From one o’clock on the afternoon of July 24, 1974, until shortly before ten o’clock the night of August 3, eleven days later, one of the longest hostage-taking sieges in the history of the United States took place in Texas’s Huntsville State Prison. The ringleader, Federico (Fred) Gomez Carrasco, the former boss of the largest drug-running operation in south Texas, was serving life for assault with intent to commit murder on a police officer. Using his connections to smuggle guns and ammunition into the prison, and employing the aid of two other inmates, he took eleven prison workers and four inmates hostage in the prison library. Demanding bulletproof helmets and vests, he planned to use the hostages as shields for his escape. Negotiations began immediately with prison warden H. H. Husbands and W. J. Estelle, Jr., Director of the Texas Department of Corrections. The Texas Rangers, the Department of Public Safety, and the FBI arrived to assist as the media descended on Huntsville. When one of the hostages suggested a moving structure of chalkboards padded with law books to absorb bullets, Carrasco agreed to the plan. The captors entered their escape pod with four hostages and secured eight others to …

Weekly newspaper from Huntsville, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Huntsville, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with advertising.

Letter from Mrs. Cyrus Ray to Texas State Representative Truett Latimer urging him on behalf of the XXI Club of Abilene, Texas, to support a bill maintaining and enlarging the Sam Houston Memorial Museum in Huntsville, Texas.

Video footage from the WBAP-TV station in Fort Worth, Texas to accompany a news story about the home of General Sam Houston deteriorating due to thousands of people visiting the home annually and little money from the state being appropriated for its upkeep.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, covering a news story about residents who appear the city council to protest the widening of Yucca Sreet in Riverside

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story about the videotape recording of the August third shootout that left four persons dead after an eleven day siege at the prison.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story about a walker county jury who is investigating the attempted escape at the Huntsville unit of the Texas prison system which is expected to make its report.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story about the walker county grand jury which has issued the first of several planned public reports on its investigation of the Huntsville prison shootout on august third.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas relating a news story.

Script from the WBAP-TV station in Fort Worth, Texas, covering a news story about the home of General Sam Houston deteriorating due to thousands of people visiting the home annually and little money from the state being appropriated for its upkeep.

Postcard of a photograph of a church with arched doorways and a steeple, described as "Methodist Church, Huntsville, Texas. Erected 1888." The letter on the back of the postcard reads, "Certainly enjoyed my visit to Beaumont, and oh how I did hate to leave. Reached home from there Monday. Best wishes to all my friends, Love Sarah." The postcard is addressed to "Miss Mamie McFaddin Beaumont, Texas."

Interview with Louis Meade Burton and Patricia Ruth Scott Burton, a couple who were involved with the school system in Kerrville, Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Burton discuss their family histories, their move move to the area, Pat's work with the Tivy school system, Louis's coaching career, and the flood of 1932. The interview includes photographs of the couple and their family, on pages 27-37.

Weekly newspaper from Huntsville, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with advertising.