Texas Ranger Captain Ira Long
Decatur, Wise County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(May 5, 1842 - March 8, 1913) Dedicated and courageous. Born in Indiana; reared in Missouri. Wounded twice in Confederate service during the Civil War. On reorganization of Texas Rangers, 1874, was commissioned first lieutenant; promoted 1875 to captain, Company A, official escort of Major John B. Jones, commander of Ranger force. Did outstanding duty against Indians and outlaws, and in quieting such feuds as Mason County War. Served for six years. Recorded - 1967
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in Indiana and reared in Missouri, Ira Long was twice wounded in Confederate service before finding his calling on the Texas frontier. When the Texas Rangers were reorganized in 1874 he was commissioned a lieutenant, rising the next year to captain of Company A and serving as official escort to Ranger commander Major John B. Jones. Over six years he pursued outlaws and raiders and helped quell the violent Mason County War.
Why it matters
Long's career captures the Texas Rangers' pivotal role in imposing state authority on a lawless post-Civil War frontier.
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Related people
- · Ira Long
- · Major John B. Jones
Related events
- · Mason County War
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Sand Hill Community
Sand Hill, TX
Gathered around a good spring at the foot of the hill that named it, Sand Hill became a cradle of pioneer life in the country that would become Wise County. The first Methodist church in the area was organized in Jim Brooks's home in 1854, and a donated cabin nicknamed "Old Swayback" for its sagging ridgepole soon served all faiths as church and, by 1855, probably the county's first school. A campground, gristmill, Masonic lodge, and cemetery followed, the graveyard now holding settlers, Civil War veterans, and the noted Texas Ranger Ira Long.
Perrin Log Cabin
Decatur, TX
In 1853 William and Charlotte Perrin left Rock Castle, Kentucky, joining the westward stream into the Peters Colony near Dallas before pushing on to Wise County on Christmas Eve 1854. On the banks of Martin's Branch they built a two-room dogtrot log cabin, a classic frontier form, sometime between 1855 and 1861. The Perrin family lived in it continuously until 1990, and a 2007 restoration used the original stones, chinking, and v-notched logs to bring it back.
Site of Wise County Poor Farm & Cemetery
Decatur, TX
From 1885 to 1962, Wise County ran a 320-acre poor farm here to shelter and put to work its dependent and needy citizens, while county convicts labored off their fines on the same land. Its first superintendent managed the farm as his wife cooked, washed, and sewed for inmates and guards alike. The now-leveled cemetery at a bend of Center Creek held the poorest of the poor, most of them remembered by only a first name or none at all.
Wise County Reunion
Decatur, TX
Confederate veterans and Wise County pioneers gathered for an 1881 reunion at Cold Springs, timed to the anniversary of Captain George Stevens' 1874 victory over raiding Indians; some 5,000 people came. Settling into its present grounds by 1896, the gathering grew to a multi-day festival of speeches, rodeos, and sham battles drawing crowds of 12,000. Sponsored by the Old Settlers Association, it endures as the oldest recurring public event in the county.