Doom of the Outlaws of Pegleg Station

Duane's take

The way the marker at Pegleg Station tells it, here's how the doom of a gang of outlaws came to pass: and I'm taking every word of it straight from that account. Now, January 18th, 1878. Kimble County, Texas.

You want to talk about a reckoning, this is your story. Somewhere out there, one hundred and fifty yards south of where you're standin', a man named Dick Dublin took his last breath. Dick was a suspected murderer, a member of a gang of outlaws, and on that cold January day, the Texas Rangers had caught up with him.

A friend (somebody who knew what was comin') yelled for him to run. Maybe Dick hesitated. Maybe he thought he had a chance.

We don't know. What we do know is that James B. Gillett, intrepid as they come, and three other Rangers came rushin' his hide-out, sixty yards east of this spot, and Dick Dublin was shot before he ever made it clear.

But that was just the climax. The western track-down, as they called it, had threads runnin' in every direction. Dick had brothers.

Role Dublin. Dell Dublin. There was also Mack Potter and a man named Rube Boyce.

That whole outfit thought they were staying one step ahead. What they didn't count on was one of their own partners turning informer. And once that happened, well, the gang's days were numbered down to nothin'.

Role, Dell, Potter, and Boyce were captured. Then came the courthouse. August 23rd and 24th, 1880.

Three of them, plus two others, were convicted of the 1877 robbery of the United States Mail at Pegleg Station. A gang undone. Not just by Rangers, but by their own.

Dick Dublin shot in the brush. His brothers and their running partners hauled before a judge. A partner's word brought the whole thing down.

That's the doom of the outlaws of Pegleg Station. And the land out here still remembers exactly where it happened.

What the marker says

Here the climax of a western track-down occurred on Jan.18, 1878, when Texas Rangers killed suspected murderer Dick Dublin, member of a gang of outlaws. Although a friend yelled for him to run, Dublin was shot (150 yds. S) as the intrepid James B. Gillett and 3 other Rangers rushed his hide-out (60 yds.E). Dick's brothers (Role and Dell), Mack Potter, and Rube Boyce were captured after a partner of the gang turned informer. Three of them (plus two others) were convicted Aug. 23-24, 1880, of the 1877 robbery of the U.S. Mail at Pegleg Station. (1969)