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A letter from Junius Peak

September 26, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner 18 Comments

Throwback Thursday…

The name Peak is likely familiar to East Dallas residents. But even if you aren’t an East Dallasite, the letter below is a fascinating part of American history.

Captain Jefferson Peak, a veteran of the Mexican War, donated much of the land for East Dallas roadways. Many streets within Munger Place and Peak Suburban Historic Districts were named for Captain Peak’s eleven children including Junius, Worth, Carroll, and Victor.

Junius, fought as a Confederate soldier during the Civil War, served as Dallas City Marshall 1874-1876, and as 2nd Lieutenant for the Texas Rangers in 1878.

The following oral history was dictated by Junius Peak to the Frontier Times (Bandera, Tx) on August 6, 1927 (presented without editing)…

I was born at Warsaw, Kentucky, April 5, 1845. Moved with the family in 1855 to Dallas, Texas, which we reached on June 10th of that year. We were soon comfortably located in a good 2-room log house, with a fine well of water, etc.
Shortly after our arrival in Dallas, father bought 229 acres of fine land two miles East of the Dallas County court house, paying $110.00 cash on this land. My father at once began building the first brick house in Dallas County for his house, and in which he died.
The early part of April, 1878, I was commissioned by the Governor as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Texas Frontier Battalion for the purpose of destroying the Sam Bass gang of train robbers, and was promoted to Captain in May following.
By July of that year I had succeeded in disposing of the entire band, excepting Bass, Barnes and Jackson, driving these out of North Texas into the trap arranged by Major John B. Jones at Round Rock. I was immediately ordered to the Frontier where I found the Indians very active, especially in 1879.
A detachment of seven Rangers from my Company, on the 20th day of June and 2nd day of July had the last two engagements with Comanche and Kiowa Indians on the Texas frontier, at the head of the North Concho River and on the Plains 80 miles West, where Ranger Anglin was killed and the two pack mules lost on June 28th recovered.
Please mail me 20 copies of your September issue, with bill for same enclosed.

Sincerely yours,

June Peak
4409 Worth Street, Dallas

***

Note: As the unofficial keeper of historical records and photos for Munger Place Historic District, I hope to periodically share information related to Texas history and specifically East Dallas. These photos and glimpses into bygone days are invaluable. As Winston Churchill said, “The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.”

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

T is for Texas!

April 23, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner 18 Comments

As a child, Texas held a certain mystique for me. Larger than life and certainly larger than our corner of Northeast Arkansas, the Lone Star State was home to giant belt-buckle-wearing cowboys, gun-toting Texas Rangers and ♫♫Davy, Davy Crockett… King of the Wild Frontier♫♫♫.

Texas was the place of tall tales where crude oil flowed like the Mississippi River.

historic White Elephant Saloon, Ft. Worth, Tx

Papa Creecy shot a wild boar while hunting in Texas. Like any proud hunter, he stuffed it and hung the beast on the wall of his den. The hog’s sharp teeth and wild eyes scared most of my friends but not me. I thought it was neat, just like Texas.

I was planning to live there someday.

When Daddy gassed up the Oldsmobile and announced we were headed to Mexico for summer vacation, the drive through Texas took DAYS, as though we traveled by covered wagon. Our first night was always spent in Texarkana, a town that straddled both Arkansas and Texas.

Do you want to sleep on the Arkansas side or the Texas side, Daddy asked? TEXAS, we cheered! The air was different at the motel on the Texas side.

photo courtesy of bizjournal

Don’t say a word until we get through Houston, Momma warned us the second afternoon of our journey. Daddy was crazy-nervous driving in all that bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic underneath tangled overpasses that reached high into the hot Texas sky. My little sister and I sat quietly in the back seat coloring. We barely moved or breathed until we came out on the other side of the city.

Queuing up to drive across the border into Mexico, I was sure we would be arrested for smuggling. What we might have been smuggling, I wasn’t sure, but I felt certain we were guilty of something. After a lengthly wait and inspection by border agents waaaaay scarier than Papa Creecy’s wild boar, we entered and exited with no problema.

Texas always held a certain mystique for me. Someday I was planning to live there.

And then I did.

talya

“You can all go to hell; I will go to Texas”
― David Crockett

Musical Pairing:

The Yellow Rose of Texas, c 1836-1858, became popular during the Civil War

Blogging my way through the alphabet. T is for Texas!

B is for Baseball

April 2, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner 27 Comments

Batter against pitcher. Fielder against ball. C-R-R-R-A-C-K of the bat on a carefree spring day. The ball disappears in the glare of the sun as though the sky swallows then spits it out into a well-worn glove.

Hot dogs, salty peanuts, the smell of popcorn permeates the air—even high up in the cheap seats.

Cheering on the boys of summer, we are reminded of innocence and magic and everything good.

Play ball!

talya

Musical Pairing:
Cheap Seats, Alabama

Oh…people will come…People will most definitely come. – Field of Dreams