outstanding Works in the
Field of Poetry and Contribu-
tions for Humanity.”
Mainor, who has been poet
laureate of Langston, Okla. for
38 years, is the great-grandson
of William “Buck” Manning,
who led a group of freed slaves
from Mississippi to Willow
Grove, Texas, which is near
Speegleville, about 136 years
ago. Mainor’s grandfather,
Arthur James Manning, was
the first child born in Willow
Grove, in 1878. His family, al-
though free, faced adversity
due to race.
In what has been described
as a very “profound, penetrat-
ing, and poignant” piece of
prose, Mainor’s “May 15,1916”
depicts one of the most atro-
cious public lynchings in U.S.
history—the beating, burning,
mutilations, and lynching of an
illiterate 17-year-old black farm
laborer, Jesse Washington, who
had been accused of rape. The
event, which occurred on that
date, has been dubbed “The
Waco Horror.”
Mainor, the oldest living poet
laureate in the world, explains
that his grandmother, Mrs.
Myrtle Manning, who lived in
Waco for more than 100 years,
was a witness to the lynching
culture and was a teen in 1916
when'Washington was dragged
from the McLennan County
Courthouse and, after being
tortured, was lynched. “About
15,000 citizens, more than half
the population of Waco at that
time, witnessed the sadistic
violence permitted by most and
enjoyed by many,” says Mainor.
“My grandmother always has
been an avid reader and a good
listener. When I was a teenager,
coming from the Pacific North-
west, visiting her here in Waco,
she shared a lot with me in tales
of this type of horror, which I
have always felt and never have
forgotten.
“My grandfather, Arthur
James Manning, was born in
1879. He told me of how they
dragged poor Jesse from the
courthouse and lynched him in
front of Waco’s City Hall.”
Added Mainor, “Because I
am a descendant of this lynch-
ing culture, because my blood
and my history are related to
Jesse, because of my kinship
with ‘keepers of the cause,’ this
matter is close and concerning
to me.
“It should concern you, too.”
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got separated while crossing
the Gulf of Mexico and man-
aged to miss the mighty Missis-
sippi by more than 300 miles.
La Salle was still so turned-
around in January 1685 that he
mistook the Texas coastline for
modern-day Alabama.
The three ships eventually
regrouped and in their collec-
tive confusion continued south.
A few days later, La Salle finally
dropped anchor near
Matagorda Island and with
pompous certainty declared
Cavallo Pass, the entrance to
Matagorda Bay, the western
edge of the Mississippi delta.
A second ship was lost, when
the incompetent skipper took a
wrong turn into the bay and ran
aground. Brackish water and
tainted food caused severe nau-
sea and dysentery, which re-
sulted in five deaths daily.
Taking La Salle at this word
that their destination had been
reached, Beaujeau declared his
own mission complete. Accom-
panied by his crew and that of
the wrecked vessel, he sailed
home in disgrace narrowly
avoiding imprisonment for his
criminal misconduct.
Those that stayed behind
were driven mercilessly all
summer by La Salle in the con-
struction of Fort St. Louis. Ten
died from food poisoning, six
were picked off by the
Karankawa Indians and a half
dozen deserters disappeared
never to be seen again.
When the fort was finished at
last in October, La Salle sheep-
ishly confessed that he had
overshot the Mississippi. Cut-
ting short an initial hunt for the
river, the search party returned
to the discouraging news that
a sudden squall had sunk the
fourth and final ship.
A second attempt in 1686 to
locate the Mississippi was can-
celed on the banks of the
Sabine due to a dangerous
shortage of gunpowder and
supplies. By year’s end, pa-
thetic Fort St. Louis was home
to 50 demoralized survivors.
La Salle rallied 16 sturdy
souls for one last try at track-
ing down the missing Missis-
sippi. Those who chose the
safety of the flimsy fort over the
hazards of the trackless wilder-
ness were subsequently
slaughtered by the
Karankawas.
La Salle also perished in
Texas though not at the hands
of the fierce inhabitants. Near
modern Navasota in March
1687, a petty argument over
food erupted into violence that
took three lives, one of them the
explorer’s cousin.
The next morning La Salle
went looking for his absent
relative and was waylaid on the
trail. An anonymous assassin’s
bullet struck the legendary
Frenchman in the temple kill-
ing him instantly.
From the French point of
view, the La Salle Expedition
was a waste of men, money and
materiel. For slumbering
Spain, however, the intrusion
into their northernmost New
World domain served as a
much-needed wake-up call.
The time had come to settle
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9..........HEAD COUNT 1486
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Smith, W. Leon. The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 3, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 16, 2008, newspaper, January 16, 2008; Clifton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth789225/m1/5/: accessed July 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Nellie Pederson Civic Library.