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Vote As If Your Freedom Depended On It.

As you wander across Texas. A truism about history is that it is written by the winner. And if there is no winner, we create one, because we must always have a protagonist. Take for instance Nolan County west of Fort Worth. Prior to Mexico attaining its independence, all land west of the Mississippi River was claimed by the Spanish Throne. “The land belonged to the sovereign country of Spain. If you were not a Spaniard, you needed a passport to cross west of the Mississippi River. Most of us learned of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the 6th grade and of course, Pike’s Peak. What we did not learn was that these incursions were at the behest of the US government. Both excursions were invasions of the sovereign country of Spain. We could call them invasions of a foreign country. If you trespassed into Spanish Territory, as a minimum Spain was going to ignore the incursion as it did with the Lewis and Clark Expedition or send you to jail as it did Pike. Phillip Nolan was not so lucky. Having been warned to stay on the east side of the Mississippi, he did not. He and most of his troupe were killed in somewhere around Bosque County. Something I hear frequently is “We were here first.” Meaning we beat the Comanche, Apache, and all other Native Americans here. Heck, we even crossed the Bering Straits first. I guess we should not exaggerate. I can say that according to DNA testing, more than half of me is Native. So one-half was there first. The other half joined much later. What we can say with certainty is that once upon a time all this land belonged to indigenous peoples (meaning Apache, Comanche, et al) and then Spain laid claim to all of it. Up until 1821. Then the world came to a stop. No longer was there a Spain. In the western part of the continent there was chaos. Spain had maintained a garrison in Santa Fe to keep the Americans from crossing the Mississippi River going west. With the threat of Spanish military gone, the covered American wagons were swift to cross the Mississippi and head west looking for land silver and gold. The US won all the West without a fight. Some of you may doubt this but think, Spain held the territory since Columbus. Sure, Spain lost Florida and Louisiana but those were nothing more than political gambits. In the case of the land west of the Mississippi, it never did belong to Mexico. It was abandoned land up for grabs first come first serve when Mexico declared independence. The minute the American crossed the Mississippi, the land belonged to the US without firing a shot. Plainly, Mexico did not have the military resources to hold the huge tract of land. Yup, the Six Shooter Law prevailed, or to the victor belong the spoils. The US was more than generous by giving Mexico some money for the land, it did not have to, that is the law of the jungle. There was an immediate problem. What do you call all these people that used to be called Spaniards? Mexicans. Yup. Went from being Spaniard to being Mexican. Of course, some did not even know what Mexico was. Separation does that. Tejanos are mestizos like most of us. They were as much Mexican as Hondurans, Salvadorans. Tejanos wanted to be free from Mexico. That is why some of them joined the Texas Revolution. There were no Spaniards anymore, everyone was a Mexican. Ineptness and lack of foresight caused all the land east of the Mississippi to be lost. Folks. Santa Ana had no business in South Texas. He was in a hostile place where he was not welcome. As a general, Santa Ana was not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. He was the only bulb. That is why he was made president more than once. Instead of fighting, Santa Ana should have secured the land by placing outliers clearly visible to the Americans that there was a Mexican presence. It was a matter of perception. It is better to look strong that fight to prove you are not. So. Who was here first? Half of me. . Nolan County is named after Phillip Nolan. Phillip Nolan was a leading character in the late 1700’s history of Spanish North America. From the book, Pierre Vidal, (Noel M. Loomis and Abraham P. Nasatir) I gleaned that Nolan was a wheeler-dealer, spy, and horse thief. Phillip Nolan knew the penalty for interring Spanish Territory without a passport. When caught he was given the opportunity to surrender. He declined. He signed his own death warrant. Inscribed in this monument in Bosque County is the following comment: “Nolan’s death aroused a wave of indignation that led to the independence of Texas.” This is somewhat of a stretch since in 1801 Texas was still a part of Spain and foreigners were not allowed without the written authorization of the Spanish governor. A hero was created and given credit for something that still had not happened. It is time to revise Texas History and tell what really happened. Felix Alvarado

