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June 7, 2025
Today in Texas History
On this day in 1979, Asa Earl Carter, part Indian, segregationist, politician, speechwriter and novelist, died as a result of a fistfight in Abilene.
Carter was born in Anniston, Alabama, in 1925. By the late 1950s, he was in Birmingham, Alabama, where he hosted a radio show for the American States Rights Association and was a leader of the Alabama Council movement. Later he founded the North Alabama White Citizens Council. He was one of two writers said to be responsible for the words "segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever,” infamously stated by Governor George Wallace.
After an unsuccessful run against Wallace in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 1970, Carter gave up politics and left Alabama. He adopted the pseudonym Bedford Forrest Carter and settled in Sweetwater, Texas, where he used the resources of the City-County Library to work on his first novel, Gone to Texas (1973).
The highly successful film version starring Clint Eastwood is entitled The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976). Carter wrote three other books, including the purported autobiography The Education of Little Tree (1976), before his death.
Also on this day in 1876, construction began on what was to become a permanent major military installation in northeast San Antonio. Citizens had long desired to secure a permanent military post. Over the years the army had leased many small areas of the city, most notably the Alamo and a plot where the Gunter Hotel now stands.
A formal proposal made in 1870 was met with political opposition from Secretary of War Belknap. After his resignation in 1876, a contract for construction was let to the Edward Braden Construction Company.
The quadrangular fort with only one entry gate was completed in 1878. In 1890, the post was designated Fort Sam Houston. Since that time, Fort Sam Houston has grown to an installation of several thousand acres with hundreds of permanent structures.
In 2000, it was host to many of the United States Army's major commands.
Carter was born in Anniston, Alabama, in 1925. By the late 1950s, he was in Birmingham, Alabama, where he hosted a radio show for the American States Rights Association and was a leader of the Alabama Council movement. Later he founded the North Alabama White Citizens Council. He was one of two writers said to be responsible for the words "segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever,” infamously stated by Governor George Wallace.
After an unsuccessful run against Wallace in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 1970, Carter gave up politics and left Alabama. He adopted the pseudonym Bedford Forrest Carter and settled in Sweetwater, Texas, where he used the resources of the City-County Library to work on his first novel, Gone to Texas (1973).
The highly successful film version starring Clint Eastwood is entitled The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976). Carter wrote three other books, including the purported autobiography The Education of Little Tree (1976), before his death.
Also on this day in 1876, construction began on what was to become a permanent major military installation in northeast San Antonio. Citizens had long desired to secure a permanent military post. Over the years the army had leased many small areas of the city, most notably the Alamo and a plot where the Gunter Hotel now stands.
A formal proposal made in 1870 was met with political opposition from Secretary of War Belknap. After his resignation in 1876, a contract for construction was let to the Edward Braden Construction Company.
The quadrangular fort with only one entry gate was completed in 1878. In 1890, the post was designated Fort Sam Houston. Since that time, Fort Sam Houston has grown to an installation of several thousand acres with hundreds of permanent structures.
In 2000, it was host to many of the United States Army's major commands.