SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) - During the mid-1800s, four streets in downtown Shreveport were named after significant figures in the Texas Revolution. This article will give you a brief history of the men behind the street names, and show a connection between early leaders in Shreveport, Louisiana and the revolution in nearby Tejas. This map of Shreveport in 1850 was published in Historical Profile Shreveport 1850, by Fredricka Doll Gute and Katherine Brash Jeter, published for the Spring Street Museum by The Shreveport Committee of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Louisiana, 1982. Map by Marion Murtishaw Bridges. Angled photography of map by KTAL/KMSS' Jaclyn Tripp. Shreveport was intentionally planned by a partnership of seven people on May 27, 1836. At first, the town was to be called Shreve Town after Henry Miller Shreve, the fabled clearer of the great log jam in the Red River. But the year after Shreve Town was named, residents decided to call it Shreveport instead. Shreveport is older than Caddo Parish, which was created on January 18, 1838. The very first sheriff of Caddo Parish was Alexander Boyd Sterrett, the husband of Martha Bowie Sterrett. Martha's brother, James Bowie, who is credited with inventing the Bowie knife, died defending the Alamo during the Texas Revolution just before the formation of Shreveport. The Texas Revolution ended in 1836, and Shreveport's first city government was formed in 1839. The Texas Revolution, which became the theme for many of Shreveport's first streets. "The buildings on both sides of Texas Street, with few exceptions, were frame, and there were large vacant spaces between some of these," wrote early settler W. H. Scanland, who arrived in Shreveport in 1854. "At the junction of Texas and Market Streets, on the north side, and in the center of Market, stood the Market House. This was the rallying point for citizens and their servants who carried baskets for the marketing. Others came to get their morning cup of coffee and talk of the affairs of the day." This article refers to the highway to Texas. It was printed in the Weekly Shreveport Times on Feb. 6, 1850. Shreveport's Texas Street wasn't just a little street named Texas. It was a little section of what locals called the Highway to Texas or the Dallas to Shreveport Road. Scanland also documented streets in early Shreveport that were named after leaders of the Texas Revolution. "Milam Street was also cut down, and the buildings on that street, on the same parallel were also in the air," wrote Scanland. "The courthouse was a two-story frame building on Crockett Street." Crockett Street People rarely associate Davy Crockett, "King of the Wild Frontier," with Shreveport. But Crockett Street in historic Shreveport was named after the notorious character who gained fame as a backwoods politician long before he died at the Alamo. Portrait of Colonel Davy Crockett by John Gadsby Chapman, Library of Congress. In 1879, John M. Swisher wrote that Colonel Davy Crockett was on his way to the Alamo when he rested at the Swisher family's home in Texas. John was a boy then, but spending time with Davy Crockett left an impression on him. "It happened on that day that Colonel Crockett arrived. I had been out hunting with a party of friends. I had killed my second, and, I believe, my last deer, which I tied behind my saddle. I reached home with it about nightfall. Colonel Crockett surprised me by coming out and assisting me in taking it down from the horse. He complimented me highly by calling me his young hunter, and batering me to a shooting match. I accepted this proposition, since he offered to shoot off hand and give me a rest. My pride swelled at once. I would not have changed places with the President himself." Swisher described Crockett as around 40 years old, stout, muscular, around 6 feet tall, and between 180 and 200 pounds. Swisher said Crockett had grey eyes and sand whiskers. "He was fond of talking, and had an ease and grace about him that rendered him irresistible. During his stay at my father's it was a rare occurrence for any of us to get to bed before twelve or one o'clock. He told us a great many anecdotes. Many of them were commonplace and amount to nothing in themselves, but his inimitable way of telling them would convulse one with laughter." Advertisement from The South-Wester, Aug. 1, 1855, shows a general store on Shreveport's Crockett Street. Swisher said he would never forget the day Crockett left for San Antonio. "We watched him as he rode away by the side of his young traveling companion ( B. A. M. Smith) with feelings of admiration and regret." Davy Crockett was killed at the Alamo. David Crocket was born on Aug. 17, 1786, near the Nolachucky River in what is now Tennessee. He was born as poor as his folks, and by the age of 18, he had not learned to read or write. He married twice, was widowed once, and became a neighborhood magistrate before being elected to the state Legislature. He was elected to the United States Congress in 1827, 1829, and 1831. He was considered a keen-witted frontiersman, but Crockett left for the new frontier of Tejas after he was defeated in yet another run for Congress. Crocket was one of the 150 men who fought on the side of Tejas during the battle at the Alamo. He was killed on Mar. 6, 1836. Travis Street "To the People of Texas and all Americans in the world," wrote William Barret Travis on Feb. 24, 1836, from the Alamo. "I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. I have sustained a continual bombardment and cannonade for 24 hours and have not lost a man. The enemy ahs demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken. I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism and everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid with all dispatch. The enemy is receiving reinforcement daily and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country. Victory or death, William Barret Travis, Lt. Col. comdt." An excerpt from Travis' letter written from the Alamo. Travis first came to Texas from Georgia in 1830, establishing law in the little town of Liberty and then in San Filipe. He was one of the first men to join an army assembled to fight for independence from Mexico. Advertisement for a boarding house on Travis Street in Shreveport. Printed in The South-Western, Sept. 20, 1854. Travis became the commander at the Alamo and was killed on Mar. 6, 1836, while trying to defend it. Drawing of William Barret Travis from William Barret Travis - Britannica Kids In 1836, Mrs. Dilue Harris wrote what she remembered about Colonel Travis and the Texas Revolution