1843 - The brig Wharton, a warship of the Navy of the Republic of Texas, brought word to Commodore Moore's squadron off the Yucatán port of Sisal that the Republic of Texas had declared a blockade of the Mexican coast and remained in Mexican waters to help with its enforcement. Returning to her home port of Galveston, the Wharton witnessed the almost total loss of her crew to expiring enlistments and desertions and, in May 1842, sailed to New Orleans for much-needed repairs with only nine sailors. After receiving a complete overhaul and recruiting a new crew at New Orleans, the Wharton and Moore's flagship, the Austin, set out for a final cruise off the Mexican coast, on April 19, 1843.
They sailed to Campeche and there engaged the Mexican steam frigate Moctezuma on April 30. Although the Austin and the Wharton succeeded in temporarily driving the Mexican fleet from Yucatán waters, the Wharton was struck by a sixty-eight-pound shot and lost two men killed and four wounded when one of her own guns exploded during the two days of fighting. A return engagement with the Mexican fleet on May 16, 1843, resulted in a clear Texan victory, an engraving of which later adorned the cylinder of the famous Colt Navy revolver. The Austin and the Wharton left Mexican waters on June 25 and arrived at Galveston on July 14, 1843, effectively bringing to an end the active service of the Texas Navy.
1846 - John T. Price, captain in the Texas Rangers, was probably in charge of one of the three companies raised for service on the northern and western Texas frontier in 1840. Because of rumors of a Mexican invasion, he and John C. Hays were sent to the Nueces River in 1841. Price commanded a company raised in Victoria and Goliad counties in September 1845. In May 1846 his company joined Zachary Taylor's army for the Mexican War, in which they served primarily as escorts and scouts. They were mustered out of service on June 25, 1846.
1864 - A skirmish between Confederate and Union forces was fought at Las Rusias, a colonia located one mile north of the Rio Grande in southwest Cameron County. Confederate officer Refugio Benavides of Laredo led a company and joined John Salmon (Rip) Ford to overrun Union forces. Ford, a colonel of the Second Texas Cavalry who engaged in border operations protecting Confederate-Mexican trade, praised Benavides for his gallant conduct during the battle. Las Rusias had also been the site of a skirmish on April 25, 1846, when Mexican troops ambushed an American patrol; the shedding of “American blood upon American soil” sparked the Mexican War. A year Rip Ford wins the last battle of the Civil War after the war ends.
1874 - The Mason County War, commonly known as the Hoodoo War, was one of a number of feuds that developed over the stealing and killing of cattle. As early as June 25, 1874, Wilson Hey, presiding justice of Mason County, wrote Governor Richard Coke requesting that troops be stationed in the county to help deal with cattle rustling. The trouble began seriously when the sheriff, John Clark, jailed nine men on charges of stealing cattle. Before a trial was held, four of them escaped, but a mob of about forty men took the remaining five from the jail on February 18, 1875, led them to a place near Hick Springs, and hanged them. Daniel W. Roberts of the Texas Rangers, a few of his men, and a group of citizens followed the mob but were not in time to save the prisoners. [ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/jcm01 ]
1876 - On this day in 1876, George Armstrong Custer and some 265 men of the Seventh U.S. Cavalry were annihilated on the Little Big Horn River. Custer had a Texas history. After an outstanding career in the Union Army during the Civil War, he had been assigned to duty in Texas as part of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan's effort to prevent Confederate retrenchment in Mexico under the emperor Maximilian. During five months in Hempstead and Austin, he alienated many in his command by strict enforcement of regulations prohibiting foraging and other army predations, while winning the gratitude of many Texans. On the other hand, he also recommended that the army retain control of Texas until the government was "satisfied that a loyal sentiment prevails in at least a majority of the inhabitants." Custer's wife, Elizabeth (Bacon), included in her memoir Tenting on the Plains (1887) a charming account of their stay in Texas. Custer's headquarters building in Austin, the Blind Asylum, located on the "Little Campus" of the University of Texas, has been restored.
1910 - In the 1870s, the Feds removed the log jam ("the Great Raft") that formed Caddo Lake, and the waters receded. On this date in 1910, the Federal government took control of Caddo Lake, and began building an earthen dam, to restore the water level. But not before oil was discovered. In 1911, the world's first over water oil well, struck oil at 2,185 feet, producing 450 barrels per day. Caddo Lake State Park is a major effort to preserve what was once touted as the most beautiful lake in America.
1941 – The contract to build Jones Field airfield base in Bonham was approved. The Bonham Aviation School there provided flight training for army pilots during WWII. The contract established the Bonham Aviation School as the civilian contractor for the 302d Squadron of the United States Army Air Force. The first cadets arrived on October 1, 1941, and trained in Fairchild PT-19s. Over the next few years more than 5,000 pilots received flight instruction under group commanders at Jones under Ladd Moore and Harry A. Welter. Five months after the surrender of Germany, the army deactivated Jones Field.
1944 - The USS Texas was the flagship for the bombardment group supporting the Allied landings on Omaha Beach. On June 25, 1944, the ship received two direct hits from German shore guns: one to the armored conning tower, which killed the helmsman, and another to the main hull, which did not explode. After the damage was repaired, the USS Texas supported the landings in Southern France from August 14 to August 16, 1944.
[ for a fascinating read: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qtt02 ]
1945 - Jack L. Knight, Medal of Honor recipient, was born on May 29, 1917, at Garner, Texas. Jack and his two brothers, Curtis and Loyd, enlisted in Troop F, 124th Cavalry, Texas National Guard, at Mineral Wells. The 124th, one of the last cavalry regiments in the army, was called to federal service in 1940 and posted to India, where it was charged with opening the vital Burma Road between India and China.
On February 2, 1945, near Loi-Kang, Burma, during one of the last battles on the road Lt. Jack Knight was leading his troop against heavy concentrations of enemy mortar, artillery, and small-arms fire. After taking the objective they encountered a nest of enemy pillboxes. Preceding his men he singlehandedly knocked out two pillboxes and killed the occupants in several foxholes before being blinded by a grenade. Jack's brother Curtis rushed to his aid but was himself struck down by a Japanese bullet. Jack ordered his men to Curtis's aid, while he continued to lead the assault until he was mortally wounded.
His gallantry was responsible for the elimination of most of the enemy opposition. Louis Mountbatten, supreme Allied Commander in Southeast Asia, later dedicated the area as "Knight's Hill." On October 14, 1972, a marble marker was dedicated at Mineral Wells by Lord Mountbatten honoring Knight and the F Troop. On June 25, 1945, his Medal of Honor was presented to his father by Gen. Bruce Magruder at Camp Wolters, Texas. Knight's body was returned from Burma and buried in Holders Memorial Chapel Cemetery at Cool, Texas.
1957 - In southwest Louisiana and Texas, Hurricane Audrey killed 390 people. Cameron, LA, was wiped out. (June 25-28)
1961 - Ma Ferguson, the first woman governor of Texas, died of heart failure. Miriam Amanda Ferguson was born in Bell County in 1875. She married James Edward Ferguson in 1899 and served as first lady of Texas while he was governor from 1915 to 1917. After his impeachment, Miriam entered the race for the Texas governorship. She won an August run-off and the November general election, thus becoming the second woman governor in United States history.