My First Trip to Spain by Felix Alvarado I was in Spain when it was still a medieval country. I recall my very first trip to Spain. My tour took me from Stuttgart Germ any to Paris France. I got to parish at the Gare du Nord train station. I kept looking for the train to Spain, but nobody seemed to know where it was or at least, they would not point to a certain rail where I could find the train. Finally, some gentlemen could see my predicament, and he kept saying Gare del Est scared the less he grabbed me and took me to a taxicab and put me inside the taxicab and told the cab driver to take me to Gare del Est. German and French trains were nice and clean. The luxury ended when I got to Hendaye the French Spanish border. At Hendaye we boarded Spanish train. The train looked like it had survived the Spanish civil war. It was very slow going up the mountain. My ticket was for Madrid, but we did make a stop at Avila. I told the porter that I was going to Avila, but my ticket was for Madrid. He just told me you get off the train. There was only one hotel, so I went looking for a room. I tried to register but the lady was not buying the letter that I had which authorized me to travel Europe without a passport. She escorted me to the local Guardia Civil or civil guard or police. The water should deal with not buying the store either, but they just didn't know what to do because apparently, they had never had this situation in the past, so they didn't know what to do. Finally, the Guardia Civil said I didn't have to register, so I was able to stay in Avila for that night because I was only passing through. The hotel room only had a bed there was no light and there was no running water, no heat and if you wanted to use a bathroom you had to go outside because there was a squat type of commode and that was it. Morning, I went looking for a taxi to take me to the small town that I was going to Navalmoral de la Sierra. The driver said that he was going to take me through the short way. He was told by the other taxicab drivers to take the long way because the mountain pass was very treacherous. The driver ignored the other cab drivers and took road through the mountain pass. We made it to the mountain path. We skidded all the way down until we ran into a boulder and that was the end of a taxicab ride. Someone that was passing by gave us a ride back to Avila. When we got back there were plenty of taxicab drivers that wanted to take me to Navalmoral, but they all wanted to go around the mountains. The long way was through San Martin de Valdeiglesias. Along the way I got a glimpse of the toros de guisando. I made a mental note to return some day. I made it to Navalmoral. There was a bar at the intersection. I went looking for directions. I was going meet my future wife. I found the home of my future wife who greeted me with “what are you doing here you jerk.” My reply was “I am here to see your father to ask him if I can marry you.” Navalmoral was a quaint town still in the Middle Ages. There were no modern conveniences. There was no electricity, running water, or newspaper. The water fountain at the center of town square was the sole source of water the water the town. The town was literally isolated from the rest of the world. The only source of information was the back-and-forth buses that went to Avila and Madrid. Every morning there was a frenzy of activity before the buses arrived. While waiting for the buses, people were busy passing on information that they wanted the traveler to check. There was a frenzy of activity just before the rush returned. Of course, the chatter started immediately when the doors to the bus opened. There was nonstop chatter of the waiting for the bus. There was none such chatter all the way back home. These people were hungry for information. The bus was the source of information. When it was time for me to return, I went to Avila, got a ticket and went to board the train. I was coming back to Germany at the same time as Spanish workers were returning to Germany after their Christmas vacation. The train was so full that the door to the car closed behind me. I had to get off at Salamanca because people were getting off. I couldn't get in the car when I went to get back into the train, I found out that there was no space in the train. All the space was taken. Eventually a caboose was attached. I reached the caboose too late. It was already full. I could only get in standing up. The Spaniards took out their bread sausage, cheese and wine and started sharing. They shared with me. When I had to use the toilet, people were using it to store their baggage. A Spaniard could read my mind he said you are outside right now, aren't you? That is your toilet.” I went outside the caboose until I got to the French border. I transferred over to a French train, and I went to first class. I wanted comfort. the Porter came back they asked me for my ticket. I gladly paid the difference between first and second class. When I got back to Paris, I knew now that I had to transfer stations. 

