Friday, June 30, 1899. Safe passage for Spanish troops at Baler.

In a somewhat bizarre episode of the Spanish American War/Philippine Insurrection, on this day in 1899, the Spanish soldiers at Baler, who had held out for a year in a fortified church, were recognized as friend of the Filipino people and granted safe conduct.

A film about this event was earlier reviewed by us here:

1898:  Our Last Men In the Philippines

Baler had been under siege from June 26, 1898, until June 2, 1899, which exceeded the period of time during which Spain was at war with the United States. The troops under siege had not realized that Spain had departed, and when informed, they refused to believe it and kept fighting.  Ultimately, the besieging Filipinos became concerned for the garrison and began to supply it with food, beverages and cigarettes.  An American expedition to relieve the garrison was launched and failed.

Finally, on June 2, 1899, the garrison surrendered.

The surviving Spanish troops upon their return to Spain.

The Spanish troops were lauded by Aguinaldo, but two Franciscan Priests who had been at the church, Fr. Félix Minaya and Fr. Juan López, plus a captured Yorktown seaman, George Arthur Venville, were kept as prisoners.  The priests were freed when the US occupied the town on June 3, 1900 but Venville was executed by Filipino tribesmen.

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Monday, June 26, 1899. Birth of Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia.

Labels: 1890s, 1899, 1910s, 1918, Christianity, Communism, Monarchy, Orthodox, Personalities, Protestant, religion, Russia, Russian Civil War, Russian Revolution

Monday, June 26, 1899. Birth of Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia.

Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (Maria Nikolaevna Romanova) born. She was the third child of Czar Nicholas II of Russia and Czarina Alexandra Feodorovna and was murdered with the rest of her family on July 17, 1918. She was 19 years old at the time.  She was canonized as a Passion Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church as a result.

Of some interest, her parents were second cousins, and her mother, who was a Lutheran German, initially did not want to marry her father due to religious reasons. Her mother was ultimately persuaded to change her mind partially due to it being represented that she did not have to renounce Lutheranism in order to convert to Orthodoxy, although she ultimately became quite devout.

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Sunday, June 25, 1899. The Great Wall of China Hoax.

Labels: 1890s, 1899, China, Denver, Myths, The Press

Sunday, June 25, 1899. The Great Wall of China Hoax.

Four reporters in Denver concocted a tale about American businesses that had a contract to demolish the Great Wall of China to construct a road.  The reporters were Al Stevens, Jack Tournay, John Lewis, and Hal Wilshire, of the Post, the Republican, the Times, and the Rocky Mountain News.  The plot was hatched due to a chance meeting while hoping to catch a legitimate news story.  

The fable has proven to have been legs, and has occasionally been revived as a supposedly true story.

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Wednesday, June 21, 1899. Treaty No. 8.

Labels: 1890s, 1899, Canada, First Nations, Native Americans, Western Canada

Wednesday, June 21, 1899. Treaty No. 8.

 

The Crown and various First Nations of the Lesser Slave Lake area signed a treaty regarding 320,000 sq miles of territory in Western Canada.

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Saturday, June 17, 1899. It's flooding down in Texas*

Labels: 1890s, 1899, Brazos River, Music, Rhythm & Blues, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Texas, Weather

Saturday, June 17, 1899. It's flooding down in Texas*

 

Terrible floods occured in Texas after 8.9 inches of rain fell over 66,000 square miles. The Brazos flooded, and 284 people lost their lives.

Footnotes:

The title today is taken from Texan Stevie Ray Vaughn's blues song of that name.

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Tuesday, June 13, 1899. The Battle of Zapote River

Labels: 1890s, 1899, 1920s, 1922, Army, Douglas MacArthur, Ft. D.A. Russell, Personalities, Philippine Insurrection, Philippines, U.S. Navy, Wyoming

Tuesday, June 13, 1899. The Battle of Zapote River

The hard fought Battle of Zapote River occured this day seeing the U.S. Army prevail against much larger numbers from the First Philippine Republic, due to superior arms and training, and Naval support.

The loss in the second-biggest engagement of the Philippine Insurrection caused the Philippine forces to resort to guerilla war thereafter.

Cpt. William H. Sage won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his role in the battle.

With 9 men volunteered to hold an advanced position and held it against a terrific fire of the enemy estimated at 1,000 strong. Taking a rifle from a wounded man, and cartridges from the belts of others, Capt. Sage himself killed 5 of the enemy.

