A few days from today, almost 50 years ago, July 10, 1955, one of the most notable Texas Rangers passed away; Francis Augustus Frank Hamer. Captain Frank Hamer was born on March 17, 1884 in Fairview, Wilson County, Texas. He grew up on the Welch Ranch in San Saba County. The family moved to Oxford, Llano County in 1894, which formed the basis of his joke about being the only Oxford-educated Ranger. Hamer worked in his fathers blacksmith shop and later as a wrangler on the ranch of Barry Ketchum. In 1905, while working as a cowboy on the Carr Ranch, Hamer helped to capture a horse thief. Afterwards, the sheriff recommended Hamer to the Texas Rangers. He joined the Rangers in April 1906. Hamer retired from the Rangers in 1932, but retained a special Ranger commission. In 1934 the retired Capt. Hamer was hired as a Special Investigator for the Texas prison system to track down gangsters Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. After a three-month search, Hamer and Louisiana law enforcement officers ambushed and killed the criminals near Gibsland, Louisiana. In a career that spanned the last days of the Wild West well into the automobile age, Hamer acquired legendary status in the Southwest as the archetypal Texas Ranger. He is an inductee to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame. Hamer fought in nearly 100 gunfights during his career as a lawmen in the Southwest and is reputed to have killed at least fifty-three men. He was also wounded in action seventeen times and left for dead four times. J. Edgar Hoover rated Hamer as being one of the greatest law officers in American history. Sources: Wikipedia and the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum sites.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 22:41:52 +0000
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