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TEXAS RANGERS REMEMBERED

Click icon to view honorably discharged retired Rangers and officers.

Thanks to the Waco Ranger Museum and Hall of Fame.

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Texas Ranger Johnny Aycock

FIRST AWARD
JANUARY 1987

John Retired serving in the Texas Rangers Company “F” in 2001 after 19 years with the Texas Rangers. As a young 9 year old living in San Angelo, Texas John always wanted to be a Texas Ranger. John served in the United States Army in Vietnam and served four tours where he distinguished himself in combat and in his service to his beloved country. A finer man and Ranger you will ever know..John Aycock a good friend and certainly a Top Ranger.

Johnny Aycock is the most highly decorated Ranger in Ranger history. He has been awarded two Medals of Valor both dealing with the kidnapping of young children."Awarded in recognition of the gallant and courageous manner in which he effected the rescue of a kidnapped child being held for ransom at the risk of his own life. We consider Johnny Aycock a personal friend and a top Ranger.

Texas Ranger Johnnie E. Aycock, along with Texas Ranger Stanley Keith Guffey, on January 22, 1987, in Llano County, Texas, volunteered to be the arrest and rescue team in a high-risk tactical operation. It had been determined that a kidnapper holding a two-year-old-girl for ransom could not be permitted to depart a designated ransom-exchange area with the kidnapped child, as it was believed he would attempt to murder her. He had claimed to have murdered a second victim, which claim was subsequently determined to be true.

Ranger Aycock, along with his fellow Ranger, concealed himself in an automobile that was to be delivered to the kidnapper at the exchange point. The subject appeared and, rather than releasing the child, placedher and the ransom money in the vehicle where he was confronted by the Rangers, who identified themselves in an effort to effect his surrender and avoid bloodshed. The kidnapper commenced firing and, in an ensuing exchange of gunfire between the Rangers and the suspect, the suspect was killed and and Sgt. Guffey was mortally wounded. These heroic actions rescued the kidnapped victim from certain death. Ranger Aycock’s dedication to duty, his concern for human life, and gallantry and courage exhibited while fulfilling the responsibilities of his chosen life role brought much credit to himself and to the cause of law enforcement.

SECOND AWARD
JANUARY 1995

“Awarded in recognition of his valorous performance and extraordinary skill exhibited during the successful conclusion of a life-threatening hostage situation.

Sergeant Aycock was involved as a “hostage negotiator” during a situation where an individual was holding a 14-month-old child at gunpoint and law enforcement officials in a standoff in a field in rural Mills County. The individual had kidnapped the child earlier in the day, firing a 12-gauge shotgun through a door of a residence threatening to kill the child’s mother. A high-speed chase ensued and the individual’s stolen vehicle was disabled. Continuously threatening the life of the child, the individual indicated that he might attempt suicide.

Over approximately a four hour period, Sgt. Aycock at great personal risk, exhibited extraordinary courage, skill, and judgment in negotiating with the individual and finally successfully rescued the child and arrested the individual.

His performance exemplifies the high standards of the Ranger Division and reflects credit upon him, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the law enforcement profession."

Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson Co. “D” and “E.”

Joaquin Jackson was the Ranger who responded when riots threatened, violence erupted, and criminals needed to be brought to justice across a wide swath of the Texas-Mexico border from 1966 to 1993. Defying all stereotypes, he was the one Ranger who ensured a fair election—and an overwhelming win for La Raza Unida party candidates—in Zavala County in 1972.

He followed legendary Ranger Captain Alfred Y. Allee Sr. into a shootout at the Carrizo Springs jail that ended a prison revolt—and left him with nightmares. He captured “The See More Kid,” an elusive horse thief and burglar who left clean dishes and swept floors in the houses he robbed. He investigated the 1988 shootings in Big Bend’s Colorado Canyon and tried to understand the motives of the Mexican teenagers who terrorized three river rafters and killed one. He even helped train Afghan mujahedin warriors to fight the Soviet Union.

Jackson’s tenure in the Texas Rangers began when older Rangers still believed that law need not get in the way of maintaining order, and concluded as younger Rangers were turning to computer technology to help solve crimes. Though he insists, “I am only one Ranger. There was only one story that belonged to me,” his story is part of the larger story of the Texas Rangers becoming a modern law enforcement agency that serves all the people of the state. It’s a story that’s as interesting as any of the legends. And yet, Jackson’s story confirms the legends, too.

With right at 144 Texas Rangers to cover a state with 267,399 square miles, any one may become the one Ranger who, like Joaquin Jackson in Zavala County in 1972, stops one riot.

Jackson has been in several movies, namely as the character Wes Wheeler in the motion picture The Good Old Boys with Tommy Lee Jones, in a 1997 made-for-TV movie Rough Riders, and in a 1997 TV mini-series, Streets of Laredo based on author Larry McMurtry’s book by the same title. Jackson also played the fictional Sheriff Jackson in the 2008 movie Palo Pinto Gold, starring singer Trent Willmon, and appears as Archie in the motion picture Poodle Dog Lounge, released in late 2008.

Jackson retired from the Texas Rangers in 1993. He currently lives in Alpine, Texas with his wife Shirley, where he is the owner and operator of a private investigations firm.

Texas Ranger Captain of Company “E” Barry Caver.

“Four new ranging companies have been organized and taken their stations on our frontier. We are much pleased. They are true men and know exactly what they are about” – Victoria Advocate, Nov. 16, 1848.

It’s an understatement to say there is a lot to live up to when you put on a Texas Rangers badge.

Their 185-year tradition makes it a tough job, which Barry Caver did not fully appreciate until it happened for him in 1989.

Now retired as the captain of Company E to work in executive security for an oilfield service company, the native East Texan said, "A lot of respect and responsibility come with it and it’s instantaneous the day you pin it on.

“I thought, am I worthy of the badge? It doesn’t take long to figure out, just work hard and do your job. Never do anything to compromise your integrity. A lot of cases are so high profile and sensitive that it’s a lot of pressure. In situations like Waco, Fort Davis and Eldorado, the entire world is watching every move.

“I have always said the honest, law abiding citizen doesn’t have a clue as to what goes on in the real world. They shy away from the drug dealers and perverts, so they’re not exposed. It’s hard to describe how to distance yourself and not take a bad day at work home to the family.”

Leaving the Rangers on June 30 to work for Frac Tech Services in Weatherford, Caver had been a Ranger for four years in Huntsville when a U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms raid on the Branch Davidian compound north of Waco left four ATF agents dead.

