James Abijah Brooks

Brooks gave the Rangers 23 years and carried a mark from them. He joined as a private in early 1883, became captain of Company F in 1889 and later commanded Company A. In a gunfight with the Conner gang in East Texas one Ranger was killed and three were wounded, and Brooks lost several fingers on his left hand. In 1902 Ranger Anderson Y. Baker killed ranch owner Ramón de la Cerda, and Brooks was credited with holding the political factions in check. He resigned on November 15, 1906.

What the plaque says

James Abijah Brooks (Nov. 20, 1855 - Jan. 15, 1944) Illustrious Texas Ranger for whom this county is named. Born in Kentucky; came to Texas 1876; became rancher-trail driver. Served in Texas Rangers 1882-1906. By order of the governor, aided in preventing Fitzsimmons-Maher world title prizefFight, El Paso, 1896. Helped solve and halt South Texas cattle thefts. Served in Texas Legislature, 1909-1911; was County Judge of Brooks County, 1911-1939. Married Virginia Wilborn. Recorded - 1969

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Heritage Museum at Falfurrias — 0.5 mi
  A free town museum of ranch gear, a Texas Ranger room and 99,000 photo negatives, in the town Edward Lasater built around his railroad and his Jersey cows.
• Don Pedrito Jaramillo Shrine — 2.2 mi
  The grave and shrine of the folk healer of Los Olmos, a place of prayer where South Texans still leave candles and letters for the curandero who took no fee.
• Kenedy Ranch Museum of South Texas — 22 mi
  A museum in the Kenedy Pasture Company's 1927 office in Sarita, telling how Mifflin Kenedy and three generations of his family shaped the Wild Horse Desert, with murals and an audio guide.
• King Ranch Visitor Center — 25 mi
  The bus-tour gate to a working ranch of about 825,000 acres, founded on Santa Gertrudis Creek in 1853 and worked from the start by the Kineños, families from Cruillas in Tamaulipas.

More markers nearby

• Falfurrias — 0.8 mi
• Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of Premont — 8.7 mi
• Brooks County — 9.8 mi
• Falfurrias to Encino Road — 14 mi