John King Fisher - Pioneer Cemetery, Uvalde TX
N 29° 12.916 W 099° 47.580
14R E 422921 N 3232096
As a youth, John King Fisher was charismatic but criminal, getting arrested on many charges but rarely getting punished. As a more mature man, he realized he could use his character traits as a lawman and became a deputy sheriff of Uvalde, TX.
Waymark Code: WM12XZR
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/03/2020
Views: 5
John King Fisher's birth date is uncertain, with dates ranging from October 1853 to as late as 1856. Most references just state he was born in 1854 in Collin County, north of Dallas. Who it was that convinced him to reform from his evil ways and become a good citizen instead of a thug also is cloudy. Was it Ranger Lee Hall or Ranger Capt. L. H. McNelly? His date of death is well known: 11 May 1884, from gunshots received in an ambush at the Vaudeville Variety Theater in San Antonio, TX. His burial place moved around as well. First he was buried at his ranch near Eagle Pass in Maverick County, then reburied the first time in Uvalde, TX at what is now part of the residential neighborhood but may have been part of the Pioneer Cemetery in its original plat, before the city ran a street through the cemetery. Finally, Fisher was buried at the present location on the west end of the Pioneer Cemetery as it now is. A giant oak tree grows beside the metal picket fence that frames his modest gray granite headstone and gravesite. (FYI: This giant oak next to this present gravesite is NOT the oak tree known as the Tombstone Oak. The Tombstone Oak was at the first Uvalde burial site; but, unfortunately, the oak tree was blown over in 2017 and is now "dead and gone.")
Fisher's life was a hard scrabbled existence in the roughly 30 or so years he was alive. By the time he was 15, his birth mother had died and he had moved several times with his father and step-mother several places within Texas. By the time he was striking out on his own as a 15 year old teenager, he was convicted of horse theft and sent to jail. This began a period of him following outlaws and building up a reputation as a gang leader of rustlers along the Rio Grand border. In trouble often, he rarely actually got convicted of crimes, even though it was apparent he'd committed them.
In his mid-20s, he was pursued by a Texas Ranger who caught and arrested him. While taking Fisher to jail, the Ranger must have had a man-to-man talk about Fisher's lifestyle. The criminal charges did not bring conviction at Fisher's trial, but he seemed to have reached a turning point. It was after meeting with the Texas Ranger and this trial that Fisher began to use his gunfighting talents for good instead of evil. Shortly thereafter, he began fighting crime, not committing it. In 1881 he moved to Uvalde, TX to become a deputy sheriff.
Although he was changed his lifestyle for the better, he still had to recon with his past. In 1884 he met former friend, Ben Thompson, while on a business trip to Austin where he was in the capacity of Acting Sheriff of Uvalde County. Ben Thompson had a disreputable past, similar to Fisher's. The two traveled together to San Antonio, since it was on Fisher's way home anyway. That night, they went to the Vaudeville Variety Theater there in San Antonio. It was in the theater that an ambush intended for Ben Thompson occurred by three or more men wanting to settle an old score with Fisher's buddy. Fisher was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was shot dead along with his friend.
Details of John King Fisher's life can be found in the links below.
Link to Wikipedia entry on John King Fisher:
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Link to Frontier Times article of King Fisher's life:
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Link to FaceBook page showing a photo of King Fisher:
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Link to the Tombstone Oak related to the Fisher King gravesite:
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