James Buchanan Gillett (November 4, 1856 – June 11, 1937) was a lawman of the

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

, mostly known for his service as a Texas Ranger. He is a member of the

Texas Rangers Hall of Fame The Texas Rangers are an American professional baseball team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Rangers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. In 2020, the Rangers moved ...

Early life

He was born in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. Gillett grew up working as a

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...

on local

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

es.

Career

He joined the Texas Rangers in 1875, in

Menard Menard may refer to: Places Canada *Menard River, a tributary of the Wawagosic River in Quebec, Canada United States * Menard County, Illinois ** Menard, Illinois * Menard County, Texas ** Menard, Texas * Menard–Hodges site, archaeological s ...

. Gillett initially served under

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

D. W. Roberts with "Company D", and later with Captain N. O. Reynolds and Captain G. W. Baylor. Baylor's daughter Helen later became his wife. Mostly assigned to the west Texas border regions, Gillett fought in numerous

skirmish Skirmishers are light infantry or light cavalry soldiers deployed as a vanguard, flank guard or rearguard to screen a tactical position or a larger body of friendly troops from enemy advances. They are usually deployed in a skirmish line, an ir ...

es with

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and eve ...

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

, and

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

Indians. He was involved in the July 21, 1878, killing of

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...

Sam Bass in

Round Rock, Texas Round Rock is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, in Williamson County (with a small part in Travis County), which is a part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area. Its population is 119,468 as of the 2020 census. The city straddles the Bal ...

, when Bass was shot by Texas Ranger George Herold. Gillett later took part in settling the

Mason County War The Mason County War, sometimes called the Hoodoo War in reference to masked members of a vigilance committee,Sonnichsen, C.L., 1957, 10 Texas Feuds, University of New Mexico Press, was a period of lawlessness ignited by a "tidal wave of rustling ...

and the Horrell-Higgins feud. Gillett's fights with Indians and several other outlaws made him a legend. While under the command of Captain Baylor in January 1881, Gillett's company pursued a hostile band of Apache who had attacked a

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

. The Rangers surprised the band, killing six and scattering the rest. He pursued

Dick Dublin that year, killing him in a gunfight.

Capture of the Baca brothers, resignation

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

, 1881, Gillett's friend, A. M. Conklin, was

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

ed in El Paso by the Baca brothers, after Conkiln was involved in a fight with Onefre Baca. Gillett and fellow Ranger George Lloyd set out in pursuit immediately after the killing. Tracking the brothers to their uncle's home, Gillett made it known they were there to bring the brothers in. The Uncle, Jose Baca, was a local

Judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

, and offered Gillett a $1,000

bribe Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corr ...

to go away, which Gillett refused. Gillett and Lloyd captured the brothers at Jose Baca's house, with the exception of Onefre Baca. Onefre Baca had fled to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Upon learning this, but without authorization to enter Mexico, Gillett crossed the border illegally. He arrested Onefre Baca and took him to

Socorro, Texas Socorro is a city in El Paso County, Texas, United States. It is located on the north bank of the Rio Grande southeast of El Paso, and on the border of Mexico. El Paso adjoins it on the west and the smaller city of San Elizario on the southeast; sm ...

to be held until he could be taken back to El Paso. Shortly afterward, Baca was

lynch Lynch may refer to: Places Australia * Lynch Island, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica * Lynch Point, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica * Lynch's Crater, Queensland, Australia England * River Lynch, Hertfordshire * The Lynch, an island in the River ...

ed by an angry

mob Mob or MOB may refer to: Behavioral phenomena * Crowd * Smart mob, a temporary self-structuring social organization, coordinated through telecommunication Crime and law enforcement * American Mafia, also known as the Mob * Irish Mob, a US crimin ...

. After only six years service, Gillett resigned from the Rangers with the rank of

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

. He was accused of illegally arresting Baca and under pressure from Texas

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Oran M. Roberts Oran Milo Roberts (July 9, 1815May 19, 1898), was the 17th Governor of Texas from January 21, 1879, to January 16, 1883. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Roberts County, Texas, is named after him. Early life Roberts was born in Laurens ...

. He took a position as Deputy

Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...

for

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

, in June, 1882, working briefly under

Dallas Stoudenmire Dallas Stoudenmire (December 11, 1845 – September 18, 1882) was an American Old West gunfighter and lawman who gained fame for a brief gunfight that was later dubbed the "Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight." Stoudenmire had a deadly reputatio ...

. Gillett held the position as marshal until 1885. He accepted a job managing the ''Estado Land and Cattle Company'', stayig for six years. He started his own ranch after that, in

Alpine, Texas Alpine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Brewster County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,905 at the 2010 census. The town has an elevation of , and the surrounding mountain peaks are over above sea level. The university, hospi ...

, then moved with his family to

Roswell, New Mexico Roswell () is a city in, and the County seat, seat of, Chaves County, New Mexico, Chaves County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Chaves County forms the entirety of the List of micropolitan areas in New Mexico, Roswell micropolitan area. As of ...

in 1907. Purchasing the ''Barrell Spring Ranch'', Gillett then began raising a premium herd of

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

cattle. Gillett retired from ranching in 1923, leasing his ranch to his son Milton, and moved to

Marfa, Texas Marfa is a city in the high desert of the Trans-Pecos in far West Texas, between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park. It is the county seat of Presidio County, Texas, Presidio County, and its population as of the 2010 United States Cens ...

. In 1921, Gillett published his

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

s, ''Six years with the Texas Rangers'', which has remained in print since. He died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

on June 11, 1937, and is buried in the Marfa cemetery. In his book ''The Captured: A True Story of Abduction by Indians on the Texas Frontier'' (St. Martin's Press, 2004, pgs.211-212) Scott Zesch records an incident in which Gillett, along with ranger Ed Seiker, fought a running battle with a band of Apaches during which the two nearly killed a 'white Indian' named Herman Lehmann. Lehmann had been captured and adopted by the Apache and had become a warrior. They also killed and mutilated a warrior named Nusticeno whom they "butchered terribly": "In their zeal, the novice rangers had shot the Apache countless times, carved the skin off him, and even decapitated him." They took his bow, quiver, shield, and moccasins as trophies.Texas Online, James B. Gillett
/ref>

References

External links

Fugitives from Justice, James Gillett

The Legend of James Gillett

Six Years with the Texas Rangers, James B. Gillett
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillett, James B. Members of the Texas Ranger Division Lawmen of the American Old West 1856 births 1937 deaths People from Austin, Texas People from Alpine, Texas People from Roswell, New Mexico People from Marfa, Texas