Captain Frank Jones

Frank Jones

Texas Ranger Captain Frank Jones was shot and killed while attempting to arrest suspected cattle rustlers.

Captain Jones, along with five other Rangers and an El Paso County Deputy Sheriff, obtained a warrant for the arrest of a man and his son, who were part of the Olguin Clan. The Olguin clan members were known outlaws and lived in no man's land on Pirate Island, situated in the middle of the Rio Grande River between Texas and Mexico across from El Paso County. While Mexico claimed jurisdiction over the disputed island, parts of the island were in Texas. The Texas Rangers would later claim they did not realize they were in Mexico until after the gun battle.

The lawmen saw two Mexican riders flee, dismount, and enter some adobe building in the Town of Tres Jacales, Mexico. As Captain Jones and his men approached, gunfire erupted from inside the buildings and the surrounding brush. Jones was wounded in the thigh and fell from his horse. He straightened his leg out and continued firing. One of the privates came to his assistance, but Jones told the other men to save themselves. Seconds later, he was riddled with bullets and died.

The vastly outnumbered lawmen returned to Texas to summon assistance. The El Paso County Sheriff went to Juarez, Mexico, to request the return of Captain Jones' body. Mexican authorities filed a diplomatic protest but returned his body days later. The Olguins were reportedly wounded and arrested by Mexican authorities, but they were never prosecuted.

Captain Jones had sent a letter to Ranger officials 6 weeks earlier requesting additional men due to a large number of bandits in the area.

He was buried on his father-in-law's ranch. In 1936, he was reburied in Ysleta, El Paso County, and a state marker was erected. He was survived by his wife and two daughters.