Otto McNab(b)?
Chip Morgan
get about Otto McNab(b) - supposedly a character in James Michener's
"Texas." Please reply here or send to me directly.
Thanks,
-Chip
Towse
His name's "Otto MacNab" -- I'll bet you fruit loops to donuts,
you'll get an "F" if you spell his name wrong.
Sal
--
writing links: <http://internet-resources.com/writers/>
Gerald Clough
It's Otto MacNab, as you got in another reply. I presume this is for a
class assignment. Well, we don't do homework here, but I'll start you
off toward something that will knock the instructor's socks off, if you
do the work.
There was no Otto MacNab (actually, no Oliver MacNab, his father who
would have been a land grantee) in the Austin Colony "Old
Three-Hundred", as he is depicted as being in "Texas". However, there
could well have been a person who participated in the events that MacNab
is shown taking part in. Review the story. Read something on the Austin
Colony, the Texas revolution, and the Battle of San Jacinto,
particularly the capture of Santa Ana, and the Texas Rangers, not the
law enforcement unit, but the early militia of the same name. See if you
can pin down an individual who was everywhere MacNab was. There will be
more than one, including Scots.
As you research, find and refer to individuals indexed in The Handbook
of Texas, which is an encyclopedic work on people, places, and events in
Texas history. You'll find that the story doesn't let itself get pinned
down to much that's historically disprovable, except for MacNab's name.
In the story, he's one who finds Santa Ana after the battle. No one
knows exactly who all was there, so it works.
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
Clo...@Texas.Net
"Nothing has any value unless you know you can give it up."
-----------------------------------------------------------
Gerald Clough
>
> <attrib>While all of misc.writing was bogged down in my unnecessarily
> lengthy, self-referential intro, Gerald Clough
> <DONTSPA...@texas.net> wrote in message news:3C143ABC.B43F8411
> @texas.net: </attrib>
>
> > In the story, he's one who finds Santa Ana after the battle. No one
> > knows exactly who all was there, so it works.
> >
>
No. That was two sargents and a private of the 4th Regiment, Illinois
Volunteers, in the Mexican War. The versatile Antonio Lopez de Santa
Anna Perez de Lebron didn't lose the leg until 1838, when he found
himself literally a-foot after a horse and his right leg were
simultaneously shot out from under him as he defended at Veracruz in the
French Pastry War. (A French baker said some Mexican soldiers trashed
his shop, and things just went downhill from there.)
In 1842, he had the leg (the original) dug up and paraded through Mexico
City and enshrined in a munument. (He'd made getting his leg shot off
defending Mexico from angry French partry cooks into a good political
thing, and you can do this stuff when you're president. He also used to
thrown lots of parties, mostly in his own honor, something else you can
do, if you're president.)
Things went sour after a while, and he was exiled to Cuba. But he
convinced Pres. Polk that, of the U.S. would help him get back to
fiestas and leg worship in Mexico, he could solve the Texas problem. (At
the time, no one knew quite where Texas was. Some folks said it was over
that-a-way. Some said, no, it was over that-a-way. Some people will
argue just for the sake of argument.)
After getting safe passage home, our indominable Tonito rapidly made
general of the army and then president. (It's remarkable how being
general of the army made it oh so much easier to become president of
Mexico.) He didn't really do anything about the Texas question, and the
Mexican War began. (People learned not to say things to President Polk
like, "Santa Anna? Wasn't he the guy you said would..." He was peevish
about, which is understandable, I suppose.)
While you could never accuse Santa Anna of lazing at home while his army
was in the field, he did like to live reasonably well. He had an
artillery battery all settled in to shoot hell out of Winfield Scott's
troops under Capt. Robert E. Lee and his Lieutenants Grant, Beauregard,
and McClellan (remember them?). It was pretty quiet at the moment, for a
war, and S.A. took a break to sit comfortably in his carriage and eat a
roast chicken. To make himself a bit more comfortable, he removed his
wooden (actually cork, made by one Charles Bartlett for $1,300 - had a
ball bearing ankle and all sorts of extras) leg.
The Illinois bunch, either through military astutness or because they
were tired of military grub and smelled fresh roast chicken, made an end
run on the battery and shot holes through the general's carriage and
mule team while a Mexican cavalry officer carried the general to
relative safety. They ate the chicken, kept the leg as a sovenier, and
turned in $18,000 in gold that was in the carriage to pay the Mexican
troops. (There seems to be something wrong with their priorities, but I
guess hunger had addled them. I'll bet the regretted it later.)
