Gunfights & Sites in Texas Ranger History
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RANGER-INDIAN FIGHT, 1863
Marker placed in 1968. Old Settlers Reunion Grounds, Vine and West Streets.
FIRST TAYLOR COUNTY JAIL
Frontier Battalion rangers brought their prisoners to this small jail in the two-story stone courthouse built in 1879. Marker placed 1968. 113 North William Street.
Merkel
INDIAN FIGHT
Ranger-Indian fight, January 1, 1871. Marker placed in 1968. Farm to Market 1235, seven miles south of Merkel.
Visit: Merkel Museum, 1501 North Seventh Street.
TRAVIS COUNTY
Austin
MERRELLTOWN CEMTERY
Grave, Republic of Texas ranger Nelson Merrell (1810–1879). Marker placed in 2000. 14901 Burnet Road.
TEXAS STATE CEMETERY
Historical markers/monuments: Willis T. Avery (1809–1889), Jesse Billingsley (1810–1880), Joseph G. Booth (1840–1910), John W. Bracken (1857–1939), Guy M. Bryan (1821–1901), Edward Burleson (1778–1851), James H. Callahan (1814–1856), Walter P. Callaway (1854–1932), John Grumbles (1804–1858), William P. Hardeman (1816–1898), John R. Hughes (1855–1947), Daniel W. Roberts (1841–1935), William R. Scurry (1821–1864), Lamartine P. Sieker (1848–1914), William Tom (1792–1871), William A.A. “Bigfoot” Wallace (1817–1899), Eleazar L.R. Wheelock (1793–1847), John L. Wilbarger (1829–1850), Robert M. Williamson (1808–1859), Thomas C. Wilson (1892–1917).
WAR DEPARTMENT BUILDING
Site of Republic of Texas War Department, tantamount to Texas Ranger headquarters until 1845. A plaque noting original use of the site is at 713 Congress Avenue outside the Paramount Theater. A freestanding wall of mortared limestone stands between the theater and the Stephen F. Austin Hotel, the only remnant of the old building.
Webberville
DAVID CRAWFORD EDMISTON (1825–1903)
Grave, former ranger. Marker placed in 1989. Joseph J. Manor Cemetery, Webberwood Way and Sandy Brown Lane.
SUTTON COUNTY
Sonora
OLD SUTTON COUNTY JAIL
Completed in 1891, its first prisoner was gambler-gunslinger John Denson, cousin of outlaw John Wesley Hardin. Marker placed in 1975. Courthouse grounds, Water and Main Streets.
Visit: Old Icehouse Ranch Museum, 206 South Water Street.
TERRY COUNTY
Brownfield
MONROE BROWN SAWYER RANCH HOUSE
Frontier Battalion ranger, 1881–82. Built in 1902, one of oldest residences in county. Marker placed in 1970. From Brownfield, take Farm to Market Road 403 south 7.3 miles, turn east on county road and continue 0.25 miles to ranch house.
UVALDE COUNTY
CAMP SABINAL
Initially U.S. Army subpost 1856, later Ranger camp. Marker placed in 1936. One mile west of Sabinal off U.S. 90, west side Sabinal River.
FORT INGE
U.S. Army post, 1849–61, 1866–69, later Ranger camp. Marker placed in 1966. State Highway 140 one and a quarter miles southeast from Uvalde, Fort Inge Historical Park.
RANGER-INDIAN FIGHT
Fight between rangers under Captain John Coffee Hays and Comanches, June 24, 1841. Marker placed in 1936. Nine miles south of Utopia on U.S. 187.
PAT GARRETT HOME SITE
Best known for gunning down Billy the Kid in 1881, Patrick F. Garrett (1850–1908) served as captain of a special ranger company, 1884–85. Ranched in Uvalde County, 1891–96. Marker placed in 1970. U.S. 90, at Texas Department of Transportation yard.
