Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire

On Mar. 30, 1870, Pres. Ulysses S. Grant signed the act that restored Lone Star statehood. Texans were, for better or worse, back in the Union after four years in the Confederacy and five as an occupied territory. Upon hearing the news three days later, Gov. Edmund J. Davis dropped the word “provisional” from his job description and ordered the legislature into session on the last Tuesday of the…