TEXAS RANGER DISPATCH Magazine

Transcription

The
Issue 11, Summer 2003
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 11, Summer 2003
The Capture of David Myers, part 1/3...............................Bob Favors
Matthew “Old Paint” Coldwell.......................................Stephen Moore
Texas Ranger--Rum Runner?........................................Robert Nieman
Frank Hamer..............................................................Robert Nieman
Ray Coffman.............................................................Robert Nieman
Visiting Historic Texas Ranger Graves: San Antonio.........Robert Nieman
Glenn Elliott: Still a Ranger’s Ranger (Book Review)......Chuck Parsons
The 1887 Connor Fight on the Sabine...........................Paul Spellman
The Model 1897 Winchester...........................................David Stroud
Ranger, Tell Her Again Where You Work!...........................Lee Young
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Part 1 of 3:
The Capture of David Myers
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This is the story of my pursuit and capture of a man named Elton
David Myers. Myers was without a doubt the most elusive and
cunning criminal I ever dealt with. He and I played a game of cat
and mouse for almost 18 years before he was shot and killed by
a fellow escapee.
David Myers was born in McCulloch County, Texas, on March 22,
1948. His mother abandoned him as an infant. His father, a hardworking man, gave the baby to his parents to raise.
Photo courtesy of Robert Nieman
Jim and Cora Myers were very hard and stern, but they were
good people. They lived on a small ranch in the northeastern part
of McCulloch County. Jim Myers had homesteaded some ranch
country years ago in New Mexico. His place had the only water
for miles, and he protected his water at rifle point.
At his grandparents’ place, Myers could roam at will, study
nature, and learn how to live off the land. All these skills would
be put into practice in the years to come. He spent much of his
time with his old hound dog. Myers would hide from him and lay
false trails, backtracking in order to elude his companion. This
became another skill that proved useful later on.
Myers attended public school in Rochelle.
As a youth, he entertained his classmates
and teachers with his ability to pick locks.
This talent would benefit him in later years,
but would also eventually result in his
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/11/Pages/CaptureofMyers.htm (1 of 12) [4/30/2009 11:46:27 PM]
death.
Myers was not always entertaining, however. Due to stealing and
committing burglaries, he was declared a juvenile delinquent and
sent to the reformatory in Gatesville. After his release, he was in
and out of jail for various other burglaries and thefts.
David Myers after Arrest
Photo courtesy of Lt. Robert Favor
In 1968, he was sent to the Texas Department of Corrections in
Huntsville to do three years for burglarizing the Brady Butane
Company. It was about this time that Sheriff Luke Vogel got a
taste of Myers slippery nature. As the sheriff was returning
Myers to Brady, he permitted his prisoner to go to the service
station rest room alone. Myers crawled out a small window and
fled into the cedar breaks near Austin. I am not familiar with his
capture, as I did not come on the scene until 1969.
During the summer of 1970, Myers was arrested in Richmond,
Texas, in a stolen car. He was sentenced to one year in the
county jail. As a result of this arrest, Myers would be a part of my
life for the next eighteen years.
David Myers mug shot.
Texas Department of
Corrections, 1973.
Photo courtesy of Lt. Robert
Favor
Myers escaped from the
Fort Bend County Jail in
Richmond sometime around
December 1, 1970. On
December 13, Brady city
policeman Bill Strickland
called me. He stated that he had just received a call from the
Richmond Sheriff’s Office concerning Myers’ escape there. They
believed he was at the residence of relatives on the Old Mason
Road in Brady.
Chief of Police Dorman Gibbs accompanied Strickland and me to
that residence. Prior to arriving, we determined who would go to
which door. As we drove past the house, we could see Myers
through the window, sitting in front of the television. It was
already dark, so we drove past the house, parked, and walked
back to the residence. As we approached, we saw that Myers was
on his feet, nervously milling around in the room.
As I walked down the side of the house to cover the door
assigned to me, Myers passed each window just as I did. We
reached the door at the same time, and he literally ran into my
arms as he stepped out into the darkness. I quickly secured him
in handcuffs, and he was placed in the county jail in Brady and
returned to Richmond a few days later. He was assessed one
year for that escape.
While Myers was at Richmond, a young, blonde-haired girl was
incarcerated after being arrested in a stolen car. Her name was
Sandra Marie Rider. Myers, a trustee, became acquainted with
her while delivering meals to her cell. After serving three weeks,
Sandra was released. She became very much involved in Myers’
activities the next few years.
Myers also left the jail—he
escaped. As a trustee, his
job was to push the meal
cart through the cellblock.
During one evening meal, he
walked away from the jail,
leaving all the prisoners’
meals undelivered.
Sandra Rider’s early life was much different from that of Myers.
She was born on July 15, 1953, in Miami, Oklahoma, and was the
eldest of five children, having four brothers.
Sandra Myers Mug Shot.
Department of Corrections, 1973.
She completed high school at Afton, Oklahoma, and attended
college in Miami, Oklahoma, earning sixteen hours toward a
degree in nursing.
Apparently, Sandra and Myers had discovered a mutual
admiration while imprisoned. Sandra furnished Myers with her
address in Afton. Within a week of Sandra’s release and Myers’
escape, he arrived at her home in Afton. He made the trip there
in a new Chevrolet pickup he had stolen from Faubin Chevrolet in
Mason, Texas.
Myers and Sandra left town immediately and went to Yeso, New
Mexico, a ghost town twenty-two miles west of Fort Sumner
(where Billy the Kid was killed and is buried) in DeBaca County.
Myers’ father owned a deserted hotel there, and the couple set
up housekeeping and began a life of crime together that earned
them the name of the “modern-day Bonnie and Clyde.”
Yeso, New Mexico
David Myers and Sandra
Rider set up
housekeeping in this
deserted building.
Robert Favor
January 30, 1973.
Photo courtesy of Lt.
There were no utilities in the abandoned hotel. Raccoons, rats,
and vermin had set up residence in the rooms. Sandra and Myers
cleaned up one room fairly well, and Myers managed to get the
water turned on. Aside from the filthy conditions, they were
fairly comfortable.
In May 1972, Sandra and Myers were back in Texas, living with
his grandparents. On the 18th, Myers broke into Clevenger’s
Exxon Station in Brady and Garrett’s Texaco and Warren’s Arco
Stations in nearby Richland Springs. These three burglaries
netted him a small television, a .22 revolver, and maybe twenty
dollars in cash. The following night, he hit Stites Conoco Station
in Rochelle and the local school. These two offenses gained
Myers less than ten dollars.
On June 30, Myers broke into Byrd’s Welding Shop and took a
cutting torch, which he used in a burglary attempt in the office of
Campbell Motors. Myers was unsuccessful in burning a hole in
that company’s safe. He had no knowledge as to how a cutting
torch worked; he only succeeded in smoking the place up. That
same night, he tried but failed to enter the Colonial Grocery
Store.
On July 2, 1972, Myers broke into Byrd’s Welding Shop in Brady
for the second time and stole a complete cutting-torch rig. At
some point, Myers had thrown a rifle that he had stolen from
Campbell Motor Company into the San Saba River at the Old Voca
Crossing. The cutting-torch rig wound up in the same spot. This
rig and the rifle were later recovered.
The next night, July 3, Myers broke into McShan’s Grocery in
Brady. His efforts finally began to pay off. Here, he obtained
nearly one hundred dollars in cash and approximately fifty
cartons of cigarettes. Myers told me later that a Highway
Patrolman had walked up to the window and shined his flashlight
through it while he was inside.
Myers lived off the fruits of his burglary for a while—two days, to
be exact. On July 5, he was at it again. George Myers, David’s
uncle, reported that his home had been entered, and five guns
had been stolen.
We did not know until this time that Myers had escaped from the
Richmond jail. The authorities there had not notified us of his
absence, and we had no idea who was committing all these
crimes. Once we got word of Myers’ escape, he became the prime
suspect.
On August 8, Sandra and Myers returned to Yeso, New Mexico.
They made the trip back in a two-tone, blue, 1972 Ford LTD that
they had stolen in Alvin, Texas, the hometown of Baseball Hall of
Fame’s Nolan Ryan. In that same city at about the same time, the
stolen Chevrolet pickup from Mason was recovered.
Things settled down to normal until the post office in Rochelle
was burglarized on October 23, 1972. The theft netted only three
dollars. On November 9, a few dollars in change was taken from
the Coke machines at the Rochelle School.
On November 18, Myers burglarized Hendricks Grocery Store in
Richland Springs. He took a large quantity of groceries, tobacco,
ammunition, fishing gear, and one old Japanese rifle.
Later that same day, local Game Warden Bill Sprott and Highway
Patrolman David Graves answered a trespass call near the rural
home of Jim Myers. When they arrived, a car fitting the call-in
description was sitting at the Meyers’ home, and David Myers
was fleeing on foot into the hills behind his grandfather’s house.
All the property stolen from Hendricks Grocery was found in the
car, and one of George Myers’ shotguns was recovered. Myers
had sawed the barrel off the gun. The car turned out to be the
new, two-toned, blue Ford stolen in Alvin.
We maintained a tight blockade around the Myers residence. We
now wanted David Myers for his escape from Richmond, and we
also had a warrant for the burglary at Hendricks Grocery. Despite
our vigilance, Myers remained at large.
On the morning of November 20, 1972, Golden Motors in San
Saba reported that someone had stolen a 1971 Ford Torino. That
afternoon, as Sheriff Barker was en route back to San Saba from
Brady, he met Myers in this stolen car. The sheriff gave pursuit,
but Myers lost him in the dust of the county roads.
The location where Myers had been spotted was in the immediate
vicinity of his grandfather’s place. I also knew that Sandra was
there, so I drove out to the ranch.
As I approached, I saw Sandra standing beside the mailbox with
her suitcases. She told me Myers had called her from Richland
Springs, advising her to pack and wait for him out at the mailbox.
Apparently, he had just made his call when the San Saba Sheriff
spied him. I told Sandra to go back to the house, which she did.
Roadblocks were set up around the Myers ranch. The service
stations in the area were furnished with a description of the car
Myers was driving.
It had been several days since I had slept, so after getting the
roadblocks set up, I went home for some much needed rest.