VAN ZANDT COUNTY
Wills Point
NEAL MARTIN (1777–1879)
Republic of Texas ranger grave. Marker placed in 1968. State Highway 47 at Stony Point Road, three miles north of Wills Point.
VICTORIA COUNTY
Victoria
WILLIAM ROBERT SMITH (1888–1952)
Ranger, 1927–33. Marker placed in 1972. Memorial Park Cemetery, 300 West Red River Street.
WALKER COUNTY
Huntsville
JAMES S. GILLASPIE (1805–1867)
Republic of Texas–era ranger. Plaques listing all men he served with placed in 1936. Oakwood Cemetery, Ninth Street and Avenue I.
WHARTON COUNTY
Wharton
ROBERT MCALPIN WILLIAMSON HOME SITE
Highest-ranking of the pre-Republic era Rangers, Williamson spent his final two years in Wharton living with his father-in-law following the death of his wife. He died there in 1859. Marker placed in 1936. 101 Burleson Street.
WILLIAMSON COUNTY
Georgetown
WILLIAM CORNELIUS DALRYMPLE (1814–1898)
Republic of Texas–era ranger. Marker placed in 1994. Presbyterian Cemetery, Twentieth and Paige Streets.
Round Rock
KENNEY’S FORT
Site of private fort built in 1839, first structure in future Williamson County. Here on December 31, 1842, a posse of Austin men recovered government documents from rangers trying to take them from the capital city to Washington-on-the-Brazos. Marker placed in 1936. U.S. 79, east from Round Rock two and a half miles.
BARKER HOUSE
Quaried limestone house where future ranger Dudley Barker was born in 1874. Barker returned to the old house in 1940 and scratched his name and birthday on an interior wall. Marker placed in 1998 at 1112 Ledbetter Street.
Taylor
JAMES O. RICE (1815–CIRCA 1870)
Republic of Texas ranger, participated in Manuel Flores fight, May 17, 1839. Marker placed in 1977. Eight miles south of Taylor on Farm to Market 973 at Farm to Market 1660, Rice’s Crossing. Rice is buried in the Sneed Family Cemetery, Travis County.
WILSON COUNTY
Stockdale
King-Lorenz House, built in 1898 by Robert and Rachel King Smith was later home to former ranger Wade Lorenz (1896-1930). Marker placed 1984. South Seventh Street, three blocks south of Main Street.
WISE COUNTY
Decatur
FLAT ROCK CEMETERY
Frontier Battalion ranger captain George W. Stevens (1831–1893) deeded land for this cemetery on August 28, 1890, and three years later, he was buried there. Marker placed in 1972. Farm to Market 720 to Old Decatur Highway, 7.2 miles from Decatur.
CAPTAIN IRA LONG (1842–1913)
Frontier Battalion ranger captain, 1874–80. Marker placed in 1967. Cemetery off County Road 4226, four miles southwest of Decatur.
Visit: Wise County Museum, 1605 South Trinity Street, Decatur.
WOOD COUNTY
Quitman
HENRY STOUT (1799–1892)
Republic of Texas–era ranger, present when ranger captain John B. Denton was killed in 1841. Marker placed in 1992. Stout Family Cemetery, Farm to Market 2088, nine miles east of Quitman.
YOUNG COUNTY
Graham
A.B. MEDLAN HOME, CIRCA 1855
Brick ranch house built by antebellum ranger A.B. Medlan. Marker placed in 1964. Five miles south of Graham on State Highway 67, turn left on county road and continue five miles. The structure is on private property.
Newcastle
CAMP BELKNAP
Civil War ranger camp. Rangers based here rode out after Comanches following the 1864 Elm Creek raid. Marker placed in 1963. Three miles south of Newcastle on State Highway 251.
Appendix B
TEXAS COUNTIES AND CITIES NAMED FOR RANGERS
Of Texas’s 254 counties, 28 are named in honor of Texas Rangers. Two cities, Ranger in Eastland County and Rangerville in Cameron County recognize the Rangers.
