Texas Ranger: The Epic Life of Frank Hamer, the Man Who Killed Bonnie and Clyde by John Boessenecker

Author:John Boessenecker [Boessenecker, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw
ISBN: 9781466879867
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2016-04-25T21:00:00+00:00

Hamer playing with his son Frank, Jr., about 1921. Travis Hamer personal collection

Valls’s efforts to get a conviction were in vain. Despite the fact that Roberts had been murdered in cold blood, a jury set the three former lawmen free. Sheriff Robinson testified that when he approached the automobile, he thought Roberts was trying to draw a gun. In November 1923, Petzel, Acebo, and Goff were tried in San Antonio for assault to murder the storekeeper, G. E. Warren, but again all were acquitted. The time-honored Texas tradition of self-defense, as we have seen, generally worked even if the case was clearly not self-defense.22

The Fred Roberts murder illustrated that strong anti-Klan sentiment existed, at least in parts of Texas. But just as Frank Hamer was no supporter of the Klan, he likewise would not tolerate the murder of a Klansman. Fred Roberts’s widow was greatly appreciative. She had not forgotten that her husband had wanted to present special six-guns to Hamer and Captain Wright. Soon after his death, she ordered a pair of Colt Single-Action Army revolvers in .45 caliber. Each was nickel-plated, with profuse factory engraving. Hamer’s gun was inscribed on the back strap: CAPT. FRANK HAMER, STATE RANGER, PRESENTED BY THE CITIZENS OF CORPUS CHRISTI, 7-22-22. Will Wright’s Colt had a similar inscription, commemorating the date that the two captains had preserved order in the primary election. Hamer’s pistol was presented to him when he returned to Corpus Christi with six other Rangers to maintain order during the general election on November 7. He was deeply moved by this gesture.23

During the early 1920s other Rangers—not just Hamer—repeatedly responded to stop Klan violence. But opposing the Klan was Hamer’s specialty. Two weeks after leaving Corpus Christi, he was sent to Breckenridge in the wake of a Klan-influenced parade. An oil boomtown with a floating population of thirty thousand, Breckenridge was situated a hundred miles west of Fort Worth. On the night of November 14, three hundred local Klansmen, calling themselves the White Owls, marched through town demanding that black and Mexican laborers be fired. They handed out placards to businessmen reading, “We employ white people only.” About two hundred Mexican and three hundred black laborers fled. Mexicans complained to their consul in Dallas, who in turn lodged a protest with Governor Neff. Humiliated city officials denounced the group and offered protection “to all law-abiding and employed negroes, Mexicans, or persons of any other race.”

The manager of a local oil company was not assuaged and wired Governor Neff: “Lawless element at Breckenridge intimidating labor. County and city officials very seldom act until after damage is done.… Please send Frank Hamer or some other good reliable ranger to Breckenridge to protect labor before they all run off.” The captain, with Sergeant John Gillon and Privates Bill Molesworth and Joe Orberg, arrived by train on November 17. For out-of-state oil roughnecks who had never seen a Texas Ranger, a local reporter described them in his newspaper: “All are men of large physique, and are above middle age and wear corduroy suits, boots, and large white hats.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.