TEXAS RANGER DISPATCH Magazine

Transcription

The
Issue 17, Summer 2005
Texas Ranger Dispatch
™™
Magazine of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum
Official museum, hall of fame, and repository of the Texas Rangers Law Enforcement Agency
Issue 17, Summer 2005
Gary De Los Santos..............................................Gary De Los Santos
Ector's Texas Brigade & the Army of Tennessee (bk. review)....Lonnie Maness
Indian Fighting in Jack County-1870s...............................Eddie Matney
Elisha Clapp.................................................................Stephen Moore
Harrison Hamer ............................................................Robert Nieman
Eleven Days in Hell: 1974 Prison Siege at Huntsville (bk. review)....Robert Nieman
Rangers in the Field: Firing Range 2005..........................Robert Nieman
Chinese Rangers?.........................................................Robert Nieman
2005 Texas Ranger Reunion...........................................Robert Nieman
Grave of Ranger Mervyn B. Davis Finally Marked............Chuck Parsons
Ask the Dispatch..........................................................................Staff
Whitneyville Whitney Navy Revolver....................................David Stroud
One Ranger: A Memoir [Joaquin Jackson] (book review)........Robert Utley
Terminating Oklahoma's Smiling Killer .................................Robert Utley
Dispatch Production Team
This issue of the Texas Ranger Dispatch is
funded in part by a grant from the Texas
Ranger Association Foundation. Their
generosity makes this publication possible.
Robert Nieman - Managing Editor (Volunteer, Museum Board)
Pam S. Baird – Technical Editor, Layout, and Design
Byron A. Johnson - Director, Texas Ranger Hall of Fame
Sharon P. Johnson, Volunteer Web Designer, Baylor University
Christina Stopka, Archivist, Texas Ranger Research Center
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20th Century Shining Star:
Capt. Gary De Los Santos
My full name is Gerardo Javier De Los Santos. The nuns at the Catholic
elementary school I attended could not pronounce Gerardo, however, so they
called me Jerry. I did not like, Jerry so I changed it to Gary, and it has been
that ever since.
I am the third of five children, and I was born on the Fourth of July, 1957, in
Laredo, where my brothers and sisters still live. My older brother and sister
are Frank Jr. and Sara. Frank is a supervisor with U.S. Customs Department
and Sara is a registered nurse. My younger sister Norma is a fingerprint
analyst with Border Patrol and younger brother George followed in Dad’s
footsteps and is an area manager for Borden’s Milk. My father, Francisco
“Frank” de los Santos Sr., was only sixty-six years old when he died in 1993.
My mother, Olga, is eighty-one years of age and still lives in Laredo.
My wife Leslie and I have been married twenty-five years. I am very proud of
her. She recently earned her master’s degree in business from Webster
University in San Antonio. Our son Gary Jr. received his bachelor’s degree in
political science from the University of Texas at San Antonio and has been
accepted to the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia.
As for me, I graduated from United High School in Laredo in 1975 and got an
associate degree from Central Texas College in Killeen in 197I. I am now
working on my undergraduate degree at Wayland Baptist University in
Lubbock. Hopefully, by next fall, we will be a family of graduates!
I have always had an undying love of the great outdoors, and I have always
wanted to be in law enforcement, though I have no explanation why. Today, I
have a brother and sister in law enforcement, but in the mid-1970s, I had no
relatives in the field.
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After earning my associate degree, I decided that if I could become a game
warden, that would satisfy both my interests. But I had not done my
homework. Only when I tried to apply did I learn that you had to be twenty-one
to even submit an application. I had just turned twenty. I was really mad at
myself for not making the necessary inquiries.
Needing something to do until I turned twenty-one, I went to work for my
father at Borden’s Milk, where he was the distributor. About a month later, my
life changed forever. Dad and I had worked a long day and were driving home
when we met a black-and-white (Highway Patrol car). Of course, Dad knew I
wanted to be an officer of the law, and he asked me, “Why don’t you become
one of them?” I remember telling him, “Hell, no! All they do is sit on their ass
and drive around all day.”
But Dad’s words must have struck a note somewhere. On December 7, 1977, I
checked into the DPS Academy in Austin as a member of Class B-77. I
weighed 235 pounds; eighteen weeks later, I graduated at 183 pounds. Those
weeks are a blur. I kept thinking, “What in world am I doing here? All I wanted
was to be a game warden, not a policeman.” But I stuck it out and graduated
on April 8, 1978. I was still twenty years old—not old enough to buy bullets for
my weapons!
My first duty station was Starr County, not the safest place in Texas. In 1978,
Rio Grande City was one of the leading dope counties in the United States. It
was a little bit chilling when several of my classmates offered me their
bulletproof vests! But I did not pay any attention to their talk. I was single at
the time and just looked forward to being the best Highway Patrolman
possible.
Talk about starting off with a bang—I did! On my second day, I got into a fight
with the sheriff’s brother. Normally, a rookie trooper will just observe for the
first few weeks. Oh no, not me. My senior partner, Gene Falcon, had stopped
the sheriff’s brother and realized he was drunk. Gene told me to arrest him, so
I did—and got an earful as he proceeded to tell me that he was the sheriff’s
brother and no @#$% was going to arrest him!
I was greener than grass, but I had the foresight to know that sometimes
politics will come into play during any incident. I ask Gene what he wanted me
to do. He told me to go ahead and arrest him. Still trying to follow proper
procedures, I told the man to turn around so I could search and cuff him. He
refused. I then grabbed his arm to assist him in turning around, but he pulled
away, so I grabbed him again. This time, I spun him around and applied a very
light chokehold (not done anymore). I then felt the suspect trying to grab my
weapon from my holster, and I applied the chokehold a bit harder. After only a
few seconds, the suspect became very heavy—he had passed out. I felt panic
and let go of him, causing him to fall face-first to the ground. Long story
short, he was out of jail before we completed our paperwork. Sadly, our
relationship with the sheriff became non-existent.
Six months later, Gene and I received two rookies from the Academy to train. I
was still a rookie myself, but I assumed that six months’ experience was
enough to instruct someone else. I was assigned Rolando Castaneda, now a
Ranger sergeant stationed in Brownsville. We may have been the blind
leading the blind, but we got by, and everything turned out okay. Even more
importantly, the time I got to work with Roland is one of the best experiences I
had during my uniform years. It seemed like we were always cutting up and
laughing. We enjoyed working together and got into a lot of scrapes together.
During my first year in Rio Grande City, I got to be good friends with the local
game wardens and started thinking about leaving the Highway Patrol to
pursue my original plans. I rode around with the wardens every chance I got.
It was towards the end of the first year that I met my first Texas Ranger, Frank
Holger. Frank was in Rio working a murder case. I knew of and had read about
Texas Rangers, but never gave them much thought. To me, that was one of
those careers that only a few lucky men get to have.
I do not know what it was—maybe the badge, the name Texas Rangers, the
western look—I do not know, but that’s all I started thinking about. Before
completing my first year, I set my goal to become a Texas Ranger. I knew that
before I could even test, I had to the best job I could for the next eight years.
(You have to have eight years with the DPS before you can test to be a
Ranger.)
That was only the first step. The competition for entrance into the Ranger
force is fierce. Assuming you pass the written test, then you have to go before
a board and pass an oral examination. If your combined test scores put you
among the very few at the top, you are placed on the eligibility list. Once on
the list, that sure does not mean you are going to become a Ranger. Unless a
Ranger retires in the next twelve months, you fall off the list and have to start
all over.
I spent two years in Rio Grande City. The opportunity then arose to transfer to
Laredo and be closer to my family. The only souvenir I left Rio with was my
wife Leslie.
In May of 1982, after three years in Laredo, I transferred to the uniformed DPS
Narcotics Task Force as a Uniform Trooper (called CLE Troopers). We worked
to intercept illegal drugs being transported on our highways. My lieutenant at
the time was Ray Coffman, currently the assistant chief of the Rangers. I
wanted to be a Texas Ranger and believed that the more investigative
experiences I could gain would be a step in the right direction. I also knew
that doing narcotics cases would help me. It did!
Three years later, I tested and promoted to sergeant in the Narcotics Service.
It is common when you promote within the DPS that your duty station
changes. I was lucky and was able to remain in Laredo.
Even though I had enough time at this point to test for the Rangers, I wanted
to gain more investigative experiences. It was a right move because I hit the
ground running when I became a Ranger. I had a great time as a narc, working
undercover and participating in numerous wiretaps. The drug route into the
United States usually started south of the Rio Grande and since most of the
people we were monitoring spoke only Spanish, I spent most of my time
monitoring the wiretaps.
It was during this time that I became friends with Ranger Doyle Holdridge. He
guided me and greatly assisted me in becoming a Ranger later on. In early
1987, I took my first Ranger promotional exam. Even though I scored a 458,
which is very good, it was not high enough to make it to the oral board.
I was so discouraged. I felt I could not compete and almost believed there was
no use in even trying to promote again. But, deep down, I wanted to be a
Ranger more than anything. In early 1988, I took my second Ranger
promotional exam and made it to the oral board. My foot was in the door, but I
still could not get in. I was only thirty years old. Six months later, the Rangers
tested again, and I made it to the oral board and scored high enough to make
the eligibility list.
I recall one of the board members asking me if I was willing to go to Decatur. I
said yes, but being from South Texas, I had no idea where Decatur was. I
found out soon enough!
Four of us eventually promoted into the Ranger Service. Earl Pearson was
number one on the list. Today, he is Chief of the Rangers. I was number two
and am currently the captain of Company C in Lubbock. Gary Henderson was
number three and, after a very distinguished career as a field Ranger, retired
in 2003. Today, he is the Gray County sheriff. Barry Caver was number four
and is now the captain of Company E in Midland. This was a pretty good
group and a great year for future captains!
On March 1, 1989, I promoted to the Texas Rangers. I was assigned to
Company C and stationed in Decatur, northwest of Fort Worth. Even though it
would still be a couple of weeks before my promotional date, I proceeded to
Decatur to look for a place for my wife, son, and me to live.
While looking for a house, I was told a double homicide of two Mexican
women had occurred prior to my arrival. Talk about hitting the ground
running! The grand jury was meeting right then and the witnesses were all
Mexicans. Only a couple of folks knew Spanish, so I was recruited to conduct
interviews. The previous Ranger in Decatur, Phil Ryan (later the Sheriff for
Wise County), had retired a few months earlier. He gave me his badge to wear
since I would not get mine until the promotional ceremony in a couple of
weeks.
It turned out that I was one of only three officers who could speak Spanish in
a three-county area, a skill which worked to my advantage many times. The
others were a state trooper and a Decatur police officer. I continued working
on that case well after promoting and eventually made an arrest.
My family and I were in Decatur for two and a half years. I investigated many
homicides, which I loved working, as morbid as it sounds. I cannot pick just
one to talk about because they were equally important. All were victims and
all had loved ones. The same amount of hard work was put into each and
every one, no matter the victim or suspects.
In the summer of 1992, I transferred to McAllen and Company D, but I only
stayed there for a year and a half. It was during that time that I was one of the
unfortunate (or fortunate) Rangers selected to work on the murders of the
ATF agents in Waco during the Branch Davidian investigation. That is one
investigation I will never forget. Every Ranger there worked very, very hard
and put in many long hours every day. Even worse, we spent a long time away
from our families. We were told to bring enough clothing for a week. Three
and a half months later, all of us were still there. Nobody anticipated that
David Koresh would hold out for so long and torch the compound, resulting in
the deaths of so many people, including women and children.
I recall being near the site when the FBI introduced gas into the compound.
When I saw the first flames shoot out from an upstairs window and then
several other areas, I looked at Ray Cano, now a retired Ranger lieutenant,
and asked if he had seen what I had seen. I recall looking at my watch; the
time was twelve noon. Thirty minutes later, the whole compound was burned
to the ground.
All of us were desperately looking to see people run or jump out, but only a
few were spotted. We prayed that Koresh had the decency to have placed all
the children in the underground bunkers, but he did not. However, we soon
found out that the coward chose the easy way out for himself. We believe he
had one of his lieutenants shoot him while many others burned to death.
The Rangers did a tremendous job on the recovery of evidence, search of the
crime scene, and interviewing of witnesses and suspects. I was never prouder
to wear the famous star of a Ranger than during that investigation.
In January of 1994, I transferred to San Antonio. Again, I got to work on some
interesting homicide investigations, three of which have been aired on Dr. G:
Medical Examiner, A & E’s New Detectives, and Court TV. Two of the cases
were made into books: Every Breath You Take and Blood Brother. The first
book, by Ann Rule, is scheduled to be a TV movie. The second describes a
case in Decatur involving a serial killer. I was not the only Ranger involved in
that investigation. Many were instrumental in the eventual arrest of four
individuals responsible for the murder, including Rangers John Martin, Ray
Cano, Marrie Garcia, Joe Hudson, Sal Abreo, Ray Coffman, and Brooks Long.
On October 1, 2001, I promoted to lieutenant and was assigned to the startup
of the first-ever Texas Rangers Cold Case Squad, officially named the
Unsolved Crimes Investigation Unit (UCIT). I was lucky enough to have the
UCIT office located in San Antonio and did not have to move, as is the usual
case with any promotion within DPS.
During my two-and-a-half-year tenure there, the number of Rangers in the
squad went from five to eight. During that time frame, we solved eight cases.
