Private James H. "Jim" Moore

James H. "Jim" Moore

A posse of Texas Rangers and sheriff's deputies had been searching for five days in the heavy thickets near Hemphill in Sabine County in East Texas for an outlaw family named Conner. The posse split up near dawn, and one group wandered into an ambush set up by Willis Conner and his three sons, Bill, Fred and John.

The Conner gang opened fire. The rangers returned fire killing Bill Conner. Private Moore was shot through the heart and killed almost instantly. Captain William Scott, Sergeant John Brooks and Private John Rogers were all shot and seriously wounded. Fred Conner was wounded, but escaped. Over 100 rounds were fired at less than 50 feet in a matter of minutes. Fred Conner was shot and killed resisting arrest on October 25, 1887. Willis Conner and a grandson were killed during an arrest on November 15, 1887. John Conner was never heard from again. John Brooks and John H. Rogers later became famous Texas Ranger captains.

Private Moore was assigned to Company F, Frontier Battalion. He was buried in the Hemphill Cemetery in Sabine County. His tombstone reads: James H. Moore, Texas Ranger, Killed by Outlaws, March 31, 1887.