King Fisher

The man who died beside Fisher was Ben Thompson, born in Yorkshire, England, in 1843 and raised in Austin. Thompson fought for the Confederacy and then for Emperor Maximilian in Mexico, ran the Bull's Head Saloon in Abilene, Kansas, and was twice elected Austin's city marshal, in 1880 and 1881. In July 1882 he killed Jack Harris, owner of San Antonio's Vaudeville Theatre, and was acquitted. When he walked back into the theater with Fisher on March 11, 1884, both were shot from behind. Many blamed Harris's partners, but no one was ever charged.

What the plaque says

King Fisher Celebrated outlaw who became a peace officer. Once undisputed ruler of a 5,000-square-mile area of Southwest Texas, centered in Eagle Pass and known as King Fisher's Territory. Son of Jobe and Lucinda Fisher, at age 17 Fisher settled on Pendencia Creek in Dimmit County, hired by ranchmen to guard their herds from bandits who frequently raided from Mexico, across Rio Grande. A complex and forceful individual, he imposed order in lawless border area. His henchmen rustled cattle and terrorized resisting settlers but also protected them from outside intruders. Near his ranch was sign reading: "This is King Fisher's Road. Take the other". Many prominent men, including Porfirio Diaz, President of Mexico, counted him a friend. Tall, charming, and quite handsome, Fisher wore fine clothes and tiger skin chaps. An expert shot-- with either hand-- he was indicted on six murder charges and 15 lesser counts but was never convicted. Devoted to wife and daughters, he reformed after being arrested in 1876 by Ranger Capt. L. H. McNelly. He was acting Uvalde County sheriff, when, on March 11, 1884, he and the notorious Ben Thompson were killed from ambush at a vaudeville theater in San Antonio. 1973

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Briscoe-Garner Museum — steps away
  The Uvalde house of John Nance Garner, the vice president who made the office a power in Congress, now a free museum to him and to Governor Dolph Briscoe.
• Uvalde Grand Opera House — 0.5 mi
  An 1891 Victorian opera house on the Uvalde square with a turret and a dragon weathervane, once owned by John Nance Garner and still staging volunteer theater upstairs.
• Fort Inge Historical Site — 2.9 mi
  A county park on the Leona River below a 140-foot volcanic plug, where an army post guarded the new road to El Paso from 1849 to 1869 and Texas Rangers camped after.

More markers nearby

• Judge John Nance Garner — steps away
• Uvalde Methodist Church — 0.2 mi
• Original Site of Uvalde High School — 0.3 mi
• First Presbyterian Church of Uvalde — 0.3 mi