Shortly after midnight, I was awakened by the ringing of my
phone. It was a local service station attendant. He said that he
had just gassed up Myers’ stolen Torino, and he had seen a red
bicycle in the rear seat.
It is very difficult to remain awake while sitting up all night,
especially if you are all alone. When I drove up behind one of my
roadblock vehicles, it was apparent that the officer had dozed
off. After a few moments, I struck his rear bumper with my car.
Needless to say, the officer awoke and jumped out, ready for
action.
I went back to the area around the Myers ranch to alert the
roadblocks. Then, since there was a brilliant moon out, I spent
the remainder of the night driving the roads with my lights out.
By doing this, I hoped I could spot Myers unaware. I had no luck
that night.
During this time, the Highway Department had placed some
traffic counters on the dirt roads that lead to this ranch road.
Myers later told me he thought they were some type of sensors,
so he had very carefully driven around these boxes.
At 8:45 a.m., Sheriff Vogel and I were summoned back to the
Myers ranch house. Mrs. Myers had gone to wake Sandra for
breakfast and discovered she was gone.
The sheriff and I were able to follow the pair’s path, for there
were two sets of tracks for about a mile. They ended out on the
highway, within 100 yards of one of the roadblocks.
Six miles north of this site, behind a set of cattle pens, a red
bicycle was found. Tracks showed that a car had pulled away
from this location, going north. Myers had stolen Sandra literally
from under our noses. Five days later, the car used in this
getaway was found abandoned in Yeso, New Mexico.
Myers must have decided to give us a rest because he didn’t hit
again until January 23. Once again, the post office in Rochelle
was the target. Myers used a small, electric, hand drill to bore
thirty-three holes in a circle around the safe combination. He
drilled ten holes into the inner lining before giving up. The only
things missing were three one-dollar bills.
Myers must have been exhausted from this effort because
nothing happened in the next twenty-four hours. After that, he
went back to the school again. This time, in addition to hitting
the Coke boxes, he stole eleven electric, IBM typewriters.
On January 29, Sheriff Vogel and I went to Yeso, New Mexico.
This place used to be a large cattle-shipping point, and large
corrals still existed by the railroad. One structure served as a gas
station, having one pump. It was across the street from the only
other building being used, the post office. Across the street was
the old hotel that belonged to Myers’ father.
Sheriff Vogel and I returned to Fort Sumner for the night. The
next morning, we went to discuss Myers and Sandra with Sheriff
Jess Rogers and his deputy, Earl Turnbow. From them, we
learned that the Yeso Post Office had been burglarized a day or
so earlier.
Deputy Turnbow went to Yeso with us, and we went to the post
office. Outside, we discovered that the tire and foot tracks left by
the burglars were still in good condition. Sheriff Vogel and I
immediately recognized them as being similar to the tracks we
had searched for so many times.
All three of us then entered the post office. There we observed
that the safe had been partially drilled, much like the Rochelle
safe.
The postmistress told us that a rancher some ten miles north of
Yeso might have some information concerning the Myers couple.
We also talked with Mr. Marcel Achen, a county commissioner
who lived in Yeso. He operated the gas station and had become
fairly well acquainted with Myers and Sandra but had not seen
them for a while.
After we left the commissioner, Sheriff Vogel, Deputy Turnbow,
and I went to the old hotel and looked through it. From the
personal effects located there, it was obvious that a male and
female had been staying in one of the rooms.
We then went to the Pete Wilson Ranch, which is located some
ten miles north of Yeso. (Pat Garrett was sitting of Pete Wilson’s
bed when Billy The Kid entered the darkened doorway and was
shot dead.) Mrs. Wilson kept a diary and told us she had made
several notations in it concerning the Myers couple. The first
entry stated that Myers and Sandra had arrived at the ranch on
May 9 and worked every other day through the 16th of May. This
was in 1972.
Mrs. Wilson made the notation on May 16 that Myers was
returning to Brady, Texas, as his grandmother had suffered a
stroke. During this time, Myers and Sandra were using the stolen
Chevrolet pickup from Mason. I don’t believe that Mrs. Wilson
knew that the pickup was stolen. This was my determination
based upon her description of the events.
Mrs. Wilson’s next entry was on August 8. Myers and Sandra had
returned to the ranch in a new, two-toned, blue, Ford LTD. They
were at the ranch again on August 16, this time to wash clothes.
Then on August 18, they ate supper with the Wilsons. Mrs.
Wilson later noted that she saw them in Yeso on August 20. On
August 26, the Myers and Sandra came by the ranch and told the
Wilsons they were going to California.
The next time the Wilsons saw Myers and Sandra was on
November 24. This time they were in a green, 1971 Ford Torino,
the vehicle stolen from Golden Motors in San Saba. Mrs. Wilson
recalled that Sandra remarked several times that this was a
rental car. The Wilsons thought it strange that she would keep
mentioning this. Later, they became suspicious: this was the
third new car the couple had driven within a few months’ time.
A blizzard blew in during this visit, forcing Myers and Sandra to
spend the night with the Wilsons. The following morning, the
weather cleared, and they returned to the old hotel.
The diary showed that the Wilsons saw Myers and Sandra on
November 26 and 27. On this last visit, Myers said that he and
Sandra were moving to Maljamar, New Mexico. He claimed to
have a job as a welder there. That was last time the Wilsons saw
the couple.
Sheriff Vogel and I said our goodbyes to the Wilsons and Deputy
Turnbow and headed south for Maljamar. We arrived late that
afternoon and contacted Edward Hailes, who operates Steve
Carter and Sons Oilfield Trucking Company. Mr. Hailes told us
that Myers had worked there from December 1-13 as a truck
driver. Myers had come to him through the recommendation of
Mrs. Russell Trammell, whose husband ran a welding shop there.
Hailes said the last time he saw Myers was on January 4, 1973,
when he had stopped by to collect his last two hours’ wages.
Hailes and Myers had gone into the office, where Hailes took out
his checkbook and paid Myers for his work. The following
morning, Hailes discovered his office had been broken into, and
nine payroll checks were missing. Later that day, Myers cashed
all these checks in Lovington. Each was in the amount of $183.
In Maljamer, we also learned that Myers was now driving a
white, 1973 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. We would learn later that
this vehicle had been stolen in Vaughn, New Mexico, from the
Chevrolet dealer. It had been on the showroom floor, and Myers
simply drove it through the plate glass window.
During our interview with Mrs. Trammell, she said that she had
known Myers as a child in Yeso. She had allowed Myers and
Sandra to stay in her camper trailer for a short time. When she
started to notice that personal items of hers began to disappear,
she asked them to move out. Later, she recovered part of her
property in a pawnshop in Lovington.
On January 31, Sheriff Vogel and I were checking pawnshops in
Lovington when we located a radio that Myers had pawned. It
was the radio stolen in the Yeso Post Office burglary. We sent
word to the Sheriff in Fort Sumner that it was in Lovington.
Finding nothing from Texas here, we returned to Brady.
In Brady, I learned that Detective Ray Alt with the Albuquerque
Police Department had been trying to locate me. Alt had
recovered several of the typewriters that had been stolen from
the Rochelle School. Myers had hocked them at several different
pawnshops.
Apparently, Myers thought he was cool in Albuquerque: he had
given different addresses at the various pawnshops. The
detective had checked each address and learned that one was
correct: Myers and Sandra were staying at 167 Afrisco
Southwest, Apartment A.
On February 6, 1973, on the instruction of my sergeant, Bob
Mitchell (who later became my captain), I submitted the
following inter-office memo:
TO: Sergeant Bob Mitchell, Texas Ranger, Co. “F,”
Austin
FROM: Bob Favor, Texas Ranger, Co. “F,” Brady
SUBJECT: Elton David Myers, escapee, burglar and
auto thief
Sgt: As per your request, I, with a certain amount of
reluctance, submit to you some information
concerning the above named subject. I am not too
proud of this old boy as he has continued to give me
and everyone else the slip. It has gotten to the point it
is embarrassing. Myers, who is a white male, date of
birth March 22, 1948, is 5’11’’, 160 lbs., with blonde,
curly, hair and blue eyes. He escaped from the jail in
Richmond, TX sometime past May while serving a two
year sentence for car theft and escape. The reason he
left was that a white female named Sandra Marie
Sandra, date of birth July 15, 1953, 5’6”, 135, with
blonde hair and blue eyes, had been released the
previous day after car theft charges against her were
dismissed. Myers was a trustee and just walked off.
He got with her in Oklahoma and returned to the
home of his grandparents in the northeast part of
McCulloch County sometime in May. From May until
November this pair traveled between Yeso, New
Mexico, and Brady, Texas, supporting themselves by
committing burglaries of residences, schools, and post
offices.
Since May, it has been determined this pair has been
in possession of four new stolen vehicles.
I hold two grand jury indictments on Myers for
burglary. Two offenses occurred in November. In
January, they burglarized the same two places again.
Sheriff Luke Vogel of Brady and I trailed them to Yeso,
New Mexico, and discovered they had broken into the
Post Office there. From Yeso we trailed them to
Maljamar, New Mexico, where he had burglarized a
trucking company, stole several payroll checks, and
passed them as forgeries in Lovington, New Mexico.
He sold all the typewriters he had stolen in Rochelle
on January 26 in Albuquerque.
On November 18, 1972, the Brady Game Warden and a
Highway Patrolman responded to a game poaching
call and flushed two people from a stolen car. A sawed
off .12 ga. pump shotgun was recovered. It was
identified as having been stolen from George Myers
last July. Sandra was arrested and told the two
officers Myers had a .380 pistol and would shoot it out
rather than return to prison.
We have linked Myers to six felonies in McCulloch and
San Saba Counties and four felonies in New Mexico.
This is nothing sensational, but maybe it will do.
Bob Favor
Texas Ranger, Company E
Brady, Texas
On February 8, Myers drove from Albuquerque to Brady to
commit still another burglary. This time, he was accompanied by
a youth named Clinton Michael Howlett, Jr. Sandra had become
pregnant and was too ill to travel. Howlett took her place as a
lookout.
