Rival groups were founded, there was squabbling over rules and champion birds were stolen. Interest in the fancy, as the pastime was known, grew through the early 1900s. also was reported as “testing the feasibility” of using pigeons boat captains were experimenting with sending messages by bird to company headquarters. “Communication by means of carrier pigeon seems to be coming back into vogue,” said the Light, noting that the birds at that time were in use by the British to carry dispatches during the Boer War (1899-1902). Its six charter members “intend(ed) to fly their birds up to 600 miles,” releasing them from stations on a course from East Texas to Scranton, Miss., and timing the pigeons’ return to their home coops, known as lofts. 22, 1900, according to a story in the San Antonio Light, Feb. The Lone Star Homing Pigeon Club, “the first club of this kind in the state,” was organized Jan. Raising and racing the speedy birds began as a hobby.

For the first half of the 20th century, San Antonio was known for pigeon-powered communication, embraced by this newspaper as well as our military installations. It sounds like something the Flintstones would do: Send a super-fast message, tie it to a bird’s leg and let go.Īmazingly, this works - as long as the bird is a trained homing pigeon. Courtesy Fort Sam Houston Museum Show More Show Less Pigeon lofts were first located in the second story of this former wireless/radio room built in 1911, with quarters for the pigeon supervisor on the ground floor. Courtesy Fort Sam Houston Museum Show More Show Less 5 of5 Fort Sam Houston was a breeding base for the Army's pigeon service, part of the Signal Corps. The pigeons would be released many miles away, and their times recorded as they arrived at home. Courtesy Fort Sam Houston Museum Show More Show Less 4 of5 In 1917, an Army 'pigeoneer' transports his charges in a trailer specially built to be towed by a motorcycle for a training flight. The post bred and trained the Army's fastest fliers, birds that won long-distance races of up to 600 miles. Express-News file photo Show More Show Less 3 of5 During World War II, soldiers release Fort Sam Houston pigeons for a short training flight. He was a former plumber who got his start as a pigeon fancier, learned photography and launched the newspaper’s use of homing pigeons to carry football game film from stadiums to the newspaper office. Express-News file photo Show More Show Less 2 of5 Bill Goodspeed was a photographer for San Antonio Express-News. 1 of5 Bill Goodspeed, former Express-News photographer, holds one of of the homing pigeons that were used to send film from football games to be processed at the newspaper office.

Racing Pigeon Serial Numbers