Facts About Felix Alvarado Military Service US Air Force Chief Master Sergeant. Retired. US Army, SSgt, Combat Veteran Vietnam War US Naval Reserve. Veteran Education Master of Public Administration, Troy University. Bachelor of Science, Business and Management, University of Maryland. Associate of Applied Science, Navigation Systems Technology, AF Community College. Associate of Applied Science, Management, University of Maryland. University of Texas at Arlington, Principal Certification (Exp) University of Texas at Arlington, Teacher Certification Certifications Certified Social Studies Composite Teacher. Certified History and Government Teacher in the State of Texas. Certified History Teacher in the State of Texas. Military Leadership Education 7th Army NCO Academy USAFE NCO Academy USAF Senior NCO Academy Military Technical Training Aircraft Avionic Navigation Systems, Computer Systems Maintenance    INTRODUCTION – About Me The question that I have been asked the most is “How were you able to achieve so much in your lifetime?” I can list how much I have accomplished but how would the more difficult. Here is a list. 1. Promoted to Seaman Apprentice in the USNR on first attempt. 2. Promoted to Staff Sergeant (E6) in the US Army in less than five years. 3. Promoted to Chief Master Sergeant in the Air Force. 4. Earned a Bachelors Degree in Business Management from University of Maryland. While on active duty. 5. Earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Troy University. While on active duty. I got my education was still working 12 hours a day five and six days a week on the flight line. All performance reports in the Air Force were outstanding. They were written over a 20-year period by different evaluators. Many were endorsed by general officers. This is what I know about myself. I was intuitive. I followed my gut feeling. I listened to motivational music. I always exceeded expectations. I never gambled. Where necessary I took risks. I never took a risk where I was going to fail. I built teams. I expected everyone that worked for me to have my same expectations. I listened. I was spontaneous. I was a role model. I treated everyone with respect. I was not a volunteer. I did not reject being volunteered. Incredible facts: I was assigned directly from technical school to a C130 flying squadron. As a trainee I did not have a trainer. There was nobody around to train me. I had to train myself. I was also assigned as shop supervisor with 5 trainees. All of us were trainees. Typically, the airplanes fly during the day and they are fixed at night. To work on an airplane, you needed power and it was the responsibility of the crew chief to turn the power on the airplane so you could work on it. Crew chiefs were not easy to find because they had their own job. Crew chiefs were hard to find. One night I stopped a crew chief and asked him to teach me how to turn the power on the airplane. His reply was a predictable “No.” He finally relented and taught me how to turn the power on the airplane. My airplanes were ready to fly right away. One night I came in and I was told to grab my things that I was being transferred to the other squadron. I was transferred to the other squadron because they were having trouble fixing the airplanes. I walked into the new shop, and I ran into a bunch of whiners. I give them all three days off. Go home and don't come back for three days. While they enjoyed their three days off, I had a chance to find out why the airplanes were breaking. It was just an improper installation of the black boxes. It was an easy fix and the airplanes started flying clean, just like the ones I left behind. My last segment was to Dyess Air Force Base where the B1B is stationed. I was sent here because there was a problem getting the airplanes airborne. I was no longer fixing airplanes. I now was making sure that the airplanes were fixed. There's a lot of difference between fixing one problem in one airplane and fixing many problems in a fleet of airplanes. In the Air Force we were taught to always do it by the book, always follow the book, that is the traditional Air Force way. Unfortunately, sometimes tradition is not your best choice. My first assignment and my last assignment in the Air Force both have the same thing in common; People were doing aircraft maintenance the traditional way. Everyone was following tradition. As I explained to young men that colonel up there he doesn't give a damn how I fix the airplane, the only thing that he cares about is that the airplane is flying in the morning. That's all that matters. That's the mission of the Air Force - to fly.