During a heavy snowstorm, Myers and Howlett parked the stolen
Monte Carlo about one mile east of Brady on the Prisoner of War
Road. They walked down the railroad tracks to Durst Ford Tractor
Agency and broke in around 7:00 p.m. Myers loaded all the loot
into a 1967 Chevrolet that was parked inside and used it to carry
their ill-gotten goods back to the Monte Carlo.
The store safe had been left unlocked, and Myers completely
dismantled it. Later, I asked him why. He replied that he had
never seen one just like it, so he took it apart in order to
understand its mechanism.
After returning to the Monte Carlo and shifting their booty, Myers
and Howlett left for Albuquerque. On the way back, they stopped
in Sterling City and broke into two business places.
When Myers and his new partner arrived in Albuquerque, the
police jumped them. We had notified the local lawmen of the
latest burglary and assumed that Myers and Howlett would be
returning to that city.
When confronted, Myers fled. After a high-speed chase, he
crashed into a grocery store and fled on foot. Howlett was
arrested in the car.
Myers jumped into the Rio Grande, which was dry at this point.
To keep down erosion, the river had a large number of iron cross
members and barbed wire. Myers was tangled in this mess when
the officers fired at him. He surrendered.
All property from the Durst
Tractor Agency was
recovered, as was the
Sterling City property.
Sandra was arrested in the
apartment and lodged in
jail.
David Myers
Brady, Texas Mug Shot,
1973
Photo courtesy of Lt.
Robert Favor
On February 11, 1973, I forwarded to Sergeant Bob Mitchell the
following inter-office memorandum:
Sergeant:
Reference to my inter-office memorandum to you
dated February 6, 1973, on Elton David Myers, be
advised that as usual most of the better stories have
happy endings.
Myers was arrested by the Albuquerque, New Mexico,
P.D. on February 9th, acting on information supplied
them by this writer, but not before he returned to
Brady during the snow storm of the 8th and
committed another burglary. Durst Ford Tractor Co.
was his target this time.
Myers was accompanied by a young man named
Clinton Michael Howlett, Jr. They burglarized two
places in Sterling City on their return trip. They were
jumped by the Albuquerque P.D. as they returned to
that city. He was driving the white Chev. Monte Carlo
he had stolen some time back in Vaughn, New Mexico.
During the chase, he wrecked it on a grocery store.
We can now put at least 17 burglaries and auto thefts
on him in Texas and New Mexico.
I plan to go to Albuquerque later this week when my
court obligations permit to return this trio to Brady.
Respectfully,
Bob Favor
Texas Ranger, Co. “F”
Brady
On the morning of February 15, Sheriff Vogel and I departed
Brady and went to Albuquerque. That city’s police department
had all of our recovered stolen property assembled and waiting
upon our arrival.
The next day, the sheriff and I interviewed Myers and Sandra.
Both confessed and gave lengthy statements regarding their
various crimes in Texas. After interviewing Howlett and his
attorney, we felt that justice would best be served by releasing
this boy. Howlett was a simple-minded youth, easily led, and
probably did not realize the consequences of his actions.
Sheriff Vogel and I loaded a U-Haul trailer with the stolen
property and then pulled out of Albuquerque on the morning of
February 17 with Myers and Sandra in possession. We drove in
heavy to light snow until we got to Eden, Texas. Since we did not
have any leg irons at this time, I felt the best way to keep Myers
from running was to lock his boots in the trailer. We made the
thirteen-hour ride back without a hitch. As we passed through
Sterling City, we stopped long enough to return the stolen
property to Sheriff Jim Cantrell.
The 198th District Court was called into session on February 26,
1973. Elton David Myers pled guilty to a charge of burglary and
was given an eight-year sentence in the state penitentiary. His
pregnant wife, Sandra, found the court to be more lenient with
her: she was given a two-year probated term. The next morning,
Sheriff Vogel and I transported Myers
to Huntsville to start serving his
sentence.
Sandra Myers
Peace and quiet in general settled
over the countryside as we went
about our usual duties. It was a
welcome relief: the past nine months
had been very hard on everyone and
was an expense and worry on the
citizens of this area.
Over the next few months, I saw Sandra on occasion. After the
baby was born, she came into town to show it to Sheriff Vogel
and me. On one visit, she told me that while we were returning
from Albuquerque, Myers had gotten a bobby pin from her and
picked his handcuffs open. Since his boots were locked in the
trailer, however, he had decided to re-secure himself.
Sandra’s baby died about a month after birth. Sometime in July,
she went to Houston to live with one of Myers’ cousins in order
to be closer and be able to visit Myers in prison.
Myers was very distraught over the death of his child and
became highly agitated when he learned he could not attend the
funeral. I don’t recall if he ever got to see the child or not.
§
NOTE: Be sure to check the next issue of the Dispatch for part
two of the three-part series.
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Ranger Mathew "Old Paint" Caldwell
by Steve Moore
Contact the Editor
He has been hailed by one historian as the "Paul Revere of the Texas
Revolution." His contemporaries affectionately dubbed him "Old Paint." When
it came to leading a frontier fight, however, only one description aptly fit
Texas Ranger Mathew Caldwell — courageous.
In the years immediately following the Texas Revolution, a handful of men
rose to the surface as the elite frontier leaders of Texas. Among them were
Edward Burleson, Benjamin McCullough, John Henry Moore, Jack Hays, and
“Old Paint" Caldwell.
Mathew Caldwell was born on March 8, 1798, in Kentucky. He moved with his
family to Missouri in 1818. There he reportedly became a skilled Indian fighter
and was involved with trading with the local Indians.
Texas land records show that Caldwell settled in the DeWitt colony in 1831 as
a married man with a family, although his first wife's name is unknown. She
apparently did not live long in Texas, although the couple did have at least
three children. He would eventually make his home in Gonzales on Water
Street, across from the Guadalupe River and south of the Almeron Dickinson
and George Kimble hat factory.
Caldwell was known as "Old Paint" because of his premature gray hair. When
his beard grew out, his whiskers were spotted with white patches. Another
Ranger who served under him would write that Caldwell also had white
patches of chest hair "like a paint horse."
Caldwell fought for his fellow settlers when the need arose. In April 1835, a
group of French and Mexican traders were attacked and killed by Comanche
Indians in Gonzales County. Caldwell joined a twenty-seven-man Gonzales
volunteer party which tracked the Indians to the Blanco River near present
San Marcos. In the ensuing battle, Caldwell and his fellow Texans killed most
of the fifty-odd Comanches and recovered the stolen goods of the traders.
Caldwell was present for the opening shots of the Texas Revolution.
Lieutenant Francisco Castaneda and a hundred soldiers arrived at Gonzales
on September 29, 1835, with orders to remove the settlers' cannon. Eighteen
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defiant citizens held the Mexican troops at bay on the Guadalupe while other
Texian volunteers mobilized. Caldwell served as one of three scouts who
monitored the Mexican camp during this time. He convinced the Texas
negotiator to stall the Mexican commander while other Texians were
recruited. Caldwell rode from Gonzales to Bastrop to call men to arms before
the battle of Gonzales on October 2, 1835. For doing so, one historian later
dubbed him the "Paul Revere of the Texas Revolution."
Caldwell commanded a company of men in Colonel Stephen F. Austin's army
during early November 1835. He was soon thereafter appointed as a supplier
for the Texas Army, operating from the Bexar area. He was also involved in
recruiting and providing for the Texas Rangers, which had been raised by the
convention during the revolution.
As of January 7, 1836, Caldwell was in Gonzales, "recovering from my
wounds & afflictions." Although uncertain, it is possible he had been
wounded in the early December siege of San Antonio.
Caldwell informed the convention that the citizens did not care for the new
Ranger system in which company commanders were appointed. "In regard to
the appointing [of] officers to command the rangers in this division, the
people will not organize under that regulation," wrote Caldwell. "But, if your
Honorable body will see fit to permit us to elect our own officers to command
the company, up to a Captain, in that event I think a company may be made."
This issue was common with early Texas Ranger companies. Due to the
dangerous nature of the service, the men much preferred to decide who
would lead them into the frontiers. In response to the need for more Ranger
companies, the acting government of Texas appointed commissioners to
head up the task. Mathew Caldwell and two other men were appointed on
February 4 to raise a Ranger company for the municipality of Gonzales.
Caldwell served as one of the two delegates from the Gonzales Municipality at
the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos. On March 2, 1836, he
was one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence. That same
day, he and two others were appointed as special couriers for the Texas Army
by the convention. As such, Caldwell spread the news of the Texas
Declaration of Independence. His job was to also ascertain the condition of
the Texan forces and the movements of the enemy Mexican army on the
frontier.
Caldwell was married again, this time to Hannah Morrison in Washington
County on May 17, 1837. As a respected Ranger and community leader, he
helped keep the peace in town as well as on the prairies. During 1838, when
hecklers tried to prevent Reverend Zachariah Morell and other ministers from
preaching, Caldwell boldly stood his ground. He claimed to be on the side of
"civilization and religious liberty." No one dared use any violence on the
preachers.
In December 1838, several children of the Lockhart and Putman families were
kidnapped by Comanche Indians while gathering pecans on the Guadalupe
River south of Gonzales. Mathew Caldwell, Ben and Henry McCullough, and
other residents rode in pursuit of these Indians but were soon faced with a
bitter winter "norther" that left ice and snow on the ground. The men
eventually were forced to turn back to the winter weather, but most of the
children would later be liberated from the Comanches.
The Third Congress of the Republic of Texas passed an act on January 15,
1839, which called for the raising of a fifty-six-man ranging company for
Gonzales County. The citizens voted Captain Mathew Caldwell into command,
although law required the captain to be appointed by the president. Not
disagreeing with the citizens' choice, President Mirabeau B. Lamar officially
placed Caldwell in command of the Ranger unit.
Captain Caldwell mustered in his Gonzales County Rangers on March 16,
1839. One of his men, Henry McCullough, was already becoming known as a
daring Indian fighter in his own right. Curiously, Mathew Caldwell was named
one week later (on March 23, 1839) to become a captain of the First Regiment
of Infantry. A letter written by James W. Robinson to President Lamar
confirms that Caldwell had been named captain of the Gonzales Rangers by
February 24 and had also been appointed as captain in the First Regiment. By
the laws of its creation, the First Regiment only needed fifteen captains, and
Colonel Lysander Wells informed Caldwell that his army already had met its
capacity. Robinson wrote to Lamar, praising Caldwell: "I hope he can yet be
provided for, as I do think him the best Capt. of Spies in Texas, even superior
in many respects to the old veteran Deaf Smith."