The leg is currently on display on the second floor of The Adjutant
General's (TAG) building at Camp Lincoln, Springfield, Illinois. It's
really not the most appropriate place to keep it, and Mexico and Texas
have both tried to get it for themselves, without success. I suppose
Illinois figures their guys passed up $18,000 in gold for a chicken
dinner and a wooden leg, and they're going to get some mileage out of
the leg. (They got his right boot as part of the deal, but that doesn't
make them feel any better about it.)
So, no. It wasn't MacNab. If anyone, it was Second Sargent John Gill,
who kiped the leg.
Santa Anna was the original come-back kid. He was president more times
than most people can keep track of. (It was five.) He had a gift for
putting a good spin on things. In attempting to put down a revolt at
Acapulco, he attacked the town, was replused, and then declared it a
victory and went home. He excelled at collecting taxes (he called them
"voluntary contributions" - really!) and spent nearly all of it on
himself. (So far as he could see, that's the way all the other
presidents had done it, and he couldn't see any reason to break with
tradition.)
He lived to be 82, and although he died in poverty, he was no doubt
comforted to remember that nearly every other president (and a whole lot
of other people) during his lifetime died much younger, one way or
another. (Mostly another)
Now, all of this is not to say that the MacNab avatar didn't make off
with anything of Santa Anna's at San Jacinto. The general was taking his
ease in camp when the Texas Army broke up siesta time. We've got his
pipes, smoking cap, sword, and most of his other personal stuff left
behind when he ran away. (He had both legs back then.) It's all up in
the new state history museum. Saw it last month.
Gerald Clough
song about the leg, to the tune of "The Girl I Left Behind Me".
The Leg I Left Behind Me
I am stumpless quite since from the shot
Of Cerro Gordo peggin',
I left behind, to pay Gen. Scott,
My grub, and gave my leg in.
I dare not turn to view the place
Lest Yankee foes should find me,
And mocking shake before my face
The Leg I Left Behind Me.
At Buena Vista l was sure
That Yankee troops must surrender,
And bade my men hurrah, for you're
All going on a bender.
That all my hopes and plans were dashed,
My scattered troops remind me,
But though I there got soundly thrashed,
l left no leg behind me.
Should Gen. Taylor of my track get scent,
Or Gen Scott beat up my quarters,
I may as well just be content
To go across the waters.
But should that my fortune be,
Fate has not quite resigned me
For in the museum I will see
The Leg I Left Behind Me.
Alan Hope
programme, like this one from Gerald Clough, calling from
misc.writing:
>gekko wrote:
--
AH
Gerald Clough
(I get them Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and alternate Sundays.)
Alan Hope
programme, like this one from Gerald Clough, calling from
misc.writing:
>No. We're not the same person. We just have the same teeth.
And it's only coincidence that your story wound up in Springfield? I
think not.
>(I get them Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and alternate Sundays.)
--
AH
Gerald Clough
Aw. You know it's not *that* Springfield.
(However, if you run 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield, Il into
http://maps.yahoo.com/ , you do get a map to 721 Evergreen Court. I
wonder if they get mail.)
Pomponio Magnus, Gobernador Constitucional del Estado Libre y Soberano de Tejas de Santa Anna
It might interest you to know that I recently obtained cells from the
mummified leg of General Santa Anna and, with a cheap Do It Yourself
cloning kit from Walmart, revived the general. His excellency is in
good health and has not changed a bit. I am presently in debt to
various unsavory individuals since he has used my name as a backer to
his bets in the local cockfights. He does not seem to understand that
the galleros no longer recognize him or are impressed by his name and
therefore stone the opponent birds, as it was done when he was
president. Also, he has failed to understand that the napoleonic
tight pants, the military fashion of the early 19th century, specially
pink tight pants, is no longer in good taste. He has, frankly,
received a number of propositions which have given rise to a number of
duels and misunderstandings because of the tight pants. His
excellency is once more intriguing to take the presidency and, from
the way the Fox government is going, I fully expect him to make a
successful coup. The problem we have found is that even if we
deployed our followers anywhere near the national palace a) Fox is
rarely in the country, so how can you nab him, and b) the traffic in
Mexico City is so horrendous that it would be impossible for our group
to maintain any coherence --or their wallets-- in their approach to
the national palace, and c) there are like 3000 protest marches
undergoing at any moment in downtown Mexico City, none of which reach
their destination because of the traffic, in fact it is said that
there are still some student protesters from 1968 still trying to get
to the national palace. Meanwhile, his excellency has given me an
appointment as the right and true governor of the state of Tejas de
Santa Anna (the name change was his suggestion). I have issued liens
on plum property already, such as the astrodome and the Dallas Cowboys
cheerleaders. The general bears no resentment to the gringos and is
willing to extend an colonelcy appointment in the reformed San
Patricio regiment to any gringo who is willing to help. Email me so I
can give you instructions as to where you can send a monetary
contribution to serve the cause. In return, you might receive the a
certificate for the above colonelcy, plus a 19th century military
uniform, slightly used, with pink tight pants and all. Just don't
wear it in public unless you don't mind the comments.
