On board was Robert Runyon, an energetic and enterprising photographer from Brownsville who had created a cottage industry photographing scenes from the Mexican Revolutionmany of them morbid images of dead bodies and selling them as real-photo postcards, which were distributed widely in the United States and Mexico. A U.S. mounted immigration inspector, D. Portus Gay, lounging on the front porch of the Immigration Service office near the depot, was surprised to see the special train with a large posse aboard. Verify and try again. He claimed, improbably, that he had been forced to join the attackers and admitted that their goal was to reclaim the Rio Grande Valley for Mexico. After the meal, they stepped onto the front porch and spotted riders approaching from the east. [17], In September 1948, he was called back to Ranger duty to play a small role in the notorious 1948 United States Senate election in Texas. During the late 1930s Hamer worked for various oil companies and shippers as a private agent preventing strikes and breaking up mobs. A hundred yards south stood a railroad section house, and just across the tracks was a toolshed and a pile of cross ties. Aside from Schieffer's claim, there's no evidence that Bonnieactually killed anyone, or even that she ever fired a gun, though she was obviously complicit in the Barrow gang's crimes. Hamer asked Dallas County Sheriff Smoot Schmid to assign his deputy Bob Alcorn full-time to the case; Schmid sent Alcorn and Ted Hinton, another Dallas County deputy. It is the true story of Frank Hamer and Maney Gault, two Texas Rangers who hunted down and killed the duo. Then all hell broke loose. Territory lost in the Mexican WarTexas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Californiawould be freed and annexed to Mexico. "[16] Hamer also said that he hated "to bust the cap on a woman, especially when she was sitting down, however if it wouldn't have been her, it would have been us. Deputy Sheriff Gordon Hill was just as angry. Francis Augustus Hamer(March 17, 1884 - July 10, 1955) was an American lawman and Texas Rangerwho led the 1934 posse that tracked down and killed criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. [50], Chris Mulkey portrays Hamer in Timeless (TV series), This article is about the Texas Ranger. On July 25 the band torched and destroyed a rail- road bridge near Sebastian. He grew up on the Welch ranch in San Saba County, and later spent time in Oxford, Llano County, which is now a ghost town; he later joked about being the only "Oxford-educated Ranger". Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. Frank Hamer was born in 1884 in Fairview, Wilson County, Texas, where his father operated a blacksmith shop. Extremely modest and humble, Frank Hamer left behind but scant correspondence and no diaries or journals. As we jumped into sight, I could see Clyde reaching as if to get his gun. Justice to Pancho Hamer PART I - YouTube Captain Francis Augustus Frank or Pancho Hamer, Texas, U.S., Death Certificates, 1903-1982, U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current, Your Scrapbook is currently empty. As a youth, he worked in the blacksmithy of his father, and then started working a farm at age 16, together with his brother. Frank Hamer and the Texas Bandit War of 1915, TEXAS RANGER: The Epic Life of Frank Hamer, the Man Who Killed Bonnie and Clyde. In 1948 he again was called to duty as a ranger by Governor Coke Stevenson to accompany him and help check the election returns in Jim Wells and Duval County in the controversial United States Senate race. Farmers and laborers from both sides of the border flocked to the Rio Grande Valley. Undated photo. [42][43] Former Governor Coke Stevenson hired him to accompany him to the Texas State Bank in Alice to examine the tally sheets for ballot box 13, which held ballots for his opponent Representative Lyndon Johnson which he knew to be fraudulent. You may not upload any more photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 20 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 5 photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 30 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 15 photos to this memorial. In 1948 what Texas governor called . One of Fergusons first acts was his refusal to reappoint Ranger Captain John R. Hughes, the legendary Border Boss, and the last of the Four Great Captains. Although Fergusons stated reason was Hughess age sixtyin fact he intended to pack the Rangers with political supporters. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/hamer-francis-augustus. How many bullets did Frank Hamer have in him? accessed May 02, 2023, Let's separate the fact from the fiction in The Highwaymen, and take a look at what we know about the real story of Bonnie and Clyde. We all yelled "Halt!" The Men Who Brought Down Bonnie and Clyde - Biography Hamer felt that he learned Barrow's statistics, but "this was not enough. It was Palmer, not Hamer and Gault, who arranged for McNabb's furlough. The rebels charged for- ward as one band circled to the south to try to flank the defenders. He was the second eldest of eight children and grew up on the Welch Ranch in San Saba County. Thousands attended the funerals of Bonnie and Clyde, with as many as 20,000 estimated onlookers at Bonnie's. [27][25] They kidnapped Commerce Chief of Police Percy Boyd and drove him across the border into Kansas, where they released him. He discovered that on that very morning fifteen sediciosos, led by Luis de la Rosa, had attacked the little settlement of Sebastian, forty miles north of Brownsville. Please try again later. Hamer also led the fight in Texas against the Ku Klux Klan, starting in 1922, as senior captain of the Texas Rangers, and he is believed to have saved at least 15people from lynch mobs. Ralph Fults heard the story from one of the Rangers in 1948. Canales reported the threat to the governor, but Hamer was not disciplined. Hamer grew up on a ranch in what Texas county? Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). "[18] The commander of the Texas Rangers allowed him to retain a Special Ranger commission as an active Senior Ranger Captain even after his official retirement. He left the Rangers and was commissioned as a Special Ranger for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. Every penny counts! While the man was drinking, Edmunds took over his rifle and fired at the marauders. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Francis Augustus Hamer (March 17, 1884 July 10, 1955) was an American lawman and Texas Ranger who led the 1934 posse that tracked down and killed criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. The special commission is listed in the state archives in Austin.[19]. [38], Hamer had learned a great deal about the lives of Barrow and Parker in the preceding months, and he told reporters that, under other circumstances, he "would have gotten sick" to see a woman's perforated body in the car; as it was, he did not get sick because he remembered Parker's crimes. We emptied our guns, reloaded and kept shooting. The insurgents had done their deadly work. When Bonnie and Clyde had money, their families benefited from their largesse; when they were struggling, wounded or destitute, their families helped them with clean clothes and small amounts of money. Frank Hamer had joined Company B at just the right time. In accordance with the jingoistic ethos of that era, the Rangers posed proudly. Crossfire - True West Magazine Hamer would want is long time friend Maney Gault to assist him in this challenging task. Summary: Hamer, whom Gault called "Pancho," was a casual and careful sipper while Maney "enjoyed his whiskey" and both were known to "cuss up a storm," much to the . why was frank hamer called pancho We kept shooting at the car even after it stopped. For the British Army officer, see. He took two images of Frank Hamer and another posseman, who appears to be Jim Dunaway, posing on horseback behind the dead bodies and holding the captured battle flag between them. [26], Hamer was tracking the Barrow gang's murders as well as the bank robberies. Try again later. Growing up in a devoutly Presbyterian family, he was one of five sons, four of whom became Texas Rangers. On July 12 the marauders robbed a store near Lyford, and five days afterward one raider killed an Anglo youth in a pasture eighteen miles east of Raymondville. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. [30], Five days later, popular opinion turned against the criminals even more when Barrow and Methvin killed Constable Calvin Campbell, a 60-year-old single father, near Commerce, Oklahoma. Tiny Hines remarked, There come the Rangers back. But Portus Gay, squinting into the bright evening light, saw Mexican sombreros and exclaimed, Look at those big hats and that white flag. "[6] Hamer moved in at age 24 and enforced law and order. 8 Famous Texas Rangers The family moved to Oxford, Texas in 1894. At that, Pinkie Taylor exploded: Listenwe were herewe did not get a man killedwe were here when they came, we were here when they left, and we are still here, and I dont know what you all would have done if you had been here, but I do know there was not a goddamn son of a bitch of you here!. His reputation as a Texas Ranger would have made him a legend even if he had not ambushed Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker in Louisiana. He was eventually killed in a shootout by American Frank Hamer, a Texas Ranger. The .38 Super was as close to ideal for bringing these boys to earth as the ballistics of the era permitted, and it is even said by some that no less a man-killer than Frank Hamer carried one. Following this, Hamer left the Cattlemen's Association to accept a position as a federal agent in the Prohibition Unit, where he served for about one year. Francis Augustus Hamer (March 17, 1884 - July 10, 1955) is best known for ambushing Bonnie and Clyde in 1934. FAQ Bonnie and Clyde - Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum San Saba County. There were no children from that union.Hamer rejoined the Rangers in 1915. Just at dark, about 8:30, the raiders mounted a final charge, shooting and yelling like Indians, as Portus Gay recalled. He was called again to Ranger duty in 1948 by Governor Coke Stevenson to help check election returns in Jim Wells and Duval County in the U.S . [17] A year later, Hamer gave his reason for retiring: "When they elected a woman governor, I quit. Never was a group of Mexicans so happy to see a Texas Ranger.