"Old Paint" Caldwell would join the army in due time, but he proceeded to
fulfill his obligation to command the Rangers first. His Gonzales Rangers
covered the area between San Antonio and Gonzales during the next three
months. They established their main camp about fourteen miles above
Gonzales on the Guadalupe River near present Luling in what is now Caldwell
County. A large force of Austin-area Rangers and volunteers under Colonel
Edward Burleson fought a battle with Vicente Cordova's Mexican and Indian
rebels on Mill Creek on March 29, 1839.
Captain Caldwell's Rangers were on scouting missions and thus missed the
main battle. Five of his men, however, were attacked by Cordova's fleeing
forces the following day on the Guadalupe River. "Guns were fired and two of
the Gonzales Rangers wounded," wrote Captain Caldwell. Two of his men
hurried back to Seguin on foot to spread word of their skirmish, in which the
Rangers had been relieved of their horses. "Paint" Caldwell and his Gonzales
Rangers thus began a dogged pursuit of Cordova's rebels, who were fleeing
toward Mexico. Caldwell crossed the Guadalupe where New Braunfels now
stands and pursued them north of San Antonio. Joined by Colonel Henry
Karnes and other volunteers, Caldwell's men gave chase until signs showed
that the rebels had too great of a lead on them. Although unsuccessful in
catching them, his men had helped drive the danger from the country.
Caldwell's 1839 Ranger company helped protect surveyors working between
Gonzales and Austin. His company disbanded on June 16 at the completion of
its term. He then apparently became involved with recruiting for the First
Regiment of Infantry. An August 29, 1839, list of officers includes Captain
Mathew Caldwell as one of the fifteen infantry captains. By December 1839,
Captain Caldwell was in command of a small, mounted spy party connected to
Colonel Burleson's First Regiment. His company joined an expedition of the
army, which departed Austin on December 16. It included four other First
Regiment companies and friendly parties of mounted Lipan Apache and
Tonkawa Indian scouts. Burleson led his troops out in an offensive against
hostile Indians.
On Christmas Day, they encountered a band of Cherokees about 100 miles
northwest of Austin. At least six Indians were killed, including at least two
Cherokee chiefs. The only Texas loss was former Texas Ranger Captain John
L. Lynch from Captain Caldwell's company. Caldwell's scouts pursued the
Indians for several more days without further battle, and the expedition
returned to Austin in January 1840.
During March 1840, Captain Caldwell was in San Antonio staying as a guest at
the home of Samuel Maverick. He was present for the negotiations, which
were to be held with Comanche chiefs at the Council House on March 19. He
walked over to the meeting unarmed, but he soon found himself in trouble
when the talks turned violent. The Comanche chiefs refused to acknowledge
that they were holding more than one white prisoner. One of the Indian
leaders attacked a Texian sentinel, and the fight quickly became general.
Caldwell wrestled a rifle away from one Indian, shot him to death with it, and
then used the butt end of the gun to club another Comanche to death.
In the smoke and gunfire that erupted in the packed Council House, "Old
Paint" was shot through the right leg by rifle fire, possibly from an errant
friendly shot. The fighting spilled out into the streets of San Antonio. The
Texian soldiers pursued and killed all of the Indian chiefs, sparing only some
of their women and children. Although painfully wounded, Caldwell had
moved outside of the courthouse and continued to fight. His "borrowed" rifle
now shattered, he used the only weapon he could seize—rocks! That night,
Caldwell was helped back to the Maverick home. In her memoirs, Mary A.
Maverick recalls: “Dr. Weideman came and cut off his boot and found the
bullet had gone entirely through the leg, and lodged in the boot, where it was
discovered.” The wound, though not dangerous, was very painful. The
doughty Captain recovered rapidly and, in a few days, walked about with the
aid of a stick.
Mathew Caldwell's next Indian encounter came in August 1840. Hundreds of
Comanches made an offensive against the coastal towns of Victoria and
Linnville, killing settlers, taking prisoners, looting and destroying homes, and
stealing hundreds of horses, cattle, and mules. Various volunteer forces of
Texan settlers took up pursuit of the Comanches as they retreated toward
north. Among these forces was a mounted company under Captain Caldwell.
Other volunteer units gathered at Plum Creek near the Gonzales and Austin
road. Scout Henry McCullough brought word during the early morning hours
of August 12 that the massive force of Comanches was approaching. Captain
Caldwell made a stirring speech to the combined Texian forces, insisting that
they must attack before the Indians could reach the protection of the nearby
hills. "If we can't whip 'em, we can try," Caldwell insisted, according to Ranger
Jim Nichols. Although favored by many to take command of the forces
present, Caldwell instead relinquished leadership to the senior officer
present, Major General Felix Huston, although the latter had no direct
experience with Indian fighting.
In the heated Battle of Plum Creek, the Comanches lost more than eighty
killed. The Texans suffered only one man killed and seven wounded. A
number of Comanche women and children were taken prisoner, and a large
number of stolen goods, mules, and horses were recovered.
Once the battle had begun to swing in favor of the Texans, it was Caldwell and
Ben McCullough urged the green General Huston to order an offensive
charge. Felix Huston would write in his report that Captain Caldwell led the
Texan left wing in a charge "executed in gallant style." Caldwell participated
in the Santa Fe Expedition in 1841 as captain of Company D. The expedition
was a fiasco, and many of the Texans were captured or forced to surrender.
Captain Caldwell and his men were taken prisoner on September 29.The men
were forced to walk for months across Mexico during the winter. One of
Caldwell's men died from exhaustion. Others were shot for refusing to walk
any further and had their ears cut off for souvenirs. Caldwell and some of his
men were taken as far as Mexico City by April 1842. Most of the surviving
prisoners were released during the spring and summer of 1842.
Following his release, Caldwell reportedly swore that he would never again
surrender to any Mexican force. Shortly after his release, Caldwell was in
command of 200 men to give relief to San Antonio. General Adrian Woll, with
a force of about 1,400 soldiers, had invaded and captured the town. From
Salado Creek on September 17, 1842, Colonel Caldwell sent a written plea for
more assistance. Nonetheless, he vowed, "The enemy are around me on every
side, but I fear them not." Although outnumbered, he promised, "I can whip
them on any ground...Huzza! huzza for Texas!" He signed as "Mathew
Caldwell, Colonel Commanding." On September 18, Caldwell sent Captain
Jack Hays with a company of men who enticed Woll's cavalry to chase them
to the Salado. One of Caldwell's men was Nathan Boone Burkett. He reported
in 1895 that, in preparing for this battle, "He [Caldwell] rolled up his sleeves
and stopped in front of the men with a red handkerchief tied around his head."
Caldwell announced that he was eager for revenge against the men who had
imprisoned him. He encouraged each of his men to pick a different target and
to wait for a certain shot. Caldwell theorized that if everyone could "make a
sure shot, we will whip hell out of them before they know it."
James Ramsay, another of Caldwell's men, agreed that the commander made
a determined speech before the battle of Salado. He recorded that Caldwell
urged his men to "Fight for your homes and families and give them hell."
Ramsay noted that Caldwell was "above the common height of men, a little
slim, dark hair, now mixed with white patches, more particularly in the beard,
by which he got the sobriquet of “Old Paint." Although outnumbered, the 200
Texans did put up a stiff fight for the Mexican troops that Jack Hays lured
toward Salado Creek. Woll's defeated forces turned back for Mexico, but not
before about 60 of the men were killed and many more wounded.
Some Texas leaders criticized Caldwell severely for not pursuing and
capturing all of the Mexican soldiers. Troubled by the condemnation against
him and still suffering from the many illnesses he had endured in Mexican
captivity, Mathew Caldwell died at his home in Gonzales on December 28,
1842. He was buried with military honors. Caldwell County was established in
his honor in 1848. The state of Texas also erected an historical monument at
his grave in the Gonzales cemetery in 1930.
Author Steve Moore
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Texas Ranger – Rumrunner?!?!
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Think “bootlegger,” and most would envision tommy-guns blazing away on
the streets of Chicago or New York. All too often, this would be an accurate
picture. Equally accurate, however, would be ships—rumrunners—blazing
away at one another on the open seas of the Atlantic or an inland river.
America was thirsty for beer and whiskey during Prohibition. With gargantuan
profits ready for the taking, men like Al Capone, Lucky Luciana, and Dutch
Schultz made themselves available to quench that thirst.
Though not as well known as the above hoodlums, Frank
Costello became the “Boss of Bosses” of the Mafia by no
accident. He was also the king of the rumrunners.
Frank Costello
Many bootleggers, most notably Costello, started buying
foreign whiskey and shipping it to the twelve-mile limit,
which was outside the authority of the Coast Guard. At this
point, they would transfer their cargo to speedy boats that could usually
outrun Coast Guard cutters. They were also well enough armed that many
times they could outgun them, too.
However, there were times when the rumrunners would try to deceive the
Coast Guard rather than try to fight or outrun them.
One day in broad daylight, the
Texas Ranger sailed into the
harbor at Haverstraw, New York,
and passed several Coast Guard
installations without causing any
concern. All of this changed when
an officer, who was thumbing
through a shipping news bulletin,
read that the Texas Ranger was
supposed to be in the Gulf of
Mexico. He sounded the alarm.
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When the crew of the Texas Ranger
realized they had been discovered,
they abandoned ship and rowed to
shore. There they found the local police waiting for them.
Rum Running Ship in Open Seas
Photo: U.S. Coast Guard
The rumrunner was loaded with $500,000 of illegal alcohol—and this was
Depression Era money. It was the largest haul the Coast Guard made during
Prohibition.It turned out that the Texas Ranger was really the Hollywood. It
had been disguised to look like the legitimate Texas Ranger, which was in the
Gulf of Mexico.
Crates of Liquor Stacked on Deck
of Rum Runner
Photo: U.S. Coast Guard
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20th Century Shining Star:
Frank Hamer
by Robert Nieman
Though best known as the man who brought the infamous Bonnie and Clyde
to ground, Frank Hamer accomplished much more than this one crime. He is
the man that many believe to be the greatest Texas Ranger of the first half of
the twentieth century.
