It Happened Today . . . in Texas

Marc h 24, 1886.  Gordon, Texas.  John Fortner was 28 years old.  Blue eyed, light complexioned, with a red moustache and an otherwise good appearance.  He was said to have a good name in the town, with no history of criminal mischief or other malfeasance.  But at 7 pm on March 24th, having encountered a small boy returning from a hunt and carrying about a quarter pound of powder, John Fortner, ba...

March 17, 1981, Liberty, Texas.  Girls like Vicki Moore didn’t travel in the circles of high society.  They were far more likely to be found at the bowling alley, the trailer park, or working the afternoon shift at the local Dairy Queen.  And that’s right where Vicki was, when she met local Liberty attorney Price Daniel, Jr.  If that name sounds familiar, it should.  Price Daniel, Sr. was kind of...

Maj. Horace Elmo Donaho March 10, 1945.  Stephenville, Texas.    Eula Langston Donaho had lost her husband Cody just nine months earlier.  And though she had four other children, her mind and heart were preoccupied with the fate of her son Horace Elmo Donaho, a captain in the US Army.  Elmo had left John Tarleton College and been commissioned an officer during World War II.  He had fought in Italy...

March 3, 1989, Washington DC. and recently elected president, George Herbert Walker Bush has departed the White House for a visit to the Pentagon.   As the motorcade makes its way from Pennsylvania Avenue across the Potomac, a welcoming party assembles in front of the building with Secretary of Defense nominee, former Texas senator John Tower, joined by acting secretary of defense, William Howard...

  February 24, 1983.  Amarillo, Texas.  Charles Rumbaugh was 25 years old at the time, but he was determined 25.  He liked things on his terms and on his schedule, and it people weren’t willing to cooperate with him, well, he might just have to take matters into his own hands.  And so when his lawyers persuaded a federal judge to stay his execution for a murder that Rumbaugh had committed when he...

February 17, 1974.  Benbrook, Texas.  Valentine’s Day had come on Thursday that year, and for the students of Western Hills High School, the traditional rituals of young love were honored and observed as usual.  Chocolates, roses, love notes, all the usual accoutrements of high school romance were in play.  And of course, there was a dance.  The Valentine’s Dance would be held on Saturday, Februar...

The wreckage of the two fatal crashes. Laredo (above) and San Antonio (bottom)   February 10, 1923.  Kelly Airfield.  San Antonio, Texas.  US Army Brigadier General Billy Mitchell was a handful for his friends and worse for his enemies. But he was also a bonafide war hero.  Given command of the entire American air combat forces in Europe, Mitchell led almost 1500 US and allied planes in an overwhe...

February 3, 1979 – Vidor, Texas.  Vidor Detective Lieutenant Sam Kitrell had been working overtime since January 30th, when New Mexico truckers James Hinchey and Rex Patrick Atencio were found stabbed to the death in the chest inside their bloody cab.  Hinchey’s son Eldon, who had been sleeping in the back, was the only witness.  Awakened by an argument, Eldon knew the killer to be a hitchhiker wh...

January 27, 1932 … Livingston, Texas. Polk County has always had its share of violence. In July 1931, when the district court came into session on July 13, there were seven murder cases on the docket in this small county. And before the month was out, another would be added to the list after the newly wedded bridegroom Leon Dougherty, 21 years of age, was shot in the head and killed in front of th...

January 20, 1919.  Hillsboro, Texas.  The county seat of Hill County was tense, and the locals were not happy.  It was a time of economic and cultural change.  Hillsboro was still a rural, agricultural community.  It’s proximity to Dallas that we take for granted today was measured in hours not minutes.  The 6000 residents or so were coping with the changes of the time – automobiles and motorized...

 January 13, 1994.  Azle, Texas.  Bonnie Conkling is headed to the post office to ship a package to her beloved daughter Ceslee, who is living her dream down in Florida.  Ceslee is in her third year as a clown for the famed Ringling Brothers Circus.  And the 1994 touring season is getting underway.  But before Bonnie can get the package shipped, she hears the news.  A Ringling Brothers Circus tra...

January 6, 1936. Pendleton, Oregon.  Oregon, you say?  Well hold your horses just a minute.  It’s Monday morning and William Owens kisses his wife Etta goodbye and heads to his job as assistant foreman at one of the Union Pacific sawmills in Pendleton, his place of employment for almost 13 years.  He’s had a nice run here in Pendleton.  Good job as a machinist, met and married his beloved Etta, an...

December 30, 1842.  Austin, Texas. 1842 had been a tense time for the infant Republic of Texas.  Regular incursions of Mexican troops across the loosely defended borders peaked with the rapid March capture of San Antonio by Mexican General Rafael Vasquez.  With over 1000 troops with him, the Texan defenders fled quickly, with many retreating to Austin.  And though Vasquez’s raiders withdrew rather...

December 23, 1927.  Cisco, Texas.  It had been a chilly week in the run up to Christmas.  And though balmier days were ahead, it was still chilly as the 3500 residents of the bustling little town prepared for Christmas. Founded 49 years earlier, by 1927, the town’s economy was largely driven by farming, ranching, and the railroad. Many residents were employed by the Texas and Pacific Railway, whic...

December 16, 1826. The town of Nacogdoches at the time was an established, but small community, estimated at between 500 and 1000 people. But it stood at a crossroads touching the edges of the immigrant Anglo colonists pushing further into Texas, the indigenous populations, being displaced but still dominant in their lands and feared in the colony, and the public officials and forces of the Mexica...

December 15, 1899. Marfa, Texas. Philipine Krupp and her son Cornelius, residents of Houston, had been staying at the ranch of Lacy and Mary Jane Duncan. The ladies headed to town in a horse drawn carriage to do some shopping. With them was another young lady from Houston, and Mary Jane’s granddaughter, seven year old Inez Coalson. And on the Southern Pacific rail line, Fast Freight No. 243, a dua...

The city is Dallas TX. And the location is the old Dallas County courthouse -- the courtroom of District Judge C. A. Pippen. It’s Friday afternoon and five days of rain have given way to mild temperatures for December with highs in the mid-60’s. But in the jury room things aren’t so mild. And the trial of Ray Adams, a central Texas farmer who earlier that fall had gunned down local banker Orville...

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