DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I aim to do it justice. R.C. Dick Ware.
Born in Georgia, 1851. By the 1870s he'd made his way to Texas, and in 1878 he joined the Texas Rangers — which, if you know anything about what was coming next, is about as consequential a career move as a man could make. Because the Rangers had business with Sam Bass.
Now Bass had a plan. Round Rock. The bank.
Should've been straightforward enough, the way outlaws reckon these things. It was not straightforward. What it was, was a gun battle — and Dick Ware was in it.
The marker doesn't mince words on this point: it was Ware's bullet that gave Bass the wound from which he died. Sam Bass, who had a plan to rob the bank at Round Rock, left Round Rock a dying man, and it was Dick Ware who put that story on its final track. That's the moment most men would hang their hat on for a lifetime, and Ware hadn't even started the second act.
In 1881 he was elected the first sheriff of Mitchell County. First one. Held that office until 1892.
Then, in 1893, he was appointed U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Texas and served four years. Dick Ware died in 1902.
Born in Georgia, ended up writing himself into the ledger of Texas history in ink that doesn't wash out. Some men drift into a place and leave no mark. Dick Ware drifted into Texas and left a considerable one.
What the marker says
1851-1902 Born in Georgia, migrated to Texas in the 1870's and joined the Texas Rangers in 1878. Was noted for his part in gun battle with outlaw Sam Bass at Round Rock, where Bass had planned to rob the bank. It was Ware's bullet that gave Bass the wound from which he died. Was elected first sheriff of Mitchell County in 1881; retired 1892, was appointed U.S. Marshal for Western District of Texas, 1893. Served four years. Recorded - 1967