A painting of a young and determined Frank Hamer. This is the age he would be for this part of his story:
Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!
We're in a short introduction series about the great Texas Ranger, Frank Hamer. In yesterday's post we learned that he spent his first year or two training under a master Ranger by the name of John Rogers.
Rogers looked like the banker from the Monopoly game but was actually an expert tracker, detective, and a deadly shot in gun fights.
Looks are deceiving because he was a tough-as-nails cowboy, one of the last Wild West cowboys still working.
Side note
Talk about tough...I found a photo of Frank's father, Franklin. He was a blacksmith and he looks as strong as the iron he forged. Check out this photo of him with two of his other sons Flavious and Harrison and a daughter Pat:
Looks like they dressed up as nice as they could for the photo shoot. No ties though, maybe they didn't own any, they were poor. I think Franklin's leather cap is interesting, I bet he didn't wear that while he was working.
Is that Pat's hair or another leather cap? A somber bunch ain't they? I think they ALL could have been in Law Enforcement! What do you want to wager that Frank was raised with alot of discipline just by looking at his father?
Well, his upbringin served him well because he had to be super tough.
That first year of riding along the Rio Grande was no picnic. He rode several thousand miles on horseback and got to know the Big Bend region and it's people very well.
This show's where Frank was working along the border of Mexico. Lots of stealing and raiding was still taking place using Mexico as a base to run back to:
Under the tutelage of Captain Rogers, Frank learned how to work undercover, how to conduct surveillance operations, and how to properly investigate crimes.
He was a natural and a fast learner. In that first year he arrested 7 men who were wanted for murder! Just in his first year. That's remarkable.
Frank's story continues tomorrow. Thanks for reading folks, God bless you all!
-jonboy
Texas
PS- No Lawman wants violence, they want law and order and a peaceful society. But when you are faced with evil murderers who love death and destruction then...
It's pretty clear from the family picture (that excludes Frank), that either they weren't very happy, or the old man Franklin told them, "If there's any smiling in this here photiegraph, I'll tan yer hides!" The seated brother looks like he was thinking about smiling, but then thought better of it!
Took a second look at Frank's pic and he's not smiling either. I think they had to stay still for a while back then for photos, and maybe smiling for so long was too difficult for them. Frank shows that holding a snarl was pretty easy though. LOL
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lol! Very good points and very observant sir free-reign! None of Frank's photos showed him smiling, the ones I could find online anyway. But no one ever smiled in photos before the 1940's or so. Of all the thousands of photos from the 1800's that I've studied only one of them had the person smiling and that's this girl:
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Amazing factoid on the lack of photographed smiles back then. The Indian girl looks very happy. I wonder if she had a nice life. Maybe she was part of a show and enjoyed her part in it. But her smile, (and her sparkling eyes), confirms she's genuinely happy at that moment and her smile wasn't forced.
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Howdy today sir free-reign! Yes, I wonder what the circumstance was that made her break out in such a smile. I've read a couple of articles about why no one smiled in the photos from the 1800's. They were instructed by the photographers to be as regal and serious looking as they could because they wanted to preserve that image for future generations.. that was one major factor.
The other factor was that without modern dentistry most people had bad teeth!
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Definitely a wig. My mother had one just like it.
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oh I never even thought about a wig, thanks deirdyweirdy! I'm sure you're right, it doesn't look normal to me and that fits!
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Nobody wants to be the third monkey. LOL.
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Very true sk43! lol.
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That is one interesting family photo 📸 I'm happy be don't pose like that anymore. 😁
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lol! It's interesting to see these old vintage photos isn't it? They look so grim most of the time. Thanks so much for commenting dkkarolien! Hey are you guys on your way to India? I guess I better go check your blog!
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They did look so serious and grim shame. We'll never know what they looked like smiling. We're almost on our way. Two more days. Nervous and excited simultaneously. 😁
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Oh, 2 more days! Are you going to be able to post about the trip?