He commanded a week-long standoff with Republic of Texas separatists south of Fort Davis in 1997 and recently directed officers at a polygamists’ center south of San Angelo.

Senior Captain Bruce Casteel

Bruce Casteel Served as the Assistant Senior Captain and Chief of Texas Rangers after moving from Lubbock Co. “C”. Within a short time Bruce became Senior Captain and Chief of Texas Rangers. Casteel retired from the Texas Rangers in 2001 and has
served as President of the Former and servers as one of the directors for the Former Texas Ranger Foundation based in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Texas Ranger Rudy Rodriguez

Retired Texas Ranger Sergeant, Company D, stationed in San Antonio, Texas and served from 1974 to 1994. A Floresville, Texas native, Rudy was a Wilson County Chief Deputy Sheriff before entering the Texas Ranger service. A better Ranger you could ever meet.

Clete Buckaloo Former Texas Ranger Captain Co. “A” and “D.”

In 1996 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant (Texas Rangers Company “F”, Waco, Texas), where he was responsible for first-line supervision of Texas Ranger Sergeants conducting criminal investigations and the administrative duties for the daily operations of the Texas Ranger Company. Later, he served as Captain in Company “A” (Houston) and Company “D” (San Antonio), where he directed operations for criminal investigations throughout several dozen Texas counties and was charged with the supervision of Sergeant Texas Rangers and support staff in the apprehension of wanted felons and the suppression of crime and violence.

In 2007, Mr. Buckaloo became Director of the 216th Judicial District Community Supervision & Corrections Department where for almost three years he was responsible for managing personnel and fiscal operations through the implementation of policies and procedures. He returned to the Texas Rangers in January 2010 where he served as Captain overseeing investigations involving public corruption.

Effective Aug. 16, 2010 the Office of the Attorney General’s peace officers and the staff assigned to the Criminal Investigative Division will report to a commissioned peace officer with a Deputy Attorney General-rank appointment. To fill that position, Attorney General Abbott appointed a lifelong Department of Public Safety officer and 20-year veteran of the Texas Rangers, Captain Clete Buckaloo, who will serve as Director of Law Enforcement.h3. A 30-year law enforcement veteran with more than 20 years of service with the Texas Rangers, Clete Buckaloo will serve as the agency’s first Director of Law Enforcement. Buckaloo first received his commission as a State Trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety in April of 1978. A little more than three years later, he became a DPS Narcotics Agent and six years after that joined the Texas Rangers at the age of 30. Although he retired from the Department as a Captain in 2007, he rejoined the Rangers earlier this year with the same rank. A graduate of Sul Ross State University, Buckaloo was honored by his alma mater as a distinguished alumnus in 2002. As Director of Law Enforcement, Buckaloo will oversee the agency’s commissioned peace officers, which will initially include the Fugitive Unit, the Cyber Crimes Unit, the Special Investigations Unit, the Facilities Security Unit, the Criminal Litigation Unit and the Professional Standards Unit. Clete and his wife, Regan, have one daughter

He is a graduate of both the Federal Law Enforcement Training Academy in Glynco, Georgia, and the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. His past accomplishments include Midland County Law Enforcement Officer of the Year, Sul Ross State University Distinguished Alumni Awards (2002), and President of the Texas Rangers Association. In April 2007 he was featured on the cover of Texas Monthly and in an article titled “Law of the Land.” We are proud to have Clete Buckaloo as a friend and backer.

Texas Ranger Lee Young

In 1988 Sgt. Lee Roy Young, Jr., a 14-year DPS veteran, became the first Texas Ranger of African-American and Seminole Indian descent in the 20th century. He was promoted after a distinguished career with Texas DPS Intelligence. Lee was from the Del Rio, Brackettville, Texas area. The country where the famous “Alamo Village” movie set is located.

Texas Ranger Senior Captain Earl Pearson

Earl Pearson, a 28-year veteran of the Texas Department of Public Safety, has been named chief of the Texas Ranger Division. With his promotion, Pearson becomes the first black Senior Ranger Captain and the first black DPS division chief.

“Earl Pearson has shown himself to be more than capable of leading the Texas Rangers,” said Col. Thomas A. Davis Jr., director of the DPS. “I am confident that he will do an excellent job.”

Pearson had served as assistant chief of the Rangers since 2001. He was Captain of Houston-based Company A for five years. Pearson graduated from the DPS Academy in 1975 and started his career with DPS as a Highway Patrol trooper in El Paso. He also was a trooper in Snyder and Abilene, and was a Highway Patrol Sergeant in Houston and Brenham.

Pearson joined the Texas Rangers in 1989 and was stationed in Brenham until he promoted to Lieutenant and moved to Waco in 1992. He promoted to Captain of Company A in 1996.

“Becoming Senior Ranger Captain is something that every Ranger supervisor aspires to,” Pearson said. “I feel honored that the director, the assistant director and the Public Safety Commission had enough confidence in me to place me in this position. I look forward to leading the Texas Rangers.”

The Texas Rangers are one of the five major divisions of DPS, along with Traffic Law Enforcement, Criminal Law Enforcement, Driver License and Administration. They specialize in felony crimes such as murder, white-collar crime and public integrity cases.

Texas Ranger Sergeant Robert Garza Company “D” Corpus Christi, Texas

Robert Garza is currently serving as resident Ranger Co.“D” in Corpus Christi, Texas. He is a graduate of San Isidro I.S.D. located in San Isidro, Starr County. Robert went to Texas A&I University, now Texas A&M at Kingsville, on a basketball scholarship. Being one of his former teachers I can state that Robert was an outstanding student and athlete. He is a good man to ride the river with. As a Ranger Robert wasinvolved with a national story about the murder of Selena Quiantanilla-Perez …article below:

As you’ve seen in the movie, Yolanda Saldivar kept police at bay for about 10 hours while she held a gun.

