The Lone Star Fair

History remembers the Alamo. The Texas Rangers. The Six Flags that have flown over Texas. Every Texan knows the defiant cry, "Come and Take It." But one of the greatest stories in Texas was nearly forgotten.

In 1852, thousands journeyed to the remote Gulf Coast settlement of Corpus Christi for an event unlike anything the young state had ever witnessed.

Immigrants searching for a new beginning, Native tribes, land speculators, merchants, gamblers, adventurers, and families f...