School children living in the northern part of the Bledsoe School District were located too far from Bledsoe to attend school there regularly. As a result, in 1926 a temporary frame building was erected on land belonging to Bledsoe school board member Tom M. Neely, and the Neely Ward School came into existence. On February 2, 1927, I. C. Enoch filed an affidavit granting an additional five acres of land for public school use. The agreement stipulated that the land would be used for the Neely Ward School as long as it was needed for educational purposes. If the land was no longer used as a school site, ownership would revert to Enoch or his heirs. Later in 1927, Leonard Miller constructed a permanent brick school building on the Neely Ward property using materials left over from the Bledsoe School. The brick structure consisted of two classrooms, three cloakrooms, and a water room used for drinking water storage. Two outhouses were also built, and later a windmill and storage tank were erected to supply water. Miss Lennie Osburn was hired as the first teacher at a salary of $100 per month. Her first students included Jack, Herbert, and Alvin Neely; Glen and Howard Harrington; and Sarah and Lula Mills. Items purchased for the school included desks, chairs, erasers, a stove, three joints of stove pipe, one damper, a coal box and shovel, an axe, a water bucket, three dippers, a broom, and one ton of coal. In 1930, Boyd Crooks began teaching at Neely Ward. Soon afterward he married, and the couple both taught at the school. Among his students were James, Loretta, Lottie, and Doyle Turney. Myrtle Reed Young taught at Neely Ward from September 1933 to May 1937. Among her students were Billy Bickett; Mary, Percy, and Joe Dewbre; George “Ike” Williams; and Billie Newman. She later recalled that a large circulating coal heater kept the building comfortably warm during the winter months. Young lived in the west room of the building and held classes in the east room. Her first class consisted of twelve students representing eight grade levels. With little recreational equipment available, the children often played with sticks or invented their own games. Mrs. Young also recalled a severe sandstorm that “blackened the sky as dark as night,” frightening both her and her students. To keep their spirits up while the storm passed, they sang together inside the schoolhouse. Former student Percy Dewbre later remembered that some children could not afford shoes, and money was collected to purchase shoes for them. He also recalled that each child was responsible for watering and caring for one of the elm trees planted on the school grounds. Other teachers who served at Neely Ward School included G. Pendleton, Reba Murray, Faye Odom Ainsworth, J. Love, W. Johnson, Roger and Ann Harvey, Myrtle Kennedy, Willie Nettles, and Ethel Shelton. During the early years of the school’s operation, parents provided transportation for the students. Before a school bus was acquired, John Crowley was hired to drive a “school car.” He would collect children who lived east of the school, drop them off, and then return to gather students from the west. In 1930, a school bus was purchased, and George Williams was hired as the driver. His wife, Marie Williams, occasionally filled in when he was busy with farm work. Students who completed the eighth grade at Neely Ward attended high school in Morton. Initially, automobiles were used to transport students to Morton, but eventually a bus route was established for them. By the late 1940s, school funds had become limited. To raise money for needed supplies, the three teachers at the time—Myrtle Kennedy, Willie Nettles, and Ethel Shelton—organized a community play titled "An Old Fashioned Mother". With assistance from local residents including Hadley Kern, Marie Williams, Bill Martin, Slim Henry, and Cecil Masten, the play was performed for paying audiences. The production was a great success, and the group later traveled to Bledsoe and Bula to perform additional showings. Proceeds from the performances helped purchase playground equipment for the school. As the population of the surrounding area increased, enrollment grew and the school eventually required three teachers. The teacherage (teacher’s residence) was converted into an additional classroom to accommodate the larger student body. The Neely Ward School also served as an important community center. The building hosted box suppers, parties, church services, musical events, and community plays. One of the most popular activities was the singing and singing classes, which drew people from across the area. Enrollment began to decline during the 1950s, and in 1953 the Neely Ward School consolidated with the Morton school system. The final teachers at Neely Ward were Ruth Whitecotton and Myrtle Kennedy, both of whom later continued teaching in Morton. The last student expected to graduate from Neely Ward was Doris Dewbre. However, because she was the only student in her class, she was permitted to attend Morton for her seventh and eighth grade years. Following the school’s closure, the land reverted to an heir of I. C. Enoch and was later purchased by B. O. Hurley. Today, the property—including the Neely Ward School building—is owned by the heirs of Vennie Evans.

For us Tejanos “Quienes Somos” is an important question. By: Felix Alvarado