Six ended by arrests and two concluded by exceptional means. In these
cases, exceptional means referred to suicides that the families believed to be
homicides, but eventually proved to be suicides, as first ruled. Suicides are
very hard for any family to accept. Wrapping up a case brings closure to some
families, and the relief is beyond words. Knowing at long last what happened
and who was responsible is something that victims’ families deserve. The
UCIT unit still continues to solve crimes. It is now supervised by Lieutenant
Tony Leal.
On April 1, 2003, I promoted to captain, but since there was no field opening
at the time, I was assigned to the office of Audit and Inspection. That first day,
while nailing up the first picture frame in my office, I got a call from several
Rangers. They told me I was lucky. Senior Ranger Captain C. J. Havrda was
retiring and, therefore, I would soon be out of A & I and into a field command.
Since this was April 1, I had to keep asking myself if I had fallen for an April
Fool’s trick. I walked into headquarters, looked at Chief Havrda, and just
asked if it was true. He said yes, and the following month I was stationed in
Lubbock as captain of Company C. Talk about lucky!
I have been in Lubbock ever since. Even though I would love to go back to
South Texas, just the thought of leaving here is heartbreaking. I have grown
to love Company C and all the personnel in this unit.
I owe my success to following the examples of many Rangers, past and
present. Most of all, I owe it to God. My dad and mom are my heroes, who
instilled in me the values that have guided me through life. Without that
foundation, who knows where I would be? Thanks, Dad and Mom!
Editor’s note. Since Gary wrote this article, the Cold Case Unit has been
placed under the command of a captain. Gary has transferred from Lubbock
back to San Antonio to again assume the leadership of this special unit.
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Ector’s Texas Brigade
and the Army of Tennessee
Dispatch Home
By David V. Stroud
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Review by Dr. Lonnie Maness
Professor Emeritus of History,
University of Tennessee at Martin
Contact the Editor
David V. Stroud, Ector’s Texas Brigade and
the Army of Tennessee: 1862-1865.
Longview, Texas: Ranger Publishing, 2004.
pp. i-xi, 276. maps, illustrations, notes,
index.
Stroud Receives Book Award
The Texas Ranger Dispatch is proud to congratulate David Stroud, the regular
columnist for “Guns of the Texas Rangers.” David’s book, Ector’s Texas
Brigade and the Army of Tennessee, 1862-1865, has won the Summerfield G.
Roberts Award for “the best book written on Texas or Texans in the
Confederacy published in 2004.” It was presented on June 4, 2005, by the
Sons of Confederate Veterans, Texas Division.
During the early days of the war, Mathew Ector and his men served under
Texas Ranger Hall of Famer Ben McCullough in Arkansas at the Battle of Pea
Ridge.
Ector’s Texas Brigade and the Army of Tennessee: 1862-1865 can be
purchased through the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum’s bookstore.
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/17/pages/Maness.htm (1 of 5) [4/30/2009 11:24:14 PM]
Ector’s Texas Brigade and the Army of Tennessee is a well-researched and
written addition to the literature on the Army of Tennessee and the role Texas
played in the War for Southern Independence. It is highly recommended
reading for anyone interested in the Civil War and Texas history.
Mathew Ector’s immediate ancestors were Irish. Hugh Ector, his paternal
grandfather, immigrated to America from Ireland in time to serve for Georgia
during the Revolutionary War. Mathew’s father, also named Hugh, married
Dorothy Duncan on December 2, 1819. Mathew was born on February 28,
1822. He attended Center College in Danville, Kentucky. Later, he studied law,
married Louisa Phillips, passed the Georgia bar examination, and began the
practice of law. Like his father, Mathew entered politics and was elected to the
state legislature. Everything was going well for the Ectors when Louisa
suddenly died in 1846.
When his term in the state legislature ended, Mathew left Georgia, first
traveling to California. He soon returned to Georgia and talked his brother
Wiley into going with him to Texas. By 1849, they were at home in the East
Texas town of Henderson, the county seat of Rusk County. Mathew soon
reentered the practice of law, aided in opening the Henderson Female College,
and met Lettitia M. Graham. The couple was married in Henderson on August
6, 1851, the same year Mathew opened his law office.
As his law practice flourished, Mathew returned to politics and was elected to
the Texas legislature in 1855. Once again, tragedy struck when his second
wife died. This time, however, Ector decided not to resettle.
The winds of war were now in the air as the sectional struggle between the
states became more bitter. After the presidential election of 1860, the South
began seceding from the Union. Rusk County sent delegates to the Texas
Secession Convention. Ector was not one of these delegates, but he must
have agreed with them because the county cast 1,376 votes for secession
while only 135 voted to remain in the Union.
Companies of volunteers began forming. On May 7, 1861, Mathew Ector
enlisted in Captain R. H. Cumby’s cavalry as a private. As Cumby’s Company
organized, an election of officers took place. Mathew was elected as 1st
lieutenant. Soon, the company was in Dallas to become part of Colonel
Elkanah Brackin Greer’s forces. Greer’s Regiment was mustered into
Confederate service on June 13, 1861, as the 3rd Texas Cavalry. Greer now
called for the election of regimental officers. Walter Lane was elected
lieutenant colonel, George W. Clinton was selected major, and Lieutenant
Ector was appointed regimental adjutant. The next four weeks were spent
training the troops.
The command was soon on the road to the Choctaw Nation. They marched to
Fort Smith, Arkansas, located on the south bank of the Arkansas River.
Shortly after arriving, orders were received from General Benjamin McCulloch
for the Texans to join his command in Southwest Missouri. By August 4, 1861,
the 3rd Texas reached McCulloch’s camp on Cane Creek, located about five
miles from General Lyon’s federal army at Dug Springs. The Battle of Wilson’s
Creek, located nine miles from Springfield, Missouri, was about to take place.
The 3rd Texas performed meritoriously under the command of General
McCulloch at Wilson’s Creek and Pea Ridge.
McCulloch was born in 1811 in Rutherford County, Tennessee. In 1835, he
moved to Texas, where he fought for Texas independence at San Jacinto.
After the war, he settled in Gonzales, working as a surveyor. He soon joined
Jack Hays’ company of Texas Rangers, and was elected 1st lieutenant in
1842. He fought many battles with the Indians. During the Mexican War, he
raised a command that became Company A of Colonel Jack Hays’ First
Regiment, Texas Mounted Volunteers. Later he was named General Zachary
Taylor’s chief of scouts. He and his men rendered valuable service in the
Battles of Monterey and Buena Vista. At the war’s end, McCulloch was a
major. When the War for Southern Independence began, he offered his
services to the Confederacy. He was commissioned a brigadier general in May
1861 and ordered to Fort Smith, Arkansas.
On August 10, 1861, General Lyon’s army attacked the Confederates at
Wilson’s Creek. The Southern forces included Missouri militia under General
Sterling Price and McCulloch’s forces, both commanded by McCulloch.
Things went well for Lyons at first, but the Confederates rallied, stabilized
their lines, and attacked. Lyons was killed, and his army retreated to
Springfield. The 3rd Texas played a small but important role in this
Confederate victory. In Colonel Greer’s report, he wrote, “Adjutant M. D. Ector
and the balance of my staff . . . acted with great gallantry during the whole
battle.” General McCulloch’s troops now controlled southwest Missouri. They
remained there until late November when they returned to Arkansas and went
into winter quarters.
On January 10, 1862, the Trans-Mississippi Department was created, with
General Earl Van Dorn in command. In early February, General Samuel Curtis
and his 11,000 men began moving against General Price’s 8,000-man force.
Price retreated into Arkansas and called on General McCulloch for assistance.
The 3rd Texas left its winter quarters to join McCulloch’s Division enroute to
Price’s Army at Fayetteville. The divisions of Price and McCulloch were united
in the Boston Mountains, occupying the road to Fayetteville. General Curtis’s
main force was located near Elkhorn Tavern.
In the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern (Pea Ridge), Van Dorn’s Army was successful
at first, pushing the advance elements of Curtis’s Army back to the main body
of troops at the Elkhorn Tavern area. In the main battle that resulted, things
began going wrong. When Price opened the battle, McCulloch heard the
opening guns and went into action, pushing the enemy while capturing part of
his artillery. Some of Pike’s warriors scalped a few dead Union soldiers. Ector
and the 3rd Texas held Round Mountain as McCulloch pursued the fleeing
federals. While reconnoitering the enemy position, McCulloch and two
companies from the 16th Arkansas went through a group of trees. Waiting on
the other side of the woods were men of Company B, 36th Illinois. When
McCulloch was within seventy yards, they opened fire and stopped the
Confederate charge. A single bullet struck General McCulloch’s heart, and the
former Texas Ranger’s life was ended. After considerably more fighting, Van
Dorn concluded that victory was slipping from his grasp and ordered his army
to retreat. This Union victory freed most of Missouri from Confederate control,
even though there would be Confederate raids and guerrilla warfare in
Missouri for the remainder of the war.
Lieutenant Ector was soon promoted to colonel. He was given command of
the 14th Texas Cavalry (dismounted) regiment.
Van Dorn’s Army arrived in Corinth, Mississippi, too late to participate in the
Battle of Shiloh. The unit was involved in action around Corinth and went with
Beauregard to Tupelo, Mississippi. Ector participated in General Braxton
Bragg’s invasion of Kentucky and fought in the Battle of Richmond. After the
Confederate forces had been withdrawn from Kentucky, Colonel Ector learned
that he had been promoted to Brigadier General on August 23, 1862. He was
now given command of a brigade that is remembered in history as Ector’s
Texas Brigade, even though units from other states were sometimes part of it.
Ector’s Brigade, for most of the War for Southern Independence, served with
the Army of Tennessee. As part of this army, it served with great honor and
wrote an illustrious history upon the pages of American military history,
fighting in some of the greatest battles in which the Army of Tennessee would
be engaged, including the Battle of Stones River.
During this time, Ector’s Brigade served with Joseph E. Johnston in
Mississippi in a fruitless effort to relieve Vicksburg. By September 1863, Ector
and his men had returned to the Army of Tennessee and fought so gallantly in
the Battle of Chickamauga that General Nathan Bedford Forrest was
impressed by their heroic action.
Following Chickamauga, Ector’s Brigade returned to Mississippi, but the
soldiers later participated in the Atlanta Campaign. There, General Ector was
wounded on July 27, 1864, and had his left leg amputated. That took the
general out of command, but his brigade fought on until the end of the war.
After Atlanta fell, the unit saw action at Allatoona and Nashville before it was
sent to Spanish Fort in defense of Mobile, Alabama. On April 11, 1865, Mobile
was abandoned, and on May 4, General Richard Taylor surrendered all the
troops of his command in the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East
Louisiana. The War for Southern Independence was over, and Ector’s Brigade
had played a small but important role in this gallant struggle.
Paroled on May 10, 1865, Brigadier General Ector and his wife Sallie Pinkerton
Chew, whom he had married in 1864, went to Texas. There Mathew resumed
the practice of law. In 1874, he was appointed to the Sixth District Court of
Appeals, where he served until his death on October 29, 1879. In 1887, Ector
County was created in West Texas and named in the general’s honor. In
Fannin County, Texas, in 1874, the town of Ector was established, possibly in
honor of General Ector or of Ector Owens.
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Indian Fighting in
Jack County - 1870s
By Eddie Matney
The early spring of 1875 began.
Citizens of the northwestern frontier
counties of Texas happily started to
emerge from twenty years of almost
constant Indian raids, killings, and
thievery. Several factors had led to
this sense of hope and safety.
In the year 1868, the United States
government had adopted a peace plan whereby the Indian reservations would
be administered by civilians. As long as the Indians stayed on the
reservations, they would be protected and fed.
This act caused a real hardship on the anguished citizens of Texas and the
army stationed in Texas. The Indian raiders would come off the reservations
into Texas for depredations and then retreat back to the badlands of West
Texas or to the sanctuary of the reservations. According to the treaty, Texasbased cavalry units chasing Indian raiding parties had to stop along the Red
River and could not legally advance onto the reservation unless requested by
higher authority.
Throughout the early months of 1874, the U.S. government had been seeing
an ever-increasing unrest among the Indians on the reservations, especially
among the Kiowa, Comanche, and Cheyenne. It was becoming apparent that
civilian control was slipping. Some of the reservation Indians were leaving
and going out to the Staked Plains of West Texas and others were making
raids into the northwestern part of the state. It seemed that a general outbreak
of Indian warfare was at hand.
Stationed at Fort Richardson in Jack County, the Army had been doing its
best to protect the homesteaders and ranchers, but the number of cavalry
companies was never enough to give proper protection of such a large area.
Through patrols, the soldiers found and had several fights with warriors, yet
the Indian raids continued.
The raids coming out of the western parts of the state, especially from the
reservations in the Oklahoma Territory, were so numerous the citizens were
begging the state government for extra protection. In answer to the pleas, the
state legislature authorized Governor Coke in 1874 to organize six companies
of Rangers for deployment across the west and northwestern frontier
counties of the state. They were to be designated as Companies A through F
and were to have full legal power to arrest “wrong doers” and especially to
find and either kill or drive out Indian raiding parties. This contingent of men
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was to be known as the Frontier Battalion.
Overall command of the Frontier Battalion was
placed under John B. Jones, a Civil War veteran,
and he was given the rank of major. Major Jones
reported to State Adjutant General William Steele.
