who died on this date in 1937. He served the citizens of his county for around 38 years as an Officer, Deputy Sheriff, City Marshal, and one term as Sheriff, guess he wasn't much of a politician.

One of his daughter's gave me his badge forty years ago from his term as Sheriff in the mid 1920s. I have treasured it since. He was my Great Uncle and I sure wish I could have known him.

He carried a S&W .38 Special, probably an M&P. After he died in office as City Marshal of Pocahontas,Arkansas his wife gave the revolver to his Deputy Marshal. I tracked it down to one of his relatives and offered to buy it or replace it with a new Smith but he declined. I know he fired it in the line of duty.

Behind the lens of his glasses in the image on the left side is a bullet wound where he was shot in the face by a prison escapee from Texas he and other Officers were trying to arrest.As he returned fire, his rounds struck the girlfriend of the shooter who put herself between the two.She survived, and later sued him in Federal court unsuccessfully. He spent the rest of his life chasing every lead to find the outlaw but never found him.

Thank you for sharing the story of your Great uncle.

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I am a sheep dog!
1601 (ret)

Yes Sir,
We all need to honor the men that help make some sense of law and order in our country.

I grew up in the shadow of men like your Great Uncle. I would not trade those experiences and life lessons for nothing.

May God forever rest his soul.

Cause Boys, they ain't making men like that no more.

Su Amigo,
Dave

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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

Great story:

Let me venture to guess. He didn't shave his head bald, he didn't wear sunglasses at night, he didn't wear tight leather gloves. He didn't dress like some special ops dude. He didn't need SWAT for building searches.

He didn't use a taser to replace good old fashion police work.

The old time law officers were something to be respected. I tied to imitate them in my LE Career, knowing I wasn't fit to wipe the dust off their boots.

And all to often today’s young officers wonder why its’ more of an us against them attitude than ever before, and why they don’t always get the respect they want and most often deserve.

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Always Stay Strong!

The days of lawmen...up until the PC (political correctness) **** of the late 1970's.

You had to be physically strong, agile, cunning,confident and most of all think on your feet.

Most of the lawmen I met as a young lad impressed me with their common sense and fairness. If you made the mistake of resisting or wanted a fight, they would give it to you.

They did the job sometimes without back up, no portable radio,GPS,night vision, tazers,ASP batons,nylon,black guns,body armor and what have you.

It was steel and leather. A sap or a jack in the hip pocket, one pair of cuffs, maybe another in glove box of the car. A J frame back up gun. A real hardwood (oak or hickory)night stick or short billy.

Ok, so some of you are thinking...Buford T Justice. Back then when you got hauled in for breaking the law, the officer usually had a personal realtionship with the judge or magistrate. If he vouched for you, you maybe got a break.
If you were a jerk...you got the book thrown at you.

But,alas times have changed and society does not want the police officer of today to have the latitude they once had.

The advent of improvments in equipment have saved countless officers lives. Body armor being the best thing since sliced bread in my book. It's hot, sweaty and bulky. But it gives you the chance to go home alive at the end of your shift.

Just some old guy thoughts on the subject...

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Take your time..quickly.

Great stories... love them. My Grandfather was a JP and I have his jack.

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SW40VE AF
2000 rounds so far

I love these old lawman stories. I grew up knowing a bunch of them and i have tried to live up to their hard work and dedication. God bless all of them

I would give anything to talk to guys like your great uncle. There's another reply here that talks about the great police equipment now. Those guys did it with their side arm, a rifle and more guts than I can imagine.

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Lawman Member

Great story. Sounds like he was a great man. Wouldn't you just love to sit and have a cold one with him and listen to some of his stories? I know I sure would...

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Real men love cats!

Great story. There are still a few of those good ol', play-it-straight, down-to-earth lawmen. Most of 'em are retired, though. In fact, we have a few of them here in the forum and, believe me, it's good to have them around and hear some of their stories.

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Pack light and cinch tight.

There was a gent locally who was in the Sheriffs Office (A WWII Vet turned Deputy) who carried a Russian PPSH Sub-machine gun. I met him circa 1990???? went to his home and saw many interesting things he saved over the years. Anyway, one story that I still am lucky to remember was when he was alone on some long stretch of road here in Nueces County, and was chasing some suspect down a rural dirt country road. The guy had been firing at him while driving and was racing down the road at full speed. The Deputy--turned off and went another way knowing full well he would meet the perp head on. He made it to where he wanted, pulled over and took out the PPSh, got behind the hood of his car--and waited for the guy to come to him. It took a few minutes for that to happen and was too late for the guy to stop and leave. The Deputy fired a long burst at that perps car tires shooting two flat. The guy crashed into a low ditch and was thrown from the car--only a few scratches--and captured. The thing that stuck in my mind the most--was when his prisoner said something like: " I shoulda not tried this in Nueces County."

The incident happened sometime in the early 1950s. Sadly, this gent im talking about--passed away in 1993.

Great story Tony, Thanks for sharing. I believe I would make another run at the Deputy (obivously not knowing the situation) to get that if I could. That would be an outstanding catch for your wonderful collection of LEO.

You birds roosted somewheres yet?

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Bill
Dis B. Leaf

Thank you for the story about your Great Uncle, much respect.
My Godfather was a 20 year FBI man who became county sheriff down here('57-'77), and as a kid I was raised to have and show the highest respect. It was easy to respect that kind of man.

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Halfway and one more step

.............Here is an image of him and his Chief Deputy after interrupting some local manufacturing commerce.

Local retired Lt. Was assigned to set with Mrs. Oswald for several days. Great stories.

