Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!
We're in a series about one of the best Texas Rangers to ever wear the badge, the great Frank Hamer, who was brought out of retirement to take down Bonnie and Clyde.
Recap
In the last post Frank was living it up in Hollywood California and hob nobbing with the stars. But after 6 months he was also totally healed up from his gunshot wounds and itching to get back in the saddle. Literally.
By the way, as petulant, spoiled, and crazy as Gladys was when Frank met her, by this time she had matured and calmed down. It is also said that she felt deep regrets her entire life for all the trouble she caused in getting the Johnson-Sims feud started. (And a bunch of people killed).
Today's story
So Frank, Gladys, and the kids headed back to the Johnson ranch near Snyder, TX to live. One reason it was safe and the feud was faded away is because the elder Sims was dying of cancer.
Frank's wealthy father-in-law, Billy Johnson, used his connections to get Frank reinstated into the Texas Rangers immediately and he reported to duty in Brownsville.
As usual, even though they played a major role in law enforcement, the Rangers had no budget to speak of, paid the rangers a pittance, and they didn't even have a building to stay in or any type of housing. They had to live in tents on an empty lot in the city!
Once again he would be patrolling on horseback because of the rough terrain and lack of roads.
Here's Frank on Bugler near the Rio Grand:
Brownsville is just 20 miles from the Mexico border:
The situation on the border
The border was still a mess with drug dealers smuggling Mescal (which is a type of Peyote, a hallucinogenic drug). The Mexican Revolution was still going on so there were also arms smugglers and bandits.
Also, 1917 was the year the United States entered WWI so there was a big draft going on in 1918.
Well, the Texas citizens from Mexico, called Tejanos, for the most part, refused to fight for a country which they considered to be against them and treated them like second class citizens. I don't blame them.
So they would be crossing into Mexico on a nightly basis, dodging the draft, with the help of the Coyotes which they hired. Does any of this sound familiar? lol.
Drug running, Coyotes being paid to smuggle people back and forth. ..nothing on the border has changed!
Four Texas Rangers had been killed in the year before Frank arrived during engagements along the border so the job was as dangerous as ever.
The Texas Rangers were the only protection the country had along the Rio Grand. The Border Patrol hadn't been formed yet.
Okay, that's the situation. Frank gets into action right away on his first night on the border.
Thanks for reading folks, God bless you all!
-jonboy
Texas
PS- Yes, of course I found more old vending machines! lol. I think these are from England. The first looks like a "one arm bandit" lottery machine for books. I can't tell what currency that is but it looks English:
Next we have the amazing techological wonder called the "Egg-O-Matic" and it looks to be in the English countryside doesn't it?
And last and probably least, here is an all-time favorite.
The coal vending machine! Yay..I mean if you're heating with coal and about to run out and it's evening in the wintertime what do you do? It could also come in handy on Christmas Eve to fill those stockings with.
And you can tell this happy patron is thrilled with her bag of coal! lol. I wonder if she is a coal vending machine model or this was just a random photo.
Based on that car, this could be from the 40's.
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I feel like this about to get quite interesting!
PS it's crazy to see cigarette vending machines all over the place here in Germany.
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Howdy sir badger! oh, they still have those over there? lol.. that's interesting. Did you ever smoke?
Yeah, I used to chew more than anything but good chew in Germany is hard to find. I'm not a regular smoker. A pack or two per month but I do enjoy it.
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I used to enjoy it too but had to quit when the missus did. I mean I'm glad now, for health reasons but it was tough to give up! Not many people in Germany chew? Did you start that in the service? It seems like everyone in the military smokes or chews. lol.
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Howdy kendra5! Thanks so much for commenting!
Love your stories, fabulous 👌🙏hope you are well@janton😊
Howdy clitadias! Thanks so much. I'm great and so is Mrs. J. lol.
The weather this time of year is perfect with temperatures about 21-22C and sunny days, really nice and mild.
Hey Janton😊 so glad you are enjoying the weather out there. Dubai is finally cooling off after a fiery summer. Have a great day 🌈
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What does it cool down to? What are the average highs at this time of year?