from her childhood. "On the 12th of March came the news of the fall of the Alamo. A courier brought a dispatch from General Houston for the people to leave. Colonel Travis and the men under his command had been slaughtered... Then began the horrors of the "Runaway Scrape." We left home at sunset, hauling clothes, bedding, and provisions on the sleigh with one yoke of oxen. Mother and I were walking, she with an infant in her arms. Brother drove the oxen, and my two little sisters rode in the sleigh. We were going ten miles to where we would be transferred to Mr. Bundick's cart... Sister and I had been weeping all day about Colonel Travis." Fannin Street Fannin Street in downtown Shreveport was named after James Walker Fannin, Jr., a member of the Texian Army who was killed at the order of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Lost history: The first capital of Texas was in Louisiana Here's what we know about Fannin's life. Fannin was the son of Isham Fannin, a plantation owner in Georgia and a veteran of the War of 1812. He was born on Jan. 1, 1804, and attended the University of Georgia when he was 14. He enrolled at West Point shortly thereafter and left the school after a duel with another cadet. Fannin married Minerva Fort and became a member of a Masonic lodge in Georgia before moving to Velasco, Tejas, where he became a planter and slave-trader. Portrait of James Walker Fannin, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia When the Texas Revolution began, he joined with the forces and fought with Jim Bowie at the Battle of Concepcion. "The news I gave you a few days back is too true," he wrote to Mr. Joseph Mims on February 28, 1836, from Goliad, Tejas. "The enemy have the town of Bexar, with a large force, and I fear will have our brave countrymen in the Alamo. Another force is near me. It crossed the Neuces yesterday morning, and attacked a party by surprise under Colonel Johnson, and routed them, killing Captain Pearson and several others after they had surrendered." Fannin wrote there were about four hundred and twenty men with him, "and if I can get provisions in tomorrow or the next day, can maintain myself against any force. I will never give up the ship while there is a pea in the dish. If I am whipped it will be well done, and you may never expect to see me." He asked for others to send the letter to his wife. "Hoping for the best, and prepared for the worst. Farewell, J. W. Fannin, Jr" Advertisement for a rent house on Fannin Street in Shreveport from The South-Western, Sept. 12, 1860 Fannin was in Goliad, Texas, when General Sam Houston ordered the men to retreat. While retreating, Mexican cavalry attacked the men and the Battle of Coleto Creek was on. Fannin, the commander, negotiated a surrender. But all prisoners were massacred--including James Walker Fannin. Milam Street Ben Rush Milam was born on Oct. 20, 1788, in Frankfort, Kentucky, and fought in the War of 1812. He later floated down the Mississippi River to New Orleans on a shipment of flour. By 1818, Milam was in Tejax and trading with the Comanche. Milam wrote a letter from a Mexican prison on the 5th of July, 1835, to say that he had not had a very pleasant Independence Day. "I can not say that I enjoyed it. I got a bottle of mescal and drank tot he Federal Constitution in all parts of America. I had no countrymen to join me, or perhaps I should have one better." Then Milam explains why he was in prison. "We left Monclova on the 29th of May, and were taken prisoners on the 5th of June, at night. The troops had been watching our march all the last day, and knew the only chance we had to get water. They placed themselves in a position to take possession of our horses as soon as it was dusk." Milam detailed the situation. He and others were taken to San Fernando and confined for a week. "We were not permitted to write or speak to any person except in the presence of an officer, and then only in the Spanish language. From there we were taken to Rio Grande, where we were treated somewhat better. From Rio Grande we were brought to this place. At present we are under the charge of Colonol Altapa, who is a gentleman, and gives us every indulgence we ask for. From here we expect to be sent to Monterey to stand our trial. I hope to be set at liberty. But all is uncertainty." Advertisement in the Weekly Shreveport Times, Apr. 23, 1853, shows a business located on the corner of Shreveport's Milam Street. Milam then describes that thousands of troops would be on the march to San Antonio in the next few weeks. "Their intention is to gain the friendship of the different tribes of Indians, and if possible to get the slaves to revolt. These plans of barbarity an injustice will make a wilderness of Texas, and beggars of its inhabitants, if they do not unite and act with promptness and decision. The people of Texas will never submit to a dictator. Yours, B. R. Milam" Portrait of Ben Rush Milam, public domain Weird history: Drew Barrymore’s great-grandpa was almost killed by a Shreveport mayor’s brother Years later, a tale about Milam was detailed in Pease's History of Texas. While Milam was imprisoned in Monterey, be befriended the jailer and was given permission to occasionally bathe in the river. Milam had a friend bring a horse and tie it up at the river, and one day as Milam was going to bathe he kept on walking, mounted the horse and took off. It took days for him to ride back to Texas, and by the time he got there the Texas Revolution had already begun. He and others had a few drinks and decided to attack the fort at Goliad. They were able to take the fort back from Mexican troops. After the Goliad Campaign of 1835, Stephen F. Austin appointed Milam to command a company of scouts and determine what routes to use to retake San Antonio. Milam was killed on Dec. 7, 1835, by a rifle shot when he was moving between positions. Three days later, Mexican forces left San Antonio. Sources: With the Makers of Texas: A Source Reader in Texas History, by Herbert Eugene Bolton, Ph.D., and Eugene C. Barker, M.A., The University of Texas, Gammel-Statesman Publishing Co., 1904 A Texas Scrap-Book Made up of the History, Biography, and Miscellany of Texas and Its People, compiled by D. W. C. Baker, published by A. S. Barnes & Company, 1875. Benjamin Rush "Ben" Milam (178801835) by Lyman Hardeman, Texas Proud, Dec. 4, 2020 On Sept 15, 1829, Afro-Mestizo Mexican President Vicente Ramon Guerrero issued the Guerror Decree, prohibiting slavery in most of Mexico, published by California African American Museum, Sept 15, 2019. Texas Historical Commission: Texas in the Civil War Texas State Historical Association