DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells this story, and I'm gonna give it to you straight out of the record — this is Duane, and this one's worth every mile. Now, there are names on markers all across this state, and then there are names that helped shape what the whole world thought about Texas. George Wilkins Kendall was the second kind.
Born in New Hampshire in 1809, Kendall learned printing early and put his hands to work in some of the biggest cities of the young republic — New York, Boston, Washington, D.C. But it was New Orleans where he made his first mark on history. In 1837, he and Francis A.
Lumsden founded the New Orleans Picayune. A newspaper that would carry his byline for the rest of his life. And what a life it was going to be.
In 1841, Kendall joined the Texan-Santa Fe Expedition — not as a soldier, but as a reporter. That distinction didn't save him any trouble. He was imprisoned right along with the other ill-fated members of that expedition.
Most men would have considered that the end of the adventure. Kendall wrote a book about it. Then came the Mexican War, 1846 to 1848, and here's where the story stretches wide open.
Kendall rode often with the Texas Rangers, filing his reports by Pony Express. The marker calls it the world's first war coverage by a foreign correspondent. Let that settle for a second.
The world's first. A man on horseback, dispatches flying ahead of him, and the whole reading world waiting to find out what was happening in Texas. By 1847 he had settled himself on a Texas sheep range at Post Oak Springs.
He kept writing his columns, and the world kept listening. In a single mail he received three hundred letters — from places as far away as the Sandwich Islands — all of them inquiring about Texas. Three hundred letters.
One mail. The man had readers. Then the Civil War came down on the country, and Kendall turned producer.
He grew wool for Confederate uniforms and blankets on that range of his. He even proposed a weaving mill on the Comal River, a plan to make cloth close to the flocks themselves. He sent that proposal to the government.
The government sent back nothing. No response at all. So he kept at it on his own, and the land made sure it wasn't easy.
To keep that wool coming, he had to fight Comanches, range fires, and freezing disasters — each one the kind of thing that breaks ordinary operations for good. And when roaming vandals threatened to kill his shepherds, Kendall and his teenage son went out and tended the flocks themselves. Father and son, in the field, because the work had to go on.
Through all of it — the imprisonment, the war, the wool, the winter — his dispatches to the Picayune never stopped. To the very end of his life, right up to 1867, he was still sending back word, still praising the good life in Texas. They called him a molder of world opinion.
His theme, the marker says simply, was the greatness of Texas. And if three hundred letters in a single mail from as far as the Sandwich Islands is any measure — well, the world was paying attention.
What the marker says
(1809 - 1867) A molder of world opinion. His theme: Greatness of Texas. Born in New Hampshire. Learned printing and worked in New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. With Francis A. Lumsden, in 1837 founded New Orleans "Picayune". Joined the Texan-Santa Fe Expedition, 1841, as a reporter. Was imprisoned along with other ill-fated members. Wrote a book on the expedition. During Mexican War, 1846-1848, often rode with the Texas Rangers, in world's first war coverage by a foreign correspondent; filed his news by Pony Express. In 1847 settled on Texas sheep range, at Post Oak Springs. Continuing news columns brought him in a single mail 300 letters from far away as Sandwich Islands, inquiring about Texas. During the Civil War, produced wool for Confederate uniforms, blankets. Proposed a weaving mill on Comal River, for making cloth near the flocks. Received no government response. To keep producing wool, had to fight Comanches, range fires, freezing disasters. When roaming vandals threatened to kill shepherds, he and his teenage son tended flocks themselves. To end of his life, his regular dispatches to the "Picayune" continued to praise good life in Texas. (1965)