Captain Frank Hamer (pronounced Hay-mer) was born on March 17, 1884 in Fairview, Wilson County, Texas. He grew up on the Welch Ranch in San Saba County. The family moved to Oxford, Texas in 1894. Hamer worked in his father's blacksmith shop and later as a wrangler on the ranch of Barry Ketchum. In 1905, while working as a cowboy on the Carr Ranch, Hamer helped to capture a horse thief. Afterwards, the sheriff recommended Hamer to the Texas Rangers.
Hamer joined the Rangers in April 1906. He became part of Captain J. H. Rogers' Company C, patrolling the border in south Texas. In 1908 he resigned from the Rangers to become the City Marshal of Navasota, Texas. He served in this position until April 1911 when he became a special officer in Harris County. Hamer rejoined the Ranger in 1915. He was once again patrolling the south Texas border from the Big Bend to Brownsville. The Rangers dealt with arms smugglers, bootleggers, and bandits throughout the area. In 1921 Hamer transferred to Headquarters Company in Austin (now part of Company F) and served as Senior Ranger Captain.…show more content… In 1928 he took on the Texas Bankers' Association "reward ring." Hamer charged that some people were framing others and also tracking down and killing small-time outlaws to collect the Bankers' $5,000 reward for every dead bank robber. Once the scam was made public, the Bankers' Association changed their policy to a reward for every legally killed bank robber. Hamer retired from the Rangers in 1932, but retained a special Ranger
