This Day In Texas History - January 26

[joe817]

1824 - Elisabeth Ney was born. She was one of the first professional sculptors in Texas with works that included Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston and can be seen in the state Capitol.

1836 - James Bonham was appointed one of a committee of seven to draft a preamble and resolutions on behalf of the Bexar garrison in support of Governor Henry Smith's campaign in the election of delegates to represent the garrison at the Texas constitutional convention.

1837 - The steamship Laura successfully navigates the Buffalo Bayou but misses the new city of Houston, due to dense vegetation. She docked at Allen's Landing on the south bank of Buffalo Bayou and a fork of White Oak Bayou in central Harris County.

1839 - The Congress of the Republic of Texas passed two important pieces of legislation: a homestead act and an act setting aside land for public schools and two universities. The homestead act, patterned somewhat after legislation of Coahuila and Texas, was designed to encourage home ownership. It guaranteed every citizen or head of family in the republic "fifty acres of land or one town lot, including his or her homestead, and improvements not exceeding five hundred dollars in value." The education act was inspired by President Mirabeau Lamar's determination to establish a system of education endowed by public lands, but failed to produce the desired results immediately because land prices were too low for this endowment to provide revenue.

1839 - The Republic of Texas chartered the Houston and Brazos Rail Road, one of four lines chartered by the Republic. The company was granted the right to build railroads and turnpikes from Houston to the Brazos River. The ceremony marking the beginning of construction was set to coincide with the fourth anniversary observance of the Odd Fellows in Texas.

1877 - John Barclay Armstrong, a Texas Ranger known as "McNelly's Bulldog," as named second lieutenant of the Special Force of Texas Rangers under 1st Lt. Leigh Hall. He was assigned to the Eagle Pass area, where he operated on both sides of the border, assisted in the breakup of several bands of outlaws, and helped arrest John King Fisher in April 1877. While recovering from an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound suffered at Goliad, Armstrong asked to be allowed to arrest the notorious gunman John Wesley Hardin. The ranger pursued Hardin first to Alabama, then to Florida, then confronted him and four of his gang on a train in Pensacola. In the affray that followed, Armstrong killed one of Hardin's men, rendered Hardin unconscious with a blow from his handgun, and arrested the remaining gang members. After considerable delay in the execution of extradition papers, Armstrong returned Hardin to Texas, where he was tried and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison in September 1877. In July 1878 Armstrong was involved in the killing of outlaw Sam Bass at Round Rock.

1893 - Robert L. Williams produced the first piece of ware in the new McDade Pottery plant. The plant was the successor to a "jug shop" begun in 1853 in the vicinity of what is now Bastrop State Park.

1927 - Just days after a terrific bus-train accident that kill ten members of the Baylor Basketball team, the Texas Legislature introduced a bill today to construct overpasses or underpasses at all places where state highways intersect with railroads. As a result of the Legislatures actions today, U.S. Highway 81 through Round Rock later became the first railroad overpass in Texas (1935). The new overpass is within sight of the 1927 tragedy which prompted today's bill in the legislature.

1945 - Audie Murphy, born near Kingston, TX in 1924, was the most-decorated soldier in United States history, earned the Medal of Honor by single-handedly repelling a German attack. The Texas native enlisted in the United States Army in June 1942. During World War II he received thirty-three awards, citations, and decorations. After the war he starred in numerous movies, wrote country-and-western songs, and pursued other business interests. Murphy was killed in an airplane crash in 1971 and was buried near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.

1948 - The Texas State Guard Reserve Corps, established by legislation approved on May 22, 1947, was activated by order of the adjutant general on January 26, 1948, under the command of Lt. Gen. Claude V. Birkhead. The TSGRC originally had an authorized strength of 18,000 officers and enlisted men. The TSGRC originally had an authorized strength of 18,000 officers and enlisted men.
1960 - Lamar Hunt was made President of the new American Football League. Not a single game had been played at this point.

[ELB]

...