John B. Jones
G. W. Stevens of Wise County was commissioned
captain and authorized to recruit men from the
Wise County area for the new Company B,
stationed west of Wise County. Enlistment was to
be for one year or less. Stevens was the captain of
a Wise County minuteman company and had
always answered the call of neighbors to lead in
chases and fights with Indians. In the last two or three years, he had been
wounded in the hand and the hip in a fight with Indians just above Buffalo
Springs, located in Clay County.
Stevens recruited to the full compliment of seventy-five men. Several of the
enlistees had lived in Wise County for years and had experience fighting with
Indians. Company B moved out to the western part of Young County for duty.
By early June, the unit was on station and riding on patrol over Young,
Archer, and Jack Counties.
The men soon got their first baptism of fire. On July 9, 1874, Corporal
Newman and eight men were attacked by about 50 Indians while patrolling in
western Archer County. The engagement lasted about four hours, with no
lives lost on either side.
After organizing the battalion, Major Jones had begun his first series of
inspection tours up the line of his units in order to position the companies
where he thought they would do the most good. He also set about whipping
the battalion into the proper fighting force that he desired. At each company,
he would take five or six men to provide an escort for protection as he
traveled the dangerous frontier counties.
While visiting with Company B on July 12, 1874, Major Jones, his escorts, and
a portion of Company B had a major fight with approximately 125 Kiowa and
Comanche Indians in Lost Valley, about sixteen miles west of Fort
Richardson. The fight lasted for several hours and there were casualties on
both sides.
Recognizing that the Grant Peace Policy was a failure, the Army was finally
authorized in late July to hunt down and drive into the reservations any
Indians, wherever found. The Army then set in motion a devastating fivepronged attack throughout the west and northwestern part of Texas and the
southwestern area of the Indian Territory. This became known as the Red
River War.
After several months of fighting and unrelenting tracking by the Army, almost
all the pursued Indians began to see that their old way of life was gone. They
started to come back to the reservations and surrender.
In November, Adjutant General Steele informed Major Jones that the Frontier
Battalion could not be sustained at its present level because the state
treasury was low on cash flow. Steele, wishing to keep the battalion in force,
cut the manpower of five companies in half, leaving each company with thirty
Rangers commanded by one 1st lieutenant.
Captain Stevens of Company B left the Ranger service with an honorable
discharge and returned to his home in Decatur. In turn, 2nd Lieutenant Ira
Long was promoted and placed in command of the company.
By the spring of 1875, the Red River War was over and the northwestern part
of Texas was, for once, almost free of Indian raids and depredations on its
citizens.
While the Army had been chasing the Indians, Company B had continued their
patrols against the occasional horse-stealing party slipping across the Red
River. Early May of 1875 found the little company of Rangers camped in the
foothills just east of Lost Valley at a spring then known as Raines Spring.
Location of the camp was three miles east of the present community of
Jermyn, just north of present State Road 199.
On May 5, 1875, Major Jones rode into the camp of Company B with his
escort. He was perhaps surprised to find that the men there had a measles
outbreak. The next day, after conferring with Lieutenant Long about the
condition of the company and the Indian situation, Jones wrote a report to
Adjutant General Steele:
Sir
I have the honor to report my arrival at this the camp of Co B
yesterday. I find the measles in camp. Seven or eight men just
recovering but not able for duty, six more down, and new cases
breaking out every day. Consequently the Company is, and has
been for several weeks, entirely unfit for service, and will not be
able to do any scouting before the expiration of their time of
service.
I regret this much more, because the Indians have visited this
immediate section three or four times already since the first of
January, and will probably come frequently during the Spring
and Summer. They have stolen horses twice this spring from Mr
Loving whose ranch is five miles from this place.
I have eleven men with me, some of whom have not had the
measles, and have established a quarantine between my camp
and Leuit Long’s.
Loving (James C. Loving) was a rancher who, in 1868, had moved his
headquarters and ranching operations from Palo Pinto County up to the
northwestern end of Lost Valley, located on the western edge of Jack County.
Lost Valley was an area of flat land approximately three miles wide and about
eight miles long, north to south. It was somewhat surrounded by rocky hills
and low mountains and made for an excellent place for raising cattle and
horses. The northern end of the valley was watered by two creeks, Cameron
and Stewart.
For several years, the Loving ranch had been almost constantly harassed by
Indian raiding parties who either killed or stole the cattle and horses—
especially Loving’s horses. Two of Loving’s cowboys, Mr. Wright and Mr.
Heath, had been killed by Indians in the last two years.
Perhaps on the very day that Major Jones arrived at Lieutenant Long’s
campsite, a party of six Kiowa men and one squaw slipped away from their
reservation in the Indian Territory for a short raid across the river into Texas.
Arriving in the Lost Valley area on the night of May 7, they headed to Loving’s
ranch. There they stole some horses out of the corral and rode southwest
down Cameron Creek.
The next morning, after Loving and his men had left for the day’s work on the
ranch, two of the men who had stayed at the ranch house soon discovered
that part of the fence was down and a few of the saddle horses kept in the
corral were missing. Knowing that there was a Ranger company stationed
southeast at Raines Spring, the boys saddled their horses and quickly rode to
give the alert to the Rangers.
Once informed, Major Jones gathered some of his men and rode towards the
ranch to investigate the theft. When he arrived, he found the messengers to
be correct.
Following the trail south along Cameron Creek, the Ranger force lost the
tracks left by the raiders and began a search along the western area of Lost
Valley. Finally, several miles south of the ranch house, the Indians trail was
found just north of Cox Mountain at the south end of the valley.
Following the trail and riding at a fast rate, the Rangers overtook the raiding
party close to Rock Creek, northeast of the present community of Bryson.
One of the Indians was shot and killed immediately. A running gunfight then
took place in which four more of the raiders were killed. Two Indians were
able to make their escape. With the chase and fight over, the Rangers
returned to their camp at Raines Spring.
The next day, May 9, Major Jones sent a Western Union telegram from
Jacksboro to Adjutant General Steele in Austin:
With small detachment of my command I struck Indian trail in
Lost Valley yesterday. Overtook them & killed five only one
known to have escaped. One of my men slightly wounded. Lt.
Long’s horse killed another wounded Indians blankets marked U.
S.I.D.
As a follow-up, Major Jones wrote a report to Steele, giving a description of
the fight:
Headquarters Frontier Battalion
Camp near Lost Valley Jack Co. Texas
May 9th 1875
Gen Wm Steele
Adjt genl
Austin.
Sir,
I have the honor to report that information reached me yesterday
morning about ten o-clock that some horses had been stolen
from Mr. Lovings ranch, some five miles distance, the night
before. I immediately started to the ranch accompanied by Dr.
Nicholson, the Surgeon, Lt Long and ten men of Company B, five
men of Company A and four men of Company D.
From the ranch we searched through the western part of the
valley; found some Indian sign, but no trail until we reached the
south end of the valley, five or six miles from the ranch, when we
struck a trail just where I entered the same valley last summer
when in pursuit of Lone Wolf and his party.
We followed the trail at a brisk gallop in a southeasterly direction
three or four miles, when we overtook a party of seven Indians.
Luit Long killed on the first fire.
Then they took to flight and a running fight ensued for five or six
miles in the woods and over rough and rocky hills and hollows,
during which they changed their course and performed almost a
complete circle, so that the fight ended within a mile of where we
first struck their trail. We killed five; the other two evaded us in
the woods and made their escape into the mountains.
Private L. C. Garvey of Co. B received a very slight wound. Lt
Long’s horse was killed and two horses wounded. No other
casualties on our side.
The Indians were armed with breach loading shot guns, and six
shooters and fought desperately, three of them continuing to
fight after they were shot down. One of those killed was a squaw,
but handled her six-shooter quite as dexterously as did the
bucks. Another was a half-breed or quarter, spoke broken
English, was quite fare and had auburn hair.
They were well mounted, but had no horses but what they were
riding. Four of those were killed in the fight. Some of them
proved to be horses that were stolen from Mr. Loving about three
weeks ago, the others were taken night before last. It is very
evident that they had mounted themselves at the first ranch they
came to, with the design of penetrating farther into the
settlements, as there course lay in the exact direction of Keeche
valley in the northeast corner of Palo Pinto, and northwest
corner of Parker County, and if we had not overtaken them,
would doubtless have reached the settlements yesterday
evening.
The fight took place in Jack County, about fifteen miles a little
south of west from Jacksboro, on the head of rock creek. They
were well clothed, and doubtless directly from the Reservation,
as their blankets were marked U.S.I.D. One of them had the scalp
of a white woman fastened to his shield.
In this report, Major Jones went on to give special commendation to
Lieutenant Long for his leadership, coolness, and courage in the fight.
Lieutenant Long (later captain) penned a very interesting story of his part in
the fight:
We found some sigh at the ranch but no definite trail until we got
about six miles south in the valley. Watching closely in order not
to lose it and by any chance let them escape again, I sighted far
ahead and saw a man standing under a tree. The very fact that he
was alone roused my suspicions and speaking to the Major
about it we turned our field-glasses on him and he ran into the
timber. I hurried to investigate and when I reached the tree, was
so intent on examining the footprints that I neither looked up, nor
around, until I heard my men shout, ”Indians!” and saw them
turn in the direction that they had discovered them. Jumping my
horse, which was a fine one, I was off at a dead run. Getting
closer I saw there was but seven in the bunch. Outdistancing my
men I gave them a hot chase for about three miles, pouring hot
lead into them as I ran. The men overtaking me used their
ammunition freely, as did the Major, with telling effect. I saw that
one of the scoundrels had it in for me and I dodged more than
one of his bullets. But seeing him draw his horse closer and
draw a bead on me I let him have it between the eyes and when
he doubled up and fell I resolved that I would come back that
way and strip him of paraphernalia for he wore the trappings of a
chief.
Bullets were whizzing constantly around us, but we were doing
some pretty fair shooting ourselves and seeing my shot had
taken the horse from the chief I felt like we could at least report
progress.
I could not tell whether he was wounded or not, but he was
shielding himself in the brush and trying to pick off my men one
at a time, making every shot tell. It seemed to me the very next
one took my horse in the center of the forehead and when I felt
him tremble I knew that it had done its hellish work.
When I hit the ground I was on my feet. Here came the old
painted devil straight toward me, yelling and shooting like mad. I
had emptied my pistol and having to reload gave him the
advantage. But with a round in place I fed him melted bullets
until both his and my guns were empty. Then it dawned on me in
a flash that it was a game of tit for tat between us. I recall how
thankful I was that I was big and brawny and strong and then we
closed. I had never then, nor have I since, seen such strength
and agility as that Indian possessed. When I threw him off in a
grapple he bounced like a rubber ball. And he used his gunstock
as skillfully as I did mine.”
My men had gone on with the remainder of the bunch, and we
were both tired out. I knew I could expect no help from them, and
that it was the best man for it. He was panting for breath, so was
I, and I knew that neither of us could hold out much longer when,
plunk! A shot took him in the knee. One of my company, fearing
that I was in trouble, had ridden back, and taking in the situation,
risking a bullet, although he said afterward he ‘didn’t know
whether it would take me or the chief, for it was nip and tuck as
to who would be on top next.’ That gave me a chance to reload
my pistol and at such close range I felt like the ball I put into him
did the work. But I didn’t take time to see, for sure. Jumping a
horse, I was off with my rescuer to try my hand on the rest of
them. We got three of them after that and on the way back we
went to see if the old chief was dead, and there he lay stretched
full length.
The state would have Indian troubles in the far western section of Texas for
several more years. However, the raiding party of May 8, 1875, proved to be
the last in the northwestern frontier counties.
Sources
Books
Horton, Thomas F. History of Jack County (Reprint). Jacksboro: Gazette Print,
1933, 1975.
McConnell, Joseph Carroll. The West Texas Frontier, vol. II. Palo Pinto, Texas:
Texas Legal Bank and Book Company, 1939.
McIntire, Jim. Early Days in Texas: A Trip to Hell and Heaven. Reprint,
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1992.
Nye, W. S. Carbine & Lance: The Story of Old Fort Sill. Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1937, 1957.
Webb, Walter Prescott. The Texas Rangers: A Century of Frontier Defense.
Austin: University of Texas Press, 1935, 1993.
Magazines
Cross, Cora Melton. “Ira Long, Cowboy and Texas Ranger.” Frontier Times,
October 1930.
Copies of the following items may be obtained from
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
PO Box 12927, Austin, Texas 78711-2927:
Jones to Steele, report, May 9, 1875. Follow-up report giving more detailed
description of the chase and fight with the Indian party.
Jones to Steele, telegram, Western Union, May 9, 1875. First report of fight
with an Indian party.
Major Jones to Adj. Gen. Steele, report, May 6, 1875. Report gives condition of
Company B personnel on Jones’ arrival at their campsite.
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Elisha Clapp
By Stephen Moore
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Painting of Elisha Clapp courtesy of his
great-grandson Wilfred Clapp.
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The modern Texas Ranger is as literate
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as he is well versed in the handling of his
firearms. For the Ranger of the 1830s,
however, courage and natural leadership
far outweighed book smarts.
Such was the case with farmer, fighter,
and tavern owner Elisha Clapp, who was
unable to read or write but had a burning
desire to fight foes of the Republic of
Texas. Oddly enough, he helped organize
and became one of the first eleven trustees of Trinity College in 1841.
