A painting of a young and determined Frank Hamer. This is the age he would be for this part of his story:
Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!
We're in a short introduction series about the great Texas Ranger, Frank Hamer. In yesterday's post we learned that he spent his first year or two training under a master Ranger by the name of John Rogers.
Rogers looked like the banker from the Monopoly game but was actually an expert tracker, detective, and a deadly shot in gun fights.
Looks are deceiving because he was a tough-as-nails cowboy, one of the last Wild West cowboys still working.
Side note
Talk about tough...I found a photo of Frank's father, Franklin. He was a blacksmith and he looks as strong as the iron he forged. Check out this photo of him with two of his other sons Flavious and Harrison and a daughter Pat:
Looks like they dressed up as nice as they could for the photo shoot. No ties though, maybe they didn't own any, they were poor. I think Franklin's leather cap is interesting, I bet he didn't wear that while he was working.
Is that Pat's hair or another leather cap? A somber bunch ain't they? I think they ALL could have been in Law Enforcement! What do you want to wager that Frank was raised with alot of discipline just by looking at his father?
Well, his upbringin served him well because he had to be super tough.
That first year of riding along the Rio Grande was no picnic. He rode several thousand miles on horseback and got to know the Big Bend region and it's people very well.
This show's where Frank was working along the border of Mexico. Lots of stealing and raiding was still taking place using Mexico as a base to run back to:
Under the tutelage of Captain Rogers, Frank learned how to work undercover, how to conduct surveillance operations, and how to properly investigate crimes.
He was a natural and a fast learner. In that first year he arrested 7 men who were wanted for murder! Just in his first year. That's remarkable.
Frank's story continues tomorrow. Thanks for reading folks, God bless you all!
-jonboy
Texas
PS- No Lawman wants violence, they want law and order and a peaceful society. But when you are faced with evil murderers who love death and destruction then...
