The University of Texas at Austin
musicians off the record

1800s

Folk and religious music of Native Americans flourishes.

1831. Mary Austin Holley, a cousin of Stephen F. Austin, writes the first folk song composed in the colony, "Brazos Boat Song."

1836. "The Yellow Rose of Texas," the story of a slave woman who helps win the battle of San Jacinto, is composed (possibly) in the months following the battle by an unidentified slave of Texan Col. William Morgan. The song is published in 1858 in New York.

1899. Texarkana native Scott Joplin, the "King of Ragtime," creates a living language for jazz, R&B, and rock n' roll with the publication of his "Maple Leaf Rag." Within a decade, a half-million copies are sold. Seventy-two years after its circulation in 1902, his tune "The Entertainer" charts at number three, a testament to his genius and staying power.

Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin