DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker for Robert S. Weisiger is what I'm working from here, so let me tell it straight and let the man speak for himself. Now, Victoria County has seen its share of lawmen come and go, but every now and then a county gets lucky — gets somebody who sticks.
Robert S. Weisiger was born February 25, 1876, and from the very start, it seems like the law was just waiting on him. He was nineteen years old when he pinned on the badge of Deputy Sheriff of Victoria County.
Nineteen. Most fellas that age are still figurin' out which end of a horse to face. Speaking of horses — in those early days, that's exactly how Weisiger carried out his duties.
Horseback. No radio, no motor car humming down a paved road, just a man and a horse and whatever resolve he'd been born with, moving across Victoria County to do what needed doing. He brought suspects to trial in all the major crimes of the area.
All of them. That's not a small thing to say about a lawman. That's a record.
Then came the sheriff's office itself — and Weisiger didn't just visit that office, he practically lived there. He served as County Sheriff from 1906 to 1920. Fourteen years.
Then, as if a man of his particular temperament could stay away from the work, he came back and served again from 1928 to 1936. But between those two long stretches of wearing the county's star, something happened that puts Robert Weisiger in a different category altogether. In 1917, he helped quell a riot of Camp Logan soldiers.
Let that settle for a second. A riot involving soldiers — trained men, armed men, men already acquainted with chaos — and Weisiger was among those who stepped in to bring it under control. That's not routine law work.
That's the kind of moment that defines whether a badge means something or it doesn't. Robert S. Weisiger died January 19, 1950.
But Victoria County kept the memory, and that marker keeps the accounting honest — from a nineteen-year-old deputy on horseback, all the way to the man who rode toward trouble when most would've ridden the other direction.
What the marker says
(Feb. 25, 1876-Jan. 19, 1950) Became Deputy Sheriff of Victoria County at 19; served as County Sheriff 1906-1920, 1928-1936. In early days he rode horseback to carry out duties. Brought suspects to trial in all major crimes of area. Helped quell 1917 riot of Camp Logan soldiers. (1968)