Gerald Clough
de Tejas de Santa Anna" wrote:
>
> It might interest you to know that I recently obtained cells from the
> mummified leg of General Santa Anna and, with a cheap Do It Yourself
> cloning kit from Walmart, revived the general. His excellency is in
> good health and has not changed a bit.
Well, he never did.
> I am presently in debt to
> various unsavory individuals since he has used my name as a backer to
> his bets in the local cockfights. He does not seem to understand that
> the galleros no longer recognize him or are impressed by his name and
> therefore stone the opponent birds, as it was done when he was
> president. Also, he has failed to understand that the napoleonic
> tight pants, the military fashion of the early 19th century, specially
> pink tight pants, is no longer in good taste. He has, frankly,
> received a number of propositions which have given rise to a number of
> duels and misunderstandings because of the tight pants.
They weren't all that fashionable in the State of Cohuilla and Texas
back then, either. It got him noticed, but they people still talked. A
little known story has it that several Texians survived the battle at
the Alamo. One, by one, they were brought before the general and asked
what did they think of his uniform. The general had vowed to spare any
man who could say something nice about his clothes with a straight face.
None of them managed to do it.
> His
> excellency is once more intriguing to take the presidency and, from
> the way the Fox government is going, I fully expect him to make a
> successful coup.
He never ahd much trouble with the coups. It was holding on that he
found difficult.
> The problem we have found is that even if we
> deployed our followers anywhere near the national palace a) Fox is
> rarely in the country, so how can you nab him, and b) the traffic in
> Mexico City is so horrendous that it would be impossible for our group
> to maintain any coherence --or their wallets-- in their approach to
> the national palace, and c) there are like 3000 protest marches
> undergoing at any moment in downtown Mexico City, none of which reach
> their destination because of the traffic, in fact it is said that
> there are still some student protesters from 1968 still trying to get
> to the national palace.
If they'd take the subway, they'd get there. This never seems to occur
to them.
> Meanwhile, his excellency has given me an
> appointment as the right and true governor of the state of Tejas de
> Santa Anna (the name change was his suggestion).
You got rooked. You should have held out for lieutenant governor. The
governor's nearly powerless. Oh. You mean the *Mexican* governorship.
Hah! No one ever paid them any attention.
> I have issued liens
> on plum property already, such as the astrodome
Swamp land.
> and the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.
Depreciated through overuse.
> The general bears no resentment to the gringos and is
> willing to extend an colonelcy appointment in the reformed San
> Patricio regiment to any gringo who is willing to help.
No thanks. The retirement plan stinks, and I hear some of the troops
from 1836 are still waiting to get paid.
> Email me so I
> can give you instructions as to where you can send a monetary
> contribution to serve the cause. In return, you might receive the a
> certificate for the above colonelcy, plus a 19th century military
> uniform, slightly used, with pink tight pants and all. Just don't
> wear it in public unless you don't mind the comments.
Hell with that. What we need is to resurect the old Republic of the Rio
Grande scheme. If we can find a piece of Aaron Burr's butt and clone him
back into action, he'd be up for it.
Gerald Clough
de Tejas de Santa Anna" wrote:
>
> mummified leg of General Santa Anna and, with a cheap Do It Yourself
> cloning kit from Walmart, revived the general. His excellency is in
> good health and has not changed a bit.
Well, he never did.
> I am presently in debt to
> various unsavory individuals since he has used my name as a backer to
> his bets in the local cockfights. He does not seem to understand that
> the galleros no longer recognize him or are impressed by his name and
> therefore stone the opponent birds, as it was done when he was
> president. Also, he has failed to understand that the napoleonic
> tight pants, the military fashion of the early 19th century, specially
> pink tight pants, is no longer in good taste. He has, frankly,
> received a number of propositions which have given rise to a number of
> duels and misunderstandings because of the tight pants.