Can go to 15 degrees or lower👏
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15, is that all? lol. oh man, that's just barely cool!
So true 😊
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I bet Frank is happy to be back on a horse again, at least!
Howdy sir wwwiebe! Yes sir, it's where he feels most at home. Actually, they're still using horses on the border, I'll put some photos in tomorrow's post.
Horse rider
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Yes he was very gifted with horses and loved to ride. Thanks shuvo35!
Frank does love his work as a Ranger. You would think after being shot up he would find a safer job. He’s tough as a boiled owl!
I guess one can pretty well sell anything in those vending machines 😂
lol..I guess a boiled owl is tough! I haven't had one. lol. Yeah, it was in his blood, he was born for it.
I think I'll do some posts about the future of vending machines because with the latest technology companies are creating some amazing machines!
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Good to see Frank back where he belongs Sir #janton and I am sure that his presence will be whispered along the mescal grape vine!
Blessings!
Well that could be sir papilloncharity, especially in the coming years as his reputation grows and he has his own Ranger outfit.
Looking forward to the rest of Frank's story my friend.
Blessings!
Thanks so much for reading sir papilloncharity, it takes time to follow these and I appreciate it!
You are trying your best and it's only the decent thing to reward you for your efforts by spending the time to read your stories Sir @janton.
Just keep going my friend.
Blessings!
I will keep going as long as Mrs. J. doesn't get upset. She would like to see some sign that it is worth continuing.
Perseverance and prayer works my friend.
Blessings!
Hello janton, I am back online for the moment. Getting my mac to connect with wifi has not been easy, hence the lack of posting. Good to see that Frank is back in the Texas Rangers.
Oh my gosh, vending machines are big time aren't they in all areas. I am thinking that the eggs are fresh in the machine. They would have to be checked regularly etc. I wonder how they do all this without cracking any?
It is strange to go to your blog and not see any posts recently. lol..but don't worry about that, just have a great time.
Yes, I wish I could see the insides of that egg vending machine. What a mess if they broke inside there. lol.
Scrambled eggs already to be cooked, lol.
Hey janton, for me it is strange not to be writing a post each day. My Mac just would not connect with the Wifi in the hotel in Santiago. I don't think it was secure enough. I am hoping it is happy with the ship's Wifi. But of course in bad weather there will be no Wifi. Travelling is such a journey! hahaha.
Well, the good news is that you will have weeks worth of posting material when you get back!
"Photo taken right before the unwilling model beat the photographer with a sack of coal."
It sure looks easier than when my grandfather was a kid and used to go down to the railroad tracks and pick up coal that had fallen off the cars to heat the house with.
That egg one is interesting, too. I wonder what the units were... I've seen that 2'6 to represent 2.6€ in Europe, but that photo was taken before euros were a thing and that would be really expensive for eggs anyway. That machine does look like they just dropped it off in the most random spot they could find.
Howdy sir fotosdenada! I've heard of people gathering coal like that, they must have been really poor or he was really frugal!
Someone said the machine price looked like the old English Shilling symbol but who knows. I'd like to see inside the thing to learn how they cushioned the eggs so they wouldn't break and what kind of packaging they had.
The most random spot. lol. It Does look that way!
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Howdy Janton! They all looked like models back then. They would not leave the house without make up and stilettos, lol. You managed to make me laugh again with those vending machines!!! Well, I was already laughing about the Mexican border! Oh my gosh! Somethings never change! LOL!!!
Howdy Miss Lena! Thanks for catching up on the posts. I agree about the model looks with stilettos and make up and don't forget the dresses. Wow, that would suck to be a woman back then! Yes we've had the same problems on the border forever!
Always a pleasure Janton! I have fun reading it!
Yay! Frank is back in the saddle. I hope he doesn't get shot again.
You cracked me up with the coal vending machine when you said it would come in handy to fill the stockings with. LOL!
ha! you're the only one that caught that Butterfly, thank you! Yes of course he gets shot again. lol.
Of course...I should have already known that. LOL!
At least he doesn't get killed in a shootout!