Saldívar’s trial for the murder of Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was followed closely by the latino community in the United States. The trial was not televised but there were outside the courthouse. The trial venue was moved to Houston, Texas after Saldívar’s lawyers successfully argued that she could not receive a fair trial in Corpus Christi, Selena’s hometown. Before the start of the trial, cnn reported that prosecutors were expected to introduce a controversial police confession signed by Saldívar in which she claimed she shot Selena “during an argument over accusations from the singer’s father that Saldívar is a lesbian and stole money from Selena’s accounts”. The defense was expected to introduce testimony from Texas Ranger Robert Garza that “he overheard Saldívar claim the shooting was accidental, and that she objected when police failed to include it in her statement”. Although the defense attorney argued for Saldívar’s claims that the shooting was accidental, the prosecution raised the issue that Saldívar, a trained nurse, neither called 911 nor tried to help the victim after she was shot. The judge presiding the case chose not to give jurors the option of the lesser charges of manslaughter or negligent homicide, instructing jurors that they must either convict or acquit Saldívar on the sole charge of first-degree murder. The jury deliberated for two hours.She was convicted and sentenced to life in prison on October 23, 1995, with parole eligibility set for thirty years; this was the maximum prison term for the state of Texas.Saldivar has the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) number 00733126 and is serving her life sentence at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas, operated by the TDCJ. She is eligible for parole on March 30, 2025. Because of multiple internal death threats sent to Saldívar from incarcerated Selena fans, she had to be placed into isolation.

Yolanda charged with manslaughter/first degree murder.

Texas Ranger Captain Alfred Young Alyee Co. “D”

ALLEE, ALFRED YOUNG (1905–1987). Alfred Young Allee, Texas Ranger, the son of Alonzo W. Allee, was born on September 14, 1905, in La Salle County, Texas. He was a member of the Texas Rangers for thirty-seven years, following in the footsteps of his father and his grandfather, Alfred Y. Allee I, both of whom also served in the rangers. Allee’s first work in law enforcement was as a special game warden on the 7D Ranch in Zavala County in 1926. The next year, he became a Zavala County deputy sheriff. In 1931 he applied to Capt. William W. Sterling to join the Texas Rangers and was assigned to Capt. Light Townsend’s C Company. His early years were spent preventing smuggling and cattle rustling on the Rio Grande border. In 1933, however, Allee, like many of the rangers, resigned following the election of Miriam “Ma” Ferguson as governor. During this period he served as a deputy sheriff in Beeville. With the election of James Allred as governor in 1935, most Texas Rangers, including Allee, returned to duty. In 1952 Governor Allan Shivers sent Allee’s D Company into San Diego, Texas, to protect the newly founded Freedom party from molestation by the Duval County political machine run by George Parrqv. In January 1954 Allee was involved in a scuffle with Parr in the hallway of the Alice City Courthouse when Parr tried to take a ranger’s gun after a disagreement. The fight ended with Parr sustaining light injuries and filing attempted murder charges against Allee. Parr later dropped these charges “for the good of the community.”

In April 1963 Allee’s company was sent to Crystal City to supervise the city elections, for which local Hispanics had organized in an attempt to gain proportional representation in the city government (see CRYSTAL CITY REVOLTS). The rangers remained in Crystal City after the election of Los Cinco Candidatos and the subsequent resignation of the majority of city workers, who were predominantly Anglo. Allee soon found himself once again the subject of a lawsuit, this time filed by the new mayor of Crystal City, Juan Cornejo, who accused the ranger of physically and verbally abusing him. The charges were later dropped because of a lack of witnesses, and in fact most of the witnesses Cornejo named stated that Allee did not lay a hand on the mayor. In 1967 Allee and the rangers were again sent into a racially charged situation, this time to prevent violence during the Starr County strike by melon pickers. Once on the scene, the rangers began to enforce the state’s antipicketing laws; more than fifty arrests resulted. Numerous reports began to surface of alleged ranger brutality and use of excessive force. Two of these cases, the arrests of Rev. Edgar Krueger and Magdeleno Dimas, drew heavy attention in the media. In June 1967 and December 1968 congressional subcommittees on civil rights met in Texas and found that the rangers had used excessive force in their handling of the striking farm workers. In 1974 the United States Supreme Court concurred with the subcommittees and found in favor of the workers in the class-action suit Allee et al. v. Medrano et al. Allee, the last of the pre-Department of Public Safety rangers, retired on September 30, 1970. He died of cancer on January 13, 1987, in San Antonio. He had married Pearl Leach in 1928, and their son, Alfred Young Allee, Jr., also joined the Texas Rangers.

Texas Ranger Sr. Capt. H.R. “Lefty” Block and Capt. Co. A.

When Garrison died in 1968, the DPS commissioners again reorganized and redefined ranger guidelines. Under Garrison’s successor, Col. Wilson E. Speir, the force expanded to seventy-three men in 1969, eighty-two in 1971, eighty-eight in 1974, and ninety-four a year later. The rangers also were highly trained and better equipped. Recruits had to be between the ages of thirty and fifty, have at least eight years of on-the-job police experience, and have an intermediate certificate signifying 400 to 600 hours of classroom instruction. The DPS provided the rangers with high-powered cars equipped with the latest radio equipment as well as with a large array of sophisticated weapons and defensive armor. The state also began paying better salaries, together with such benefits as longevity pay, hospitalization insurance, and a paid life-insurance policy. As a result, the rangers evolved into the elite of Texas law enforcement. During the Garrison era such captains as Manuel T. “Lone Wolf” Gonzaullas, Alfred Y. Allee, Bob Crowder, Johnny Klevenhagen, Eddie Oliver, and Clint Peoples were instrumental in maintaining ranger tradition and performance. Subsequently, captains Bill Wilson, J. L. “Skippy” Rundell, H. R. “Lefty” Block, and Maurice Cook continued to improve the force. The training was intensified, the weaponry and crime-detection equipment became even more sophisticated, and, despite increasing case loads, the applicant list for ranger service grew. In recognition of the rangers’ toughness against the criminal element and their dedication to state law enforcement, the legislature enlarged the overall complement to ninety-nine officers (including two women) in September 1993 and again increased salaries and fringe benefits. By September 1996 the force had expanded to 105.

Texas Ranger Philip R. Ryan

March 20, 1992 to January 15, 2004.

When Phil Ryan walked through the doors of the sheriff’s department on March 20, 1992, as the new sheriff, he brought with him a vast world of experience and knowledge.

Ryan was born in Oklahoma on August 10, 1945, and raised in the Houston area. He entered law enforcement in 1967, when he was accepted to the Pasadena Police Department Academy. A year later, 1968, he applied and was accepted to the Department of Public Safety Academy in Austin.

After graduation from the DPS Academy, Ryan was stationed in Cleveland, with the highway patrol division. In 1977, he was transferred to Wise County and stationed in Decatur. In 1978, he was promoted to sergeant, which took him to Humble. He was in Humble until he was promoted to the Texas Rangers in 1979. His only ranger station was in Wise County, which also covered Jack, Montague, and Clay Counties. He retired from the Texas Rangers and DPS on January 31, 1989.

