Jesse Sumpter

Sumpter lived long enough to write it down. After his years as sheriff he ran King Fisher's old Sunset Saloon in Eagle Pass, and from 1894 until his death on November 20, 1910, he was U.S. customs inspector there, celebrated as the town's oldest citizen. He became one of the first life members of the Texas State Historical Association, and in 1906-07 he dictated his reminiscences to a schoolteacher, Harry Warren. A typescript went to the University of Texas archives, but the memoir stayed unpublished until 1969, the year this marker was recorded.

What the plaque says

Jesse Sumpter Pioneer citizen, soldier, and law officer. Served in D Co., 1st infantry on Texas Frontier, 1848-1852. Among first troops to be stationed at Fort Duncan. Stayed in Eagle Pass after discharge in 1852. Worked as saloon keeper, mustang hunter, rancher, and as deputy sheriff. In Civil War, he was a deputy customs collector for the confederacy. In 1871 he became first sheriff on newly organized Maverick county. Married twice; had 2 children. Recorded -- 1969

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Duncan Museum — 1.5 mi
  The 1849 river post at Eagle Pass, where the first Black Seminole scouts enlisted in 1870, kept by the city as a park with its old headquarters as a museum.

More markers nearby

• Maverick County — 1.1 mi
• Eagle Pass, C.S.A. — 1.1 mi
• Camp Rabb and Fort Duncan, C.S.A. — 1.3 mi
• California Camp — 1.3 mi