Ira Aten

Ira Aten

Ira Aten (September 3, 1862 - August 5, 1953) was a well known Texas Ranger, and a member of the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame.

Aten was born in Cairo, Illinois. His father Austin Aten was a Methodist curcuit rider, and moved the family to Texas in 1876, settling near Round Rock, Texas. In 1878, while still a boy, Aten witnessed the death of outlaw Sam Bass. In March of 1883, Aten joined the Texas Rangers, becoming a member of "Company D" serving under Captain L. P. Seiker. Aten was assigned to the counties bordering the Rio Grande River, and due to the rough nature of this area, he became involved in numerous dangerous encounters.

Aten is probably best known for what became known as the Fence Cutting War of 1886, during the period in which many ranchers were fencing off their property, doing away with open range. In July, 1887, Aten was accompanied by future Ranger Hall of Fame member John Hughes in the pursuit of murderer Judd Roberts, with Hughes and Aten killing Roberts in a gunfight. It was Aten who convinced Hughes to join the Rangers. At one point, in 1888, during the Fence Cutting War, Aten placed hidden dynamite charges on certain fence lines, so that when the wire was cut, the dynamite would explode. Although it sounds extreme, it greatly reduced the number of fences cut. The Adjutant General did not approve of the dynamite method, and ordered them removed. However, by that time word had spread that the charges were present, and no one knowing where they were located resulted in a reduction of fence cutting, even after the charges were removed.

Aten also became well known during the Jaybird-Woodpecker War, resulting in prominent citizens approaching him to run for the position of Fort Bend County, Texas Sheriff, in which he was elected. By 1890 Aten had settled in Castro County, Texas, and in 1895 Aten was hired by the "Capitol Syndicate Company" to help stop cattle rustlers on the "XIT Ranch". Aten organized a Ranch Police Force of twenty cowboys, to include former Texas Rangers Ed Connell and Wood Saunders.

By 1904 Aten had moved with his family to Imperial Valley (California), and in 1923 he served as a member of the Imperial Valley District board, which helped push through legislation for the construction of Boulder Dam and the All-American Canal. In 1945, J. Marvin Hunter published Aten's memoirs in his "Frontier Times" magazine. Aten died in 1953 of pneumonia, at the age of 91. He is buried in the "Evergreen Cemetery" in El Centro, California.

External links

* [http://www.texasranger.org/halloffame/Aten_Ira.htm Ira Aten, Texas Ranger Hall of Fame]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7271465 Ira Aten, Find a Grave]
* [http://austin.about.com/cs/history/a/barbed_wiretx_3.htm Fence Cutters War]
* [http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/FF/auf1.html Fence Cutters War, 1883 through 1888]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ira — and similar may mean:AcronymsMost commonly*Irish Republican Army, which has existed in various forms since 1916 (see List of IRAs for details) **Since 1969, the Provisional Irish Republican Army has usually been referred to simply as the IRA… …   Wikipedia

  • John Hughes (lawman) — John Hughes (February 11, 1855 June 3, 1947) was a Texas Ranger and cowboy of the Old West, and later an author.Early lifeHughes was born John Reynolds Hughes, in Cambridge, Illinois, son to Thomas Hughes and Jennie Bond Hughes. In 1865 the… …   Wikipedia

  • Lawrence Sullivan Ross — Infobox Governor name = Lawrence Sullivan Ross order = 19th office = Governor of Texas term start = 1887 term end = 1891 lieutenant = Thomas Benton Wheeler predecessor = John Ireland successor = Jim Hogg birth date = September 27, 1838 birth… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Western lawmen — This is a list of notable law enforcement officials of the American frontier popularly known as the American Old West. They occupied positions as sheriff, marshal, Texas Rangers, and others. A *William Red Angus (1849 ndash;1922), Wyoming… …   Wikipedia

  • Fence Cutting War — The Fence Cutting War (ca. 1883 through 1888, with sparce instances into the early 20th century) was a dispute between advocates of the open range, and ranchers who wished to fence off their property, all taking place in Texas.1883 and 1884The… …   Wikipedia

  • List of DC Comics characters: A — List of characters in DC Comics: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A Name Alter Ego(s) Original Publisher First Appearance Year Date Writer Artist A …   Wikipedia

  • Tisch — 1. Am tisch sei frölich, nicht hader mach, zu afterred sey nicht vrsach. Lat.: Absint a mensa, detractio, murmur et ira, sed cum laedicia, sumatur potus et esca. (Loci comm., 126.) 2. Am Tisch sol man keines Haders gedencken. – Petri, II, 14. 3.… …   Deutsches Sprichwörter-Lexikon

  • Hymn — For other uses, see Hymn (disambiguation). A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or… …   Wikipedia

  • Joch partit — Un Joch partit , Joc partit o Partiment (en castellano juego partido[1] ) es una composición de estilo trovadoresco en el que el trovador que habla primero plantea un problema, una situación, que tiene dos soluciones y se compromete a defender la …   Wikipedia Español

  • Cuerpo — (Del lat. corpus, oris.) ► sustantivo masculino 1 Cualquier materia sólida, líquida o gaseosa. SINÓNIMO masa 2 Objeto material caracterizado por ocupar un lugar en el espacio: ■ volumen de un cuerpo. 3 ANATOMÍA Organismo del hombre, en oposición… …   Enciclopedia Universal

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”