As a ranger, Ryan worked many cases that made him well known not only throughout the state, but throughout the nation as well. Phil Ryan, while assisting Montague County, arrested one of the most publicized serial killers of modern times, Henry Lee Lucas. Phil Ryan was also the Texas Ranger assigned to the Ricky Lee and Sharon Green case, two of the most notorious serial killers in Wise County.

After retiring from law enforcement, Ryan entered the private sector, but this would only last for a year. On January 1, 1991, he returned to law enforcement taking over the vacant investigator position at the district attorney’s office. Ryan was also appointed as the Emergency Management Coordinator when Wendell Berry resigned. He held this position until January 31, 1992, when the 911 emergency system came on line.

In 1992, Ryan began his campaign for sheriff, running on the democratic ballot. He had only one opponent, Charles Johnson of Bridgeport. He won the primary on March 10, 1992.

On March 20, 1992, he took his oath of office on the same day that Burch’s resignation took effect.

With aid of grants and the county commissioner’s, many different programs have been added during Ryan’s tenure. They are as follows: Crime prevention division, Crime Stoppers, 24 hour patrol and dispatching, the Jail Industries program, Mounted patrol, Honor Guard, and the Vehicle Maintenance shop. Ryan also added a computer network system throughout the entire building.

A 48 bed dormitory was also built to extend the life of the present jail, which is nearly full.

On March 12, 1996, Ryan won the democratic primary and was re-elected sheriff for his second term (1997-2000).

On November 7, 2000, Ryan was re-elected for his third term (2001-2004).

Ryan resigned in January of 2004 to take an investigative position in Denton County.

Captain Dan North

Captain Co. A Texas Rangers 1974-1986. Retired Vice President Director of Corporate Security for Browning-Farris Industries, Inc. President and CEO of Dan H. North & Associates…a private investigation firm in Houston, Texas. Dan has served as president of the Former and is one of the directors for the Former Texas Ranger Foundation. He is very supportive of the Texas Rangers and continues to be involved in Ranger activities.

Texas Ranger Sergeant Joe B. Davis

Retired Texas Ranger , Company F, stationed in Kerrville, TX. Past President of Former Texas Ranger Association and currently President of the Former Texas Ranger Foundation. Joe has 30 Years of Law Enforcement experience. After retiring form the Texas Rangers Joe and dedicated a tremendous amount of time and travel to the construction of a Texas Ranger Heritage Center to be built near Fort Martin Scott which is located at Fredericksburg,Texas. Joe has been the driving force for the Texas Ranger Memorial program which provides a metal cross with circle and star to be placed near the headstone of deceased Texas Rangers. The program has been a great success. The current focus of the Former Texas Rangers Foundation is to provide Texans and visitors to the Lone Star state the opportunity to experience first-hand the history, the philosophy and the life experiences of one of Texas’ oldest institutions – the Texas Rangers – with the future Texas Rangers Heritage Center. An interactive complex of Texas Ranger history, the Center will provide both the Foundation and Association with the opportunity to host seminars and educational programs, house a complete library of Ranger archives, host permanent and traveling exhibits of Ranger artifacts and provide an important educational experience with the seven interactive time line exhibits that tell the story of the Texas Rangers beginning in 1823 and ending with today’s Texas Rangers.

Texas Ranger Coy Smith is stationed with Company “G” in Uvalde, Texas.

Coy is a graduate from the Sul Ross University in 1995. After Joaquin Jackson transferred to Alpine, Texas Smith was selected to replace Jackson. Coy has been in many cases in the Uvalde and surrounding counties and surrounding area. Coy is a Dedicated Ranger and is a good man to ride the river with. He is through in his investigations and if you ever need him he will stand by your side.

As mentioned Coy has been involved in may cases as a Ranger below is an example:

Texas Death Row Inmate Confesses to Multiple Murders
HoustonChronicle.com — http://www.HoustonChronicle.com*|*Section: Local & State
June 14, 2005, 7:02PM
Texas death row inmate confesses to N.Y. murder
Associated Press
LOCKPORT, N.Y. — A death row inmate in Texas has confessed to the 1987 killing of a western New York hairdresser but will not be charged with the crime, police said.
Chief Neil Merritt said statements given by Tommy Lynn Sells to Texas Rangers and Lockport police are enough to close the books on the murder of Suzanne Korcz of the Buffalo suburb of Amherst, but New York police will not seek extradition because Sells is already on death row.
Sells, a drifter who worked as a barber, a mechanic, a laborer and a carnival roustabout, has confessed to more than a dozen murders and is suspected in 50 to 75 across the country.
He had not been linked to the Korcz case before telling Texas Rangers last year that he had jumped a freight train, gotten off near Niagara Falls and committed a murder.
He repeated the statements to a Lockport officer who traveled to Texas to interview him.
Korcz was 27 when she was last seen leaving a bar May 2, 1997. Her remains were found in September in a wooded area.
Ranger Coy Smith said Sells confessed to about 16 murders.
“When he’s in a good mood, he’s pleasant to talk to, and you wouldn’t think you were talking to anyone strange,” Smith said. “He’s told us he’s killed 50 to 75 across the United States, but he’s not remorseful enough to clear it all up. He’s made a big game out of it. He confessed to some Oklahoma killings, and it turns out he was messing with us because he could. But in other cases, the details he does remember would scare you.”
Korcz’s mother, Delores Korcz, said despite the case being solved, “it is never closed in your heart.”
Sells is appealing a death sentence imposed for slashing the throats of two girls in Del Rio, Texas, in 1999, killing one of them. He also is appealing a life sentence in the strangling death of another child in Texas earlier in 1999.

Texas Ranger Ed Gooding
July 10, 1924 – July 3, 2003

If ever a man defined the Greatest Generation, it was Ed Gooding. At 9:40 Thursday night, July 3, 2003, Ed passed from this world and joined his beloved Lena, who proceeded him in death in 1995. During his lifetime, Ed had four careers, all of which he was equally proud: cowboy, soldier in World War II, Highway Patrolman, and Texas Ranger.

Born in the South Texas town of Ingleside, San Patricio County, Ed grew up on ranches in that area and in Kimble County. He would have been happy to have always been cowboy because it was a life he truly loved. Like millions of other Americans, however, everything changed for Ed when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

In eleven months of combat from behind his 30-caliber light machine gun, Ed fought through the deathtraps that were the hedgerows in Normandy. Another time he was later literally blown off a hill by artillery fire. He followed Patton on his race across France, and he was one of the soldiers who made the forty-eight-hour march through the freezing weather and snow that relieved the 101st Airborne at Bastogne, Belgium. With the end of the war, Ed returned to his first love, a ranch in South Texas. He said many times that being a cowboy saved his sanity. The solitude from the back of a horse gave him time to think and clear his mind of the nightmares of the horrors of war.

