Special Assignment, Field-inspection, Sheriff
Between 1889 and 1892, Banister accepted special assignments as a detective for the Santa Fe and other railroads. In 1892, he became a Treasury Agent assigned to help police the U.S.-Mexico border against cattle smugglers. After six years, he resigned and became inspector for the Texas Cattle Raisers Association (now the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association). He originated the field-inspection service for the association and was its first chief. Banister investigated cattle rustling for the association in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, and Oklahoma until 1914, when he became sheriff of Coleman County.
Banister's career is documented by a collection of his papers in the Southwest Collection of Texas Tech University. Documents detailing his investigations of cattle theft are particularly valuable in detailing the longtime efforts of the cattlemen's association in protecting livestock. Banister died of a stroke on August 1, 1918, in Coleman, and was buried in Santa Anna. His wife then took over his job and in so doing became the first female sheriff in the United States.
Read more about this topic: John Riley Banister
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