By RENE TORRES
In March of 1846, General Zachary Taylor and his army landed in Point Isabel in boats that were described by early newspapers as “peculiar.”
Their march continued to Brownsville, and at 1 p.m. on the afternoon of March 28, 1846, Old Glory flew for the first time in this region. The flag was tied to a mesquite tree on the north bank of the Rio Grande.
Documents belonging to Mrs. Lillian Weems of Harlingen indicated that it was a calm day when the American flag was hoisted near the site of old Fort Brown in Brownsville. The 8th U.S. Infantry band was there, playing the “Star Spangled Banner”—another indication that the Americans were there to stay.
The flag listlessly fluttered from its mesquite limb, and occasionally dipped its cloth into the muddy Rio Grande.
As per Captain W.S. Henry, this historical moment did not have enough ceremony. Captain Henry asserts in his explanation of this occasion, “that the troops should have been paraded under arms and that a national salute should have proclaimed in tones of thunder.”
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