Francis Augustus Hamer was born on March 17, 1884, in Fairview, Texas.
While still a very young child, his family moved to the Welch Ranch in San
Saba County, where his father was a blacksmith. When an opportunity
presented itself in Llano County in 1894, Mr. Hamer and his wife Francis
packed up their family and moved to Oxford. There he continued
blacksmithing and his son Frank eventually joined him in the trade for a time.
Blacksmithing didn’t hold Frank’s interest for long. In a career filled with
violence, his first deadly shooting scrape—he was reportedly in over fifty
gunfights during his career—occurred on June 12, 1900.
Hamer and his brother Harrison, who was four years his junior, had entered
into a 50-50 sharecropping agreement with Dan McSwain. McSwain, like
everyone in the county, was aware of Frank’s ability with a weapon. One day
he asked the youngster if he wanted to make an extra $150. According to
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brother Harrison, Frank thought McSwain was joking and replied, “Who do I
have to kill?”
Frank quickly realized that his landlord was deadly serious. McSwain was
having trouble with a rancher and wanted Frank to “solve” the problem. The
youngster quickly and in no uncertain words informed his boss that he was
only “kidding” and had no intention of killing anyone. McSwain replied, “If
you let one word of this out, I’ll kill you!”
Two days later, Frank and Harrison were plowing their field when McSwain
walked up. He told the younger brother to go into the nearby barn to get some
equipment and asked Frank to go into the house and get some groceries.
Harrison didn’t go into the barn immediately because he was doing some
repair work on the plow. Soon, he heard a noise behind him. Turning, he saw
Frank picking up some cans that he had dropped, and he saw McSwain
coming towards his brother with a shotgun.
Harrison yelled to Frank, “Look out!”
Frank jumped to the side, and McSwain’s blast barely missed him. He rose to
his feet to run for cover, and McSwain let loose the second barrel of his
shotgun. This time, the blast found its target. Buckshot ripped into Frank’s
back and the left side of his head, knocking him to the ground. (At his death,
dozens of bullet and knife scars were counted on Frank’s body.)
Fortunately—at least from Frank’s point of view—the blast was not lethal. Still
on the ground, he drew a small pistol he was carrying and returned fire. His
first shot hit his would-be assassin, knocking him to the ground. The shot
was not fatal, though.
Harrison rushed to his brother’s side, helped Frank to his feet, and they both
ran to the nearby draw. Meanwhile, McSwain had also gotten up, and he went
into his house.
The hiding boys saw McSwain come out of the house carrying an old buffalo
gun. He mounted his horse and began searching for the brothers, but they
remained safely hidden, and McSwain eventually gave up and rode out of
sight.
It took Frank a long time to heal. He carried some of the buckshot in his back
until the day he died. In time, however, he was ready to settle things with
McSwain. He mounted up and rode to McSwain’s house.
McSwain couldn’t believe his eyes. He thought he had murdered the boy and
said as much to Frank. The boy replied, “Not by a damned sight. I’ve come to
settle accounts.” With that, both man and boy went for their guns. McSwain
fell to ground, dead.
The following year, 1901, Frank and Harrison moved to Sheffield, Texas. They
had been hired as wranglers on the Pecos Ranch of Barry Ketchum. Barry
was the brother of the notorious outlaw Tom “Black Jack” Ketchum. The
Hamer brothers were still working on the ranch on April 26, 1901, when Black
Jack was the guest of honor at a “necktie party” in New Mexico.
By 1905, Frank was cowboying on the Carr Ranch between Sheffield and Fort
Stockton. He volunteered his services to the local sheriff, Dud Barker, to
apprehend a horse thief. His successful effort so impressed Sheriff Barker
that he recommended Frank to the Texas Adjutant General, saying that Frank
would make an excellent Texas Ranger.
On April 21, 1906, twenty-two-year-old Frank Hamer became the Texas’
newest Ranger. He was assigned to legendary Captain John Rogers of
Company C. Captain Rogers ordered Hamer to report to Sergeant Jim Moore
in Sheffield. (Frank’s older brother Estelle and younger brothers Harrison and
Flavus also became Rangers. Younger brother Clint, called Sant by the family,
died before he got the opportunity.)
As was common during those years, there was trouble along the Rio Grande.
Hamer soon found himself in the Del Rio area. Until 1908, he rode the border
doing whatever was necessary to uphold the laws of the state of Texas.
By the fall of 1908, another challenge lay before Frank. Navasota, Texas, was
being ripped by racial strife. Killing occurred almost daily, and worse, the
town couldn’t keep a marshal. The latest one had lasted a week. Clearly, a
man with iron in his backbone was needed.
Frank’s reputation was already well established, and the Navasota city council
offered him the position as city marshal. He accepted. By 1911—and more
than one deadly encounter—he had worked himself out of a job. He left
Navasota for Houston.
For the next four years, Frank worked in Harris County helping maintain law
and order in that rough and woolly part of Texas.
By 1915, the call of the Rangers
tugged at Frank, and he rejoined the
organization. He was stationed
along the Rio Grande border, again
at Del Rio. The situation along the
Mexican border had not improved
during his absence; if anything, it
was worse than ever. But in typical
style, Frank began a relentless
pursuit of the thugs and outlaws
who roamed the area.
As busy as he was, Frank still had
time to fall under the spell of Gladys
Johnson. They were married on May 12, 1917. She had two daughters from a
previous marriage, and together they had two sons, Frank Jr. and Billy.
As was common during that era, Frank once again left the Rangers. He
became a prohibition agent, trying to stop bootleggers from bringing illegal
liquor into the United States. Eliot Ness he wasn’t, however, and in 1921 he
was back with the Rangers, this time stationed in Austin. This was his last
move. He and Gladys would spend the remainder of their lives in Texas’
capitol city.
On January 1, 1922, Frank was named Senior Ranger Captain. Now he
commanded all Rangers, and he found himself as busy as he had ever been.
Texas in the 1920s spelled O-I-L, and that meant more work than the Rangers
had ever imagined. Boomtowns roared to life all over Texas: Breckenridge,
Van, Ranger, Borger, and Kilgore, to name a
few. Even the Rangers couldn’t handle the
mass of crime they confronted. More than
once, the current governor was forced to
declare marshal law and send in the National
Guard. (A film in Kilgore’s Oil Museum relates
that its sleepy community exploded from a
population of 800 to 8,000—in twenty-four
hours!)
In 1932, Miriam “Ma” Ferguson was elected
governor. Ma and her husband James (“Pa”),
who had earlier been impeached and thrown
out of the governor’s office, hated the Rangers
almost as much as the Rangers hated them.
The handwriting was on the wall, and every
Ranger who did not resign was fired. Frank
retired. Never again would he be an active
Texas Ranger.
In 1934, the notorious killers Bonnie Parker
and Clyde Parker murdered their way through
Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Despite their best efforts, law officers could not bring the pair to justice.
Something had to be done. Who better to solve the problem than the greatest
manhunter of them all? Lee Simmons asked Frank to accept a position as
special investigator for the prison system, which Simmons headed. Frank’s
only job was to track the killers down. On February 1, 1934, he went on the
hunt.
So many books and articles have been written on this subject, we will not
attempt to fully recount this story. Suffice it to say that on May 23, 1934, near
Gibsland, Louisiana, Frank and five other officers—one of whom was fellow
former Texas Ranger Manny Gault—put an end to the deadly duo’s murderous
career.
Not surprisingly, the killing of Bonnie and Clyde made nationwide headlines.
The praise poured in from everywhere. Texas Congressman Robert Kleberg
sponsored a bill that sailed through, and Frank was presented a
congressional special citation.
For his remaining years, Frank worked for several oil companies as a special
investigator. He died peacefully in his sleep on July 10, 1955, and was buried
in the State Cemetery in Austin.
Frank’s name jumped into the public view again in 1967. The movie Bonnie
and Clyde came out and was a smash hit. Unfortunately, it portrayed Frank
Hamer as a bumbling fool. Gladys and Frank Jr. (Billy had been killed during
World War II at Iwo Jima) sued the movie’s producers. The case drug on for
years, but in 1971, they were awarded an out-of-court settlement.
Rangers like Frank Hamer made the Texas Rangers the legendary lawmen that
they are today.
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Ray Coffman
Ray Coffman was born on January 15, 1951, the
middle child of James and Billie Coffman. This rocksolid future Texas Ranger graduated from McAllen
(Texas) High School after his father, a minister, took
over a church in that city.
Contact the Editor
After graduation in 1969, Ray joined the Navy
Reserve and spent the next two years on active
duty. He was home-ported in Newport, Rhode Island, and spent his sea duty
onboard the repair ship USS Cadmus. Third Class Petty Officer Coffman’s job
was repairing the gyrocompasses in interior communications. For their work
on the fleet ships, Ray and his shipmates were awarded the Meritorious Unit
Commendation. When the Vietnam War started winding down in 1972, Ray
received a two-month-early discharge.
Ray’s parents had moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan, while Ray was in the
Navy. Mr. Coffman had accepted an appointment as the new minister of an
independent church.
After his discharge, Ray joined his parents in Benton Harbor, Michigan, where
they had moved after Mr. Coffman accepted an appointment as the new
minister of an independent church. Ray enrolled in Lake Michigan College and
also worked various jobs.
Even during this period, Ray’s interest was in law enforcement and felt that
Texas’ Department of Public Safety was the premiere law enforcement agency
in this country. After all, he would ask, “Who else can boast of having the
legendary Texas Rangers?”
In October 1975, Ray was accepted into the Texas Department of Public
Safety. For the next sixteen-and-a-half weeks, he attended class B-75 at the
department’s training facility in Austin. After graduation, this new Highway
Patrolman was stationed in Brownsville, the most southern point in Texas.
Brownsville is where Texas, Mexico, and the Gulf of Mexico all come together.
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Ray Coffman’s first day as a
Highway Patrolman. He is
standing beside his best
friend and partner Stan
Guffey. Brownsville, Texas.