Born in 1792, Clapp first visited Texas in 1822. By 1834, he had secured an
entrance certificate for his wife Rebecca Elizabeth (Robbins) and their first
four children. He joined Captain Henry Wax Karnes’ cavalry company on April
7, 1836, during the great Runaway Scrape. At the battle of San Jacinto, Clapp
fought valiantly and helped pursue Mexican cavalrymen fleeing from the
battleground. Fellow cavalryman William S. Taylor later wrote:
Elisha Clapp, having a very fleet horse, started in pursuit of them, and soon
coming up with them, fired his rifle, killing one of them. The others, seeing
that his rifle was discharged, turned to give him battle, when Clapp was
compelled to retreat, not being able to cope with three Mexicans with an
empty gun. The one nearest to him discharged his escopet at him, but the ball
missed him, though, judging from the whistling, Clapp afterward told me
though it passed within six inches of his head.
Following San Jacinto, Clapp left the Army on May 28, 1836. He returned to
his home in present Houston County, Texas. (Clapp was among the
petitioners who helped create Houston County from Nacogdoches County in
1837.)
Under orders from President Sam Houston, Major James Smith was
authorized to establish companies of Rangers for East Texas to help keep the
Indians in check. The first of Smith’s three companies to organize was that of
Captain Elisha Clapp.
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Fifty-eight men gathered at Clapp’s Blockhouse on September 10, 1836, and
Clapp was duly elected as their commander. Each man was required to
furnish his own provisions, arms, ammunition, and horse. Clapp’s Rangers
were authorized by Houston to “range from any point on the Brazos to Mr.
Hall’s Trading House on the Trinity.” Clapp was also ordered to give eight of
his Rangers to Daniel Parker Sr., who had been directed to oversee the
construction of a new blockhouse on the Trinity River in the vicinity of Fort
Houston.
Clapp commanded his Rangers for three months, conducting expeditions to
scout for Ioni Indians who had reportedly stolen from local settlers. His men
also secured the upper crossing of the Trinity River with a new blockhouse.
They built this structure at the Robbins’ Ferry crossing of the Trinity where
Highway 21 presently enters the western border of Houston County. Captain
Clapp’s new fort, southwest of his own fortified home, became known as the
Trinity River Fort.
Clapp’s Rangers were disbanded at his “Headquarters, Mustang Prairie” on
December 12, 1836. This was due to Sam Houston’s limiting of service to
three months.
In 1837, a new regiment of Rangers was authorized by the Second Congress
of the Republic of Texas to combat a rise in Indian violence. Houston
nominated Elisha Clapp to command the Nacogdoches County company of
Rangers. (In his instructions to the auditor, President Houston noted that
Clapp was illiterate and that his muster roll must be monitored carefully.)
There is little evidence, however, that Clapp’s company ever found action
during 1837.
Increased depredations and the rise of the Cordova Rebellion in 1838 brought
new prominence to the Texas Militia, ably led by Major General Thomas
Jefferson Rusk. Although President Houston had allowed the Texas Rangers
to lapse in early 1838, Rusk approved the use of regional “ranging
companies” that continued to operate even when the militia was not in the
field. Elisha Clapp was elected major of the Third Regiment of the Texas
Militia.
Major Clapp was key in recruiting men for the Ranger service. Rusk
authorized him on October 1 to raise 150 men to protect the frontier and fight
Indians. At San Augustine on October 5, Clapp had 36 out of 40 men present
at his meeting to volunteer for service. Corresponding with Rusk this day via
his adjutant, Clapp reported:
I have no doubt that the Indians and Mexicans are embodied near Kickapoo
Village and in all probability we can get a fight near home . . . Your order to
raise men for our protection, I must inform you, met with universal hallelujahs
and hurrahs, it being the first legal order of the kind ever sent forth officially
to our country.
Major Clapp’s volunteers rendezvoused at Fort Houston with other Rangers
and militiamen under Tom Rusk and General Kelsey Douglass. They marched
to the old Kickapoo Village in present Anderson County and fought a heated
battle on October 16, 1838. Many Texans had their horses and mules killed in
this struggle. Clapp helped serve as an appraiser for their losses after the
fight.
Clapp continued to serve as a major for the militia’s ranging corps into 1839.
During the Cherokee War of 1839, he was major of Rusk’s 2nd Regiment of
the 3rd Militia Brigade staff. After peace negotiations crumbled with the
Cherokee and their associated tribes, two days of battle ensued west of
present Tyler on July 15-16, 1839. In this conflict, Cherokee leader Chief
Bowles was slain, and the majority of the surviving Cherokees were driven
from Texas into present Oklahoma.
In the ensuing years, Clapp left his blockhouse behind and moved from
Mustang Prairie to the little Houston County community of Alabama, where he
helped organize Trinity College in 1841. He operated a tavern for some time,
and in 1847, he acquired Robbins’ Ferry at the Old San Antonio Road crossing
of the Trinity River, where his 1836 Rangers had constructed the Trinity River
Fort. By 1849, he had relocated to Leon County, where he died on March 1,
leaving behind his wife and eight children.
In his short life, Elisha Clapp never learned to read or write. He did, however,
make his mark on Texas history as a soldier of the Texas Revolution, a Texas
Ranger Captain, and a senior militia officer during the height of the Indian
wars in East Texas.
Sources:
Clapp, Wilfred to Stephen Moore, 2001. Wilfred is the great-grandson of Elisha
Clapp.
“Elisha Clapp.” The New Handbook of Texas. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu.
Ericson, Carolyn Reeves. Nacogdoches. Gateway to Texas. A Biographical
Directory, 1773-1849. vol. 1. Nacogdoches: Ericson Books, 1991.
Moore, Stephen L. Savage Frontier. Rangers, Riflemen, and Indian Wars in
Texas. vol. 1, 1835-1837; vol. 2, 1838-1839 (forthcoming). San Antonio:
Republic of Texas Press, 2002.
Taylor, William S. “Pursuit of Santa Anna and his Cavalry after They Had
Commenced Their Flight from the Battlefield of San Jacinto.” Texas Almanac:
A Compendium of Texas History, 1857-1873. Waco, Texas: Texian Press, 1967.
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Harrison Hamer
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Today, only the most die-hard
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Ranger enthusiast is familiar with
Harrison Hamer. Even then, they
mainly think of him as the brother of
the man who led the posse that
killed Bonnie and Clyde. Harrison
may have been in the shadow of his
brother as far as fame is concerned,
but he more than held his own
during his lifetime of law
enforcement.
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F. A. and Lou Emma Hamer had five
sons. Four of them became Texas
Rangers: Estill [D. E.], Frank,
Harrison, and Flavius L. Of those four, D. E. and Frank went on to be Senior
Ranger Captains. The other son, Clint, was never a law enforcement officer.
Harrison Hamer, the fourth son, was born on August 15, 1888, in Fairview,
Texas. He grew to adulthood in San Saba County, where the family had moved
when Harrison was very young.
Harrison and Frank, who were very close, grew up in a rural countryside and
honed their skills in tracking, shooting, and defending themselves in
shootouts. Harrison was twelve and Frank sixteen when they shot it out with a
neighboring farmer
[click here].
D. E. and Frank were already Rangers when twenty-year-old Harrison joined
them for the first time in 1918. Flavus was still a few years away from joining.
As was common during those years, Harrison was in and out of the Rangers
numerous times during his career. When not a Texas Ranger, he wore the
badge of several law enforcement agencies: Mounted Customs Agent during
the prohibition years, Special Ranger, Range Detective for the Cattleman’s
Association, and agent for the Sheep and Goat Raisers Association. His final
position was working security at the Magnolia Refinery in Beaumont.
One of Harrison’s most noteworthy cases occurred when he was a Mounted
Customs agent. The outlaws involved were Jess Newton and his brothers Joe,
Dock, and Willis. These four men had robbed and burglarized banks in the
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/17/pages/Harrison_Hamer.htm (1 of 3) [4/30/2009 11:25:12 PM]
United States and Canada for years before their career ended—at least
officially—robbing a train near Chicago, Illinois. After this last heist, the
brothers were hunted down and taken one by one.
It was believed that several of the Newton brothers were living in Mexico
across the Rio Grande River from Del Rio, Texas. Harrison knew that the boys
loved rodeos and suspected that one or more of the them might not be able to
resist as big an event as the July 4th rodeo in Del Rio. Keeping a close eye on
the crowd, Harrison saw Jess and his wife enter the stands, and he patiently
waited his chance. His persistence paid off when Jess left the stands and
unsuspectingly walked past the former Ranger. Harrison grabbed Jess by the
arm and, undoubtedly with the aid of his ever-present six-shooter, informed
Newton that he was under arrest. Escorting Jess below the grandstand,
Harrison asked one of the local cowboys to watch the ever-elusive bandit. He
returned to the stands and sent word to Newton’s wife that her husband
needed to see her. As she walked past Harrison, he also arrested her.
Harrison Hamer in a Model T
The movie The Newton Boys shows Jess Newton being captured by Texas
Ranger Frank Hamer. In actuality, it was Harrison who captured Jess.
During his years in law enforcement, Harrison participated in investigations
involving homicide, narcotics, bank robbers, and prohibition violations,
among many others. In the largest raid on illegal stills in Texas history up to
that time, Harrison found and destroyed 2,500 gallons of whiskey in Big Lake
County.
Sadly, in the eyes of the public, Harrison is almost completely overshadowed
by his legendary brother Frank. This did not interfere with the feelings the two
had toward one another, however. They were close until their deaths—
something that cannot be said about Frank and D. E. [See http://www.
texasranger.org/dispatch/13/pages/Hamer.htm]
Harrison Hamer, a truly outstanding Texas Ranger, died on August 24, 1977,
in Houston. He is buried in Del Rio, Texas.
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Eleven Days In Hell:
The 1974 Carrasco Prison Siege
at Huntsville, Texas
Dispatch Home
by William T. Harper
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Review by Robert Nieman
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William T. Harper. Eleven Days in Hell: the 1974
Carrasco Prison Siege at Huntsville, Texas.
Denton, Texas: University of North Texas Press,
2004. ISBN 1-57441-180-2; Hardback, 41 photos,
346 pages. $27.95.
Until now, no major work has been devoted to this, the longest prison siege
in American history. William T. Harper has filled this void. The author gives an
exhaustive account of those eleven days in hell for the eleven civilian and
four inmate hostages. They lived in a constant state of terror, not knowing
when or what might set their captors off in a killing rage.
From July 24 until August 3, 1974, Frederico Carrasco, Rudolfo Dominguez,
and Ignacio Cuevas took over the Huntsville Prison library. Carrasco, serving
a life sentence for attempted murder, was the head of a drug gang that
reached from South America to Canada. Even though he had never met his
cohorts until they entered Huntsville, his control over Dominguez and Cuevas
was absolute.
The takeover started just after the back-to-work whistle blew at one o’clock
that Wednesday afternoon, July 24. Fifteen minutes before, the three terrorists
had been casually thumbing through newspapers. The whistle was the signal
for Carrasco to shatter the quiet with a blast from his .357 magnum into the
ceiling.
After the takeover, negotiations were started almost immediately by Director
of the Texas Department of Corrections Jim Estelle and Prison Warden H. H.
Husbands. Prison guards were quickly joined by the FBI, various Texas
Department of Public Safety members, and the Texas Rangers (also a division
of the DPS).
From the start, it was obvious that Carrasco was playing for time. Harper
explores possible motives for the delaying action, the most probable being
that Carrasco was expecting outside help from his cronies in San Antonio. He
waited in vain. As the author points out, it was likely that the Carrasco
followers realized that, as long as Carrasco was in the picture, he was still the
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/17/pages/Harper.htm (1 of 2) [4/30/2009 11:25:20 PM]
leader—even while behind prison walls. He was also taking an oversized
chunk of the profits and power. Since Carrasco did not survive, this is merely
speculation, but solid speculation.
What is not conjecture is the terror of the hostages. It is here that the author
stands out. Some of the captives were incredibly brave, others not so brave.
Harper vividly puts you with the hostages as their hopes of freedom soar,
only to be quickly dashed by an almost overpowering sense of hopelessness.
Throughout the eleven days, many options were bantered back and forth
between Carrasco and prison officials. Obviously never mentioned to the
three abductors in the library was that there was no way Carrasco,
Dominguez, and Cuevas were going to leave the prison walls. In the end,
Carrasco lay dead by his own hand, but not before he murdered one of the
hostages. Dominguez and another hostage also lay dead. Cuevas had fainted
when the shooting started; later, he was executed. Another hostage, though
in critical condition, would survive. Cal Thomas of Fox News, who at the time
was an onsite reporter for Houston’s KPRC-TV, wrote, “It is a tragedy that two
hostages died. It is a miracle all the rest lived.”
The only negative of the book is omission of the earlier plan of Carrasco’s
gang to free him from the Bexar County (San Antonio) jail before he could be
transferred to Huntsville. By pure chance, he was transferred twenty-four
hours early, thus foiling the planned jailbreak from San Antonio but paving
the way for a deadly siege at Huntsville.
Other than this minor glitch, this book is an excellent work that has been
extremely well researched and written. It is an important work in Texas
Ranger and Department of Corrections history and is highly recommended by
the Texas Ranger Dispatch.
