Fight of Sheriff's Posse with Cattle Rustlers

The Nites were working a county long known as a refuge for outlaws. Its hills and dense cedar brakes had hidden such men as Rube Boyce, the McKeevers, the Dublin gang and John P. Ringo of the Mason County War. In 1877 Texas Rangers based on Bear Creek carried out a large roundup and brought their prisoners to Junction City for trial. Ranching soon filled the hills the outlaws had hidden in: by 1890 the county had 279 farms and ranches on 474,062 acres, with 38,988 cattle and 120,574 sheep.

What the plaque says

Fight of Sheriff's Posse with Cattle Rustlers (Site marked on Rust Ranch, 21 mi. NW) On Feb. 6, 1897, sheriff John L. Jones and deputies T. C. Taylor, Oscar Latta, John Gardner, T. W. Frazier and Bob Owens found Jim and Jourd Nite (brothers) and J. C. Crane with cattle and horses stolen from James and Peter Paterson and John Gardner. In following fight, Crane and Jourd Nite were killed while Jim was wounded. Crane and Jourd Nite were buried at the scene of the battle. Jim Nite recovered and later at his trial, March 30, 1897, (held in earlier courthouse on this site) was convicted and sentenced as John Underwood. (1968)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Kimble County Historical Museum — 1.0 mi
  A free county museum in Junction, the town at the meeting of the North and South Llano, with the papers, photographs and tools of a ranching county.
• Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve — 26 mi
  A limestone cave on the James River where about four million Mexican free-tailed bats raise their young each summer, kept open to visitors by a family's gift.
• Fort McKavett State Historic Site — 31 mi
  The post Sherman called the prettiest in Texas, home to soldiers of all four Buffalo Soldier regiments and then to a town that lived in its buildings until 1973.

More markers nearby

• Colonel John Griffith — steps away
• Stevenson, Coke R., Texas Statesman — steps away
• John Sterling Durst Pioneer Minister — steps away
• Kimble County — steps away