March 8, 1976
Photo courtesy of Ray Coffman
Ray was proud to be a
Highway Patrolman, but his
heart was already in criminal investigation. After two years of traffic
enforcement, he promoted to the DPS’ Narcotic Service and stationed in the
southeast Texas city of Beaumont.
Two-and-a-half years after joining the Narcotic Service, Ray promoted to
lieutenant and again was stationed in South Texas—Laredo. He continued in
that job until July 1, 1986, when he promoted again: he joined the Texas
Rangers.
Promoted is the right word, even though Ray took a reduction in rank from
lieutenant to Ranger private to join the Rangers. No matter what the rank
reduction, any Ranger will tell you that the honor of wearing a Texas Ranger
badge is a promotion.
Even though Ray’s desire to be a Ranger started during his Highway Patrol
days, he says that he has two very fond memories of the Highway Patrol.
One of those highlights was Stan Guffey. Ray remembers Stan as a great
partner and an even better friend. Ray and Stan were the best man at each
other’s wedding. Tragically, Stan Guffey was later killed rescuing two-year old
Kara Lee Whitehead from a kidnapper. Guffey is one of only thirty Rangers to
be enshrined in the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame.
Ray’s other fondest memory
during his HP days is a woman
named Olivia. She was the
secretary to a Los Fresnos justice
of the peace when Ray met her.
They were married on June 2,
1979, and have two sons, Hunter
and Logan.
Ranger Stan Guffey and Olivia
Coffman,
July 1979.
Stan Guffey and future Senior
Ranger Captain Bruce Casteel
were Ray’s heroes, and it was
through their encouragement that he became a Texas Ranger. When Ray was
first accepted, he was stationed in his hometown of McAllen. After Guffey was
killed, Ray transferred to his friend’s former station in Brady. He stayed there
for five years before transferring to Bryan. Though Ray enjoyed Bryan, his
two sons missed Brady because it was where they had been born and raised.
After three years in Bryan, the opportunity to transfer back to Brady became
available, and Ray took the opening.
Ray served ten years of outstanding duty as a field Ranger. On October 1,
1996, he was promoted to lieutenant in Company F. Company F is the only
Ranger company that has two lieutenants. Ray was stationed in Austin and
Clete Buckaloo became the lieutenant in Waco. (Clete is now the captain of
Company A in Houston.)
Ray proved to be as good an officer as he had been a field Ranger. No one
doubted that it was only a matter of time before Ray became a captain. On
September 1, 2001, that proved true.
On August 31, 2001, Ray’s hero, Senior Ranger Captain Bruce Casteel retired.
Company D’s Captain, C. J. Havrda was promoted to Senior Ranger Captain,
and Ray was promoted to fill C. J.’s captaincy in San Antonio.
Note: Click on the following names for “Shining Star”profiles of Bruce Casteel
(Issue 2) and C.J. Havrda (Issue 7).
Following are a few cases from of Capt. Coffman's career.
When Ray promoted to lieutenant in the Narcotics Service, he was stationed
in Laredo, but he didn’t stay there long. A new narcotics office was needed in
Harlingen (near McAllen), and with Ray’s outstanding leadership ability, he
was selected to lead the operation in this deep South Texas city.
Ray Coffman and wife Olivia
in DPS office in Harlingen.
In 1982, Florida law enforcement agencies were
making things so hot for South American drug
smugglers that they decided to try a new route.
The Arizona State Police had a well-placed
informant within the cartel who told the Arizona
officials that a Colombian drug cartel was
considering a test run from Columbia through
Mexico and crossing into the United States at Brownsville. Brownsville was in
Ray’s area, and it was at this point that Arizona officials contacted him.
Ray had been furnished the name and phone number of the informant by the
Arizona officials. Ray contacted him and found out that the drug movement
was not only on “go,” but was scheduled to cross into Texas within the week.
At the time, Ray had four narcotic investigators and two task force troopers
(Highway Patrolmen) in his command. All of this force was involved in drug
investigations, and the only man Ray could pull away to assist him was
Sergeant George Olivo. Later, Trooper Steve Vestal was able to join them.
For the next four days and nights, Olivo, Ray, and later Vestal conducted
surveillance on a known stash house in Brownsville. During the early morning
hours of the fifth morning, things started happening.
Vestal, dressed in camos (camouflage clothing), was across the road in some
bushes near the stash house. Olivo and Ray manned mobile units about a
block on each side of the house. Vestal saw the garage door open, and six
people, dressed in camos, got into a pickup containing two inflatable rafts.
When the truck left, Olivo and Ray followed.
Olivo and Ray followed the truck until it stopped near the mouth of the Rio
Grande River at the Gulf of Mexico. The occupants unloaded the rafts and
crossed the river. For about and hour, they met with some Columbians, who
gave them seven duffel bags. They then loaded their new cargo into the rafts,
re-crossed the Rio Grande, loaded the bags into the truck, and left. Ray and
Olivo followed the Columbians back to the stash house and observed them
unloading the duffel bags.
For several hours, Olivo and Ray sat and waited. Just before daylight, things
starting happening. The stash house’s garage door opened and two vehicles
drove out in opposite directions. A car carried four people, two Columbian
men and two women. A pickup contained two Columbian men. Olivo pursued
the car, and Ray took off after the pickup. After short chases, the Rangers
apprehended both vehicles.
Ray Coffman and Sgt. George
Olivo with seized property
consisting of numerous weapons
and 350 lbs. of drugs valued at $2.8
million.
The Brownsville Police Department
was contacted and requested
come to the crime scene to assist
in transporting the prisoners to their police station. It took about two hours to
secure a search warrant. Upon executing the warrant on the vehicles, Ray and
his agents seized 350 pounds of pure cocaine worth $2.8 million on the street.
They also took possession of numerous Mac-10 and Uzi automatic weapons.
At the time, this was the largest cocaine seizure in Texas history and the
second largest in U.S. history.
§
On December 12, 1995, Ray was contacted by the Brady Police Department to
assist with a hostage situation at a local convenience store. When he arrived,
he was told that the suspect was Dave Roberts, a McCulloch County Sheriff
candidate and a former deputy sheriff. Ray knew both the candidate and his
wife Lisa.
Roberts was holding his estranged wife at gunpoint and was threatening to
kill her and then himself. According to the police department, they believed
that Roberts had shot his wife in the head, pistol-whipped her, and then
sexually assaulted her with the pistol.
When negotiations broke down with the local officers, Roberts asked to speak
with Ray. Ray agreed and immediately entered the store. Roberts was
standing inside the door leading to the cooler and was covered in blood—so
much blood that he looked like he had been dipped in red paint. The whole
time that they talked, Roberts kept his pistol pointed at Ray and would not
allow the Ranger closer than three feet.
Ray asked Roberts if he could speak to Lisa. Roberts stated that he thought
she might be dead. Saying that, he opened the cooler door slightly, and Ray
could see the woman lying on the floor of what appeared to be a red room. He
could hear her moaning, and he called out and identified himself. Ray related
later that he thought Mrs. Roberts recognized his voice and started crying.
Roberts continued to point his gun at Ray the entire time he was in the store.
Ray finally had enough and told the former deputy to either point his gun
away from him or he would shoot him. (Ray had his pistol in his waistband in
his back.) Roberts knew Ray well enough to know that he wasn’t bluffing, and
he lowered his weapon.
Even with gun down, Roberts was still considered armed. The negotiations
continued for about thirty minutes. Realizing the hopelessness of his
situation, Roberts finally gave up and handed his pistol to Ray.
As soon as Roberts was in custody, Ray rushed into the cooler to try to assist
the wounded Lisa Roberts. The room was red, all right, but the color came
from all the blood, which was everywhere.
Mrs. Roberts was near death. She had a fractured skull from her husband’s
severe beating and the .357-magnum bullet that had grazed her head when he
shot her.
Mrs. Roberts was taken to a San Angelo hospital, where she was immediately
taken into surgery to remove a large portion of her fractured skull. It took 157
stitches to sew up her head.
When Ray interviewed the doctor who unquestionably saved her life, he asked
why the victim had not bled to death. The doctor theorized that the coldness
in the cooler had slowed her blood loss.
Even though Mrs. Roberts survived to testify against her husband, her
problems were far from over. Her skull had been crushed, and a considerable
amount of splintered bone had been removed. Today, only skin is covering
much of her brain. When speaking of Lisa Roberts, Ray now says, “I truly
believe that Lisa is the toughest woman I have ever met.”
After the crisis ended, Ray asked Roberts why he had tried to kill Lisa. The
former sheriff said that he was enraged by his wife’s actions, which he felt
were harming him politically. In his mind, she had ruined his chances of
winning the sheriff’s election.
There is an ironic footnote to this case. The engraved pistol that former
Deputy Sheriff Dave Roberts had used to beat his wife had been presented to
him by the Sheriff’s Association for outstanding law enforcement. It was given
to Roberts as the Officer of the Year for his efforts in rescuing an elderly lady
from a burning house.
§
Like most of the Rangers throughout the state, Ray Coffman was involved in
two of the highest profile cases in Texas Ranger history.
During the Branch Davidian investigation, Ray and Ranger Calvin Cox were
responsible for the crime-scene search and evidence recovery in the
“bunker.” They discovered more than 300 weapons, approximately 1 million
rounds of ammunition, and the bodies of 43 women and children.
In the second case, Ray was sent to Fort Davis as a supervisor during the
Republic of Texas standoff.
§
Ray Coffman is considered by his superiors and peers to be one of the most
solid and dependable men ever to wear the badge of a Texas Ranger.
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Visiting Historic
Texas Ranger Graves
with Captain Havrda
San Antonio, Texas
by Robert Nieman
Sr. Capt. C.J. Havrda at the Grave Site of
Capt. Sam Walker and Capt. R.A. Gillespie
Your editor recently had the privilege of spending a Saturday morning with Senior Ranger
Captain C. J. Havrda in San Antonio. Our goal was to visit the graves of several of the
greatest Texas Rangers in the 180-year history of this storied law enforcement
organization. They are distributed in the International Odd Fellows Cemetery, National
Cemetery, Mission Park Cemetery and the Confederate States of America Cemetery.
This is a brief photo journal of the visit.
We started at the joined grave of Sam Walker and Richard Gilespie at International Order of
Odd Fellows Cemetery.
