Bill Text: TX HR204 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commemorating the 175th anniversary of Fort Ringgold in Starr County.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-03-07 - Reported enrolled [HR204 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HR204-Enrolled.html
H.R. No. 204 |
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WHEREAS, Residents of Rio Grande City are celebrating the | ||
175th anniversary of the founding of Fort Ringgold in 2023; and | ||
WHEREAS, Following the Mexican War, U.S. Army engineers | ||
established a post on a high vantage point above the Rio Grande, on | ||
land initially leased from Rio Grande City's founder, Henry Clay | ||
Davis; Camp Ringgold, later Ringgold Barracks, was named in honor | ||
of Major Samuel Ringgold, an officer mortally wounded in the Battle | ||
of Palo Alto; and | ||
WHEREAS, The army used salvaged wood for the garrison's first | ||
building, a two-room, central-hall residence with a wraparound | ||
porch; during the Civil War, it was twice seized by Confederate | ||
troops; the U.S. Army later reclaimed the site, sending a | ||
detachment of the 29th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops; a more | ||
substantial brick headquarters with arched galleries was built, | ||
along with new barracks, officers' quarters, and a hospital, all | ||
flanking a palm-lined parade ground; the present-day name was | ||
adopted in 1878, when the government purchased the land from the | ||
Davis family for $20,000; and | ||
WHEREAS, The U.S. Colored Troops and their successors, the | ||
"Buffalo Soldiers," were assigned to the fort to safeguard against | ||
attacks and border unrest; although Rio Grande City residents | ||
welcomed the protection and economic benefits of the federal | ||
presence, Black troops were subject to racial harassment and | ||
restrictions, even after they returned victorious from the Battle | ||
of San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War; tensions erupted in | ||
1899 between townspeople and Troop D of the Ninth U.S. Cavalry, and | ||
following a gunfire incident, the troop was deployed elsewhere; and | ||
WHEREAS, During World War II, the 124th Cavalry was sent from | ||
Fort Ringgold to Burma, and the army closed the post in 1944; five | ||
years later, the Rio Grande Consolidated Independent School | ||
District bought the property, which today serves as the district's | ||
administrative campus; the oldest building, once the commandant's | ||
quarters, is occupied by the Robert E. Lee House Museum, which | ||
acknowledges the fort's most famous visitor, the future Confederate | ||
general, who had business there while a lieutenant colonel in the | ||
U.S. Army; and | ||
WHEREAS, Fort Ringgold protected Rio Grande City for nearly a | ||
century, and the preservation of this important site facilitates a | ||
deeper understanding of the turbulent early history of the | ||
borderlands; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas | ||
Legislature hereby commemorate the 175th anniversary of the | ||
establishment of Fort Ringgold in Starr County. | ||
Guillen | ||
______________________________ | ||
Speaker of the House | ||
I certify that H.R. No. 204 was adopted by the House on March | ||
7, 2023, by a non-record vote. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||