Fearless Unto Death
The plaque text:
"This stone is erected to the memory of Sheriff E. Harrison Ikard by the Commissioners Court, American Legion and loyal friends in recognition of a man who, holding sacred a public trust, answered duties [sic] call, fearless unto death, Sept. 22, 1925"
The plaque is affixed to <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/uL2KPuMxzfWd4DVF9" target="_blank">a granite column</a> in front of the Archer County Courthouse in Archer City, Texas -- Larry McMurtry's hometown and the place where most of "The Last Picture Show" (based on a McMurtry novel) was shot. Reading the plaque, of course, one wonders precisely how Sheriff Ikard met his end on Sept. 22, 1925.
The Austin American-Statesman carried a story the next day on what had transpired.
Ikard and a deputy, along with a Sheriff Foster of neighboring Young County and one of his deputies, were on the trail of a group suspected of stealing $1,500 worth of cigarettes and tobacco (that amount is equivalent to about $22,000 in 2020 dollars) from a store in Graham. The lawmen had discovered the cigarettes cached in a mesquite thicket near the town of Megargel, 20 miles southwest of Archer City. The sheriffs and their deputies lay in wait for several hours for the thieves to come and try to retrieve their booty. It got dark and started to rain. Sheriff Foster and his deputy left to get a car parked nearby, the paper's account said, with the intention of picking up the stashed cigarettes to prevent them from being damaged. The paper quoted Ikard's deputy, identified as R. (Cowboy) Munsford, on what happened next:
Newspaper accounts say Ikard was struck by a bullet that ricocheted into his body off his belt buckle, "killing him instantly." The two apparent thieves killed in the gun battle were identified as Charles Crabtree and Frank Looney.
@danbrekke