C.S.A. Home Front Producer George Wilkins Kendall
Kendalia, Kendall County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(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)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
George Wilkins Kendall (1809–1867) learned printing in the Northeast before co-founding the New Orleans Picayune in 1837. Riding with the Texas Rangers during the Mexican War, he filed dispatches that made him one of the world's first war correspondents, and his columns tirelessly promoted Texas to readers as far away as the Sandwich Islands. Settling on a Kendall County sheep range, he produced wool for Confederate uniforms and blankets during the Civil War while fighting Comanches, fires, and freezes to keep his flocks.
Why it matters
Kendall pioneered modern war reporting and shaped the outside world's image of Texas, linking the frontier sheep country to the era's great national conflicts through both his pen and his wool.
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Related people
- · George Wilkins Kendall
- · Francis A. Lumsden
Related events
- · Texan-Santa Fe Expedition
- · Mexican War
Themes & tags
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