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 …

Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "Armchair quarterbacks and other critics shouldn't be so quick to belittle prison and law enforcement officials for handling of prison riots, the warden of the Huntsville, Tex., state prison said on Oklahoma City Saturday."

Photograph used for a story in the Oklahoma Times newspaper. Caption: "Laurence Harvey, warden of the Huntsville, Tex., state prison, will be featured speaker Saturday at a meeting of the Oklahoma City Chapter of Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship International."

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

Patent for improvements in book support: "book are held in an upright position on the shelves" (lines 9-10).

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

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

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Gerald Mann, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Authority of the Texas Prison System to close certain streets within the City of Huntsville for the purpose of enlarging and remodeling to prison at Huntsville.

Letter from J. W. C. Davidson to David C. Dickson with Davidson applying for work as a bookkeeper at the penitentiary in Huntsville.

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

Postcard from R. P. B. to Junia Roberts Osterhout. Featured on the postcard is a photo of a grave for General Sam Houston. In front of the grave is a fence missing several posts. A tree is by the grave and behind it is another fence. In the background are other grave stones. On the bottom, R. P. B. asked if Junia was glad that a monument was going to be placed at the grave.

Advertisement for a baseball game between the Prison All stars (a team selected from the best players of the Texas Prison system) and Southern Select (All Mexican team of Houston) at the Prison Stadium in Huntsville, Texas on Sunday, August 9, 1942. Entertainment by Prison Military Band. The game starts at 2:00 p.m. General admission is 25 cents (federal tax included). At head of poster, "Double-Header".

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Gerald Mann, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Matter of encumbering Item No. 134 of the current appropriation for the Texas Prison System with the purchase of two rugs to be installed in the General Manager's residence at Huntsville.

Photograph of the The Woodlands- Sam Houston Home in Huntsville, Texas.

Photograph of the The Woodlands- Sam Houston Home in Huntsville, Texas.

Photograph of the The Woodlands- Sam Houston Home in Huntsville, Texas.

Photograph of the The Woodlands- Sam Houston Home in Huntsville, Texas.

Photograph of the The Woodlands- Sam Houston Home in Huntsville, Texas.

Photograph of the The Woodlands- Sam Houston Home in Huntsville, Texas.

Photograph of the The Woodlands- Sam Houston Home in Huntsville, Texas.

Photograph of the The Woodlands- Sam Houston Home in Huntsville, Texas.

Photograph of the The Woodlands- Sam Houston Home in Huntsville, Texas.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story about the third time which apparently was a charm for 25 years old David Meyers who had been serving a prison sentence for burglary.

Card advertising Huntsville State Park with brief descriptive information and a summary of activities, facilities, and other features of the location.