The United Kingdom is bursting at the seams once again. Ehh, makes sense.
Scotland and England have always had something of a troubled relationship, and it is on display once more. Recent parliamentary elections showed a decisive divide between Tory England and SNP Scotland. The Brexit vote proved similar.
Thus it was always so.
The Roman Catholic church began to lose its political grip on Christianity in 16th Europe, and Scotland & England each went their own way. Influenced by the works of Calvin, John Knox and other Scots defied Papal Rome, establishing the Presbyterian church in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and points north. The reformist fervor would be carried by Scotch-Irish on their centuries long trek west through Ulster, North America, and the American frontier. The Scots were also wary of the Catholic successors to Rome in London, namely the Church of England.
To be honest, the English weren’t big fans of London either.
John Wesley would lead an English reformist movement of his own against the Church of England, eventually renamed the Methodist church. The fervor of the Methodists would also spread with the British Empire across the globe, including North America. Soon, Presbyterians & Methodists found themselves both heading west …….. organizing revivals, converting lost souls, and more than anything else………. mixing it up with each other on the way to the great state of Texas.
But conflict can often have unintended benefits. And such is the case here. For the Texas rivalry between my Presbyterian alma mater and its oldest Methodist rival just happened to play a role in the establishment of the most legendary collegiate football event in the state of Texas ……. the Red River Rivalry between the UT Longhorns and OU Sooners.
It’s Friday afternoon! Time for another installment of Roo Tales. I’m going to start posting these babies consistently on Friday afternoons, with a few exceptions here and there.
This Roo Tale is dedicated to Patricia Rojas-Ungar and Michael Ungár. Patricia is a Parrish family friend going back 20 years (welcome to the family Michael 🙂 ). Michael is a former Longhorn special teams standout and fan favorite from the early Mack Brown era (1999-2002). Michael & Patricia are both UT alumni and now have adorable twins. Check out the video clip of #29 Michael Ungar sticking an OU Sooner punt returner in the 2002 edition of the Red River Rivalry!
This Roo Tale is dedicated to Jason Johnson & Lisa Lindsay Johnson. Jason is not on FB, so Lisa……please make Jason read. 🙂 Jason is an Oklahoma native and a huge Sooner fan. He is also an Austin College friend and former Roo tailback. Jason is the all-time Roo TD scoring leader (as of 1996, and I believe as of today); over a span of 42 games between 1988 and 1991, Jason notched 34 TDs for 204 points. Amazingly, Jason never had a single game with 3 or more TDs. Which means that if you were a Roo fan like me during that time frame, it was highly likely you would see Jason in the end zone on any given Saturday. He was all-TIAA in 1990 & 1991, and a recipient of the Gene Babb award for football in 1991.
This Roo Tale is dedicated to the following OU Sooner fans & FB friends, nearly all of whom have liked the OU football or athletics FB pages:
Mary Finnigan Griffith, James Dean, JP Seale, Ed Scruggs, Kevin Spencer, Skyler Thomas, Nicholas Hodgins, Becky Roberson, Debra Epps Caffey
This Roo Tale is dedicated to the following UT Longhorn fans & FB friends, nearly all of whom have liked the UT football or athletics FB pages:
Stephen Sides, David Vance, Pat Abernathey, Michael Williams, Rayan Rutledge, Shelton Williams, Roxanne King, Wayne King, John Cotton, Allyson Brooks Fertig, Michael Fertig, Lindsay Chamberlain, Tim Chamberlain, Christine Bunce, Kate Hodgins Chambers, Don Chambers, Tina Cook, Jason Willis, Wayne Whitmire, Stephen Sides, Kristina Henderson, Leslee Wyatt, Shannon Harpold Hutcheson, Dave Youngblood, Margie Norman Oliver, Brian Land, Brittany Fowler Norman, Robert Trent, Angeleena Young, Shelley Joanne Weedon, Tate Gorman, Celeste Lunceford Havis, Craig Eivens, John Wilson, Leslie Wilson
Chapter 1: Before there was Austin College, there was…………well, nobody.
Chapter 2: Before there was the Cotton Bowl, there was Gaston Park.
Chapter 3: Before there was a Red River Rivalry, there were Methodists and Presbyterians
Chapter 4: Before there was Dallas, there was Austin & Norman
Go Roos.
The descendants of Scottish Presbyterians and English Methodists today in the UK…
Michael Ungár (#29) sticks an OU punt returner in the 2002 Red River Rivalry. Today, Michael and Patricia are more likely to be sticking some diapers on two precious little ones.
A must read on Michael during his time with the Horns. It’s why so many of us are football fans.
Your humble author’s favorite Red River Rivalry moment…
Chapter 1: Before there was Austin College, there was…………well, nobody.
Southwestern University claims to be the oldest university in the state of Texas.
Puhleeeeezzzeeeee. Have you heard this ridiculous tale?
Four small Texas Methodist communities in four towns you’ve never heard of each attempted to establish Methodist institutions of higher education. They all failed. By 1867, none existed.
