This Day In Texas History - February 12

[joe817]

1836 - Santa Anna's main army crossed the Rio Grande heading for San Antonio. Within a month the battle at the Alamo would take place.

1836 - The Red Rovers, a volunteer military company from Courtland, Ala., arrived in Goliad to take part in the Texas Revolution. The company earned its name from the red jeans that were part of the uniform. It had about 70 members. The Red Rovers were organized by Jack Shackelford, a surgeon and former Alabama state senator.

1849 - Lt. William H. C. Whiting and Lt. William F. Smith, both Army engineers, under orders by Maj. Gen. William J. Worth, departed San Antonio to investigate the trail to Presidio del Norte to determine if there was such a practical route between El Paso and the Gulf of Mexico. They had a force of fifteen men. Accompanying them was an escort of nine men included experienced woodsmen and hunters well versed in frontier life. Whiting, only twenty-four years old, had no previous frontier or Indian experience.

1888 - James Field Smathers was born on a farm near Valley Springs, TX. He invented and patented the electric typewriter in 1912.

1899 - Tulia, Texas reported the coldest temperature ever recorded in the state--minus 23 degrees Fahrenheit. This was part of the "Big Freeze," an infamous norther that killed 40,000 cattle across the state overnight. This temperature was matched in Seminole in 1933. The highest temperature recorded for Texas was 120.

1924 - The Texas Centennial Board of One Hundred was established at a meeting in Austin to plan a celebration to commemorate the Texas Revolution and at the same time to advertise Texas to the world.

1943 - The first class of cadets arriving at Marfa Army Airfield graduated and received their silver wings. The base at first was designated Marfa Army Air Field, Advanced Flying School, but at the arrival in June of Hoyle's replacement, Col. George F. Hartman, the name was changed to Marfa Army Air Field, Army Air Forces Advanced Flying School.

1983 - Running as a Republican to fill the seat he resigned as a Democrat only a month before, Phil Gramm wins his own seat back on this date in 1983. Gramm was pressured to resign by Washington Democrats because of his support of Ronald Reagan for President. Reagan was inaugurated three week before.