The Gunfight At Los Tomates

Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!

We're in a series about one of the best Texas Rangers to ever wear the badge, the great Frank Hamer, who was brought out of retirement to take down Bonnie and Clyde.

Recap

In the last post Frank and his company of Rangers had set a trap for a terrible drug smuggler name Delgado who had killed a young Ranger and many others.

We also talked about the fact that the Texas Rangers were still in operation along the border today and still on horseback patrols.

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On the ride to the Rio Grand where the ambush was being set up, Frank and the Sheriff, who was running the operation, had a heated disagreement about what to do with Delgado.

Frank said he was too dangerous to try and arrest, that they should shoot him on sight basically. The Sheriff insisted that they try to talk to him first and then arrest him.

Frank's good friend, Timberlake, had a feeling he was going to be killed on the mission that night. When we left the last post the Rangers had taken their positions along the trail up from the river and were waiting on Delgado.

Today's story

It was a half moon night so the men could see but not very well or far. They waited silently in the warm night with the sounds of the flowing water just a few yards away. Two hours had gone by with no sign of Delgado.

Finally, they heard a twig crack and the bleat of a goat which was the signal for the others to follow Delgado across the river.

The Rangers were hidden in the brush and Delgado walked past them with a .45 pistol in his hand. When he'd gone about 50 feet beyond them the Sheriff yelled., "Halt!"

Delgado spun around and shot at the Sheriff's voice. The bullet hit the ground in front of Timberlake, who was close to the Sheriff. It flattened out, bounced up, and struck Timberlake in the side.

The Sheriff opened fire with his shotgun and shot twice, missing both times!

Another one bites the dust

Then Frank swung his rifle up and aimed where he'd seen the pistol flash and opened up. (If you haven't read my previous posts, Frank was an expert rifleman).

One bullet hit Delgado's hand, one hit his right side, another hit his leg, and two more ripped into his chest near his heart.

The dirtbag stumbled forward and fell down on top of a cactus, dead as a door nail. He was still gripping his .45 in the right hand and had a handful of cartridges in his left.

Here's Frank in action:

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Timberlake was grievously wounded

Timberlake was bleeding profusely, the bullet had gone into his left side above the hip, then crossed through his stomach, and slammed into his pocket watch on his right side. It stopped the watch at 9:27 PM.

Some of the Rangers rushed him to the hospital while the others searched for Delgado's companions but they were long gone. They DID abandon 10 pounds of mescal.

The best surgeons in Brownsville worked on Timberlake but there wasn't anything they could do.(Remember, this was in 1918). The bullet had shredded his intestines.

The Docs closed up the wound and eased his pain with opiates. Frank stayed by his bedside all night and at 7:00 the next morning he was still conscious.

He said to Frank, "Pancho, there's no chance for me is there?" Frank replied, "No Tim, there's not a chance for you."

"Did he get away?"
"No."
"That helps a whole lot." And then he passed on. Sadly, the premonition he had the day before about his death was accurate.

The Sheriff felt terrible because if he'd done what Frank wanted, Timberlake would still be alive. Frank was livid. He knew human nature and criminals and how they acted. He knew Delgado would try to shoot his way out.

Frank's story continues in the next post.

Thanks for reading folks, God bless you all!
-jonboy
Texas

PS- Now on a lighter note, I did find a couple more unusual vending machines. Check it out..for this first one I can just see mom or dad telling little Jimmy to go find some vending machines and buy some gum or candy.

But looky here, he finds a razor blade vending machine!

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Double or single edged even, and they come in nice little, colorful packages. Yikes.

Then this one has to be the ultimate. A Wine vending machine selling wine by the liter! You bring your own jug. lol. About $2 per liter. Man, that's some cheap wine! This is in France of course:

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