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Rangers in the Field
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by Capts. Kirby Dendy, Barry Caver and Jim Miller
with the Editorial Board
Company "F"
Twice a year, every Ranger must qualify on the firing range. Company F
(Waco) traveled to Enchanted Rock for their qualifying. Enchanted Rock is
deeply seeped into Ranger history. It was here that Captain Jack Hays made
his legendary stands against a Comanche war party in 1841.
Contact the Editor
Front (L to R): Frank Malinak, Matt Cawthon, Tommy Ratliff, Kirby Dendy,
Dino Henderson, Kyle Dean
Row 2: Chris Love, Garth Davis, Marcus Hilton, Joe Hutson,
George Turner, Matt Lindemann
Rows 3 & 4: Rocky Wardlow, Jim Huggins, Jess Ramos, Rudy Flores, Mark
Reinhardt, Sal Abreo, Joey Gordon, Trace McDonald, Matt Andrews
Photo courtesy of Captain Kirby Dendy.
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/17/pages/Rangers_Field.htm (1 of 6) [4/30/2009 11:25:28 PM]
News
Rangers Tommy Ratliff (left) and Joey Gordon (right) qualify on the pistol
range.
Photo courtesy of Captain Kirby Dendy.
Sgt. Steve Foster firing a fully
automatic Sig Sauer .223.
Photo courtesy of Captain
Kirby Dendy.
After completing live fire exercises, it is time to clean weapons.
Capt. Kirby Dendy, Lt. Matt Lindemann, Sgt. Joey Gordon, Sgt. Chris Love,
Sgt. Rocky Wardlow (face not visible; green, long-sleeved shirt), Sgt. Dino
Henderson (face not completely visible; blue, short-sleeved shirt with arms
up), and Sgt. Trace McDonald Photo courtesy of Captain Kirby Dendy.
Company "E"
Company "E" (Midland) met at Texas Ranger Association Foundation board
member Vern Foreman’s ranch near Eastland.
David Hullum, Jess Malone, Trampas Gooding, Brian Burzynski, Johnny
Billings, Bobby Smith, Jeremy Wallace, David Duncan and Nick Hanna
Photo courtesy of Captain Barry Caver.
Draw and fire on the range. Photo courtesy of Captain Barry Caver.
Rangers must also qualify with rifles and shotguns and pistols.
Pictured: Trampas Gooding, Bobby Smith, Brooks Long
After qualifying, it is time for relaxation and enjoyment.
Company "A"
After spending the day at the firing range comes the time to relax and enjoy
good food and friendship as shown by these pictures of Company "A" at
Nacogdoches.
Rangers Jeff Cook (Richmond) and Frank Duff (Liberty)
Photo courtesy of Captain Jim Miller.
Texas Ranger Association Foundation members Les Littleton and Tony Hill
visit with Rangers Freeman Martin (Houston), Drew Carter (Houston),
and Brian Taylor (Bellville)
The best part of the evening was the company.
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Chinese Rangers ???
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Summarized by Robert Nieman
Adapted from work by
Charles H. Harris III
and Louis R. Sadler
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In their book, The Texas Rangers and the
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Mexican Revolution, Charles H. Harris III and
Louis R. Sadler relate a strange but true
story.
In 1913, Texas Adjutant General Henry Hutchings, under whom the Rangers
served, started receiving strange requests from several U.S. Army officers
wanting to know such things as Texas Ranger tactics, organization, and
training. Upon further investigation, Hutchings discovered the requests were
originating from China! The Chinese government was seriously considering
forming a Ranger-like organization to fight Mongolian bandits. They wanted to
know if the Rangers would consider organizing and staffing a similar
institution there.
Hutchings did not give the requests much consideration, but then he received
a letter from the College Division of the Army under the Secretary of War
stating that they could not locate information about the strategy and field
tactics employed by the Texas Rangers. They asked Hutchings if he would
recommend documentation and experienced men to act as advisors to the
Chinese government.
It became even clearer that the Chinese were serious when the Adjutant
General Hutchings received a request from Captain James Reeves, the former
U.S. military attaché in China. He was writing on the bequest of his successor
who wanted any information about the Texas Rangers that Hutchings could
furnish. The driving force behind these requests was a man named Larson, a
Chinese government advisor on Mongolian affairs. Captain Reeves explained
that the situation on the Chinese-Mongolian border was similar the TexasMexico border. (The years 1910-1920 along the Rio Grande River were filled
with violence and bloodshed.)
Finally realizing that requests were in earnest, Hutchings forwarded to Larson
General Order Number 5, October 2, 1911, which described the Ranger
organization. He also sent various forms that Rangers used—at least what few
there were. Furthermore, he informed the Chinese that indeed an efficient
force of Rangers and Texas National Guardsmen could be send to Mongolia.
In the end, nothing came of the Chinese Rangers. Nothing, that is except the
confirmation of what all Texans already knew—the fame and respect for the
Texas Rangers is worldwide.
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Texas Ranger Reunion
2005
Waco, Texas
Dispatch Home
Every June, the Texas Ranger
Association Foundation and
the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame
and Museum host the annual
Texas Ranger Reunion in
Waco. Besides fellowship and
good times, the Foundation
sponsors retired Rangers and
raises money for a scholarship
fund.
Visit our nonprofit
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Contact the Editor
The reunion started on Friday with a charity golf tournament held at Waco’s
Battle Lake Golf Course. The proceeds go toward the Foundation’s
scholarship fund.
Retired Texas Ranger Captains Bob Prince, Jack Dean, Bob Mitchell,
and Foundation Board Member Joe York
Foundation Members
Bobby Day, Charles Chamberlain, Byron Johnson, and Joe York
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Sgt. Matt Cawthon, Lieutenant George Turner, Sgt. Steve Foster.
The reunion is a worthwhile cause, but some have to keep working. A few
Company F Waco Rangers took off long enough to visit their fellow Rangers
and eat some of the great food served by retired Captain Bob Prince.
Foundation board member and Dispatch managing editor Bobby Nieman with
Company D Texas Ranger Sgt. Marrie Garcia
Friday night, everyone had a wonderful time at the fish fry held at the Texas
Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum’s Knox Hall.
Foundation Chairman Joel Jackson gives
welcoming remarks.
Retired Ranger Joe Hunt gave
the opening prayer.
Senior Ranger Captain Earl
Pearson
and his fiancé Dee
DPS Commissioner Colleen McHugh
Saturday morning in the Hall of Fame’s Rotunda is always moving as Rangers
who have left us in the pass year are memorialized. This year, current and
former Rangers eulogized the lives of Jerome Preiss, Glenn Krueger, L. T.
Carpenter, and Clayton McKinney.
[See http://www.texasranger.org/memorials/memorials.htm]
Memorial Service
Chaplain George Frasier
Captain Dan North, Retired
Captain Gene Powell, Retired
Assistant Chief of the Texas
Rangers
Captain Clete Buckaloo, Company "D"
The Saturday night banquet at Knox Hall is the grand finale. Foundation
Chairman Joel Jackson presented emeritus plaques to former Foundation
board members Bob Ross and Richard Harvey.
Foundation Board Member
Bob Ross receiving
emeritus plaque from Joel
Jackson
Foundation Board
Member Richard
Harvey receiving
emeritus plaque
from Joel Jackson
Board director Constance White heads the Foundation’s scholarship
committee. She gave a report on the status of the scholarship fund. Largely
because of her and her committee’s efforts, scholarships for all Rangers who
have children in a college or university were raised to $2,500 per year.
Foundation Board Member Constance
White
Actor Barry Corbin (War Games, Urban Cowboy, Lonesome Dove, Northern
Exposure, and many other roles) is a great friend of the Texas Rangers, the
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, and the Foundation. He kept
everyone laughing with his wonderful stories, but he still took time to visit
with audience members like Texas Ranger Sgt. A. P. Davidson (McKinney).
Actor Barry Corbin with Ranger Sgt. A. P. Davidson
The reunion came to an all-too-quick ending when Chairman Joel Jackson
passed the gavel to the next Texas Ranger Association Foundation Chairman
Benny Venecek.
Outgoing Foundation Chairman
Joel Jackson
Incoming Foundation Chairman
Benny Venecek
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Grave of Ranger Mervyn B. Davis
Finally Marked
by Chuck Parsons
On Saturday, May 21, about thirty people
attended a ceremony unveiling the headstone to
mark the grave of Texas Ranger Mervyn B.
Davis. Davis had served as a soldier in the
Confederate Army and as a Ranger in
Lieutenant N. O. Reynolds’s Company E and in
Captain Dan Roberts’s Company D of the
Frontier Battalion.
While a Ranger, Davis contributed numerous
letters to the Galveston Daily News describing
daily life as a Ranger. Following his Ranger service, Davis found success in
the field of journalism, working with papers in Dallas and Waco.
Most significant, however, was Davis’s efforts in wildlife preservation. He was
instrumental in organizing numerous chapters of the National Audubon
Society and was the secretary of the Texas Audubon Society for eight years.
Davis died on June 18, 1912, in Waco and was buried in Waco's Oakwood
Cemetery. The grave had remained unmarked until now.
Participants in the ceremony included people from many fields. Texas Ranger
Hall of Fame Director Byron Johnson and John A. Stovall of Tarleton State
University unveiled the government marker. Scouts from Waco Troop #497
presented the colors, and Brother Joel Densman of Prairie Lea Baptist Church
provided opening and closing prayers. Speakers included Johnson, Stovall,
and Rick Miller, who spoke on Davis as a Ranger. Nada Wareham of Elm Mott
told of Davis’s achievements as a conservationist.
For an earlier article dealing with Davis, see the Fall 2000 Texas Ranger
Dispatch: "The Mervyn Mystery Solved!" click here http://www.texasranger.
org/dispatch/1/Mervyn.htm
Speakers
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Byron Johnson, Dir.
Texas Ranger
Hall of Fame
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Rick Miller
Historian
Museum Store
John Stovall
Tarleton State Univ.
Exhibits/Artifacts
Benefactors
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/17/pages/Davis.htm (2 of 2) [4/30/2009 11:25:51 PM]
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Ask the Dispatch
Thanks for the alert to the new issue of the Dispatch. I am so touched by your
article on the NLSE. I read the stories and always wonder at the awesome
strength of the parents and other family members who went through that
horrible ordeal and the strength, too, of those who were involved in the
recovery efforts.
I sent the link to all my children. I don't want them to forget those who died at
New London.
Incidentally, I've always wondered why I read "London" in some places, while
"New London" was the term I had heard all my life from our mother. Your
explanation in the article solved the mystery for me. Thank you again.
Ann Rempel
[Editor’s note: Ann’s sister Helen Jones was killed in the explosion.]
New London Explosion article:
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/16/pages/New_London/London_School.
htm
I just finished reading your report in the Dispatch about the New London
School. It is such a sad story but you wrote it just great.
Leonie Coppers Weist
Sonnsbeck, Germany
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/17/pages/Ask_Dispatch.htm (1 of 6) [4/30/2009 11:25:59 PM]
I have been contacted by numerous people with favorable comments about
the Shinning Star article you wrote about me.
Thank you very much.
[Joe] Haralson
[Texas Rangers, Company A, Texas City]
Joe Haralson article:
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/13/pages/Haralson.htm
Thanks for letting me know about the newest Texas Ranger Dispatch being
online. I got word with only a few moments to spare, as I will be out of town
for most of the day. I quickly scanned the spring edition and thoroughly
enjoyed reading the Red Arnold story and especially the well-written spotlight
of Jay Womack.
I appreciate your friendship along with your contributions and expertise in
publishing the Dispatch.
Ralph [Wadsworth]
[Company B, Texas Rangers, retired]
Red Arnold article:
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/16/pages/Silk_Pajamas/Silk_PJs.htm
Jay Womack article:
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/16/pages/Womack/Womack_Jay.htm
Recently, we came to Waco and visited the Museum and Hall of Fame. During
this visit, we encountered Captain Buckaloo and several other Rangers.
Needless to say, this was the highlight of our day and indeed the whole trip.
Even though the captain was busy, he took the time to allow us to take
pictures and to sign the book that we had purchased from the [museum] store
there.
I had met Rangers when my cousin was district commander [DPS] in Houston
in the early 60s, but my young son had not. He was really impressed. Now
when he says his prayers at night, he includes "Captain Buckaloo and his
men."
We found the Museum and the Texas Rangers to be the best of the best.
May God bless and keep you safe and watch over your families.
E. D. Modisett
Thank you for sharing this email with the Public Information Office. It’s really
a fantastic account of the character/professionalism of the Rangers. I'm sure
that little boy will always remember the experience.
Thanks again,
Lisa Block
Texas Department of Public Safety
Public Information Office
This was nice. Thanks. Makes you glad you took the time.
Clete Buckaloo (Captain, Company D, San Antonio)
Really enjoyed the issue Keep up the good work.
Thanks,
Russ Leavens
Dispatch 16, Spring 2005:
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/dispatch16.htm
Just checked out the Dispatch magazine. Gets better every issue. The Red
Arnold story was a funny one for sure. I cannot, for the life of me, picture
Charlie Miller in silk pjs.
Randy Sillavan
Red Arnold article:
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/16/pages/Silk_Pajamas/Silk_PJs.htm
I love your website and history. Great job.
