January 12

1828 The U.S. and Mexico agree to the border falling on the Sabine River.

1872  Grand Duke Alexis commences a hunting expedition with Gen. Phil Sheridan, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, and William F. Cody. Their trip would include Nebraska and Colorado.  He later became an admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy, but while his influence was significant on modernization of the Navy he'd be relieved of command during the Russo Japanese War.

The Grand Duke's trip to the West,. which was part of a grand tour of the United States, symbolized a type of tourism in effect at the time, which included not only hunting expeditions such as this 1872 example, but also well equipped and well funded touring expeditions.  It also provides an example, albeit a little pondered one, on the limitations of transportation at the time.  Such expeditions were grand by necessity, although not usually this grand, as the limits on transportation meant that those heading out into the wilds of the West had very limited options if they were not intending to move there permanently, and even if they did.  Prior to the very recent advent of modern travel, those venturing beyond towns were either planning on very much roughing it, in which case they were rapidly hunting by absolute necessity, or they were extraordinarily well supplied from the onset.  While trips into and back out of the West and Wyoming were engaged in by much less well healed individuals than the Grand Duke, such as the early example by Francis Parkman, they were either relatively well provisioned or pretty darned spartan.  A good example of a contrary approach was a hunting expedition into the Big Horns by Theodore Roosevelt while he was a rancher, which actually had to start hunting well before that, and did the entire way, just in order to have the adequate provisions necessary to arrive at the intended destination.

1878  First issue of Carbon County News published. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1886  An explosion in the Almy coal mine killed thirteen miners.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1915 The United States House of Representatives rejected a proposal to give women the right to vote anti nationwide. It did exist in some individual states.

1963  Rock Springs hits its record low of -37F.

1995  Wolves retintroduced to Yellowstone National Park.