In 1949, the opportunity to join the Texas Department of Public Safety presented itself. Ed had always had the greatest admiration for the law—and the money was a lot better than he was getting as a cowboy. He applied for and was accepted into the DPS. On March 1, 1949, he became a Texas Highway Patrolman stationed in Houston. It was in Houston that Ed met and married Lena. At that time, the Highway Patrol did not allow married Troopers to remain in the city, and so Ed was transferred to nearby Baytown. For the next eight years, he served with great pride as a Highway Patrolman.

When a small boy, Ed had seen his first Texas Ranger. From the minute he joined the Highway Patrol, he knew his ultimate goal was to one day be a Ranger himself. In 1957, Ranger Captain Hardy Purvis retired as commander of Houston’s Company A. The new commander, the legendary Johnny Klevenhagen, knew Ed and asked him to join his company.

Ed couldn’t accept his Ranger position fast enough. For the next seven years, he was stationed in Houston. During that time, he saw enough action to have lasted most Rangers a full career. But by 1982, Ed had seen enough. On August 31, he took his badge off for the last time. During his twenty-five years as a Ranger, he had served the citizens of Texas in Houston, Kerrville, Amarillo, and Belton—all with the great honor and tradition that the Lone Star state expects of her Rangers.

Those who knew Ed closely know of the other great passion in his life, his religion. He volunteered with total unselfishness to his church. Some of his last words as he lay dying in a Fort Worth hospital were to his preacher. He said that he was in a win-win situation: “If I get out of here, I win; if I don’t, I still win.” Yes, Ed was one of the Greatest Generation, an inspiring Texas Ranger, and a great Christian. His friends will miss him greatly.

Texas ranger Captain. Robert “Bob” Mitchell

Bob was born May 17, 1934, in Troup, Texas, to Erby D. Mitchell and Ruth (Skillern) Mitchell. He graduated from Elkhart High School in 1952, then attended Henderson County Junior College. After college, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving in Korea. Upon returning to the states, he married Jerry Busby of Waxahachie, Texas, in August 1956 and completed his military service at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo.

He began his training with the Texas Department of Public Safety in April 1958 and served 35 years as a Trooper and Texas Ranger. He served as a State Trooper for nine years in New Braunfels, Texas, prior to becoming a Texas Ranger on Dec. 1, 1967. As a Ranger, he was stationed in Tyler, Austin and Waco, where he served as Captain of Co. “F” Texas Rangers for 18 years. He retired in 1992 from the Dept. of Public Safety, but never stopped being a Ranger.

In retirement, he continued to support the interest of law enforcement and served on the Boards of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum and the Texas Ranger Association Foundation.

In 2000, he served as interim Sheriff of McLennan County for eight months and was proud of his association with the personnel of the McLennan County Sheriff’s Department. He was a member of the Northside Church of Christ and the Baylor Masonic Lodge.

Survivors include his loving wife, Jerry of 50 years; daughter, Carol Mitchell Matthieson and husband, Creig, and their children Andrew and Eric of Atlanta, Ga.; grandson, John Hague of Elm Mott; son, Bobby Mitchell and wife, Kathy, and their children, Dusty and Lauren of Waco; and brother, Darwin Mitchell.

Pallbearers include Bobby Mitchell, Dusty Mitchell, John Hague, Andrew Matthieson, Eric Matthieson and John Vickery. Honorary Pallbearers include Paul Allen, Ed Burleson, Jack Dean, Glenn Elliot, Larry Lynch, Bob Prince, Larry Scott, Louis Sommer and James Wright.

Texas ranger Charles Edward Miller “Charlie” 1893 – 1971

Charles E. Miller was born in Frio County, Texas around 1893. There is some dispute about his actual birth year. He was educated in San Antonio and attended Old Main High School. Before becoming a regular Ranger in 1919, Miller served as a special ranger and as a deputy sheriff in Bexar County.

Miller served in the Rangers from 1919 until 1925, serving in companies C, E, F, and Headquarters. Much of his time was spent in the border regions of south Texas. After leaving the Rangers, Miller again held commissions as a special Ranger working for several railroad companies as well as an inspector for the Sheep and Goat Raisers Association.

Miller again joined the Texas Rangers in 1951. Prior to his enlistment he was employed by the Schreiner Bank and the Kerr County Livestock Association. Over the next 17 years he served in locations including Carizzo Springs, Paducah, Luling, Comanche and Mason. At various times he was a member of companies C, D and F. He retired from the Texas Rangers in 1968.

Charlie Miller died December 8, 1971, and was buried in the State Cemetery in Austin, Texas. Colonel Wilson E. Speir praised Miller for “a highly distinguished career of service. . . [whose] example and dedication stands as an inspiration to all law enforcement officers.”

Captain John Wood Co.“D” the oldest living Texas Ranger.

Captain John Wood Co. “D” & “C” our oldest living Texas Ranger at 94

Captain John M. Wood was the captain of Company D of the Texas Rangers from 1970 to October of 1978. As of 2007, he is the oldest living Texas Ranger, and has authored one book, Ranger in the Oil Patch. He became so good at what he did over his 41-year career in law enforcement that his superiors were known to say, “I need John. You know he can smell an oil field thief a mile away.”

A Texas Ranger creates the LCRA Rangers

It was a Texas Ranger, Capt. John Wood, who started LCRA’s Public Safety operations in January 1979. Wood had just retired from a 36-year law-enforcement career, including 29 years with the Texas Rangers. He recalled that a “senator friend” wrote LCRA’s Board of Directors, asking the Board to put him to work for LCRA.

At the time, LCRA was nearing completion of the first unit of the coal-fired Fayette Power Project. The new operation, along with LCRA’s other power plants and dams throughout Central Texas, convinced management that it needed someone who could set up and oversee security operations to protect its facilities.

Wood was in good standing for the job, both in stature – he is 6 feet 5 inches tall – and in experience. During his career with the Texas Rangers, he led investigations of crime and corruption in South Texas, including the infamous political machine run by George Parr, the “Duke of Duval.” Wood’s investigation resulted in 300 indictments against school and county officials, according to the San Antonio Express-News. By the time he retired in October 1978, his duties included commanding 16 Texas Rangers and the Department of Public Safety’s SWAT team operations in South Texas.