Capt. Samuel Walker's Gravestone
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We next visited the adjoining National Cemetery and the final resting place of Captain Lee
Hall, who succeeded Captain Leander McNelly when he retired.
Captain Havrda beside
Capt. Lee Hall's Grave Marker.
We finished our visit at the grave of the legendary Captain Johnny Klevenhagen
in the Mission Park Cemetery.
We were disappointed that we were
unable to find the graves of Rip Ford
and George Baylor in the Confederate
Cemetery, even though we search
through the weeds for more than an
hour.
The cemetery is not well maintained
and many of the monuments are in
ruined condition.
Confederate Cemetery
San Antonio
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Glenn Elliott: Still A Ranger's Ranger
By Glenn Elliott and Robert Nieman.
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Ranger Publishing, 35 Circle Road, Longview, Tx 756024840.
273 pages. Hard cover. ISBN 0-9673319-0-0. $25
Contact the Editor
This is the second work by retired Texas Ranger
Glenn Elliott and Ranger oral-historian Robert
Nieman. The first, Glenn Elliott: A Ranger's Ranger,
appeared in 1999 and is now in its fifth printing.
The original story of Ranger Elliott's life and details
of his many successful cases was so well received that the public demanded
more. Elliott spent thirty-eight years as a Highway Patrolman and Texas
Ranger, confronting almost every type of crime and criminal. He was known
among his peers and criminals as a "bulldog" in the tradition of Captain L. H.
McNelly of a century before.
Still A Ranger's Ranger is a combination of experiences from the subject's
life. The beginning chapters deal with memories and recollections of
interesting events Elliott experienced. Following this section are events from
Elliott's years as a Highway Patrolman in 1949-1961. The next section,
covering the years 1961-1987, deals with cases he worked as a Texas Ranger.
One important fact stands out through the entire book: Glenn Elliott was a
dedicated and devoted lawman. The one-hundred-hour week was not an
exception when he was working on a case. He was sincere in his belief that
the taxpayer should get his full money's worth. This concept is clearly
realized throughout the book. We are better off for such a man—a Texan
serving Texans.
The reader will get the impression that Glenn is talking directly to him/her
while reading this work. Whether it was intended to be this way or not is not
confirmed. Nieman had access to case files and notes as well as personal
interviews with Elliott. Each chapter is a study in itself, and one can open the
book and start at any point to find an interesting account.
The book is profusely illustrated with photographs of Elliott, the men he
worked with, and the places involved in the cases. It is an excellent example
of how a writer working with a "living legend" can produce accurate history
without the need of embellishments.
- Chuck Parsons
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The 1887 Conner Fight on the Sabine
By Paul N. Spellman
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First light, March 31, 1887. The Ranger
company stood six abreast in the bottom of
the dry gulch, their Winchesters and pistols
at the ready. Not twenty paces in front of
them, three shadowy figures crouched
frozen in the thick underbrush while a fourth
flanked the scene in a sniper’s position. Not
a breath of wind stirred along Lick Branch;
not a twig or leaf moved.
Contact the Editor
One of the crouching figures stood up, his shotgun pointed at the Ranger line.
The movement attracted the attention of every man standing around the creek
bed.
Then all hell broke loose.
The explosive confrontation on that spring morning was the culmination of
more than three years of conflict along the Sabine River bottoms. The Conner
clan, led by Uncle Willis Conner and his five sons--Frederick (“Fed”), Charley,
Alfred (“Alfie”), John, and Bill--had once been peaceful hog farmers along
Bull Creek east of Hemphill, but a scuffle in 1883 involving these
rambunctious young men resulted in the shooting death of two neighbors. A
warrant was made for Fed and Charley Conner’s arrests, and both were
convicted of the double murder and incarcerated. In December 1886, Uncle
Willis engineered a breakout of Fed, and the authorities went on the hunt.
But hunting down all the Conners in the thick East Texas Sabine bottomland
was like catching a certain rabbit in the briar patch. The two brothers and their
rescuers simply vanished from sight.
When the locals couldn’t catch the Conners, the adjutant general of Texas
sent in Ranger Captain William Scott and Company "F" to do the job. Alfie
Conner was tracked into Calcasieu Parish in Louisiana and captured by
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Captain Scott, but in late March 1887, the others were still fugitives from
justice.
“I had rather be a pack mule out west than be a millionaire in this brush,”
declared Scott when assessing his Ranger camp near Hemphill. “We have
been going out every day, and each man brings back ticks--enough to keep
them scratching and Kussing all night.” After years out on the West Texas
prairie, each of the men of Company F heartily agreed.
Scott’s force in Hemphill included Sergeant John
Brooks and Private John H. Rogers—later, two of
the famous “Four Captains” of the turn of the
century--and Privates Jim Carmichael, Jim
Moore, Billy Treadwell, Bob Crowder, Ed
Caldwell, Len Harvey, and Bob Fenton.
Capt. John Brooks
Scott enlisted the help of locals upon his arrival
on the Sabine, including Judge James Polly,
Judge William W. Weatherred, Henry Harris, John
Toole, Milton Anthony, and Redden Alford. These
men seemed to know the lay of the land as well
as the dangerous Conners.
On the morning of March 25, Scott divided his
forces. He sent Crowder, Harvey, Fenton, and
Caldwell with the locals on one patrol while he commanded the remaining
Rangers.
Both patrols rode south out of Hemphill together. They crossed Housen
Bayou and continuing southward to the county line along the Big Sandy,
scouring the thicket for any sign of the Conner camp. The weather was
already warming, and the painstaking search stretched into a fifth day of
aggravation and failure. Turning back toward Hemphill, a vague trail turned up
near Walnut Creek that seemed less than a day old. Anthony and Alford
believed it would lead down into Lick Branch and the Conner hideout.
Scott divided the two patrols during the night of the 30th, directing his own
patrol into the dry creek bed while sending the rest on a flanking maneuver to
cut off any retreat. As the locals and four Rangers skirted to the north, the six
remaining troopers moved silently and slowly along the steep banks. An
abandoned camp house loomed as a shadowy box to their left. A hundred
paces later, they crept around a plot of several graves.
A steep descent into the gully brought the six Rangers dangerously near the
spot where the Conners now lay in wait. The slightest nighttime noises of the
Ranger company had, in fact, alerted the fugitives, who now moved into
position for a fight.
It was barely past five o’clock. The first light of dawn crept warily along the
edge of the thicket, unable to penetrate the darkness of the bottomland.
Bill Conner, sensing more than seeing the Rangers directly in front of him,
shuffled from his bent posture and stood up. He brought a shotgun to his
shoulder in the same motion.
Sergeant Brooks knew in an instant that the movement, only fifteen paces in
front of him, would not be anyone from the rest of the company. He shouted a
warning that pierced the crushing silence.
The rifles of Captain Scott, the sergeant, and John Rogers spoke as one voice
as bursts of flame lined a moment of silhouettes. Bill Conner crumpled
backward onto the ground, one bullet in his brain and two more in his chest.
A strange and harrowing sound now melded with the gunfire. The Conners’
four hunting dogs let out a unison growl and sprang toward the Ranger line.
Jim Carmichael and Billy Treadwell saw the outline of the charging dogs and
took aim.
But another shot rang out at the same instant. Uncle Willis Conner fired into
the melee from his sniper’s position, and the bullet struck Ranger Jim Moore
in the heart. Moore collapsed, his rifle flung into the underbrush. Carmichael
bent down to him. Moore managed a crooked smile for a brief moment and
then died.
The firing now became general across Lick Branch. In the next several
minutes, over a hundred rounds would be fired within the crowded space of
the gulch.
John Rogers had shot several times when he felt what
seemed like a huge fist pound against his left ribcage.
The bullet had miraculously struck the Ranger
daybook in his vest pocket, surely saving his life. But
a second bullet struck the Ranger private an instant
later, shattering bones in his left wrist and severing
ligaments and muscles as it traveled up to and
through his elbow. It finally bounced off his left hip,
where a gash spewed blood. Rogers sat down hard on
the ground, backed up against a tree, and continued to
fire his rifle against the assailants. He shot with one
hand as he squeezed the rifle barrel between his knees.
Capt. John H. Rogers
Captain Scott went down next, a bullet screaming through one lung and out
his back. He fell backward and was out of the fight, taking all his strength to
catch his breath and stay alive.
Sergeant Brooks continued to stride forward in the darkness, his rifle blazing.
Alongside him, Carmichael and Treadwell carried the fight to the Conners as
well. In a moment, the four hunting dogs lay dead. The fugitives’ packhorse
was struck repeatedly by the erratic gunfire that filled the predawn air.
But even as Brooks stepped over Bill Conner’s body and took aim at a figure
peeking from behind a tree ten paces away, the sniper once more found his
mark. The bullet banged against Brooks’ rifle, slid along the barrel, and
careened across the sergeant’s grip, mangling three fingers on his left hand
and coming to rest in his right palm! Unable to hold his gun, Brooks retreated
to sit beside his friend Rogers, who in turn managed to apply a tourniquet to
Brooks’ bleeding left hand.
The last volley and the damage it did left only Carmichael and Treadwell in the
desperate fight. Treadwell’s true aim found Fed Conner as the escapee
stepped out from behind a tree, but then the Ranger’s gun jammed, leaving
only Jim Carmichael to carry the battle.
With one son dead and another wounded, Uncle Willis had had enough.
Figuring that reinforcements for the lawmen would surely be in the vicinity, he
hollered a signal. John and the wounded Fed disappeared into the thick
underbrush, ground they knew so well.
As suddenly as the fight had commenced, it was over. Silence once again
reigned over Lick Branch as the light of dawn now began to win the day once
more in the bottomland. Soon the Rangers, including the other patrol that
finally arrived but well too late, could survey the damage and care for their
wounded.
Scott’s wound seemed perilous, but he would survive. Throughout the
morning, he continued to give orders while in excruciating pain and coughing
blood. “Had the [other] squad come,” Scott reported later, “we would have
captured the entire Conner gang.”
Ranger Bob Crowder and Judge Weatherred raced to Hemphill and San
Augustine. There they retrieved Doctors J. W. Smith and Frank Tucker, who
arrived on the bloody scene soon and administered help for the rest of the
day and into the night.