BAYLOR
Dr. Henry W. Baylor (1818–1854)
BELL
Governor Peter Hansborough Bell (1810–1898)
BROOKS
Captain James Abijah Brooks (1855–1944)
BURLESON
Edward Burleson (1798–1851)
CALDWELL
Matthew “Old Paint” Caldwell (1798–1842)
CALLAHAN
James Hughes Callahan (1812–1856)
COLEMAN
Robert Morris Cole
man (circa 1799–1837)
CORYELL
James Coryell (1803–1837)
DEAF SMITH
Erastus “Deaf” Smith (1787–1837)
DENTON
James B. Denton (1806–1841)
DUVAL
John Crittenden Duval (1816–1897), Burr H. Duval (1809–1836) and Thomas Howard Duval (1813–1880)
EASTLAND
William Mosby Eastland (1806–1843)
ERATH
George Bernard Erath (1813–1891)
GILLESPIE
Robert Addison Gillespie (1815–1846)
HARDEMAN
William Polk Hardeman (1816–1898)
HAYS
John Coffee Hays (1817–1883)
KARNES
Henry Wax Karnes (1812–1840)
KERR
James Kerr (1790–1850)
KIMBLE
George C. Kimble (1803–1836)
JOHNSON
Middleton Tate Johnson (1810–1866)
MCCULLOCH
Ben McCulloch (1811–1862)
PARKER
Isaac Parker (1793–1883)
ROBERTSON
Sterling Clack Robertson (1785–1842)
SCURRY
William Read Scurry (1821–1864)
SUTTON
John Schuyler Sutton (circa 1822–1862) William Read Scurry (1821–1864)
WALKER
Samuel H. Walker (1817–1847)
WILLIAMSON
Robert McAlpin “Three-Legged Willie” Williamson (circa 1806–1859)
YOUNG
William C. Young (1812–1862)
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
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———. Rawhide Ranger, Ira Aten: Enforcing Law on the Texas Frontier. Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2011.
———. Riding Lucifer’s Line: Ranger Deaths along the Texas-Mexico Border. Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2013.
———. Six-Shooters and Shifting Sands: The Wild West Life of Texas Ranger Captain Frank Jones. Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2015.
———. Winchester Warriors: Texas Rangers of Company D, 1874–1901. Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2009.
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———. Time of the Rangers: The Texas Rangers 1900 to Present. New York: Forge Books, 2009.
———. Wearing the Cinco Peso: The Texas Rangers, 1821–1900. New York: Forge Books, 2008.
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Exley, Jo Ella Powell. Frontier Blood: The Saga of the Parker Family. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2001.
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WEBSITES
Find a Grave. www.findagrave.com.
Former Texas Rangers. www.formertexasrangers.org.
Fort Tours. www.forttours.com.
Hornsby Bend. http://www.hornsbybend.com/cemetery.html.
Officer Down Memorial Page. https://www.odmp.org.
Texas Historical Commission. http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/shell-county.htm.
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum. www.texasranger.org.
Texas State Cemetery. http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/.
Texas State Historical Association. https://tshaonline.org/handbook.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
An elected member of the prestigious Texas Institute of Letters, Mike Cox is the author of twenty-six nonfiction books. Over a freelance career of more than forty-five years, he also has written hundreds of articles and essays for a wide variety of national and regional publications. His best-selling work has been a two-volume, 250,000-word history of the Texas Rangers published in 2008.
In September 2011, he received the A.C. Greene Award for lifetime achievement. His book Cowboy Stuntman: From Olympic Gold to the Silver Screen, the story of Dean Smith, received a Will Rogers Medallion and was a finalist for the Western Writers of America Golden Spur Award in 2014.
A former award-winning newspaper reporter, Cox was a longtime spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety and later communications manager for the Texas Department of Transportation. He retired as a spokesman for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in early 2015.
When not writing, he spends as much time as he can traveling, fishing, hunting and looking for new stories to tell.
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