DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker on Captain James Cunningham tells it, straight as I can carry it to you. Born in Alabama, James Cunningham made his way to Comanche County in 1855 — and if you're the kind of man who follows a place with that kind of name and doesn't expect trouble, well, you might be in the wrong part of the story. By 1858, he was commanding a Texas Ranger Company stationed right there in Comanche County.
His job, as the marker puts it plainly, was helping bring law and order to the county — driving out renegades and wild Indians. That's the work. That's what he did.
Then comes January the eighth, 1864. The Battle of Dove Creek. Cunningham commanded men from Comanche County in that fight — five hundred white men against one thousand Indians.
You sit with those numbers a moment. Five hundred to a thousand. Whatever you think of the cause or the conflict, you feel the weight of that January day.
Now here's the part that lingers long after the gunsmoke clears. James Cunningham apparently had a way of raising boys who felt the pull of the law the same way he did. His sons went on to serve as sheriffs — one in Comanche County, one in Mills County, one in Taylor County.
Three counties. Three sons carrying a badge. The old captain settled into Comanche County in 1855, and somehow, the law itself never quite left his family after that.
What the marker says
Born in Alabama, settled in Comanche County, 1855. Commander of Texas Ranger Company stationed in Comanche County, 1858. Helped bring law and order to county--drove out renegades and wild Indians. Cunningham commanded men from Comanche County in Dove Creek Battle, Jan. 8, 1864 (500 white men against 1,000 Indians). His sons became sheriffs in Comanche, Mills and Taylor counties. Recorded - 1967