Jim Moore’s body was taken into Hemphill, where he was buried. His Kerrville
kin arrived and claimed his possessions.
Bill Conner was buried up on the rise where the other graves had been seen
during the manhunt. The other graves were also Conner clan, including two
children.
John Brooks and John Rogers were finally moved the next day to Hemphill,
along a bumpy wagon ride that nearly killed them both. The two men healed
up and continued illustrious careers in law enforcement. Captain Scott also
resumed his duties. A year later, however, he retired from the Rangers, as did
Carmichael and Treadwell.
The Conners were tracked throughout the summer. Fed was killed in a
shootout on October 25 and was buried next to his brother Bill. Uncle Willis
was tracked down and shot on November 15. John Conner vanished from
sight.
The Conner fight along the Sabine in 1887 was one of the bloodiest
encounters for the Texas Rangers. It left in its wake both accolades for
bravery and steep criticism from some for the unsuccessful confrontation. It
also left a legacy of fact and fiction, high drama and legend, and a place of
significance in Ranger lore.
Source:
Captain John H. Rogers, Texas Ranger by Paul N. Spellman (University of
North Texas Press, 2003)
Also:
Joe F. Combs, Gunsmoke in the Redlands (San Antonio, 1968)
Mike Cox, Texas Ranger Tales II (Plano, 1999)
Records of the Adjutant General of Texas: "Monthly Reports of the Rangers,
1887"
W. S. Adair, “Rangers 40 Years Ago Had No Easy Life,” Frontier Times 4
(1927)
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The Model 1897 Winchester
Article and Model 1897 Photos
by David V. Stroud
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The development of a rapid-fire shotgun soon followed the development of
rapid-fire rifles. Inventors such as Browning hoped that lever-action and slideaction (pump) action shotguns would prove as popular as Winchester rifles.
Winchester Model 1887 Shotgun
Courtesy Frank Ballinger
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In 1887, Winchester developed a lever-action shotgun loosely based on its
rifle mechanisms. While it was an attractive weapon, it proved difficult to
simply "scale-up" the lever-action mechanism to handle shotgun shells
smoothly. Also, shotgun shells had more of the "dirty" black powder than
smaller rifle charges. As a result, the M1887 suffered frequent jams, shooters
complained that the lever-action was clumsy and tiring, and the copious black
powder residue made thorough cleaning a chore.
To stay in the market, Winchester quickly developed the Model 1893 slideaction (pump) shotgun. Unfortunately, it too was a dismal disappointment.
The Model 1893 was prone to jam and its slide mechanisms broke far too
easily. Neither the Model 1887 nor the Model 1893 could satisfactorily handle
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the powerful smokeless shotgun shells that were catching on with shooters.
Faced with losing the market to their competitors, Winchester corrected most
of these problems and produced a classic -- the Model 1897. The company
recalled the unpopular and now dangerous Model 1893 shotguns from
dealers’ stocks.(1)
The Model 1897 was a superior slide-action shotgun designed for the new
smokeless powder. It was offered in 12 gauge with a 30-inch barrel until 1899,
when the new 16 gauge with a shorter 28" barrel became popular.
Winchester Model 1897 Slide Action Shotgun
Mechanism
The company offered the six-shot M1897 in a variety of styles:
standard or field grade; special or standard trap (including the
Black Diamond until 1919); and pigeon, brush, tournament, riot,
and trench. Winchester’s Model 1897 riot and trench guns were
especially desirable to law enforcement personnel.
The six-shot 12 gauge trench gun (called trench sweepers in
France during World War I) was first offered in solid frame only,
then later (after number 833,000) with takedown receivers. (3)
Winchester sold 19,196 of these bayonet-ready scatterguns to
the U.S. government during the War.
Approximately 30,000 riot guns were sold by 1920. They differed
from the trench gun in that no bayonet stud was present.
However, quite a few 20”-barrel, 12 gauge shotguns were sold
without trench or riot markings, and it is assumed that many of
these were ordered by law enforcement departments. (4)
The Winchester Model 1897 became the most famous outsidehammer, slide-action in history. As with any Winchester, fancy
wood and engraving was available at extra charge. According to
a 1916 catalogue, the plain-finish example sold for $25, while an
engraved receiver with checkered and finer wood sold for $100.
Today, the Model 1897 field grade is valued between $250 and
$500 (very good to excellent condition). The riot and trench
range from $450 to $900. (5)
The Model 1897 pictured here has a has a replacement 18-1/8”
nickel-plated barrel I bought while a member of the Single-Action
Shooting Society. As with most wannabe Old West gunfighters, I
started with a 12 gauge, 18-½” double-barrel stagecoach gun
complete with hammers. Soon I learned the slide-action was
much faster.
I never dreamed of getting a pretty ’97, but as luck would have it,
my friendly gun dealer took one in on trade. To say it was “love
at first sight” is an understatement. Words can’t express the
historical thrill when an onlooker commented that, as a boy in
Arkansas, he had seen a deputy sheriff carry a “shiny ’97 so the
bad guys could see what he was holding.”
I checked the serial numbers and learned my ’97 had been
manufactured in 1910. Having never seen another “shiny one,”
I’m sure the scattergun I “killed” metal targets with was once the
weapon used by that forgotten lawmen. (6)
Markings
The patent markings below are found on the barrels of Model
1893 and Model 1897 Winchester shotguns:
MANUFACTURED BY THE WINCHESTER REPEATING ARMS CO.
New Haven. Conn. U.S.A. Pat. NOV. 25, 1890. DEC. 6, 1892 &
JULY 21. 1896
After serial number 51,300, the dates FEB. 22. 98 JULY 5. 10 were
added.
Later Model ’97s have the following barrel marking on their left
side:
MADE IN NEW HAVEN, CONN.—WINCHESTER—MODEL 97—
12 GA-2 ¾ CHAM—U.S. OF AMERICA—TRADE MARK
or
MADE IN NEW HAVEN, CONN.—WINCHESTER—MODEL 97—16
GA—2 ¾ CHAM—U.S. OF AMERICA—TRADE MARK
The pre-1900 gauge markings on the Model 1897s are “12” or
“16” near the receivers. The slide-action rods are marked:
WINCHESTER
MODEL 1897
After 1900:
MODEL 1897
WINCHESTER
In 1905:
MODEL 1897
WINCHESTER—
TRADE MARK
In 1907:
MODEL 1897
WINCHESTER—
REG. IN U.S. PAT. OFF.
Sources
The Winchester Handbook, one of a thousand by George Madis.
Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Firearms ... and Their
Values, by Norm Flayderman.
Winchester: An American Legend, by R.L. Wilson.
Notes
(1) As a result of the recall, the Model 1893 became a collector’s
rarity. Only 35,000 were manufactured, and many are marked “R
and R” for “Returned and Repaired.” George Madis states that, in
a survey, only 2,383 Model 1893 shotguns were reported. To
encourage owners, Winchester offered to trade Model 1897s for
their Model 1893s. The year most often given for the widescale
introduction of the more powerful smokeless powder is 1898.
(2) There were 1,024,700 Model 1897s produced before it was
discontinued in 1957. The 12 gauge outsold the 16 gauge nine to
one, making the 16 gauge somewhat uncommon.
(3) "Trench sweeper" Model 1897 shotguns were so feared by the
Germans, they asked for their ban as combat weapons
(4) The trench sweeper was manufactured until 1945.
(5) These are regarded as conservative estimates.
(6) The Model 1897 had a light blue finish until 1945, when it was
replaced by black.
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by Sgt. Lee Young,
Texas Ranger (Retired)
When I entered the Ranger service in 1988, I was assigned to
Company “B” Headquarters in Garland, Texas. I had the
pleasure of working for Captain James Wright and Lieutenant
David Byrnes.
In Garland, I also got to renew an acquaintance I had first
made as a Highway Patrol trooper in Del Rio. I had met
Howard Dunham when he was the Ranger in Ozona, and
we worked numerous investigations together in Garland until he transferred
to Texarkana, following Max Womack’s retirement.
Dunham and I worked a lot in the Dallas area, and we enjoyed it. We both
really made an effort to learn our way around the area as thoroughly as
possible.
I recall Dunham had an interesting adage he would sometimes share. He
would say, “I would rather come to work without my gun than to come to work
without my Mapsco.” (Mapsco is the manufacturer of popular state, city, and
street maps.)
One day, Dunham was assisting a police department in obtaining possession
of a stolen shotgun. The Dallas Police Department had recovered the shotgun,
and Dunham asked if I would care to accompany him to that city to pick it up. I
agreed, and away we went.
Arriving at the DPD, we made our way down to the property section. At this
time, that area was located in the basement of the downtown police building.
The entrance was one of those two-section doors, the type where the lower
half with a small countertop can remain closed while the upper half is open.
This is called a Dutch door, I believe.
Dunham walked up to the door and was greeted by a young female clerk. He
identified himself: “I’m Howard Dunham, with the Texas Rangers.” He was
dressed in our normal Ranger attire: tie, double-belt gun rig, Colt .45 resting
in an engraved holster, and Ranger badge pinned to his starched, white shirt.
(Yes, he did occasionally wear white shirts.)
The clerk appeared to accept his introduction, so Dunham continued. “I would
like to pickup a stolen shotgun.”
The clerk’s acknowledgement quickly faded to confusion. She replied, “The
shotgun can only be released to police.”
Dunham, maintaining his composure, replied, “I am a police officer.”
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/11/Pages/WhereWork.htm (1 of 2) [4/30/2009 11:47:21 PM]
By now, the clerk was obviously confused. She responded, “I thought you
said you was with the Texas Rangers?”
I was standing behind Dunham’s right side. At about this time, I observed a
uniformed Dallas police officer standing to my right, nearly doubled over in
laughter. He looked up and told Dunham, “Ranger, tell her again where you
work!”
We did obtain the stolen shotgun. But first we had to convince the clerk that
Dunham was really a police officer—a real Texas Ranger, not a member of a
baseball team.
Dispatch
Jr. Rangers
Corporate Club
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http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/11/Pages/WhereWork.htm (2 of 2) [4/30/2009 11:47:21 PM]

TEXAS RANGER DISPATCH Magazine

Transcription

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