The oldest of these was founded in Rutersville, TX in 1840. Rutersville! Where the heck is that? Go find it on Google Earth. I’ll wait here. I promise you will not be impressed. I’ll give you a hint. In Rutersville, you head to La Grange for fine dining.
Methodist leaders examined their smoldering ruins in 1873 and decide to start over. One central Methodist university would be founded in Georgetown, TX, and would be named “The University of Texas”.
Isn’t that special? Unfortunately, the state legislature was soon in the process of establishing two state schools of higher learning in College Station & Austin, the latter of which they intended to name “The University of Texas”. A visit was paid to Georgetown to deliver the bad news.
The Methodists quietly bowed to the inevitable name change. But they struck a deal. Might the legislature officially recognize Rutersville and the other three schools as the official “predecessors” of the new Southwestern University? “Sure, whatevs” said the legislature.
Southwestern’s claim to be the oldest university in the state of Texas is yet another good lesson about politics. It pays to possess something desired, it pays to have good lobbyists, it pays to have those lobbyists located a mere 30 minutes away from the center of political power in the state of Texas.
Austin College was founded in 1849. It was named Austin College in 1849. And its founding document written in 1849 honors Mr. Austin, the father of education in Texas.
Southwestern University? Established in 1873 people. 1873. In honor of a vague geographic region I suppose.
Presbyterian – Methodist conflicts in Texas even precede this well-known “oldest university in Texas” battle between Southwestern and Austin College.
The smoke from Catholic Mexico’s defeat at San Jacinto in 1836 had barely subsided when these two Protestant factions and recent Texas arrivals started mixing it up once again. In 1837, a full three years before Rutersville, Presbyterian migrants led by James Russell established San Augustine University in San Augustine, TX. Henry Kendall and the local Methodist community in San Augustine responded by founding rival Wesleyan University in 1844 (one of the four Southwestern predecessors). For a brief period of time, San Augustine, TX was known as the “Athens of Texas”.
Things quickly went south.
Russell started a Presbyterian newspaper. Kendall started a Methodist newspaper. Russell’s newspaper began to criticize Methodists. Kendall’s newspaper began to criticized Presbyterians. Russell and Kendall began to attack each other.
Then Russell’s paper said something unflattering about Kendall’s sister. Kendall shot and killed Russell in his office, and fled to Louisiana. Both schools would fold in the 1840s.
Thankfully, the Presbyterians and Methodists would eventually find a new place to fight. The football field.
Austin College & “Southwestern” in 1849…
Chapter 2: Before there was the Cotton Bowl, there was Gaston Park.
Poor Dallas.
Austin had the Longhorns. Houston had Rice. Fort Worth had TCU. Waco had Baylor. Even smaller towns such as Sherman, Georgetown, Waxahachie, and Brownwood had college football available.
But not Big D. SMU did not even open until 1915; by then the Roos had been playing ball for two decades. Instead, fans of T.I.A.A. football in Dallas county demanded that their favorite teams be brought to them. And civic leaders did just that.
The Texas State Fair has been a part of Dallas since 1886, when it was established as a private entity run by Dallas business. Costs associated with its success, however, led to its sale to the City of Dallas in the first decade of the 20th century. One condition of the sale? Dallas would be required to hold the fair during the fall over the span of roughly three weeks.
The Fairgrounds just southeast of downtown already included a baseball field by the name of Gaston Park (see photo). Starting in 1908, Gaston Park was enlarged and modernized in order to accommodate football and attract the best college teams around the state. The park was located where the current Music Hall at Fair Park stands.
The football at Gaston Park was not a huge affair at first. In 1908, Simmons College (now Hardin-Simmons) was invited to play a local Dallas squad on Thanksgiving day. TCU made similar trips in 1909 and 1910. But the fans wanted more. They wanted games with impact. They got it.
Dallas leaders came up with a grand idea. Why not invite two TIAA teams to Gaston Park to compete in an actual conference game? Interest was solicited, and both Austin College and Southwestern were enthusiastic. An agreement was reached for the Kangaroos and Pirates to play their last game of the season on Thanksgiving Day, November 30th, 1911.
Just as in Sherman, interest in intercollegiate athletics had taken hold in Georgetown in the 1890s. When the first state conference (the T.I.A.A.) was formed in 1908, Austin College & Southwestern were both considered integral members:
University of Texas
Texas A&M
Baylor
TCU
Austin College
Southwestern
Trinity
Fort Worth Poly (now Texas Wesleyan)
Daniel Baker (now Howard Payne)
By 1911, the Roos and the Pirates were considered heavyweights.
Austin College and Southwestern had tremendous seasons in 1911. The Roos defeated Baylor and TCU (twice). The Pirates defeated TCU & LSU, and had managed a tie with Arkansas. As the season wound down to the close, Texas & Texas A&M had secured 1st & 2nd, respectively, in the T.I.A.A. The final clash of the campaign on Thanksgiving day in Dallas between Austin College and Southwestern would be for third place behind the two state school powers.
