Sheriff James Sidney Talley

Talley held a combined office. His 1932 race was for sheriff and tax collector, and the Ochiltree County Herald of September 1, 1932, reported that he won the nomination in the second primary by eighty-seven votes over Ed Littleton. His long tenure ran through the county's hardest decade. The Handbook of Texas records that during the Depression and the Dust Bowl the county fell from 580 farms and ranches in 1930 to 528 in 1940, wheat dropped to 67,000 acres, and the population went from 5,224 to 4,213.

What the plaque says

Born near Washington-on-the-Brazos; moved 1901 to Ochiltree County. As sheriff, 1908-1944, he used free-wheeling methods and never carried a gun. It was said that generosities kept him poor. At retirement he held record for longer continuous service than any other Texas sheriff. An expert judge of livestock, also ranched throughout career. Did considerable welfare work in retirement years. A Mason, he married Mamie Richardson. Recorded, 1967.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Museum of the Plains — 9.3 mi
  Perryton's four-acre museum of the wheat country at the top of Texas, with an 1899 depot, five historic buildings and a life-size Hank the Cowdog, whose author grew up here.
• Canadian River Wagon Bridge — 34 mi
  The longest pin-connected bridge in Texas, 3,255 feet of Parker trusses across the Canadian River at Canadian, built for wagons in 1916 and reopened as a footpath in 2000.

More markers nearby

• Ochiltree Cemetery — 0.4 mi
• Ochiltree Townsite — 0.5 mi
• Site of the Trading Post — 6.8 mi
• Colonel William B. Ochiltree — 8.3 mi