![]() They brought the records back to Austin and sent the Rangers back to Houston. Within minutes a group of men in their underwear were chasing the Texas Rangers and overtook them about 20 miles out of town. An innkeeper by the name of Angelina Eberly heard the commotion and fired off a cannon to wake up the town. Unable to make the move without the land records, he tried to have the Texas Rangers steal them out of Austin in the middle of the night. It took a few years to untangle the diplomatic strains between France and the Republic of Texas after that, but it was worth it to Austin residents who'd have something to laugh about for quite some time.Īustin may have caught the French diplomat off guard, but President Sam Houston knew what he was dealing with when he wanted to relocate the capital of Texas to the city of Houston a few years later. By this time, the residents had had enough whining and threats and ran Dubois out of town. Dubois immediately (after running away) claimed diplomatic immunity, invoked the "Law of Nations" and demanded punishment of the innkeeper. That's when it got ugly - a fight ensued, the servant was thrashed, and the innkeeper went after Dubois promising the same fate. When he realized that complaints were getting him nowhere, regardless of how much he exaggerated the claims (including that the pigs were breaking into his boudoir to devour his fine linens) he had his servant go out one night and shoot a few pigs. ![]() and 6th Street, for those who'd like to picture this), claiming the pigs were eating his horse feed. He complained incessantly about an innkeeper whose herd of marauding pigs was allowed to roam the streets of downtown Austin every night (in the vicinity of what is present day Congress Ave. When it was barely a town on the edge of the wild frontier, more than 180 years before the first bumper sticker, Austinites were already doing things their own way.Ĭonsider the example of the French charge d'affaires, Alphonse Dubois de Saligny - a pompous aristocrat that could never understand or accept that Austin was not impressed by his importance. ![]() To a lot of us, "Keep Austin Weird" isn't about a tee shirt, it's a reminder that we live in one of the most unique and original cities in the country, and we never want to lose that.Īustin has always been weird. In fact, they did such a good job of marketing and profiting from that slogan that other marketing companies in other cities picked it up and pretty soon, it became "Keep (fill in the blank) Weird." But like cookie-cutter malls and chain restaurants that look exactly the same no matter what part of the country you happen to be in, we'll let the big companies make a profit here just like anywhere else. Ironically, what began with a grass roots movement to support the local businesses got trademarked by a marketing company to sell tee shirts and ball caps. "Keep Austin Weird." The unofficial slogan of the city has different interpretations to different residents, but most would agree that not being "normal" is one of the things we cherish about Austin.
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