James Buchanan Gillett

Duane's take

The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just here to do it justice. Now, some names you come across out here in Presidio County; they stop you cold. James Buchanan Gillett is one of those names.

Born November 4, 1856, died June 11, 1937, and in between those two dates, he packed in enough living to fill a shelf of dime novels, except his story happens to be true. The marker calls him a very famous Texas Ranger, and it doesn't reach for that word lightly. Born in Austin, son of the Adjutant General of Texas, so you might say law and order was something he grew up breathing.

But James Buchanan Gillett wasn't one to sit behind a desk. By the time he was sixteen years old, he was already out on the Western frontier working as a cowboy. Sixteen.

Let that settle for a moment. By nineteen, he'd joined the Texas Rangers, and that outfit put him straight to work: hunting down raiding Indians, rustlers, and feuding settlers. The kind of assignments that have a way of aging a man considerably.

He served from 1875 to 1881, six years that would go on to make history, and when he hung up that Ranger commission, he wasn't exactly ready for a rocking chair. He became city marshal of El Paso. From the open frontier to one of the roughest towns in the West; just another Tuesday for James Buchanan Gillett.

Then came the long chapter. He ranched for forty-one years in far West Texas, living in and near Marfa, and over in New Mexico as well. Forty-one years of hard country, big sky, and the kind of quiet that has teeth in it if you're not paying attention.

And somewhere in all of that, he wrote it down. His book, Six Years with the Texas Rangers, went on to be read as an Old West classic. Not a curiosity.

Not a historical footnote. A classic. The man lived the story, then had the good sense to write it, and the words were good enough to last.

James Buchanan Gillett: cowboy at sixteen, Ranger at nineteen, marshal, rancher, author. Out here in Presidio County, the land doesn't forget a man like that.

What the marker says

(Nov. 4, 1856 - June 11, 1937) A very famous Texas Ranger. Born in Austin, son of Adjutant General of Texas. At 16 became cowboy on Western frontier. At 19 joined Rangers; hunted down raiding Indians, rustlers, feuding settlers. After serving 1875-1881, became El Paso city marshal. Ranched 41 years in far West Texas (living in and near Marfa) and New Mexico. His book, "Six Years with the Texas Rangers", is read as an Old West classic. Recorded 1969