1960: Johnny Horton dies On this day in 1960, singer Johnny Horton died in a car accident in Milano, Texas. Though he was born in Los Angeles in 1925, Horton grew up in East Texas and graduated from high school in Gallatin. He attended junior college in Jacksonville and KilgoreContinue Reading
1906: Dance Queen is Born On this day in 1906, Gussie Nell Davis was born in Farmersville, Texas. She went on to gain fame as the organizer and leader of the Kilgore Rangerettes, the innovative dance-drill team at Kilgore College. First performing in 1940, the group achieved international recognition underContinue Reading
1891: High bridge sees its dawn over the Sunset Route On this day in 1891, construction began on the Pecos High Bridge in Val Verde County. Completed in early 1892, this structure was actually the second bridge built to serve trains traveling on the Southern Pacific’s Sunset Route, and theContinue Reading
1940: Cowboy poet goes home On this day in 1940, the cowboy “poet laureate,” Lysius Gough, was found dead at his home in Amarillo. His latest poem, still scrolled in the typewriter, was appropriately titled “Gone.” Gough, born in Lamar County in 1862, was a man of diverse talents andContinue Reading
1866: Like joins like as Belle Starr marries horse thief Jim Reed On this day in 1866, Myra Maybelle (or Belle) Shirley, better known as Belle Starr, married outlaw Jim Reed. Reed eventually became involved with the Younger, James, and Starr gangs, which killed and looted throughout Texas, Arkansas, andContinue Reading