“Capt. Wood’s qualifications prove him to be an excellent choice for the position,” said Charles Herring, LCRA’s general manager at the time. “His vast amount of experience in investigating large-scale thefts and his familiarity with modern-day electronic security equipment will be invaluable to LCRA.”

Because Wood was responsible for such a large region – from Lake Buchanan to Bay City – he hired additional staff, initially to work as gate guards at the Fayette Power

Project and Sim Gideon Power Plant. Because Wood had been a Texas Ranger, the LCRA personnel also became known as “Rangers.”

Wood initially planned to stay only a year at LCRA but remained for nearly five. By the time he retired as chief of security in October 1983, he left LCRA with a security team of eight Rangers and two sergeants. Wood also was successful in having the state commission the Rangers as peace officers, licensed to carry and use weapons and make arrests.

“We all had a lot of respect for him,” Brent said of Wood. “He took on a huge task and put a lot of things in place that we have been able to build on.”

Wood and his wife Jewel returned to San Antonio, where they live today in the same house that was his residence during much of his tenure with the Texas Rangers. At age 96, he is the oldest living Texas Ranger.

Focus has expanded to provide emergency response
The department established by Wood continued to evolve in response to the needs of LCRA and the communities it serves.

Beginning in the mid-1980s, the department under the leadership of Chief Ranger Don Welch began patrolling LCRA’s lakes and parks in addition to guarding LCRA facilities.

By the mid-1990s, the department’s focus had expanded further, as part of LCRA’s decision to transform the team from security guards to public safety providers, with an emphasis on emergency response, as part of LCRA’s public service mission. That decision required the department to hire additional Rangers with skills in rescue, life-saving and emergency planning, and to train existing staff in those skills.

Many times, when law-enforcement or medical help is needed on or near the Highland Lakes or lower Colorado River, an LCRA Ranger is the first to arrive on the scene.

Today’s LCRA Rangers are trained in emergency medical assistance and are proficient in rescuing people in swift water and other hazardous situations. The Rangers work closely with other law-enforcement agencies, especially in coordinating patrols of the Highland Lakes.

Public education is another major emphasis. If a Ranger on lake patrol has to stop an errant boater, the goal is not to simply write a ticket but help the boater understand the importance of following safety regulations, such as wearing life jackets.

“If we can help increase boating safety, we can reduce accidents, and that can save lives,” said Assistant Chief Ranger Jason Hoffman.

Texas Ranger Captain Jay Banks

Retired Texas Rangers Capt. JAY BANKS, 75, the model for a statue at Dallas’ Love Field bearing the slogan ‘’One riot, one Ranger,’’ died Monday. Banks and his company were called to quiet disturbances surrounding the integration of schools in Mansfield, Texas, in 1956. His photograph appeared in a Time magazine story on the integration dispute with the caption, ‘’One riot, one Ranger.’’ The phrase originated in a disturbance handled by the elite law enforcement group in the early part of the 20th century.

Texas Ranger Captain Lee Hall (McNelly’s Lt. Special Forces)1849 – 1911

Jesse Lee Hall was born in Lexington, North Carolina on October 9, 1849. The original spelling of his name was “Leigh,” but Hall changed it to Lee soon after moving to Texas in 1869. He first worked as a schoolteacher, but soon became a city marshal in Sherman, a deputy sheriff in Denison, and the sergeant of arms for the Texas Senate.

In August 1876, Hall became the second in command of Leander McNelly’s Special Force of Texas Rangers. Serving in the Goliad region, Hall soon broke up a gang of vigilantes and gained the goodwill of the community. In October 1876, Hall became the acting commander of the Ranger company.

He moved the company to Cuero to suppress the Sutton-Taylor Feud. The company was reorganized at Victoria in January 1877. Hall was made 1st Lieutenant and company commander with John B. Armstrong serving as the 2nd Lieutenant. Hall used the company to help suppress cattle rustling, raids across the border fueled by the Diaz revolution in Mexico, and the raiding of John King Fisher and his men. In 1880 Hall retired from the Rangers, turning over command of the company to T. L. Oglesby.

In the early 1880s Hall managed the Dull Ranch and worked to help stop the fence cutting activities in that area. He served briefly as agent to the Anadarko Indians before settling in San Antonio. With the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898, Hall raised two companies for service in the First United States Volunteer Infantry regiment. After the release of the regiment from duty, Hall reentered the
army and saw action as a leader of the Macabee Scouts in the Philippines. He was discharged on October 6, 1900.

Lee Hall died on March 17, 1911 and was buried in the National Cemetery at San Antonio. Former Adjutant General Wilburn H. King characterized Hall as “a man of daring and almost reckless physical courage, of fine physique and resistless energy.”

Texas Ranger Captain John Harris Rogers

Rogers was born near Kingsbury, Guadalupe County, Texas, October 19, 1863. He first enlisted in the Rangers in September 1882 serving under Capt. S. A. McMurray in Company B. He served until December of 1883. In the spring of 1884 he reenlisted. This time he was serving in Company F under Capt. Joe Shely. In 1889 he was promoted to sergeant and finally to Captain on October 19, 1892.

In 1885, Rogers was involved in his first close Ranger encounter with outlaws. Capt. Scott and Company F were ordered to Brown County to try and put a stop to the fence cutting activities in the area. Coming upon a group of outlaws in the act of cutting a fence, the Rangers opened fire, leaving two fence cutters dead.

Later, a shoot out with the Conners gang would leave Rogers, Scott and Sgt. Brooks wounded and Ranger Jim Moore dead. Rogers was again wounded in the line of duty in Laredo were he was enforcing quarantine regulations during a smallpox epidemic. This wound to his shoulder required the removal of a short length of bone from his arm. To compensate for his shortened and weakened arm, Rogers carried a specially constructed Winchester.

Capt. Rogers resigned from the Ranger force in 1911. In 1913 he was appointed U. S. Marshall over the Western District of Texas. He served in this position for eight years. In 1927 he was recalled as a Captain in the Ranger service, a position he held until his death in Temple, Texas, on November 11, 1930.

