DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, straight from Kimble County's own record. Now, some men carry their history in their blood before they ever do a thing to earn it themselves. William Walter Taylor was that kind of man, though he went right ahead and earned it anyway.
He came from fighting stock. His grandfather was Josiah Taylor. His granduncle was Creed Taylor.
Both of them Indian fighters, both of them present at the Battle of Bandera Pass in 1841. That's the kind of family tree that casts a long shadow, and young William Walter grew up standing right in it. He was born at Clinton, Texas.
And in 1889 he made his move: out to Kimble County, to go into ranching with an uncle. A young man, wide-open country, and work that didn't ask for much except everything you had. But ranching, it turned out, was only the opening chapter.
By 1898 he was county sheriff. Six terms. Count 'em: six.
And those terms weren't all quiet seasons. Right in the middle of them came 1902, when the land rush hit Kimble County and the whole region was pushing and scrambling and testing every boundary there was. The kind of moment that either breaks a lawman or defines him.
Taylor held the line. Then came 1917. Governor W.
P. Hobby looked at William Walter Taylor's record and appointed him Captain of the Texas Rangers. Captain.
And he didn't just wear the title; he served ten years in that rank, working out of Ranger, then Brownsville, then Borger. Three very different corners of Texas, each one with its own particular flavor of trouble. Grandson of a man who fought at Bandera Pass.
Six-term sheriff. Texas Ranger Captain for a decade. Some legacies you inherit.
Some you build. William Walter Taylor, by all accounts, managed both.
What the marker says
Grandson of Josiah Taylor and grandnephew of Creed Taylor, Indian fighters who took part in Battle of Bandera Pass, 1841. Born at Clinton, Texas; in 1889 he moved to Kimble County, to begin ranching with an uncle. In 1898 became county sheriff. His six terms included critical period of 1902 land rush. He was appointed Texas Ranger Captain in 1917 by Governor W. P. Hobby; he served ten years, chiefly at Ranger, Brownsville, and Borger. Recorded 1967