Pages past — July 26

On this date ...

1976: Ronald Reagan announced Sen. Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania would be his running mate if he won the Republican presidential nomination.

Reagan lost the nomination to Gerald Ford, but became president in 1980, selecting George H. W. Bush as his running mate.

Schweiker, who said he was surprised to be named Reagan’s running mate in 1976 since he’d never even met the man, became Reagan’s secretary of health and human services from 1981 to 1983.

1961: The mother of a Clovis woman arrived safely at Clovis Municipal Airport after an unplanned stop in Cuba.

Mrs. William Conn, who lived in Miami, was among 37 people on a plane hijacked at gunpoint and flown to Havana.

She told a reporter she had no idea the plane had been hijacked until it arrived in Havana and an announcement was made that “We’re landing in Havana, Cuba, at gunpoint. Be calm, we’ll probably be leaving in about 15 minutes.”

She said passengers were held for 29 hours, but “They treated us like royalty. They were a real congenial bunch.”

The gunman remained in Cuba and Premier Fidel Castro kept the $3.5 million airplane, United Press International reported.

UPI reported the passengers returned home with straw hats, boxes of cigars and bottles of rum purchased at the Havana airport. They were put up in a hotel for two nights.

Conn was on her way to visit her daughter, Myrtice Conn, when her plane was hijacked.

Pages Past is compiled by Editor David Stevens. For more regional history, check out his weblog at:

www.highplainsyesterdays.com