October 12, 1940: Tom Mix is killed in a car crash, on what is now Arizona Route 79, near Florence. He was 60, and may have been drinking. He also had money troubles, due to the drinking, gambling and 4 ex-wives. He was married for a 5th time at the time of his death. He had 2 daughters.
Thomas Hezikiah Mix was born January 6, 1880 in Mix Run, Pennsylvania, and grew up in nearby DuBois. DuBois was a company town, the company was lumber, and Mix's father, Edwin, was a stable master for the lumber company. Edwin taught Tom to ride and love horses.
He became an expert rider and an expert marksman, and by 1909, he was appearing in silent films, all Westerns, also featuring his steed, Tony the Wonder Horse. By the 1920s, he was making $7,500 a week. Often called the original cowboy star, and "The King of the Cowboys" at a time when Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and John Wayne were just kids, he made 291 films, and all but the last 9 were silent.
In 1929, he was a pallbearer at the funeral of his friend, Wild West legend Wyatt Earp, who served as a consultant on Western films. In 1988, the film Sunset starred Bruce Willis as Mix and James Garner as Earp. In 1935, Governor James Allred of Texas named Mix and honorary Texas Ranger.
But he was getting too old to do action movies. Plenty of "action heroes" today have lasted longer, but they tend not to drink as much as Mix did. He went back to performing in circuses, as he had 30 years earlier.
On October 12, 1940, he was driving from Tucson, intending to reach Los Angeles, when he swerved to avoid road construction, and crashed. But that's not what killed him: He had a large suitcase in the packing shelf in the back seat, unsecured, and it rushed forward, hit him in the back of the head, and broke his neck.
Mix was a big influence on actors John Wayne and Ronald Reagan. My grandmother, no fan of either Wayne or Reagan, mentioned him as a hero of hers, many times: "Tom Mix and his Wonder Horse Tony!"
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October 12, 1940 was a Saturday. The World Series had ended 4 days earlier, with the Cincinnati Reds beating the Detroit Tigers in 7 games. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. The NHL season didn't start for another 3 weeks. But these notable college football games were played:
* Stanford beat nearby Santa Clara, 7-6 at Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto, California. Stanford went on to win the Pacific Coast Conference title.
* Nebraska beat Indiana, 13-7 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska won the Big Six Conference title. Stanford beat them in the Rose Bowl.
Stanford ended up ranked Number 2, and was named National Champions by some sources.
* Michigan beat Harvard, 26-0 at Harvard Stadium in Boston. Michigan people, depending on their level of arrogance, like to either call their school "The Harvard of the West," or call Harvard "The Michigan of the East."
With running back Tommy Harmon going on to win the Heisman Trophy, Michigan lost only 1 game all season, to Minnesota, whose running back Bruce Smith would win the Heisman the next season. Minnesota, which was idle on October 12, won the Big Ten title, but did not accept any bowl bids, and was named National Champions by most sources. Because the Big Ten had a rule that only their Champions could go to a bowl game, Michigan ended up ranked Number 3, but not going to a bowl, and with the loss to Minnesota, ended up with nothing.
It would be the 1946 season before the Rose Bowl became a game between the champions of the Big Ten and the PCC/AAWU/Pac-8/Pac-10/Pac-12.
* Boston College beat Temple, 33-20 at Fenway Park in Boston. BC finished undefeated.
* Tennessee beat the University of Chattanooga, 53-0 at Shields-Watkins Field (now Neyland Stadium) in Knoxville, Tennessee. Chattanooga have been brought into the University of Tennessee system. They played in Division II from 1973 to 1976, Division I-A from 1977 to 1981, and since 1982 in Division I-AA/FCS.
Tennessee finished undefeated, and won the Southeastern Conference title, and went to the Sugar Bowl, where they lost to BC, who claim a National Championship for the season, even though no poll, major or minor, listed them as such, despite their undefeated finish.
* Mississippi State and Auburn played to a tie, 7-7 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. This would be the only blemish on MSU's record, though it cost them the Southeastern Conference title.
* Georgetown beat Waynesburg University, 26-0 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Georgetown were invited to the Orange Bowl, where they lost to Mississippi State.
Georgetown dropped football in 1951, restored it at the NCAA Division III level in 1970, and came back to Division I-AA (now Football Championship Subdivision, or FCS) in 1993. Waynesburg, in the Pennsylvania town of the same name, now plays in Division III.
* Texas A&M beat UCLA, 7-0 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. A&M won the Southwest Conference title.
* Rivalry: Virginia beat Maryland, 19-6 at the original Byrd Stadium in the Washington suburb of College Park, Maryland.
* Rivalry: Texas beat Oklahoma, 19-16 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
* Among the service academies, Army lost to Cornell, 45-0 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Navy beat Princeton, 12-6 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton, New Jersey.
* Among New York City teams, Fordham beat Tulane, 20-7 at the Polo Grounds; Columbia beat Dartmouth, 20-6 at Memorial Field in Hanover, New Hampshire; New York University (NYU) lost to Syracuse, 47-13 at Yankee Stadium; the night before, Manhattan College beat Boston University, 20-6 at the Polo Grounds, which had just gotten lights the preceding May; and City College of New York (CCNY) had the week off.
Fordham went to the Cotton Bowl, where they lost to Texas A&M. That remains the last bowl game for any team based on New York City. Today, no team in the City is in the Bowl Championship Subdivision (BCS, formerly known as Division I-A).
* Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech, 26-20 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.
* And Rutgers beat Lehigh, 34-0 at Taylor Stadium in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
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