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If there's enough Wi-Fi you guys will probably get sick of me posting.. 😂 But what I've heard is the Wi-Fi is very sketchy. So I'm waiting to see. 😊
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lol! Sick of you posting! I don't think so, I think everyone will be thrilled to share this trip with you! Well, we'll take what we can get then!
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😉😁 I'll do my best not to disappoint.
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Hey @janton, thank you for this, nothing like vintage photos 👌
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Howdy today clitadias! I know, I love vintage photos, they fascinate me. Thanks for appreciating them!
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Hi jonboy, thank goodness for law-abiding hard as nails honest lawmen or became texas rangers.
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Yes Ma'am, I agree. They really saved many lives and kept the region from being overun with criminals.
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Thanks for using eSteem!
Your post has been voted as a part of eSteem encouragement program. Keep up the good work! Install Android, iOS Mobile app or Windows, Mac, Linux Surfer app, if you haven't already!
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Howdy esteemapp! thanks so much for the upvote and the great platform and all you do to help others!
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Mornin’ Cowboy! Despite their somber looks they were a good looking family. Whatever happened with the girl’s hair is a mystery. It looks like it was pasted on.
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lol! laughing at the hair style. Well someone else commented that it was definitely a wig because the commenter said her mother had one just like it! So she's probably right. and that makes sense, I knew it didn't look normal but had no clue what it was.
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Not a flattering wig- must have been made out of horsehair!
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lol..probably so redheadpei, it looks like plastic in the photo! lol.
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Great stuff as usual @janton. They don’t make em like that anymore that’s for sure.
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Howdy sir badger! good to see you, are you posting again, last time I was over there you'd been gone for awhile. Thanks so much for the kind words and I agree. Well, if we DO have men like this they are so restrained that they can't go after the killers like they used to, as you well know. I suppose that's good. Not sure. lol.
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Posting a little bit. Idk if I am back or what haha. I miss the people, just not to happy with steemit. But I guess that’s a good reason to stick around! Especially folks like you @janton. Your a good one!
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Thanks sir badger! Well, you may have more people joining you if the hardfork severely cuts earnings. We'll see.
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Hi, @janton!
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Howdy steem-plus and thanks so much for the upvote!
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Howdy Sir @janton, we ran out of data yesterday afternoon and could only buy more this midday.
I think the rave at the time was to look serious and dignified in photos.
Monochrome also had a very austere influence on the shots.
That captain Rodgers was a blessing in young Frank's life.
Blessings!
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Howdy today sir papilloncharity! Oh, I hate when one runs out of data! Stops you cold. Yes, in the old photos I read that the photographers always instructed people to look their most dignified and somber for future generations. That makes sense.
I agree too that Captain Rogers was a tremendous man to be trained by, I'm sure it saved Frank's life many times!
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Oh my goodness! The monkey, lol. You are right about the Law Enforcement! I watch lots of shows about that. Even if they are only fictions, they are based on reality!
Anyway, Frank is definitely gifted and born for the job. Clearly his father raised him well. Although I was laughing at your remarks and I am wondering about Pat's hair too. Well it is not hair, for sure. I think it is some kind of headdress. Sadly it doesn't do her justice! LOL!
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yes I agree about Pat's hair, another commenter said it was definitely a wig because the commenter's mother had one just like it. I think it looks like plastic. It would be interesting to know why she felt like she had to wear it.
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They had to be tough in those days @janton and it was very unusual to smile when photos were taken.
I love your statement " He was a blacksmith and he looks as strong as the iron he forged," and what about that name Flavious? Very unusual. It's probably time for a celebrity to bring it back as they always like to outdo one another with weird and sometimes outrageous names don't they? 😄
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Howdy Trudee! I agree, the name Flavious is so unusual and I couldn't think of anythng clever to say about it! lol. But as far as I know it's a Roman name? Not a typical Western American name at all! Like you said, it would be perfect for one of today's entertainers to use.
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