David “Smiley” Irvin
Fort Worth, Texas
Greatly enjoyed the latest issue of the Dispatch, a good blend of early days
and modern day.
Charles Harvey
El Paso, Texas
Do you know of any good articles on this feud around Snyder. I believe it
started when Gladys Johnson (later Mrs. Frank Hamer) and her brother shot
and killed her first husband, a Sims. I have heard the court records were
destroyed. Hamer was escorting her back from court when he killed Gee
McMeans.
David Holbrook
The only study of this feud involving Hamer is in my book, Pink Higgins. If Mr.
Holbrook wants to find out about all of this, he needs this biography, which
contains a full treatment of the subject. The book is $18.95, plus $3.00
shipping, and I'll send him an inscribed copy.
Best regards,
Bill O'Neal
1409 Success Street
Cartage, Texas 75633
I have an ancestor named Lewis Gardner. He was born about 1810 in
Kershaw, South Carolina, and lived in Georgia in the 1820s, 30s, 40s, and 50s.
He then lived in Mississippi during the war, divorced his wife, and went to
Texas about 1863. Family lore says that he died in a gunfight with horse
thieves at Natchez, Texas, near Brownsville.
Would you know where I would find records of gunfights in Texas between
1863-1880?
Thank you.
Corey Gardner
Please check out our “Researching Texas Ranger Ancestors” section: http://
www.texasranger.org/ReCenter/resource1.htm
I have the option of purchasing an 1851 Navy Colt SN 163857. There is no
“SN” on the cylinder. Does this make it less valuable or was there even a
“SN” on the original cylinder?
Marge & Bob
No serial number on the cylinder does make the Navy less valuable. Yes, the
‘51 Navys did have numbers on the cylinder (large numbers such as 163857
would have the last four digits), and collectors prefer that ALL the serial
numbers match. Can you tell if there was a number that has been worn off?
Can you see any numbers with a magnifying glass that are 3, 8, 5, or 7? If
there was never any number on the cylinder, the cylinder is a replacement
ordered from the Colt factory. Were the Navy returned to Colt for a new
cylinder, the factory would have stamped the new cylinder with the last four
digests.
From the photo, the Navy appears to be engraved. Even so, the serial number
story remains the same.
You might check my articles on the 1851 Navy Colt and 1849 Pocket Model for
more information.
I hope this helps some,
David Stroud
1851 Navy Colt article:
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/4/ColtNavy.htm
1849 Pocket Model article:
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/15/pages/Colt_1849.htm
There is a comical error in the third paragraph of my great uncle’s entry. It
says, “In his autobiography, Trails and Tears of a Texas Ranger.” The correct
title of the book is Trails and Trials of a Texas Ranger. You might want to
correct it.
Regards,
Ed Sterling
When we mess up, we do it well, but it is now fixed.
- Robert Nieman, Managing Editor
William Sterling article:
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/15/pages/Shining_Star_Sterling.htm
Thanks for printing the Dix story. I'm sure it will be of importance to lots of
pre-Civil War Ranger enthusiasts.
I see you are interested in where old Rangers were buried. Dix died at San
Antonio in 1910 and was laid to rest beside his wife Cynthia in the Catholic
Cemetery in San Diego, according to his obituary. However, several interested
family members, myself included, have been unable to locate a stone with his
name on it. His father and mother are buried at the Old Bayview Cemetery in
Corpus Christi.
If anyone does find the John James Dix gravesite, I would appreciate an
approximate location within the San Diego Cemetery grounds, and even
better, a photograph.
Sincerely,
Dan R. Manning
P.O. Box 115
Fair Grove, Missouri 65648
John James Dix article: http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/16/pages/Dix/
Dix_John.htm
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The Whitneyville Whitney Revolver
by David Stroud
Most Americans associate Eli Whitney[1] with the 1794 invention of the cotton
gin (from the word engine), which used spiked teeth to pull the cotton fibers
from the seed and did the work of fifty slaves.[2] However, many fail to
recognize the New Haven citizen as a gun maker credited as the first to craft
weapons with interchangeable parts in 1798[3]. Most are also not aware that
the Whitney name appears on arms spanning from 1793 until 1888, a period
unequaled by any other U.S. arms manufactory.[4]
Eli Whitney Jr. entered the pistol-making venture in 1847. Famous inventor
Sam Colt subcontracted with him to produced 1,100 Walkers at Eli’s plant in
Whtineyville, Connecticut.[5] Although the Walkers are considered Colts,
Whitney actually made the famous handguns.[6]
When Colt’s revolving cylinder proved popular, a few American arms
manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon before Sam’s patent expired in
1857. These included the Whitneyville Armory, which produced its first
revolvers,[7] the Hooded Cylinder Pocket Revolvers. There were 200
produced. With these guns, the shooter had to manually rotate the cylinder to
keep from infringing on Colt’s patent, and the nipples were changed from
recessed to grooves.[8]
Colt’s revolving-cylinder patent finally did expire in 1854, and arms
manufacturers had the green light to produce their own revolvers. The
Whitneyville Amory manufactured a two-trigger Pocket Revolver, a Ring
Trigger Pocket revolver, and a seven-shot Whitney Beals Patent Pocket
Revolver. The Whitney Beals models were Colt 1851 Navy weapons that
Whitney purchased as surplus goods, refinished, and offered to sell to the
Army and Navy[9] before the Whitney Navy was produced in the late 1850s.[10]
The Whitney Navy (.36 caliber) was a popular six-shot, solid, iron-frame
revolver with 7 1/2“ octagon barrel, overall length of 13 1/8“, bronze or iron
trigger guards, and oil-finished walnut grips. There were 33,000 produced in
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the late 1850s and early 1860s.[11] The so-called First Model has a noticeably
thin top strap, and the top of the barrels are stamped “EAGLE CO” on most
Whitneys above the serial numbers 500 to approximately number 1200. The
First Model consisted of four distinctive types among the 1500 produced. [12]
The differences in these types may seem insignificant, but Whitney
considered each a necessary improvement, and collectors use them to more
specifically identify their revolver.
First Model, First Type has a light-constructed frame with a thin top strap and
no loading lever assembly or barrel markings. There is an iron trigger guard
with an eagle, shield, and lion cylinder scene. Only about 100 were made. First
Model, Second Type is the same as the First Type, but with attached loading
lever using a ball-type catch. There were 200 of these were manufactured.
First Model, Third Type has a three-screw frame rather than four and a threepiece lading lever. These bear serial numbers 300-800. First Model, Fourth
Type has grips that are rounded where they meet the frame, safety notches on
the rear of cylinder, and barrels that usually bear the “EAGLE CO” stamp. A
few are seen with “E. WHITNEY/ N. HAVEN.” The serial numbers of these
fourth types are 800-1500.[13]
The Second Model is considered Whitney’s basic revolver, with six distinctive
types identified among the 34,000 produced.[14] The First Type is found in the
serial number range 1-1200 and has only one safety notch at the rear of the
cylinder. The Second Type ranges in serial numbers from 1200 to13000 and
has six safety notches at the rear of the cylinders. The Third Type is found in
the serial number range of 13000-15000, and the ball-loading lever catch is
replaced with a Colt wedge type. The Fourth Type cylinder scene shield is
stamped “WHITNEYVILLE” and ranges through serial numbers 15000-25000.
The Fifth Type is the same as the Fourth but with a larger trigger guard and
serial numbers 25000-29000. The rifling of the Sixth Type is reduced from
seven groves to five and has a serial number range of 29000-34000.[15]
The Whitney pictured here is an example of the Second Model, Third Type. It
has an octagon barrel marked “E. Whitney/N. Haven” on the top with a fourdigit serial number. A matching serial number is found on the bottom of the
loading lever, the bottom of the brass trigger guard, and the bottom of the
frame (revealed by removing the trigger guard).
Ball-lever latch
The cylinder pin is held in place by a winged nut, and the lightly rolled
cylinder scene has completely worn away without leaving a trace of the eagle,
shield, and lion scene that once graced it. The loading lever is held under the
barrel by a ball latch at the end. The well-worn walnut grips suggest a history
with what appears to be “1861 Nov and 10 Ky” carved on the butt. The inside
of the left grip is stamped with the same serial number found in the abovementioned places. The numbers on the inside of the right grip, however, are
covered by a piece of cloth with what appears to be the block letters “CS”
stamped on it.
Left grip is serial numbered to gun but nearly impossible to see
in the photo. Right grip shows old paper glued to inside of grip with what
appears to be the remains of blocked “CS.”
When Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as president on March 4, 1861, many
Southern states had already begun arming themselves in case of war. One of
the desired handguns was the Whitney revolver, and Governor Thomas H.
Hicks of Maryland bought 1,000 of these guns in 1860. That same year,
Virginia purchased 1,000 Whitneys before the Union states began buying
them in 1862.[16] Since the Bluegrass State is not listed as a Whitney
customer, and the 10th Kentucky Cavalry and 10th Partisan Rangers were not
organized until 1863,[17] the carvings are clues indicating Johnnie Reb
ownership, but the dotting of i’s and crossing of t’s are lost to history. As an
aside and possible carving explanation, the first article I published was about
a Confederate 1860 Army Colt owned by Henry Preston Rosser with “HPR”
and “1862” carved into the grip’s bottom. However, Henry did not enter the
Army until 1864, after turning sixteen. The whittling mystery was solved by his
son R. L. “Bob” Rosser, who told the author he had carved the date and his
father’s initials into the butt. The initials proved ownership and the date the
year the pistol was made.[18]
Carving appears to read “1861 NV/ 8 KY.”
Although Colt and Winchester[19] are more often associated with Texas
Rangers than lesser-known firearms, our Lone Star Lawmen actually carried a
variety of weapons. One of the overlooked revolvers they certainly wore was
the Whitneyville Whitney.
Notes
1. McAulay, Civil War Pistols, 153. Eli Whitney Sr. was born in 1765 and died
in 1825. His armory was managed by two nephews until Eli Whitney Jr. came
of age in 1842.
2. Rosenbaum, Penguin Encyclopedia of American History, 97. Through a
chain of unfortunate events, Eli was unable to acquire a patent on his
invention until it had been copied by a multitude of individuals, thus costing
him his rightful financial reward. Because of this, he turned to weapon
production and received his first government contract in 1798. The firm he
established produced their last revolver in 1879 and last long arm in 1886.
3. Peterson, Encyclopedia of Firearms, 353. The popular myth identifies
Whitney’s 1798 Musket as the first American weapon to have interchangeable
parts. The first bona fide, exchangeable-parts rifle was the 1819 Hall Breechloading flintlock. What Eli did was invent tools that could be used by
armatures “…to make the same parts of different guns, as the locks for
example, as much like each other as the successive impressions of a copperplate engraving.” (Flayderman p.240).
4. Flayderman, Flayderman’s Guide, 238. Simon North’s 1813 flintlock-pistol
contract was the first to require the weapon to have interchangeable parts
(Flayderman, 285).
5. Stroud, “The Walker Colt.” One thousand for the Army and one hundred for
presentation.
6. Flayderman, 239.
7. Flayderman, 240.
8. Flayderman, 312. Colt won a patient-infringement lawsuit in 1851 against
the Massachusetts Arms Company.
9. For photographs and descriptions of these revolvers, see Flayderman’s
Guide. The Whitney copy of Colt’s 1851 Navy is not illustrated, but in a letter
dated October 23, 1857, Whitney states that he was “ready to Contract to
furnish, if desired, your Department with Colts Repeating pistols like Colts of
the Navy or Belt size (or army) at $12 each for Navies--$10 ea. For Belt & $15
for Army size. I can supply better pistols of my own new model, but with Colts
revolving attachment at the same prices.“ (McAulay, 153-154).
10. Flayderman, 257. Colt’s Root Pocket Model of 1855, available in both 265
and .31 calibers, was the first solid-frame revolver. However, the inventor
failed to patent the solid-frame. Therefore, Remington, Whitney, and others
incorporated that feature on their revolvers in Navy and Army calibers.
11. The “Eagle Co.” markings remain a mystery. The more famous solid-frame
revolver is the Remington made in both Army and Navy calibers.
12. Flayderman, 257.
14. Carlson, Antique American Firearms Catalog. “Basic” is the word used by
Carlson in his catalog, describing the civilian Whitney offered for sell.
16. McAulay, 154, 155. Whitney’s ad stated, “BELT PISTOLS.—Army or Navy,
medium size, Plated mountings, six shots, 7 ½ inch Barrel, Caliber 36-100 of
an inch, [50 elongated, or 80 round bullets to the pound,) with Bullet Mould,
Nipple Wrench and Screw –driver,--weight 2 ½ lbs…..$16.00.” This was part of
the price list sent to the U.S. Ordinance Department on January 2, 1860, and
maybe the price Maryland and Virginia paid for the Whitney Navies.
17. Crute, Units of the Confederate Army, 135.
18. Stroud, “The Army Colt of Henry Preston Rosser,” 72. Mr. Rosser also
carved “RLR” and “1918” into the left grip of his 1911 Colt Automatic he
brought home from World War I.
19. Stroud, “The Winchester.”
Bibliography
Carlson, Douglas R. “Antique American Firearms 1848 to 1898,” Catalog No.
118, September 20, 2004. Des Moines, IA.
Crute, Joseph H. Jr. Units of the Confederate Army. Midlothian, Virginia,
Derwent Books, 1987.