Texas Ranger Frank Hamer

Frank Hamer was born in Fairview, Wilson County, Texas, where his father operated a blacksmith shop. He was one of five brothers, four of whom became Texas Rangers. His family moved to the Welch ranch in San Saba County, where he grew up. Hamer later spent time in Oxford, Llano County (now a ghost town), which formed the basis of his joke about being the only “Oxford-educated Ranger.” In his youth, Hamer worked in his father’s shop, and as an older teenager worked as a wrangler on a local ranch. He began his career in law enforcement in 1905 while working on the Carr Ranch in West Texas when he captured a horse thief. The local sheriff was so impressed that he recommended that Hamer join the Rangers.

Like the cowboys of earlier generations, Hamer was at home on the open Texas prairie and understood the signs and patterns of nature. He interpreted men in terms of animal characteristics: “The criminal is a coyote, always taking a look over his shoulder; a cornered political schemer is a ‘crawfish about three days from water’; a [man moving carefully] reminds him of a sandhill crane walking up a river-bed.” He savored the challenges of investigating and solving crimes. Describing his method in tracking Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, Hamer said that he learned their statistics, but “this was not enough. An officer must know the habits of the outlaw, how he thinks and how he will act in different situations. When I began to understand Clyde Barrow’s mind, I felt that I was making progress.”

Hamer refused substantial money on principle to tell his life story; I’m Frank Hamer is a posthumous biography by Texas historians H. Gordon Frost and John Holmes Jenkins and was assembled thirteen years after Hamer’s death from his notes and personal recollections to his family and associates. In the book, Hamer was quoted as saying corrupt politicians did not sit well with him, and he had little patience for those who broke the law. This attitude had tended to cause problems for him with local political establishments during his career. After a place was cleaned up, he would change jobs on a fairly regular basis.

Hamer was a Ranger off and on throughout his life, resigning often to take other jobs. He first joined Captain John H. Rogers’s Company C in Alpine, Texas on April 21, 1906, and began patrolling the border with Mexico. In 1908 he resigned from the Rangers to become the City Marshal of Navasota, Texas. Navasota was a lawless boom town, wracked by violence: “shootouts on the main street were so frequent that in two years at least a hundred men died.” Though he was only 24, Hamer moved in and created law and order. He served as marshal until 1911 when he started working as a special investigator in Houston, then as an officer for Harris County.

Hamer rejoined the Rangers in 1915 and again was assigned to patrol the South Texas border around Brownsville. Because of the constant unrest in Mexico, the Rangers dealt most seriously with arms smugglers, but also more ordinary bootleggers and bandits who plagued the border. During this period, Hamer left the Rangers again to accept a position as a federal agent in the Prohibition Unit, where he served for about a year. Returning to state service in 1921, Hamer transferred to Austin, where he served as Senior Ranger Captain.

In the 1920s, Hamer became known for bringing order to oil boom towns such as Mexia and Borger. Records from that time indicate that there were complaints about some of Hamer’s methods, but the same sources said the area was so lawless extreme measures may have been needed.[citation needed] In I’m Frank Hamer, Hamer was quoted candidly discussing the restrictions that upstanding citizens would seek to put on a lawman, not understanding that they were in effect asking him to fight with one hand tied behind his back.

In 1928 Hamer put a halt to a murder-for-reward ring, and his extraordinary means of accomplishing this made him nationally famous. The Texas Bankers’ Association had begun offering rewards of $5,000 “for dead bank robbers — not one cent for live ones.” Hamer determined that men were setting up deadbeats and two-bit outlaws to be killed by complicit police officers; the officers would collect the rewards and pay the men their finder’s fees. But his investigation hit a stone wall: the police refused him support and the Bankers’ Association’s position was that “any man that could be induced to participate in a bank robbery ought to be killed.” Spurred by urgency to thwart the next set of killings as well as personally infuriated, Hamer wrote and signed a detailed exposé of the racket, which he termed “the bankers’ murder machine,” then went to the press room of the State Capitol and handed out copies. A firestorm of public outrage led to indictments.

Hamer retired in 1932 after almost 27 years with the Rangers. He left one week before Miriam “Ma” Ferguson “and her husband” recaptured the governor’s office. At least forty Rangers resigned rather than serve again under Ma, who in her first term as governor of Texas had proven herself brazenly corrupt; indeed, one of the triumphant Ma’s first acts of her second term was to fire all the remaining Rangers and replace them with her own appointees. A year later Hamer flatly summarized his reason: “When they elected a woman governor, I quit.” The commander of the Texas Rangers allowed him to retain a Special Ranger commission even after his official retirement as an active Senior Ranger Captain. The special commission is listed in the state archives in Austin.

Ambush of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow
Main article: Bonnie and Clyde
The posse. left standing: Hinton, Oakley, Gault; seated: Alcorn, Jordan and Frank Hamer.

In the early 1930s, Bonnie and Clyde’s crime spree had generated vast media coverage that embarrassed law enforcement and government officials across half a dozen states. Perhaps the last straw, at least for Texas officials, came on January 16, 1934, when Barrow, Parker and associate Jimmy Mullens raided Eastham prison farm, freeing Raymond Hamilton, Henry Methvin, Hilton Bybee (substituted for Clyde’s friend Ralph Fults) and Joe Palmer. Hamilton’s brother Floyd wrote that Methvin was not part of the original “invited” group but fled with them during the general confusion. Though the hand he drew disappointed Barrow — he had particularly wanted to free Fults and another prisoner, Aubrey Skelley — the raid was the retaliation against the prison system that historian John Neal Phillips says was the driving force behind everything Clyde Barrow did: to pay back the Department of Corrections for abuse he had received there. The Texas Department of Corrections received national negative publicity over the jailbreak, which delighted Barrow, who thought he finally had his revenge.

During the breakout two guards were shot and wounded by the escapees, guard Major Crowson fatally. Legend has it that as Crowson lay dying, Texas Department of Corrections chief Lee Simmons promised him that every person involved in the breakout would be hunted down and killed. In reality, just before Crowson died in the hospital on January 27, Simmons took his formal statement and assured Crowson he would send his killer, Joe Palmer, to the electric chair. He then turned his attention to restoring the reputation of the Texas prison system.

On the go-ahead from Governor Ferguson, Simmons convinced Frank Hamer to accept a commission to hunt down the Barrow Gang as a special investigator for the prison system. Hamer accepted the assignment but balked at the compensation — just $180 a month, less than half his current pay. Simmons reiterated that Hamer would collect his fair share of the reward money, then sweetened the deal by authorizing Hamer to take whatever he wanted from among the Barrow Gang’s possessions when he caught them.¹⁴ As they were taking leave of each other, Simmons said he wouldn’t presume to tell Hamer how to do his job, but his suggestion for getting Barrow and Parker would be to “Put ‘em on the spot, know you’re right — and shoot everybody in sight.”

