Law Enforcement Figure. Captain Frank "Pancho" Hamer gained recognition for being a former Texas Ranger, who, with the assistance of his colleague, Benjamin Gault and four other law enforcement officers, ended the notorious crime spree of Bonnie and Clyde on May 23, 1934. Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were credited with killing at least twelve people including nine law enforcement officers in three different states in addition to a host of robberies and auto thefts. Born the second eldest of eight children on the Welch Ranch in San Saba County, his family moved to nearby Oxford in 1894. Hamer worked in his father's blacksmith shop and later as a wrangler. In 1905, while working as a cowboy on the Carr Ranch, he helped with the capture of a horse thief. Impressed by his skills, the local sheriff recommended Hamer to the Texas Rangers, which he joined in April of 1906 along with his brother, Harrison. He became part of Captain J. H. Rogers' Company C, patrolling the Mexican-Texas border. In 1908 he resigned from the Rangers to become the City Marshal of Navasota, serving in this position until April of 1911 when he became a special officer in Harris County. During his career he mastered and carried many firearms, but his personal favorite was "Old Lucky," a Single Action Colt 45, C engraved 4 ¾' blued revolver with pearl handles. Hamer rejoined the Rangers in 1915. He was once again patrolling the south Texas border from the Big Bend to Brownsville. During this time, the Rangers dealt with arms smugglers, bootleggers, and bandits. In 1921 Hamer transferred to Headquarters Company in Austin, which is part of Company F and served as Senior Ranger Captain. He was at this position when he encouraged Gault to join the Rangers. He and Gault served together as partners until Governor Miriam Amanda "Ma" Ferguson dismissed or fired all the Texas Rangers by January of 1933. He retired from the Rangers in 1932, but retained a special Ranger commission. Hamer was recruited by the head of the Texas Prison System to capture the Barrow Gang, better known as "Bonnie and Clyde," and Gault was chosen for his partner. After a three-month search, the lawmen traced the fugitives Bonnie and Clyde to Louisiana. In the early hours of May 23, 1934, he and Hamer, as members of a posse of lawmen from Louisiana and Texas, hid in the bushes along a country road in Bienville Parish in a planned ambush. Both Bonnie and Clyde were killed in a hail of gunfire after Barrow drew his gun on law enforcement. Besides Gault and Hamer, the posse consisted of Dallas County, Texas Deputy Sheriffs Ted Hinton and Bob Alcorn and Bienville Parrish Sheriff Henderson Jordon and his deputy, Prentiss Oakey, who is credited with firing the first shot. After this assignment, both he and Hamer were "tight-lipped." During the 1930s, Hamer worked for various oil companies and shippers helping to prevent strikes and breaking up mobs. He was called again to Ranger duty in 1948 by Governor Coke Stevenson to help check election returns in Jim Wells and Duval County in the U.S. Senate race. He retired from Ranger duty again in 1949 and resided in Austin the rest of his life. On March 20, 1911 in Dallas, he married Mollie Babadillo Cameron, the couple had no children, and divorced with both remarrying. On May 12, 1917 in New Orleans, he married Gladys Ida Johnson, and the couple had two sons: Francis Jr. and Billy, who was a Marine killed in action during World War II at the Battle of Iwo Jima. After being wounded in the line of duty 17 times and surviving over 50 gunfights in his Texas Ranger career, he died of congested heart failure. Captain Frank Hamer is a member of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame.