Private Ernest St. Leon

Ernest St. Leon

Private Ernest St. Leon from Company D of the Texas Rangers under the command of Captain John R. Hughes went to the town of Socorro with an attorney from Ysleta to transact some business with the local Justice of the Peace.

The J.P. asked Private St. Leon to serve warrants of arrest for Bob Findley and John Collier for forcibly removing horses from the city pound. Private St. Leon arrested both men and after hearing that they were recovering their own horses, the matter was settled and the two cowboys left town just before dark. Shortly thereafter St. Leon heard shots being fired. The J.P. asked St. Leon not to pursue the men alone.

Private St. Leon deputized Dr. Oscar J. Breaux and went to arrest the cowboys. In the dark three men riding two horses approached, and when St. Leon ordered them to surrender, they opened fire. Dr. Breaux was shot in the right ear and died instantly. Private St. Leon was shot in the shoulder with the bullet passing through his chest into his lung. The three men fled and were later arrested by Captain Hughes. The third man who had joined Findley and Collier was John Ray. Ray was wounded in the thigh by St. Leon. St. Leon was transported to Ysleta and then by train to El Paso where he died on Wednesday, August 31, 1898 after giving a dying statement. The final disposition of the three suspects is unknown but they were charged with murder of Breaux and St. Leon.

St. Leon had enlisted in the Texas Rangers in 1890 and had served off and on until his death. His nickname was "Diamond Dick" for the diamond stick pin he always wore on his shirt. He was buried in the Concordia Cemetery in El Paso, Texas. He was survived by his wife.