They weren't all that fashionable in the State of Cohuilla and Texas
back then, either. It got him noticed, but they people still talked. A
little known story has it that several Texians survived the battle at
the Alamo. One, by one, they were brought before the general and asked
what did they think of his uniform. The general had vowed to spare any
man who could say something nice about his clothes with a straight face.
None of them managed to do it.
> His
> excellency is once more intriguing to take the presidency and, from
> the way the Fox government is going, I fully expect him to make a
> successful coup.
He never ahd much trouble with the coups. It was holding on that he
found difficult.
> The problem we have found is that even if we
> deployed our followers anywhere near the national palace a) Fox is
> rarely in the country, so how can you nab him, and b) the traffic in
> Mexico City is so horrendous that it would be impossible for our group
> to maintain any coherence --or their wallets-- in their approach to
> the national palace, and c) there are like 3000 protest marches
> undergoing at any moment in downtown Mexico City, none of which reach
> their destination because of the traffic, in fact it is said that
> there are still some student protesters from 1968 still trying to get
> to the national palace.
If they'd take the subway, they'd get there. This never seems to occur
to them.
> Meanwhile, his excellency has given me an
> appointment as the right and true governor of the state of Tejas de
> Santa Anna (the name change was his suggestion).
You got rooked. You should have held out for lieutenant governor. The
governor's nearly powerless. Oh. You mean the *Mexican* governorship.
Hah! No one ever paid them any attention.
> I have issued liens
> on plum property already, such as the astrodome
Swamp land.
> and the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.
Depreciated through overuse.
> The general bears no resentment to the gringos and is
> willing to extend an colonelcy appointment in the reformed San
> Patricio regiment to any gringo who is willing to help.
No thanks. The retirement plan stinks, and I hear some of the troops
from 1836 are still waiting to get paid.
> Email me so I
> can give you instructions as to where you can send a monetary
> contribution to serve the cause. In return, you might receive the a
> certificate for the above colonelcy, plus a 19th century military
> uniform, slightly used, with pink tight pants and all. Just don't
> wear it in public unless you don't mind the comments.
Hell with that. What we need is to resurect the old Republic of the Rio
Grande scheme. If we can find a piece of Aaron Burr's butt and clone him
back into action, he'd be up for it.
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
Clo...@Texas.Net
"Nothing has any value unless you know you can give it up."
-----------------------------------------------------------
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Pomponio Magnus, Gobernador Constitucional del Estado Libre y Soberano de Tejas de Santa Anna
It might interest you to know that I recently obtained cells from the
mummified leg of General Santa Anna and, with a cheap Do It Yourself
cloning kit from Walmart, revived the general. His excellency is in
good health and has not changed a bit. I am presently in debt to
various unsavory individuals since he has used my name as a backer to
his bets in the local cockfights. He does not seem to understand that
the galleros no longer recognize him or are impressed by his name and
therefore stone the opponent birds, as it was done when he was
president. Also, he has failed to understand that the napoleonic
tight pants, the military fashion of the early 19th century, specially
pink tight pants, is no longer in good taste. He has, frankly,
received a number of propositions which have given rise to a number of
duels and misunderstandings because of the tight pants. His
excellency is once more intriguing to take the presidency and, from
the way the Fox government is going, I fully expect him to make a
successful coup. The problem we have found is that even if we
deployed our followers anywhere near the national palace a) Fox is
rarely in the country, so how can you nab him, and b) the traffic in
Mexico City is so horrendous that it would be impossible for our group
to maintain any coherence --or their wallets-- in their approach to
the national palace, and c) there are like 3000 protest marches
undergoing at any moment in downtown Mexico City, none of which reach
their destination because of the traffic, in fact it is said that
there are still some student protesters from 1968 still trying to get
to the national palace. Meanwhile, his excellency has given me an
appointment as the right and true governor of the state of Tejas de
Santa Anna (the name change was his suggestion). I have issued liens
on plum property already, such as the astrodome and the Dallas Cowboys
cheerleaders. The general bears no resentment to the gringos and is
willing to extend an colonelcy appointment in the reformed San
Patricio regiment to any gringo who is willing to help. Email me so I
can give you instructions as to where you can send a monetary
contribution to serve the cause. In return, you might receive the a
certificate for the above colonelcy, plus a 19th century military
uniform, slightly used, with pink tight pants and all. Just don't
wear it in public unless you don't mind the comments.
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