1945 - Audie Murphy, born near Kingston, TX in 1924, was the most-decorated soldier in United States history, earned the Medal of Honor by single-handedly repelling a German attack. The Texas native enlisted in the United States Army in June 1942. During World War II he received thirty-three awards, citations, and decorations. After the war he starred in numerous movies, wrote country-and-western songs, and pursued other business interests. Murphy was killed in an airplane crash in 1971 and was buried near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.
...

I looked this up in Wikipedia:

The Colmar Pocket, 850 square miles (2,200 km2) in the Vosges Mountains, had been held by German troops since November 1944.[61] On 14 January 1945, Murphy rejoined his platoon, which had been moved to the Colmar area in December.[62] He moved with the 3rd Division on 24 January to the town of Holtzwihr, where they faced a strong German counterattack.[63] He was wounded in both legs, for which he received a second Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster for his Purple Heart.[64] As the company awaited reinforcements on 26 January, he was made commander of Company B.[65]

The Germans scored a direct hit on an M10 tank destroyer, setting it alight, forcing the crew to abandon it.[66] Murphy ordered his men to retreat to positions in the woods, remaining alone at his post, shooting his M1 carbine and directing artillery fire via his field telephone while the Germans aimed fire directly at his position.[67] Murphy mounted the abandoned, burning tank destroyer and began firing its .50 caliber machine gun at the advancing Germans, killing a squad crawling through a ditch towards him.[68] For an hour, Murphy stood on the tank destroyer returning German fire from foot soldiers and advancing tanks, killing or wounding 50 Germans. He sustained a leg wound during his stand, and stopped only after he ran out of ammunition.[66] Murphy rejoined his men, disregarding his own wound, and led them back to repel the Germans. He insisted on remaining with his men while his wounds were treated.[66] For his actions that day [26 Jan 45], he was awarded the Medal of Honor.[69] The 3rd Infantry Division was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions at the Colmar Pocket, giving Murphy a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster for the emblem

At this point he was 19 years old and already had two Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars, a Distinguished Service Cross, and a Bronze Star with V (for Valor) device. The actions for which he was awarded these medals usually involved moving towards the enemy alone or nearly alone and shooting them, although on one occasion he took a radio forward -- alone -- and directed his platoon's fire while he was being directly fired on by the Germans. In between actions he spent time in the hospitals either recuperating from wounds or malaria.

This was not a 19 year old who sought out "safe spaces" so he wouldn't have to hear opinions he disagreed with.

[chuck j]

joe817 , I thank you for going to the effort to post the history of Texas . I always look for them , thank you sir !

[joe817]

joe817 , I thank you for going to the effort to post the history of Texas . I always look for them , thank you sir !

Thanks for the kind words chuck. They are appreciated. It never ceases to amaze me that on this day/date there's always something interesting here in Texas that happened.

[joe817]

ELB, as always thanks for adding to the thread. One of my all time favorite war movies is "To Hell and Back" with Audie Murphy playing himself. A true Texas hero by any stretch of the word.

There's the Audie Murphy Museum in Greenville that has some wonderful displays of his deeds and actions:

http://www.cottonmuseum.com/index.html

[chuck j]

Audi Murphy ;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot8eYXR ... yDNQg5VKKx

Cuse me , I'm going back to watch one............or two .

[ELB]

...
1927 - Just days after a terrific bus-train accident that kill ten members of the Baylor Basketball team, the Texas Legislature introduced a bill today to construct overpasses or underpasses at all places where state highways intersect with railroads. As a result of the Legislatures actions today, U.S. Highway 81 through Round Rock later became the first railroad overpass in Texas (1935). The new overpass is within sight of the 1927 tragedy which prompted today's bill in the legislature.
...

This also piqued my interest, and I did a little more digging. The legislation was indeed introduced... but apparently never became law due to opposition of the Governor. I don't (yet) known the reason for that. That accident did contribute to another traffic safety measure that I will get to momentarily.

