John Neely Bryan, our intrepid Dallas settler, left his wife and children in 1849 to strike it rich in the California Gold Rush. That did not go according to plan so he was back in town within the year. He was then a delegate to the Texas National Democratic convention but his luck soon turned again when he shot a man in 1855 – supposedly for insulting his wife. Bryan freaked out, left town, and hid with the Creek Nation. However, the insulter recovered from his gunshot wound and Bryan could have returned home well before he did – six years earlier. Yep, that’s right, he left his young wife and multiple children to fend for themselves for six years.
How do we know most of this stuff? Oral history mostly, with a few written biographies or autobiographies or diaries thrown in. The Dallas Morning News (one of my main sources of information) started in 1885 – so anything before that is a bit nebulous when it comes to hard facts and dates. Sadly, mass layoffs were just announced at the Dallas Morning News.
Image – John Neely Bryan whose story continues in our next installment.
