This entry was posted on December 3, 2013 at 10:22 AM and has received 2263 views. Print this entry.

Texas was suffering from a severe drought. Transportation planning, taxes, and public school finance were topics of debate.  It sounds familiar – but this was the nineteenth century, not the twenty-first. 

In 1883, the 18th Legislature passed, and voters approved, a constitutional amendment providing for an ad valorem tax for the support of public schools, but additional legislation was needed. 

 
 

Meanwhile, the drought exacerbated conflicts between landless cowboys and ranchers who had fenced their land – and occasionally neighboring public land – with barbed wire. Desperate to find water and grazing for their herds, organized bands of cowboys with names like Blue Devils and Javelinas took to cutting fences, causing millions of dollars of damage. 

 
 

The conflict between cattle ranchers and fence cutters was reaching the point of crisis; landowners demanded action, but there were no laws that would allow an adequate response.

 
 

In January of 1884, Governor Ireland called the Legislature into special session to address public school finance, fence cutting, and other issues. By the end of the special session, laws had been passed to make the willful cutting of fences a crime; to forbid landowners from fencing public lands; to alter the system of school finance; and to improve county roads.

Whether you are interested historical issues, like the fence-cutting wars, or in subjects of recurring interest, like school finance and transportation, the Legislative Archive System can help. With the Legislative Archive System, you can search for passed legislation back to 1883 by bill number, session law chapter, and caption. 

Additional search options and resources are available for more recent sessions. For assistance using LAS, please contact the library.

This entry was posted on February 6, 2012 at 5:02 PM and has received 2995 views. Print this entry.

This entry was posted on September 27, 2011 at 8:30 AM and has received 1903 views. Print this entry.

You can find almost anything in Google, but have you ever wondered if you're searching in the most efficient way? If so, take a look at some of the tips and shortcuts explained in the links below. Google can do amazing things in one click, like find population and unemployment rates, define any word or phrase, or even help you track the status of arriving or departing U.S. flights. It also has the capacity to handle precise word searching, allowing you to narrow your search results and save time.  For learning these tips and tricks, we liked the three websites below, however additional information can be found by visiting Google's Inside Search Features page.

Google Search Features: Learn about the different types of information you can find in one click, as well as more advanced search techniques like searching on the synonym of your search term, or using the plus (+) operator. 

 
















Basic Search Help: This page contains general recommendations for getting the best out of your Google search. Among other things, the folks at Google suggest keeping your search simple by using as few terms as possible and by using highly descriptive (unique) words.

This entry was posted on August 15, 2011 at 8:00 AM and has received 1784 views. Print this entry.