Thanks for sharing the story and pictures, lawandorder!

My grandfather was an old school lawman and much of how I do my job on a day to day basis is based on advise he's given me over the years. While I certainly appreciate some of the technology we have to work with today, part of me wishes I could have saddled up and rode with some of these old timers.


Sent from my iPhone 4s using Tapatalk

Great story, thanks for the post.

I used to enjoy hearing tales by my dad & his co-workers. I'd sometimes think "is the statute of limitations for that expired?" Well, now I've been playing the game long enough that the young ones look at me with the same expression.

Wonderful story on your family ties to LE. It's a shame the one fellow would not allow the gun to come home.

Someone mentioned wondering if the statue of Limitations on some stories have expired. I thought about that one for a while, most of the tuff old time mentors I had sadly have also expired.

awesome family story, thanks for sharing

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Cheers, Charles
SWCA #2442

When I was knee high to a Horny Toad in Tombstone, AZ., I had the privilege of listening to Jeff Milton describe his life and times as a Sheriff, US Marshal, Chief of Police in El Paso, etc. to my Cub Scout pack on several occasions. If you want an interesting read, get a copy of " Jeff Milton, A Good Man With a Gun" He was the real thing and said the Earp bros. were liars & cheap tin horn gamblers. Old Tombstone residents told us that Wyatt Earp made sure he had business elsewhere whenever Jeff Milton came to town. Later when I was with the Military Police in El Paso in the early 50s, my Mexican counterparts in the Federales and Mexican Army, still told stories of the days when Jeff Milton ran El Paso and justice was dealt out on the spot to miscreants by rope or bullet. No Miranda warnings. Ed.

Ed have read everything I could on Jeff Milton. What a treat for you to get that experience.

I also never miss a chance to read anything about El Paso during the days when Milton was there on up through the Revolutionary days across the border.
Thanks for sharing.

I know a retired street cop; now he's working for soem sort of Federal sneaky pete operation. He read a recent story about some police somewhere who did something wrong 'because they were scared'. He snorted. He said "We were paid to be scared, and we were most of the time". Guy's got guts.

LawandOrder, Southern Arizona in the 30s hadn't really changed all that much from the late 1800s. Many of the people living there were around when the Earps were in Tombstone and Pancho Villa types were raiding across the border. Horses and wagons were as common on the street as cars & trucks. Plus mules and burros were everywhere. My friends and I played Cowboys and Indians in the OK Corral and the abandoned Courthouse across the block, with real cowboys and Indians! Most everybody was bilingual, Border Mex & English. You traveled back and forth across the border as easy as we cross the street today. Silver Pesos were common currency on both sides. The mines were all played out by then, and the Great Depression was in full swing,so the economy was nada, except for cattle raising, until WW2 brought increased employment. I was punching cattle at age 12 for the Ronstadt's, driving herds up from Mexico to the at Army at Ft. Huachuca. We brought our rifles to school, stacked them in the cloak room, and rabbit hunted on the way there and back. No tweets, twitter or Facebook! But we did have a battery powered radio and I could listen to Jack Armstrong, All American Boy! Then I learned how to build a crystal set, hook up the aerial to a barb wire fence and no more batteries needed! Wonder of wonders! Ed.

great story about your great uncle. it would have been an honor to meet him.

To all the real oldtimers long gone or going....Great Job boys you set an example that we all appreciate even though the powers to be, would disapprove...My first police book was "No Second Place Winners" by Bill Jordon...Now days they pay a border jumping drug dealer to snitch on those who ride the border....Now we have places in this country that are posted as to dangerous to enjoy. I guess it is called progress but darn the oldtimers made it all happen with guts, a revolver, and a shotgun..Some on horseback, some in trucks and some on foot.....No vest, no reliable radio, no fast backup.....But damn they rode the river and did a thankless job. God Bless em All.....When I started in the 60's they were my hero's....They stll are......

I guess I would call this fellow my mentor, he was a deputy sheriff in the county I grew up in. Nice fellow, ran a good sized farm by day and worked for the sheriff's patrol at night..

Some of the boys I hung out with, their older brothers who were of legal age to hang out in the bars and roadhouses(the legal age was 18 back then)often told stories of brawls and such that were common place on a Friday or Saturday night.

They all said one thing..if there was a fight and you saw this man come in the door, you better stop your **** right then.

I got to see this twice before I left to go in the military.

He carried with him a 36 inch riot baton. The first combatants he came across he would just put them on the floor with that baton. He would then go through the place and anyone who looked like they were involved got a poke in the chest with that stick and were told"Go out and stand by my car"

And you would do just that.Quickly.No mouth.No lip. All you would hear is "Yes sir" out of every single one of them.

Most always he was the first deputy on the scene and most times the only one..sometimes his backup would be a half an hour away on a good night.

There they would be, sometimes a dozen or so lined up in front of that big old Dodge he drove. Sometimes someone went to jail, but not before he got the truth and the whole story straight. He demanded respect and treated people fairly.

If you needed a whoopin, well I felt sorry for the ones that showed they needed it..

Many years later, still a patrol deputy, he remembered me as I came on the job and he was my training officer. Through him,I felt I was taught well and survived my time on the job.

Thank you Richard for showing me the way.Rest in Peace.

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Take your time..quickly.

That was called "Officer Presence." He represented the power and dignity of the people of the community and the State.

That use to mean something.

If or when we lose that presence. we have then lost the battle....All the up to date gear and techical help will just be a waist if we lose the moral high ground, and the courage to do what is needed...The badge of a patrolman has the same power of the law as the chiefs badge..The oath still says "So help Me, God"