| 1 | 1 | | H.R. No. 204 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 5 | 5 | | WHEREAS, Residents of Rio Grande City are celebrating the |
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| 6 | 6 | | 175th anniversary of the founding of Fort Ringgold in 2023; and |
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| 7 | 7 | | WHEREAS, Following the Mexican War, U.S. Army engineers |
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| 8 | 8 | | established a post on a high vantage point above the Rio Grande, on |
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| 9 | 9 | | land initially leased from Rio Grande City's founder, Henry Clay |
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| 10 | 10 | | Davis; Camp Ringgold, later Ringgold Barracks, was named in honor |
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| 11 | 11 | | of Major Samuel Ringgold, an officer mortally wounded in the Battle |
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| 12 | 12 | | of Palo Alto; and |
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| 13 | 13 | | WHEREAS, The army used salvaged wood for the garrison's first |
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| 14 | 14 | | building, a two-room, central-hall residence with a wraparound |
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| 15 | 15 | | porch; during the Civil War, it was twice seized by Confederate |
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| 16 | 16 | | troops; the U.S. Army later reclaimed the site, sending a |
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| 17 | 17 | | detachment of the 29th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops; a more |
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| 18 | 18 | | substantial brick headquarters with arched galleries was built, |
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| 19 | 19 | | along with new barracks, officers' quarters, and a hospital, all |
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| 20 | 20 | | flanking a palm-lined parade ground; the present-day name was |
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| 21 | 21 | | adopted in 1878, when the government purchased the land from the |
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| 22 | 22 | | Davis family for $20,000; and |
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| 23 | 23 | | WHEREAS, The U.S. Colored Troops and their successors, the |
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| 24 | 24 | | "Buffalo Soldiers," were assigned to the fort to safeguard against |
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| 25 | 25 | | attacks and border unrest; although Rio Grande City residents |
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| 26 | 26 | | welcomed the protection and economic benefits of the federal |
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| 27 | 27 | | presence, Black troops were subject to racial harassment and |
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| 28 | 28 | | restrictions, even after they returned victorious from the Battle |
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| 29 | 29 | | of San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War; tensions erupted in |
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| 30 | 30 | | 1899 between townspeople and Troop D of the Ninth U.S. Cavalry, and |
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| 31 | 31 | | following a gunfire incident, the troop was deployed elsewhere; and |
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| 32 | 32 | | WHEREAS, During World War II, the 124th Cavalry was sent from |
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| 33 | 33 | | Fort Ringgold to Burma, and the army closed the post in 1944; five |
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| 34 | 34 | | years later, the Rio Grande Consolidated Independent School |
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| 35 | 35 | | District bought the property, which today serves as the district's |
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| 36 | 36 | | administrative campus; the oldest building, once the commandant's |
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| 37 | 37 | | quarters, is occupied by the Robert E. Lee House Museum, which |
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| 38 | 38 | | acknowledges the fort's most famous visitor, the future Confederate |
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| 39 | 39 | | general, who had business there while a lieutenant colonel in the |
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| 40 | 40 | | U.S. Army; and |
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| 41 | 41 | | WHEREAS, Fort Ringgold protected Rio Grande City for nearly a |
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| 42 | 42 | | century, and the preservation of this important site facilitates a |
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| 43 | 43 | | deeper understanding of the turbulent early history of the |
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| 44 | 44 | | borderlands; now, therefore, be it |
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| 45 | 45 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas |
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| 46 | 46 | | Legislature hereby commemorate the 175th anniversary of the |
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| 47 | 47 | | establishment of Fort Ringgold in Starr County. |
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| 48 | 48 | | Guillen |
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| 49 | 49 | | ______________________________ |
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| 50 | 50 | | Speaker of the House |
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| 51 | 51 | | I certify that H.R. No. 204 was adopted by the House on March |
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| 52 | 52 | | 7, 2023, by a non-record vote. |
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| 53 | 53 | | ______________________________ |
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| 54 | 54 | | Chief Clerk of the House |
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