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Please add profiles of those who were born, lived or died in Waco, Texas.
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Waco is the county seat of McLennan County. It sits on the Brazos River halfway between Dallas and Austin.
The city has seen its share of violence. In 1824, the Wichita Tribe of Waco and the European settlers had a violent altercation. In 1825, Stephen Fuller Austin made a treaty with the Wichita Tribe. The tribe was then pushed off their land and moved near Fort Worth and then were put onto a reservation in Oklahoma.
Then things were relatively quiet until the 20th century, when, in 1916, a black teenager was tortured, burned and mutilated to death in the town square by a mob who took him from the courthouse, where he had been convicted of murdering a white woman. This incident became known as the Waco Horror.
In the 1920's, The KKK (Ku Klux Klan) had large number of lynchings throughout Texas. In 1923, Waco's sheriff protected a black man that was coerced into confessing to murdering multiple people from being lynched due to the NAACP's campaign to stop the violence.
On May 11, 1953, a tornado touched down in Waco and killed 114 people.
On February 28, 1993, a shootout occurred with the Branch Davidian Cult and agents of the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms). Four agents and six cult members died in the melee. 50 days later, on April 19, 1993, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and the Branch Davidians had a standoff that ended when the agents destroyed the compound with fire. Seventy-four people died, including the cult leader, David Koresh.
On May 17, 2015, rival biker gangs broke into a fight at a local bar. The Waco police intervened, and it ended with nine dead and eighteen injured. 170 were arrested.
Waco Mammoth National Monument
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame & Museum
