C ap Barler and his favo rite mule, C hico , tracking a rustler in the Big Bend.
W
illiam Lee “Cap” Barler was
a man you didn't want to
mess with. A career lawman,
he served as a deputy sheriff under his
father, Miles Barler, at Llano, Texas
from 1911 to 1915. He joined the
Texas Rangers in 1915 serving in Del
Rio and Eagle Pass. In 1920 he joined
the U. S. Customs Service, serving in
Sanderson, Eagle Pass, and Falfurrias.
He returned to Sanderson where he
spent the last three years of his
Customs Service career, retiring in
1940. From 1940 until his death in
1951, Barler worked as a special inves-
tigator with a group of Terrell County
ranchmen known as Terrell County
Ranchmen's Protective Association.
His specialty was livestock theft pre-
vention.
Cap Barler came from humble
beginnings. His father served in the
Civil War and married Jane Buttery
shortly after he came home. On
January 2, 1874, Cap was born in
Llano. His was a childhood filled with
stories of the Civil War and outlaws
and Indian depredations, and this only
whetted his appetite for adventure and
derring-do. At graduation from high
school at the tender age of 17, he
moved to Mexico and managed a
ranch there. This experience enabled
him to become a recognized expert on
the customs and mores of the Mexican
border people.
Eventually he tired of this and his
father offered a deputy's job to entice
him to come home. Young Cap got a
taste of law enforcement and he was a
natural. But, he wanted more.
When he joined the Texas Rangers
in 1915, it took him only two years to
make captain of his own company, and
that earned him his lifelong nickname.
He was a quick study and was keen on
details and procedure. Col. Homer
Garrison, Jr., director of the Texas
Department of Public Safety, once said
that Texas Rangers were “men who
could not be stampeded.” That
describes Cap Barler exactly. He was
cool and calculating and never got in a
hurry.
For unknown reasons, Cap left the
Rangers in 1920 and struck out on his
own as a private investigator in Del
Rio and other southern West Texas
towns, working for banks and other
concerns as a private contractor. It
didn't take long for him to become
restless once again.
Around 1925, Barler entered the
U. S. Customs Service. His experience
working in Mexico as a youth made
him a natural Customs officer.
Eventually he landed in Sanderson,
where he finished his career. Being so
close to the border, Sanderson was a
hotbed of bootlegging activities.
Barler's expertise made it hard for
bootleggers and smugglers to make a
living. And he was relentless in his pur-
suit.
Escape
As to matters of love, Barler was a
quiet man, but he did marry Euna
Bernice Jackson on March 8, 1908.
The union produced one daughter,
Isla Gayle, but the marriage did not
last and they were divorced by
September, 1918. His Texas Ranger
lifestyle probably made it hard on the
marriage.
Eccentricity was a hallmark of
Barler's life. He was especially fond of
“Chico,” the pack mule he rode
through most of his career, even to
imparting human qualities to the ani-
mal. Once on a trip into southern
Brewster County with Terrell County
Sheriff J. S. Nance, he insisted on
going home by way of Marathon, con-
siderably out of the way and over diffi-
cult roads. When they arrived Nance
insisted that Barler take care of his
business, but Barler said he didn't have
any business in Marathon. “Well, why
did we come all this way, then?” asked
Nance. Barler answered, “Chico has
never seen this country before and I
wanted him to have the chance to see
it.”
Another eccentricity was his devo-
tion to details and his compulsion to do
paperwork, which bordered on the
obsessive. All paperwork was perfectly
executed and turned in on time. Sims
Wilkinson, Terrell County judge and
treasurer for the Terrell County
Ranchmen's Protective Association,
said Barler would refuse his paycheck
until all paperwork was filed.
Wilkinson said Barler was afraid his
children might have to return money
continued on page 27
BEHIND EVERY PROJECT IS A
Massage & Bodywork
432-386-2284
Evenings and weekends only • Text for appointment
Gift certificates available
Elizabeth Malloy, Licensed Massage Therapist
906 E. Ave. B (Coggins Chiropractic) • Alpine
301 N. 5th ST
432-837-2061
MORRISON HARDWARE
SERVING ALPINE & THE BIG BEND SINCE 1928
ALPINE, TEXAS 79830
www.morrisonhardware.com
Cenizo
Third Quarter 2017
23