However, the more important story, which properly should appear on Jan 22, is about The Immortal Ten. Baylor alumni should be well familiar with it, but it was news to me, and as I dug into it, found it fascinating. The best source I found for it is Treasures of the Texas Collection
Baylor University’s Immortal Ten
a production of KWBU 103.3 FM – public radio for Central Texas

For the other ignoranti, I shall try to summarize:

Baylor's basketball team of 1927, with a coach in his first year (Ralph Wolf) was traveling to Austin to play against the University of Texas on January 22. Things being a bit more rudimentary in those days, the 21 team members, coach, staff, and students, filled a small bus with wicker seats and manually cranked windshield wipers when it departed Waco. One of the students, a 19 year old freshman, partially paid for his tuition by performing as the team bus driver (and he had some experience at it by this time).

Along the way they picked up another student who was hitchhiking from Waco to Austin for the game. The student probably saw this as a lucky break since the weather was crummy, with drizzle, cold, and fog. The bus was so small that he had to ride on the running board. Later another passenger took pity on him and traded places.

In Round Rock, very near its destination, the bus came upon a railroad crossing. It was foggy and rainy, and the road had been muddy, dirtying the windshield (remember the hand-cranked wipers). Some accounts state there were passenger railroad cars on a siding that obscured the active track. The driver approached the crossing slowly, but was nearly upon the tracks when the coach spotted the Sunshine Special, a passenger train that was late and thus traveling at higher than normal speed (60 mph) heading for Taylor. The coach warned the driver, who thought it too late to try to stop and accelerated across the tracks at an angle. Some of the passengers also saw what was happening and a few managed to jump through the windows.

The bus almost made it. The train struck the right rear corner of the bus, tearing off the back end and the roof. Six team members were killed outright, two died on the way to a hospital, and two more died at the hospital in Georgetown. Others were injured. Local residents came to help sort out the mess, and the dead and injured were put on the baggage car of the train and sent on to Taylor. One of the residents of the surrounding area, Ivey Foster Sr., heard of the crash, hurried to the scene to help, and found his own son among the dead.

The dead, all members of the team, became known as The Immortal Ten after the phrase was used by a reporter for the Waco Tribune Herald, Jack Hawkins. Baylor has incorporated the event into a yearly remembrance as part of its Homecoming ceremonies.

The rest of the season was cancelled, but Ralph Wolf remained as coach for another 14 or 15 years and part of Baylor for about 30 years, then became Mayor of Waco in 1952, just in time for the tornado that devastated Waco in 1953.

John Kane, one of the survivors, was quoted in a newspaper as saying that team member Clyde Kelley pushed his friend Weir Washam out of a bus window, sparing Washam's life but losing his own. John Kane later joined the Army Air Corps, subsequently the Army Air Forces, and was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading his bomber group during the raid on the oilfields of Ploesti in WWII. (Kane is one of two Baylor alumni to win the Medal of Honor, the other being Marine First Lieutenant Jack Lummus, who was killed as a result of his medal-winning actions while leading his platoon on Iwo Jima during WWII.) Several of the other survivors went on to notable lives as well.

The hitchhiking student who traded his running board perch for a warmer seat, was killed in the crash. His name was Ivey Foster Jr. It was his father who came to the scene to help and found his son in the wreckage. The student who took over the running board position, Ed Gooch, survived.

As a matter of coincidence, the first highway overpass over a railroad crossing in Texas, triggered by this event, is currently being redone, and memorials to The Immortal Ten are incorporated into the design. Apparently there is a plaque there now, but it is small and hardly noticed, so the new design is to rectify this.

And the other, more lasting contribution to traffic safety attributed to this event is the law and procedure requiring passenger buses (and fire trucks too!) to stop at a grade crossing, open the door, and look and listen for oncoming trains before crossing.

[chuck j]

Interesting post ELB ! Thanks

[misterlarry]

Always enjoy the Texas history posts. Thanks for all your efforts Joe. RIP Audie Murphy.