Flayderman, Norm. Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Firearms…and
Their Values, 8th ed. Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2001.
McAulay, John D., Civil War Pistols: A Survey of the Handguns of the
American Civil War. Lincoln, RI: Andrew Mowbray, Inc., 1992.
Rosenbaum, Robert A. and Douglas Brinkley, Penguin Encyclopedia of
American History. Viking, 2003.
Stroud, David V. “The Army Colt of Henry Preston Rosser, C.S.A.” Gun
Report, April 1980.
Stroud, David V. “The Winchester.” Texas Ranger Dispatch, Issue 7, Summer
2002. http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/7/Winchesters.htm.
Stroud, David V. “The Walker Colt.” Texas Ranger Dispatch, Issue 2, Winter
2000. http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/9/ColtSingle.htm.
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Book Review
One Ranger: A Memoir
By H. Joaquin Jackson
and David Marion Wilkinson
Reviewed by Robert M. Utley
Contact the Editor
H. Joaquin Jackson and David Marion Wilkinson.
One Ranger: A Memoir (Austin: University of Texas
Press, 2005).
Many Texans still recall that splendid image of
Joaquin Jackson that appeared on the cover of the Texas Monthly in 1993, the
year Jackson turned in his Texas Ranger badge. Fittingly, it also appears on
the dust jacket of his memoir. It is a full-length portrait that personifies the oldtime Ranger: broad-brimmed hat, neckerchief, leather leggings, spurred
boots, Model ‘94 Winchester .30-30, and a pistol on each hip. What are in the
holsters cannot be seen, but he declares his preference for the 1911 Colt
automatic. The celebrated circled-star badge of the Texas Rangers adorns his
chest. He looks like he could have been one of the Rangers who followed
such legends as Bill McDonald and John Hughes at the end of the nineteenth
century. Jackson’s appearance, however, is entirely appropriate to his time
and place: 1966-93 in South and West Texas.
The Ranger Service was skillfully erected by the venerated Colonel Homer
Garrison, head of the Department of Public Safety from 1938 until felled by
cancer in 1968. By 1966, the Ranger organization had assumed two
overlapping identities.
Jackson and his peers policed country roads and contended with bad men
resembling those of the frontier West of McDonald and Hughes. High-speed
pursuit cars, aircraft, and radio communication vastly improved their
capabilities, but they still trailed rustlers and smugglers like their
predecessors, and the rugged land still demanded that they mount on
horseback for many tasks.
By contrast, urbanized East Texas called for a different man and different
methods. Here—far more than in South and West Texas—homicide, burglary,
bank robbery, kidnapping, rape, assault, and other crimes common to cities
preoccupied the Rangers. When not diverted by strikes, gambling, or other
such assignments, the East Texas contingent regarded their principal mission
as solving major crimes. Sometimes they took to horseback, but mostly they
worked with autos, aircraft, radios, and the superb scientific crime laboratory
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/17/pages/Jackson.htm (1 of 3) [4/30/2009 11:26:12 PM]
in Austin. Only when they wanted to appear conspicuous did they don the
garb that marks Joaquin Jackson.
Little interchange of personnel occurred between these Eastern and Western
Rangers, and the drama of the battle against major crime has tended to
obscure the role of the Rangers in the western part of the state. Here, one
Ranger helps remedy that focus.
In 1966, Joaquin Jackson was a member of the select few who beat the stiff
competition for a Ranger appointment. Indeed, he was one of the last three
men on whom Colonel Garrison himself pinned the distinctive Ranger badge.
He drew assignment to Company D, the one western outfit that gained plenty
of publicity in the following decade.
The captain was Alfred Y. Allee, headquartered in Carrizo Springs. The
publicity arose from the role of Allee’s Rangers in the farm labor strikes in the
lower Rio Grande Valley. As the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately decided, the
Rangers deprived the Mexican-American workers of their constitutional
rights. For almost a decade, the Ranger Service endured bad publicity and
widespread calls for its abolition.
Oddly, Jackson does not tell us anything about this significant episode in
Ranger history. He does, however, recount in fascinating detail his role in the
election crisis of 1972 in Crystal City, which pitted Mexican cannery workers
against the entrenched Anglo establishment.
Jackson also provides the best characterization of the controversial Captain
Allee I have seen anywhere. Together with all the other Rangers of Company
D, Jackson venerated Allee, a blocky, tough, cigar-chomping, old-time Ranger
who took the heat for the civil rights abuses of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Jackson explains why the Rangers all worshiped him but also concedes his
flaws. As Jackson observes, Texas changed but Allee didn’t. Another Ranger
adds: Allee just didn’t know how to change.
David Marion Wilkinson co-authors this book. He is a well-known, first-class
writer, nd the text flows smoothly and readably. Jackson’s blunt, forthright
prose often interjects, but mainly we are reading Wilkinson. That the text is
cast in first-person means that Jackson approved it, so it all may be taken as
his words. For the most part, the chapters are stories out of Jackson’s career
involving interesting characters, drama, and action that illustrate who this
Ranger is and how he matured. They reveal the unfolding of a fine Garrisonera Ranger, one who tells the truth as he remembers it and is candid in
acknowledging his shortcomings and failures as well as his successes. I
especially appreciate two frank observations.
First, Jackson sees himself as part of a generation of Rangers that Colonel
Garrison nurtured as individualists responsible for taking care of their
problems as they saw fit, calling for help only when essential. By contrast,
modern Rangers are computerized and bound by rule books. Nevertheless,
Jackson states that they are good and “every bit as magnificent in their time
as my generation was in ours. They aren’t better or worse, they’re just
different.”
Second (and consistent with that reflection) Jackson retracts all the critical
reasons attributed to him for quitting in 1993, especially the common
complaint about unqualified women politically foisted on the all-male Ranger
Service. In truth, he confesses—just like Captain Allee—that times had
changed and he hadn’t, and even if he knew how, he didn’t want to. It was
time to leave.
This is a fine book, a good read, and a needed glimpse of an aspect of
twentieth-century Rangering hitherto neglected.
I have two criticisms. First, I think Jackson should have told us how he
viewed and participated in the farm workers’ strike of 1966 and its aftermath.
Second, the book has no index, incredible for a press as prestigious as the
University of Texas.
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Terminating Oklahoma’s
Smiling Killer
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by Robert M. Utley
Dispatch Home
Since the 1935 formation of the
Department of Public Safety,
which combined the Highway
Patrol and the Texas Rangers,
Company B in Dallas had been
one of the two most active
Ranger units. First under Manuel
“Lone Wolf” Gonzaullas and then
under Robert Crowder, Company
B vied with Company A in
Houston as the new breed of
“concrete Rangers” or “city
Rangers.” In fact, they strove to
be more urban detectives than
the old breed of frontier Rangers.
In the spring of 1957, however,
Company B met a daunting
challenge at the same time as
organizational uncertainty
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imposed a jarring daily tension.
Ranger Jay Banks
In the first nine months of 1957, Texas Rangers warily anticipated a major
reorganization of the Department of Public Safety, which badly needed
streamlining. The span of control had become too great for even the
legendary director Homer Garrison. Beginning in 1955, the nonprofit Texas
Research League worked with Garrison to devise a new organization
structure. Officially submitted in January 1957 and immediately consigned to
the legislature, the report suited the director, who so confidently expected its
adoption that he began to put it into effect.
One measure Garrison implemented was to move Captain Crowder to Austin
as “acting chief, Texas Rangers.” This is puzzling, for the Texas Research
League’s report made no provision for such a position. It may be speculated
that Colonel Garrison negotiated it with the report’s authors and was
disappointed at its omission. When the legislature enacted the law based on
the report in May 1957, therefore, Crowder’s title vanished. Crowder then
accepted the post of regional commander in Lubbock, effective September 1,
whether by choice or pressure from Garrison is not evident.
The regional innovation disturbed the Rangers. Under the new arrangement,
Ranger captains would report to regional majors rather than to Director
Garrison, as they had done before. The relationship proved unworkable and
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was abandoned by the end of 1957. In any event, Bob Crowder, even though a
major, almost at once discovered that he preferred his old Ranger company.[1]
Crowder had made an outstanding captain, treasured by Colonel Garrison,
beloved by his men, and ideal for the top Ranger post Garrison had in mind.
But in the spring of 1957, Crowder could not return to Company B. His
sergeant, E. J. “Jay” Banks, had taken over as acting captain of Company B, a
title he held until September 1, 1957, when he gained the permanent
captaincy. Arthur Hill transferred from the Big Bend as Banks’s sergeant.
Having been nurtured by Crowder, Banks boasted a fine record as criminal
investigator and tough lawman. A master of pistol and rifle, he had
demonstrated more than once that he did not shrink from blasting any
gangster inclined to resist. Also, as Glenn Elliott remembered, “Jay was a
very high-profile type person. He was always on the cover of a magazine or
newspaper.” Banks even stood as the model for the statue of the ideal Texas
Ranger that still graces the terminal lobby of Dallas’s Love Field.
Still, Banks was not Bob Crowder, and his men did not leave the record of
praise they had heaped on Crowder. Nor did Sergeant Hill think highly of
Banks.[2]
Like Crowder, Jay Banks is mainly remembered for one bloody event, despite
starring in a string of well-publicized cases. Banks faced this incident as an
untested acting captain with a newly promoted sergeant who lacked
experience as a “city Ranger.” The foe was perhaps the most vicious
gangster in the Southwest.
Gene Paul Norris, the “Smiling Killer,” was an Oklahoma mobster with a long
record of murder, burglary, bank heists, and sadism. He seemed to enjoy
killing, and the slightest provocation could trigger his revenge, which was
often preceded by torture. Big-time criminals hired him as a hit man, and
lawmen credited him with about fifty homicides. The FBI kept track of the
comings and goings of Norris and his sidekick William Carl “Silent Bill”
Humphrey.
Outside Oklahoma, Fort Worth was Norris’s principal area of operations, and
he drove there in March 1957. Norris had conceived a scheme for robbing the
payroll of the branch of the Fort Worth National Bank at Carswell Air Force
Base. He knew that James E. Papworth, who ran a collection agency out of a
Lake Worth office on the northwestern edge of the city, had served prison
time with John W. Taylor. Taylor was the former manager of the branch bank
and had been convicted of embezzlement.
Norris and Papworth met late in March at the Beachcomber Tavern, located at
the intersection of Meandering Road and the Jacksboro Highway, just north of
the lake from which the suburb took its name. Norris demanded (or proposed)
that Papworth get a floor plan and other inside information about the bank
from Taylor. Papworth would later contend that he agreed to do this because
Norris threatened to kill his wife and child if he didn’t. However, Fort Worth
Police Chief Cato Hightower believed Papworth was in on the scheme from
the beginning. In any case, Papworth delivered. He handed over the floor plan
and the name and address of the cashier, Mrs. Elizabeth Barles, who lived on
Meandering Road near the Beachcomber Tavern.
The plan was for Norris and Humphrey to take Mrs. Barles and her twelve-yearold son John hostage early on Tuesday April 30, 1957, the morning of the
scheduled payroll delivery. Almost certainly, in view of Norris’s style, the two
were to be murdered at once. What he wanted was not hostages but Mrs.
Barles’s auto and bank keys. Her car, bearing a base-entry sticker, would get
them into the base, and the keys would get them into the bank. There, they
would wait for the payroll couriers to arrive with $500,000 in cash and tie them
up. Then Norris and Humphrey would return to pick up their own car at Mrs.
Barles’s residence.[3]
But first, Norris had unfinished business in Houston. The mission was to
carry out a twenty-year-old vow: a revenge killing of gambler John Brannan,
whose testimony in 1937 had sent Norris’s brother to prison for ninety-nine
years. On April 17, Norris and Humphrey entered the Brannan home, threw
blankets over the heads of Brannan and his wife, and pounded their heads to
a pulp with hammers.
Police discovered the deed the same night.
Before long, they and veteran Ranger Captain
Johnny Klevenhagen, head of Company A, had
enough evidence to support arrest warrants.
Aside from pistols that linked the two to recent
robberies, police had twice spotted Norris’s
souped-up, green, 1957 Chevrolet in Brannan’s
neighborhood and had once given chase, only
to be outrun by the powerful Chevy.
Ranger Johnny Klevenhagen
The Carswell bank scheme had hardly been
worked out before the FBI knew about it, alerted
by a tipster whose identity was not officially revealed. Captain Banks later
identified the informant as Papworth himself. In Fort Worth, the FBI, Texas
Rangers, Fort Worth police, and Tarrant County sheriff met to work out a plan.
They knew where Norris and Humphrey were holed up, and they arranged a
listening device connected from their motel room to Norris and Humphreys’s
next door. Thus, they knew exactly what the two gangsters planned.[4]
The law enforcement response to Norris’s design exemplified the long-time
Ranger policy of cooperation with other agencies. Company B’s acting
captain, Jay Banks, worked smoothly with Tarrant County Sheriff Harlon
Wright, Fort Worth Chief of Police Cato Hightower, and FBI Special Agent in
Charge W. A. “Bill” Murphy.
The FBI tracked Norris and Humphrey from Houston to Fort Worth, where they
arrived on Saturday, April 27. With the surveillance link in place, they learned
that the two outlaws intended to make a dry run of escape routes on Monday
afternoon. Officers laid plans to apprehend the two hoodlums then. Banks
called Johnny Klevenhagen in Houston and invited him to take part. The
captain grabbed his shotgun and arrest warrants and sped north to Fort
Worth.
