In 1949, a sensational story about a fascinating, daredevil of a man gripped the nation, especially Texas, where a murder mystery took place. During WWI, a man named Tex Thornton learned all he could about explosives, and became known as a master of blowing things up. He perfected the art of controlling explosions and made a good name and a lot of money for himself in the Texas Panhandle blowing oil and gas wells. This was risky business, and Tex also earned a reputation for controlling the inevitable fires due to pockets of gas in the wells.
He would use nitroglycerin to very strategically snuff out the oxygen contributing to the flame. Tex became a wealthy man and travelled around the state putting out enormous gas fires in the 1930s and 40s. One day, he was driving back to the Panhandle after a job and in Tucumcari, New Mexico he picked up hitchhikers, a young married couple named Johnson. After that, things got crazy. The three people stayed the night in a motel in Texas, and Thornton’s body was discovered in his bed by a maid the next morning.
The two hitchhikers were assumed to have stolen Thornton’s giant wad of cash, diamond ring, and then killed him in his bed. The newspaper man of the Amarillo Times immediately picked up the story, and newspapers everywhere reported on the murder. Finally, on June 25, 1949, headlines reported that the married hitchhikers had been found, the same day as Thornton’s funeral. This man with an incredible, dangerous talent and his brutal murder were one of the most gripping stories of the time.
This project is made possible by grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission and with the help of UNT Libraries.
Gainesville Daily Register Digitization Project 