Hamer set to the task. A smart and meticulous investigator, he examined the pattern of Barrow’s movements, discovering that he essentially made a wide circle through the lower Midwest, skirting state borders wherever he could, to take advantage of “state line” dictums (i.e., that officers from one state could not pursue suspects across the border of another state). The circle had as its anchor points Dallas, Joplin, Missouri and northwest Louisiana, with wider arcs outward for bank robberies. It was a busy couple of months for hunter and quarry: banks in Lancaster, Texas, Poteau, Oklahoma and Rembrandt, Knierim, Stuart and Everly, Iowa all fell victim to Barrow, Parker and Henry Methvin, one of the Eastham escapees who was now Clyde’s protégé. Hamer was always following close behind.

The push-pins on Hamer’s mental tracking map weren’t all bank jobs — there were murders as well. The killing of two Texas Highway Patrol officers at Grapevine, Texas on Easter Sunday (April 1, 1934) inflamed public sentiment against Barrow and Parker, even though it was Barrow and Methvin who were the two shooters.

An eyewitness account given massive newspaper coverage stated that a drunken Bonnie Parker had emptied her gun into the prone body of Patrolman Murphy at Grapevine, laughing as she fired at the way his “head bounced like a rubber ball” on the road. Although it was all untrue — the eyewitness was ultimately discredited — it was not before waves of bad publicity in all four Dallas papers had established her reputation as a whiskey-belting, bloodthirsty she-devil. The attitudes of government and law enforcement officials were informed by the lurid newspaper stories and the furor they created. Governor Ferguson placed a $500 bounty on Parker’s head for her perceived role in the murder of Patrolman Murphy. Even Hamer, who had learned a great deal about the real Barrow and Parker in the preceding months, later told reporters, "I would have gotten sick [seeing her perforated body in the car], but when I thought about her crimes, I didn’t. I hated to shoot a woman — but I remembered the way in which Bonnie had taken part in the murder of nine peace officers. I remembered how she kicked the body of the highway patrolman at Grapevine and fired a bullet into his body as he lay on the ground.”

Popular perception turned even further against the fugitives when just five days later Barrow and Methvin killed sixty-year-old single father Constable Cal Campbell near Commerce, Oklahoma. They kidnapped Commerce Chief of Police Percy Boyd, drove him across the border into Kansas, and when they released him, he had what he needed: their names to top the Campbell murder warrants, which were issued against Barrow, Parker and John Doe (Methvin) later that week.

Nevertheless, Hamer knew that Clyde did not intend to be taken alive, and the Barrow Gang’s history made it practical to assume that Bonnie would not voluntarily part from him

In mid-March Henry Methvin’s family contacted Bienville Parish Sheriff Henderson Jordan about their son, his legal troubles and his involvement with Barrow. Though Hamer was a lone wolf by nature, after much complicated politicking and negotiation he formed an inter-jurisdictional posse and an ambush plan began to come together. First to join him were Sheriff Jordan and his deputy Prentiss Oakley, an excellent marksman. Hamer brought in fellow former Ranger Manny Gault, who had been fired by “Ma” Ferguson and now worked for the Texas Highway Patrol. Hamer requested that Dallas County Sheriff Smoot Schmid commit his deputy Bob Alcorn full time to the case; Schmid sent Alcorn and another Dallas County deputy, Ted Hinton. The two deputies and Schmid had tried to ambush Barrow and Parker once before, in November 1933, near Sowers, Texas. After examining Barrow’s abandoned V-8 Ford at Sowers and seeing that the barrage from his Thompson submachine gun hadn’t penetrated its body, Hinton requested a BAR.
Desolate road deep in the piney woods: the trail for Bonnie and Clyde ended here.

At 9:15 a.m. on May 23, 1934, after 102 days of shadowing, hunter and hunted finally met on a desolate rural road near Gibsland, Louisiana. Barrow stopped his car at the ambush spot and the posse’s 150-round fusillade was so thunderous that people for miles around thought a logging crew had used dynamite to fell a particularly huge tree. Accounts of the last instants before the gunfire vary widely: Sheriff Jordan said he was calling out to Barrow to halt as the shooting started; Deputy Alcorn said that Captain Hamer was calling out; Deputy Hinton wrote that Alcorn called out. The only agreement between all six was that Deputy Oakley, perhaps nervously jumping the gun, stood and fired the opening burst from his Remington Model 8, and that his bullet into Barrow’s left temple killed the outlaw instantly.²⁹ The posse then fired off another hundred-plus rounds, any number of which would have been fatal to Parker and also to Barrow.

Hamer used a customized .35 Remington Model 8 semiautomatic rifle with a special-order 15-round magazine that Hamer had ordered from Petmeckey’s Sporting Goods store in Austin, Texas. He was shipped serial number 10045, and this was just one of at least two Model 8’s used in the ambush. The rifle was modified to accept a “police only” 15-round magazine obtained through the Peace Officers Equipment Company in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Although state, local and other sources had pledged monies to the Barrow reward kitty that brought the pre-ambush total to some $26,000, most reneged on their pledges and when the checks were finally cut for the posse members, a six-way split was all of $200.23.

During the 1930s Hamer applied his skills in keeping the civil peace on behalf of various oil companies and shippers, generally as a strike breaker.

At the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939, he and 49 other retired Texas Rangers offered their services to the King of England, to help protect that country in case of Nazi invasion.

In 1948 he was called again to Ranger duty to play a small role in a notorious episode in an election acknowledged to have been one of the most corrupt in Texas history. Hamer was hired by Governor Coke Stevenson, whose name by now was synonymous with old-school Texan conservative integrity, to accompany him to the Texas State Bank in Alice, the county seat of Jim Wells County in South Texas. Stevenson wanted to examine the tally sheets for ballot box 13, which held ballots for his opponent, then-Representative Lyndon Johnson, he knew were fraudulent, and not in a way that favored him. Outside the bank stood two glowering groups of armed men. Hamer got out of the car. He approached the first group and said, “Git.” They did. To the second group blocking the doors of the bank he said, “Fall back.” They did.

Frank Hamer retired in 1949 and lived in Austin until his death. In 1953 he suffered a heat stroke and though he lived two more years, never regained his health. He is buried in Memorial Park in Austin. In his life he was wounded 17 times and left for dead four times. He is credited with having killed between and almost people.

Texas Ranger Jerome Preiss