On Monday afternoon, April 29, the local officers converged on the Lake
Worth community in three cars. Captain Banks drove his new, high-powered
Dodge with Captain Klevenhagen, Chief Hightower, Sheriff Wright, and city
detective Captain O. R. Brown as passengers. Ranger Jim Ray was at the
wheel of the second car with Arthur Hill (Banks’s sergeant) and city Chief of
Detectives Andy Fournier in tow. (Ray had been a Ranger for only two weeks
but a Highway Patrolman for twelve years before that.) In the third vehicle
were Ranger Ernest Daniels, City Detective George Brakefield (later a Ranger),
and Sheriff’s Deputy Bobby Morton.[5]
Banks’s car contained the top law officers because they would man the
ambush. Posting Sergeant Hill and his two Rangers at Casino Beach, an
amusement park a short distance up Meandering Road from the Jacksboro
Highway, Banks and his carload of four other officers drove two miles
southwest down Meandering Road to Mrs. Barles’s home. She and her son
had been moved to another house on Sunday. Banks and his companions lay
in wait to spring the trap once Hill radioed that they had turned from
Jacksboro Highway onto Meandering Road. The lawmen at the Barles house
readied themselves. They hoped to take the gangsters alive but knew, in all
probability, it could not be done.[6]
The FBI spotted the two outlaws in Fort Worth and radioed, “Norris and
Humphrey are stopped at the corner of Northwest 28th and Main. They are in a
1957 Chevrolet. Now Norris and Humphrey are driving down 28th.” The FBI
followed the men until Hill spotted the fugitives turning onto Meandering
Road. He radioed that he had them in view. “Take over, Rangers, we are out of
it, now,” was the FBI reply.
Hill swung in behind Norris and Humphrey at a distance, but he quickly
warned the others that the scheme had gone awry. A Cadillac and the green
Chevy had turned right off Meandering Road onto a residential street. Hill
turned, too, maintaining a discreet distance.
The officers sighted a man getting out of the front car and into the second,
and they misinterpreted what they saw. Actually, the first car was Papworth’s,
and he was taking Norris to show him the location of the Barles house.
Humphrey was following in the Chevrolet. Papworth, according to his
confession, had second thoughts and deliberately took a wrong turn. An
enraged Norris, hurling threats, got out of the car and ran back to get in the
car with Humphrey. At this time, they spotted Hill’s car behind them. Swiftly
turning in a driveway and backing out, they sped back to Meandering Road
and swerved northeast toward the Jacksboro Highway. Banks and his Dodge
full of locals were on their tail.
Suddenly, Humphrey veered left off Meandering Road and bumped across an
open pasture toward the Jacksboro Highway, which here ran almost parallel
and about one-fourth mile from Meandering Road. Banks followed. Humphrey
smashed through a fence, bounced across a ditch, and headed up the fourlane Jacksboro Highway. Banks kept on his tail.[7]
In the meantime, Sergeant Hill, with Jim Ray driving, raced back up
Meandering Road to the Jacksboro Highway. At the left turn, Ray
miscalculated and found himself speeding north in the southbound lanes of
the Jacksboro Highway. Soon, he had pulled abreast of the two cars across
the median, but he then slowed to cross into the northbound lanes and fell
behind. The third car, monitoring the radio traffic, now joined the chase, close
behind Ray.
The pursuit reached speeds of 120 miles per hour, sirens wailing but no red
lights flashing, thanks to budgetary stringency. Norris leaned out and
exchanged fire with three officers hanging out the windows of Banks’s car.
The race slowed not at all as they streaked down the main street of Azle,
scattering autos and pedestrians but avoiding collisions.
A mile and a half south of Springtown, in Parker County, Humphrey swerved
right onto a country road, spraying mud across the highway. This was
probably not a sudden decision but part of the escape plan earlier mapped.
Banks turned, too, but spun in two complete circles before recovering and
heading in the right direction. A light rain fell, making the caliche-based road
slick as it twisted along the banks of flood-swollen Walnut Creek.
Bullets and blasts from Klevenhagen’s shotgun continued to slice the space
between the vehicles. Suddenly, Humphrey took a curve too fast, slid on the
rain-slick road, plowed into a ditch, and smashed into two trees. He and
Norris leaped from the car and ran toward the creek, firing pistols at Banks as
he sought to bring his Dodge to a stop.
Rangers Banks & Klevenhagen
With their car crossway on the road, the officers piled out, firing with all the
weapons at their command. Klevehagen had his shotgun, and Banks grabbed
his M-3 (an Army M-1, converted to fully automatic with a large clip), but the
magazine fell out, and he had to run back to retrieve it.
The two fugitives fired from behind the creek bank and then struggled to
cross the raging water. Bullets downed Humphrey, whose body later washed
up on a small, flood-made island.
Body of Silent Bill Humphrey and Unidentified Police Officer.
Screaming laughter, Norris backed across the creek, firing at the lawmen, all
of whom sprayed bullets from every weapon they had. Banks let go the entire
clip of his rifle. As he later stated, “The bullets started stitching Norris, and he
didn’t have enough hands to stop up the holes. He died, screaming like a
baby, on the banks of muddy Walnut Creek.” Norris fell backward in the mud.
All the officers later maintained that they did not know who had downed
Norris, but the consensus awards the distinction to Banks and his automatic.
[8]
At this moment, Jim Ray topped a little hill at high speed and saw Banks’s car
broadside across the road. He hit the brakes, swung in a complete circle, and
came to a stop three feet from the side of the other vehicle. As Ray rolled out,
Klevehagen shouted, “I’m out of ammunition! He’s getting away; give me a
gun!” Ray pitched him his own shotgun.
The third pursuit car rolled to a stop, but the firing had ended before Ray even
got there. The bodies of both gangsters could be seen in and across the
creek, about thirty yards apart. Norris had slipped back down the slope, his
feet in the water. Fearing Norris would be swept away by the floodwaters,
Sergeant Hill dragged the body back up the hillside.
Norris' Corpse on the Creek Bank
Attendants at the Fort Worth funeral home where the corpses were taken told
the press that Norris took sixteen hits, mostly in his chest and body.
Humphrey had twenty-three wounds in his mouth, chest, and left leg. “He shot
him to pieces,” concluded Jim Ray of Banks’s burst of automatic rifle fire.
The furious chase of twenty-five miles had put many citizens at risk. Even the
sheriff had urged Banks to call off the pursuit, to no avail. After years of work,
Banks and his fellow officers had ended the rampage of two of the deadliest
criminals in Texas history.[9] Chief Hightower declared that the death of
Norris enabled him to clear nine murder cases from his books. The operation
testified to the merit of agency cooperation and revealed the planning skills of
the Rangers as well as their ability to push an auto chase to the limit and
prevail in an exchange of gunfire.
Jay Banks served three more years as captain of Company B. On March 2,
1960, Homer Garrison called Banks to Austin and informed him that he would
have to be let go. According to Banks, Garrison offered neither explanation
nor a hearing. Banks promptly submitted his application for retirement. When
protests from law enforcement and judicial officials all over Texas began to
inundate Garrison’s desk, he released the explanation that Banks had failed to
follow repeated orders to shut down gambling in Fort Worth.
Whether true or not, this was merely a cover story. Banks’s self-serving
explanation may have contained a kernel of truth, but it was so suffused with
bitterness that it aroused skepticism. Banks named no names, but he clearly
blamed Homer Garrison, Assistant Director Joe Fletcher, and Public Safety
Commission Chairman C. T. McLaughlin. Their motivation stemmed from the
discontent of Bob Crowder in his post as major of the Lubbock region and his
desire to return as the Company B captain. Banks also accused this “older
Ranger,” who had once led the company, of using his captaincy for personal
gain and bribing federal Internal Revenue agents to ignore his misdeeds.
“Anyone else would have been immediately fired from that position,” Banks
protested.
Bob Crowder did, in fact, return to the captaincy of Company B. This was a
move Garrison and Fletcher had surely favored and arranged after Banks’s
resignation. Despite widespread protests, Rangers themselves did not
complain. They knew the real reason lay in personal misbehavior the director
and the chairman of the Public Safety Commission believed would bring
discredit to the service. The Ranger rumor mill throbbed with speculation, but
the theories never become public.
Bob Crowder captained Company B until his retirement in 1967. He served as
effectively and commanded as much respect and affection of his men as
before 1957. He died in 1972 at the age of seventy-one.
Jay Banks went on to serve as chief of the Big Springs Police Department and
head of public safety for Southern Methodist University. He died in 1987.[10]
Notes
1. Texas Research League, the Texas Department of Public Safety: Its
Services and Organization (Austin, 1957). Company B’s new sergeant, Arthur
Hill, recorded in his weekly log that he conferred in Austin with Chief Crowder
in October 1956; Hill Family Papers, courtesy Sharon Spinks; Lewis C. Rigler
and Judyth W. Rigler, In the Line of Duty: Reflections of a Texas Ranger
Private (Denton: University of North Texas Press, 1995), 154.
2. Glenn Elliott with Robert Nieman, Glenn Elliott: A Ranger’s Ranger (Waco:
Texian Press, 1999), 73; Linda Jay Puckett, Cast a Long Shadow: A Casebook
of the Law Enforcement Career of Texas Ranger Captain E. J. (Jay) Banks
(Dallas: Ussery Printing, 1984), 102. Banks mentions his position as acting
captain of Company B, although his memory of dates is faulty.
3. Papworth finally confessed his role, although in self-serving terms. He
explained the content of the confession to a reporter, and that report
appeared in the evening edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 1, 1957.
4. Accounts by participants differ in some major ways. At the time, all refused
to identify the tipster. Banks later named Papworth when he talked to crime
writer Stan Redding for a biographical article about Klevenhagen, “Top Gun of
the Texas Rangers” for True Detectives magazine, February 1963.
Contemporary sources in the newspapers claimed to have planted an
informer as a third robber who kept them posted on what Norris and
Humphrey were up to. The informer was not identified at the time. This seems
less plausible to me than Papworth. Norris and Humphrey were cagey,
cautious criminals. That they would have so readily accepted a third
accomplice seems unlikely unless he were, in fact, Papworth, who was
complicit in the scheme from the beginning. The surveillance between motel
rooms is the recollection of Sergeant Hill in an interview by Andy and Sharon
Spinks, December 30, 1986, for Hill Family Papers, courtesy Sharon Spinks.
5. Most sources have Hill, Ray, and Daniels in Hill’s car and the three city
detectives in the third car. However, Sergeant Hill’s weekly activity notebook
for April 29, penned that day, names Fournier as the third officer in his car.
Hill Family Papers, courtesy Sharon Spinks.
6. Most sources have Hill at the intersection of Meandering Road and
Jacksboro Highway, the location of the Beachcomber Tavern. Hill’s daily log,
however, names Casino Beach. Jim Ray’s interview with Robert Nieman on
October 18, 1999, identifies a small park up Meandering Highway from the
intersection.
7. Most accounts have the chase occurring entirely on Meandering Road. This
is Banks’s account (Puckett, Shadow, 116). Banks has the two cars swerving
onto a frontage road, headed the wrong direction. The chase sequence is
difficult to work out plausibly, however, especially since the contemporary
Fort Worth map shows the frontage road ending before it could have been
accessed from a pasture. It seems unlikely to me that Banks could have
invented the pasture story.
8. This seems plausible because Norris’s wife, who appeared the next day,
could have brought murder charges against a named lawman, and this was a
simple way to avoid litigation.
9. This episode has been difficult to reconstruct. Vital sources are
contemporary accounts of participants in both the morning and evening
editions of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 30 and May 1, 1957, and the
same dates of the evening paper, the Fort Worth Press. I am indebted to J’Nell
Pate of Azle for researching these papers for me and also providing a copy of
the relevant portion of a Fort Worth city map of 1957. In later accounts of
participants, memories differed both on events and geography. The sources
are Banks himself (Puckett, Shadow, chap. 19); Hill in an interview with Andy
and Sharon Spinks, December 30, 1986; and Hill’s weekly activity notebook
for relevant dates, courtesy Sharon Spinks. Good if journalistically phrased
detail is in Stan Redding, “Top Gun of the Texas Rangers,” True Detectives
Magazine, February 1963; Douglas V. Meed, Texas Ranger Johnny
Klevenhagen (Plano: Republic of Texas Press, 2000), chap. 17; and Jim Ray,
interview with Robert Nieman, October 18, 1997, copy provided by Nieman.
Another version based on Ray’s memory is contained in Nieman, “Capt.
Johnny Klevenhagen,” Texas Ranger Dispatch magazine, Issue 10 (Spring
2003), found online at Texas Ranger Hall of Fame Web site www.texasranger.
org. Meed based his account on the Houston Post, May 1, 1957, but wrongly
attributed the killing of Norris to Klevenhagen. The accounts of Banks, Hill,
and Ray are much more plausible, especially since the crime-scene
photograph of Norris’s body (which I have seen) belies the notion that he was
killed by a shotgun. These later recollections proved valuable in filling in
details contained in the contemporary newspaper accounts, especially
Banks’s account.
10. Puckett, Shadow, chapters 23-24 contain Banks’s self-justification.

TEXAS RANGER DISPATCH Magazine

Transcription

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