R.C. (Dick) Ware
Colorado City, Mitchell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
1851-1902 Born in Georgia, migrated to Texas in the 1870's and joined the Texas Rangers in 1878. Was noted for his part in gun battle with outlaw Sam Bass at Round Rock, where Bass had planned to rob the bank. It was Ware's bullet that gave Bass the wound from which he died. Was elected first sheriff of Mitchell County in 1881; retired 1892, was appointed U.S. Marshal for Western District of Texas, 1893. Served four years. Recorded - 1967
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Georgia-born R. C. "Dick" Ware came to Texas in the 1870s and joined the Texas Rangers in 1878, winning fame at the Round Rock gunfight where the notorious outlaw Sam Bass was fatally wounded—by Ware's bullet, the marker says. Elected the first sheriff of Mitchell County in 1881, he later served four years as U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Texas. His career runs straight through the lawman legends of the closing Texas frontier.
Why it matters
It preserves the story of the frontier lawmen who brought a rough kind of order to the last days of the Wild West in Texas.
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Related people
- · R. C. "Dick" Ware
- · Sam Bass
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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