Buckshot the Sheriff

Unlike many Texas sheriffs, Buckshot did not wear a broadbrimmed hat, and did not wear a gun on his hip. However, no fool, Buck had a pistol under his shirt. He also rented out space in his jail. During this time he lodged a prisoner from Harris County in his jail. This prisoner bought a gun and tried to escape from the jail. As he reached the lobby, expecting Buck to surrender, he found that Buck had pulled his gun. Buck shot this convict at the door leading to the jail. He wounded the man and persuaded him to surrender. This led to publicity which discouraged criminals from trying to shoot Buck. In those days the sheriff lived in an apartment in the same building which housed the jail. It was part of his salary. His wife, Margaret, cooked in this apartment. A colorful figure in Texas, Buck bought a plane and learned to fly it. I went up with him once and his manuevers were unorthodox but he never had an accident. Buck was descended from an old Texas family, but he was not a prototype of your swashbuckling gun toting Texan.