The contest also offered the first potential win for either school in the rivalry. The first meeting was in 1909, year #1 of the T.I.A.A conference. The Roos ventured to Georgetown, but left with a tie. A trip for the Pirates to Sherman in 1910 ended in the same fashion without a winner. Maybe 1911 would finally be the year one team would emerge victorious.
A baseball game at Gaston Park in Dallas, circa 1908…
Parry avenue during the 1908 Texas State Fair. Gaston Park is out of the photo to the right…
Chapter 3: Before there was a Red River Rivalry, there were Methodists and Presbyterians
Interest was very high on both campuses. Both schools chartered trains to transport students, faculty, and fans from Georgetown & Sherman to Big D. Newspaper reports predicted huge crowds, and game advertisements were found in many cities on points north and south (see preview in the Houston Post).
Austin College was banged up, and reports indicated concern about how the Roos would handle this adversity. Captain Alexander Gray, however, would have none of it. Using the language of the day, this Austin College Hall of Honor member explained to the Houston Post that:
“…on Thanksgiving Day at Dallas I expect my team to show the Methodist brothers how to play football; and, although we are undoubtedly severely crippled, I’m confident that we can demonstrate the superiority of the doctrine of the Presbyterian team in what I think will be the hardest fought game of the season.”
Thousands were in attendance, and would not be disappointed. The game was fast and exciting. Long runs, big hits, and goal line stands. Also, the game was sloppy. Fumbles and missed field goals were plentiful. By the fourth quarter, the contest stood deadlocked 0-0.
But clutch runs by Cecil Griggs (also in the AC Hall of Honor with a Roo Tale still to come) deep into Pirate territory led to a dramatic field goal by “Chili” Richards to take the lead. The Roo defense would hold. Final score: Austin College 3, Southwestern 0. The Roos were the third best team in the state of Texas, behind the Horns & Aggies.
On that very same day at that very same hour, another football game was taking place. At Clark Field in Austin, the T.I.A.A. champion Texas Longhorns were battling the Oklahoma Sooners. The winner would be crowned the “mythical” champions of the Southwest. In an equally hard fought battle, the visiting Oklahoma squad would hold on for a 6-3 victory over Texas.
As the Sooners & Horns walked off Clark Field that day, neither team had a clue about what awaited their schools. Gaston Park was calling, and so was Dallas……..forever.
Southwestern fans are excited, and prepare to head north to Dallas…
Preview of the game in the Sherman Democrat…
From the AC Chromascope. Roos win!
….and take 3rd in the state behind UT & A&M…
Photos from the Thanksgiving contest…
“That Game”…
OU triumphs in Austin at the same hour as the Roos in Dallas…
Chapter 4: Before there was Dallas, there was Austin & Norman
Austin College & Oklahoma both triumphed in Texas that Thanksgiving Day in 1911 (see Houston Post). The Roo – Pirate Thanksgiving matchup was a success. Locals from Sherman & Georgetown had traveled south and north with great fanfare, and Dallas fans had benefited. City leadership in government and business began to wonder whether Gaston Park might be able to attract more and better games. If two of the top private schools in the state could be enticed to play, why not two of the largest state schools in the region?
Inquiries were made in Austin & Norman. Oklahoma was immediately interested. Texas was reluctant, but finally agreed when Dallas proposed a date change. Instead of meeting on the Thanksgiving holiday, UT & OU would face off in October during the State Fair. The Horns would need to find a new rival to play on Thanksgiving. As we all know, they would.
11 months after the Austin College / Southwestern game, Dallas fans were treated to an even bigger Gaston Park contest. The Sooners came ready to play, and the outcome was never in doubt. Crowds in the thousands once again saw some great football, this time with Oklahoma defeating Texas 21-6 in the first ever Red River Rivalry in Dallas.
After 1912, trains continued to carry Horns and Sooner fans both north and south to Dallas every year for this emerging annual classic. Eventually, Fair Park itself would be enlarged and Gaston Park would be replaced with Fair Park stadium (see an earlier Roo Tale here: http://bit.ly/2ceZ3Ri) and finally the Cotton Bowl.
The Horns and Sooners will face off once again on Saturday, October 8th. It will be the 102nd meeting in Dallas. But that won’t be the only game on tap that afternoon. The Kangaroos will journey to Georgetown to take on the Southwestern Pirates. Just as in 1911, both games will be occurring simultaneously not far from downtown Dallas and downtown Austin.
I’ll be out of town that day, far from both Austin & Dallas. I’ll probably be watching the Horns & Sooners like most of the state of Texas. But I’ll also have a silent toast to both schools in Georgetown …………. two of the oldest schools in the state of Texas and two institutions that helped pave the way for the best college football game in the state of Texas.
Go Horns or Go Sooners………………………and Go Presbyterians Roos.
OU starters ready for the first Dallas clash, 1912…
Thousands of fans from Dallas, Austin, & Norman watch the first Red River Rivalry at Gaston Park, 1912…
Scenes from Gaston Park in 1912. OU 21, UT 6.
The enjoyable ride that is the UT OU Red River Rivalry…
