Corpus Christi History by Murphy Givens
Corpus Christi History is published Wednesdays. Murphy Givens also sits on the Caller-Times editorial board and can be contacted at givensm@caller.com
Wednesday, October 20, 1999
When Taft came to visit
This Friday will mark the 90th anniversary of President William Howard Taft's visit to Corpus Christi. It wasn't much of a presidential visit, but it was a big deal in 1909. It gave the city more attention and national publicity than it had received since Gen. Zachary Taylor arrived in 1845.
Taft came to Texas to visit Mexican President Porfirio Diaz in El Paso. While in El Paso, Taft made a deal with Texas Gov. Thomas Campbell. The deal was that for as long as Taft was in Texas he would wear the governor's battered old Panama hat while the governor would have to wear the president's formal silk top hat. The governor's Panama was described as looking like it had been used on a farm to carry eggs in.
After the El Paso summit, the president came to South Texas to visit his half-brother's ranch near Gregory. They had spared no expense in preparing Taft Ranch and the ranch house, La Quinta, for the president's visit; a new golf course was added for the portly president's pleasure and a hotel was built to accommodate the president's entourage and press corps.
When the president arrived, he looked the place over and said, "Charlie, old boy, you said, 'Let's go to Texas and rough it.' I don't call this roughing it.''
Two days later, on Oct. 22, a revenue cutter from Galveston, the Windom, picked up Taft at La Quinta for his trip across the bay to Corpus Christi. Waiting at Corpus Christi's Central Wharf was the Welcoming Committeem elegantly dressed men standing aorund between the cotton bales.
There had been much discussion over what the members of the Welcoming Committee should wear for the occasion. They telegraphed Washington, seeking advice, and finally decided on silk top hats, Prince Albert coats and matching shoes. They had to send to New York for the outfits.
The Welcoming Committee waited in what was one of the hottest October days that anyone could remember. As the Windom tied up at the wharf, the portly president made his way up the gangway. He was sticking to his bargain; he was wearing Campbell's battered old Panama, a well-worn alpaca coat and old gray trousers. An observer said the president was amused at the matching outfits worn by the Welcoming Committee.
A structure - they called it a "pergola'' - had been built below the bluff on Mesquite Street, about where the Caller-Times parking lot is now. There were seats on the bluff and a crowd of some 10,000 were on hand. Schools and businesses were closed for the occasion. A band from Fort Sam Houston played and, as the president made his way to the podium, he noticed a knot of Civil War veterans in uniform and he invited them to join him on the "pergola,'' giving the veterans a place in the shade while the Welcoming Committee, burning up in their Prince Albert coats, had to wait in the sun.
It was a sweltering day and several young girls fainted. A newsman, whose camera made a loud click when he snapped a photo, had a bayonet shoved at him by one of the militia members from Brownsville who were helping to police the event. The president spoke about the importance of waterborne commerce, a subject dear to the heart of Corpus Christi.
After the speech, Taft was escorted to a seven-passenger Rambler and taken to the new Country Club on North Beach. His visit marked the club's formal opening. Taft was asked to hit the first ball on the course and, as he bent over, someone snapped a picture of the president's vast rear end. The golf club he used, the golf ball, and the photograph were all kept in a glass case at the Country Club for many years. (The club house was destroyed in the 1919 storm.)
After a reception and meal at Henrietta King's house on the bluff, Taft was taken back to La Quinta. He stayed at the ranch for four days. He saw the first tractor in South Texas, a Hart-Parr powered by a two-cylinder gasoline engine. The Taft Ranch cowboys held a roping, branding and riding competition for him. They dipped cattle in a tick-killing vat. They took him on a jackrabbit hunt. And they had a special saddle (a 22-incher) made at King Ranch and large horse, Old Sam, ready for the 320-pound president to ride in a cattle roundup.
The day after the event, the Dallas Morning News said, "Speaking of your other troubles, how would you have liked to be the cow pony that Mr. Taft rode to the roundup?'' It was said that as a reward for carrying the president, Old Sam was put to pasture and never saddled again. You wonder if the Corpus Christi Welcoming Committee put on the matching presidential outfits ever again. I doubt it.
