Dan LaFayette McDuffie

The Handbook of Texas lists McDuffie's offices in order: deputy sheriff for western Bowie County in 1903, constable at New Boston from 1904 to 1910, then chief deputy sheriff. He lost two races for sheriff and later served as a deputy United States marshal, a Cotton Belt special agent and a federal prohibition agent. Both the Handbook and the Officer Down Memorial Page place his death in Gladewater, where the Handbook says Jeff Johnson, a former policeman, shot him. About 2,000 people attended his funeral, among them officers from around the state.

What the plaque says

Dan LaFayette McDuffie (February 16, 1883 - July 7, 1931) Last Ranger killed on duty in East Texas oil boom of 1930's. A third generation enforcement officer; learned methods, skills from an uncle, Texarkana police chief. Held first office at 18. Won fame in 1923 amnesty, when 82 liquor stills were turned in. Spent 30 years as county peace officer, railroad special agent, and Texas Ranger. Known for his fearless courage, integrity. Met death on duty in a kidnapping case, when caught in gunfire. Recorded, 1967

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Atlanta State Park — 17 mi
  A shoreline park on Wright Patman Lake, leased from the Army in 1954, where Caddo ancestors farmed the Sulphur River and wagon traces such as the Bobo Ferry trace still cross the woods.
• Museum of Regional History — 22 mi
  Texarkana's oldest museum, in an 1879 brick building on State Line Avenue, with Caddo pottery, one of Scott Joplin's pianos and a research library of city directories and photographs.

More markers nearby

• New Boston — 1.8 mi
• Old Boston — 2.2 mi
• Bowie County — 3.0 mi
• Arkadelphia Rosenwald School — 5.0 mi