Sage would go on to serve in the Border War in Mexico and rose to the rank of major general during World War One. After the war, he commanded Ft. D. A. Russell in Wyoming, where he became fatally ill.  He died in 1922 at age 63, just one month away from retirement. 

Douglas MacArthur entered the U.S. Military Academy.

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Friday, June 11, 1899. Pope Leo XIII concecrates the entire human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Labels: 1890s, 1899, Catholic, Christianity, religion

Friday, June 11, 1899. Pope Leo XIII concecrates the entire human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Pope Leo XIII consecrated the entire human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Most sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race, look down upon us humbly prostrate before Thine altar. We are Thine, and Thine we wish to be; but to be more surely united with Thee, behold each one of us freely consecrates himself today to Thy most Sacred Heart.

Many indeed have never known Thee; many too, despising Thy precepts, have rejected Thee. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to Thy sacred Heart. Be Thou King, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken Thee, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned Thee; grant that they may quickly return to Thy Father’s house lest they die of wretchedness and hunger. 

Be Thou King of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions, or whom discord keeps aloof, and call them back to the harbor of truth and unity of faith, so that there may be but one flock and one Shepherd. 

Be Thou King of all those who are still involved in the darkness of idolatry or of Islamism, and refuse not to draw them into the light and kingdom of God. Turn Thine eyes of mercy towards the children of the race, once Thy chosen people: of old they called down upon themselves the Blood of the Savior; may it now descend upon them a laver of redemption and of life. 

Grant, O Lord, to Thy Church assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all nations, and make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry: ‘Praise be to the divine Heart that wrought our salvation; to it be glory and honor forever.

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Thursday, June 10, 1909. The Lincoln penny introduced.

Labels: 1900s, 1909, 1950s, 1958, Art, Currency

Saturday, June 3, 1899. Death of Strauss.

 

Johann Baptist Strauss II, popular Austrian composer, died at age 73.

Pel & Ploma commenced publication.

I know nothing about it whatsoever, but the illustration is really cool.

You would have thought the Wild Bunch heist north of Rock River would have been front page news, but nope.

Renegade Indians in Jackson Hole. . . . 

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Friday, June 2, 1899. The Wild Bunch Robs the Overland Flyer at Wilcox and the Philippine Republic declares war on the United States.

Labels: 1890s, 1899, 1900s, 1906, Crime, Philippine Insurrection, Philippines, Railroads, Rock River Wyoming, The Wild Bunch, Wyoming, Wyoming (Rock River)

Friday, June 2, 1899. The Wild Bunch Robs the Overland Flyer at Wilcox and the Philippine Republic declares war on the United States.

Today In Wyoming's History: June 2: 1899   The Wild Bunch robbed the Union Pacific Overland Flyer No. 1  near Wilcox, taking between $30,000 and $60,000.  This robbery is famous in part for the large amount taken, but also for the destruction of a rail car by explosives which were used to open a safe.  This is depicted in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  Attribution:  On This Day.

 

The Overland Flyer in 1906.

Longtime Wyoming residents may wonder where on earth Wilcox is.  That's because, it isn't.  It's a named spot on the railroad just north of Rock River.  If this same crime occured today, people would report it as having occured north of Rock River.  It occured very near the junction with the Fetterman Road.

I've driven past this spot thousands of time and never realized where it was. This was a bold action, as Rock Rover was more substantial than it now is (the explosion clearly could have been heard from there) and Medicine Bow not all that far to the north. 

The First Philippine Republic officially declared war against the United States, although clearly the war, which the US termed an insurrection, had been going on for some time.

To recognize it as a war would have required a declaration of war, which in turn would have recognized the sovereignty of the Philippine Republic, which would have made a mockery of the US position on the islands.

Almost always, when people accuse the US of being involved in "colonial wars", they're full of it. This, however, was a colonial war.

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Thursday, June 1, 1899. White Horse Pass.

Labels: 1890s, 1899, Alaska, Yukon Territory

Thursday, June 1, 1899. White Horse Pass.

 

White Horse Pass.

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Wednesday, May 31, 1899. The Harriman Alaska Expediction departs.

Labels: 1800s, 1899, Alaska, Harriman Alaska Expedition, Science, Seattle Washington, Washington (Seattle)