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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Residents of Rio Grande City are celebrating the |
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175th anniversary of the founding of Fort Ringgold in 2023; and |
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WHEREAS, Following the Mexican War, U.S. Army engineers |
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established a post on a high vantage point above the Rio Grande, on |
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land initially leased from Rio Grande City's founder, Henry Clay |
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Davis; Camp Ringgold, later Ringgold Barracks, was named in honor |
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of Major Samuel Ringgold, an officer mortally wounded in the Battle |
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of Palo Alto; and |
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WHEREAS, The army used salvaged wood for the garrison's first |
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building, a two-room, central-hall residence with a wraparound |
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porch; during the Civil War, it was twice seized by Confederate |
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troops; the U.S. Army later reclaimed the site, sending a |
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detachment of the 29th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops; a more |
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substantial brick headquarters with arched galleries was built, |
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along with new barracks, officers' quarters, and a hospital, all |
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flanking a palm-lined parade ground; the present-day name was |
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adopted in 1878, when the government purchased the land from the |
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Davis family for $20,000; and |
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WHEREAS, The U.S. Colored Troops and their successors, the |
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"Buffalo Soldiers," were assigned to the fort to safeguard against |
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attacks and border unrest; although Rio Grande City residents |
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welcomed the protection and economic benefits of the federal |
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presence, Black troops were subject to racial harassment and |
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restrictions, even after they returned victorious from the Battle |
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of San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War; tensions erupted in |
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1899 between townspeople and Troop D of the Ninth U.S. Cavalry, and |
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following a gunfire incident, the troop was deployed elsewhere; and |
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WHEREAS, During World War II, the 124th Cavalry was sent from |
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Fort Ringgold to Burma, and the army closed the post in 1944; five |
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years later, the Rio Grande Consolidated Independent School |
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District bought the property, which today serves as the district's |
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administrative campus; the oldest building, once the commandant's |
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quarters, is occupied by the Robert E. Lee House Museum, which |
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acknowledges the fort's most famous visitor, the future Confederate |
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general, who had business there while a lieutenant colonel in the |
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U.S. Army; and |
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WHEREAS, Fort Ringgold protected Rio Grande City for nearly a |
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century, and the preservation of this important site facilitates a |
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deeper understanding of the turbulent early history of the |
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borderlands; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas |
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Legislature hereby commemorate the 175th anniversary of the |
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establishment of Fort Ringgold in Starr County. |