DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Y.D. McMurry.
Now there's a name Mitchell County doesn't forget. The man started life in Tennessee, got raised up in Fort Worth, and by 1882 he'd made a decision that would set the whole course of things — he joined Company B of the Frontier Battalion, Texas Rangers. And here's the part worth savoring: his commanding officer, Captain Sam McMurry, was his own brother.
There they were, the two of them, out in the Colorado City area, enforcing the law together on the frontier. Whatever that arrangement was like between brothers with one holding rank over the other, the marker doesn't say — but you have to wonder. Y.D.
McMurry went on to serve Mitchell County as Sheriff from 1892 to 1898, and it was during that stretch that he became one of the men who captured Bill Cooke. Not just any outlaw, mind you — the marker calls Cooke a notorious murderer and train robber. That kind of reputation doesn't get attached to a name lightly.
After the badge, McMurry didn't exactly slow down. He built himself a life as a merchant and a cotton broker, and for many years he served as a deacon in the Presbyterian Church. Tennessee boy, Fort Worth raised, Texas Ranger, lawman, merchant, deacon.
Some men live in chapters, and Y.D. McMurry filled every one of his.
What the marker says
Born in Tennessee. Brought up in Fort Worth. In 1882 joined Co. B, Frontier Battalion, Texas Rangers, under a Brother, Capt. Sam McMurry--then enforcing law in Colorado City area. Y.D. McMurry, Mitchell County Sheriff 1892-1898, was one of captors of notorious murderer and train robber Bill Cooke. McMurry was a merchant and cotton broker, and for many years he was a deacon in the Presbyterian Church. Recorded, 1970.