Hamer was a product of geography and time. Born in 1884, he grew up poor, son of a blacksmith. At various points he was a cowboy, a sharecropper, and then volunteered for a posse chasing a criminal. He was well over six feet tall, all muscle — he'd worked in the smithy with his father — self-reliant, self-confident, and had an inherent sense of justice that found him admiring and appreciating stories of Native Americans. At 22 he became a Ranger and served honorably and quietly — except for the gunfire, of course. He was in more than 50 shootouts and had either killed or been part of killing more than 20 criminals. He'd been shot more than 20 times himself. He named his .45 Colt "Old Lucky."
When the Rangers were disbanded for a brief time, Hamer joined the Texas highway patrol, and it was during that period that he tracked down, found, and led the posse that fired 167 rounds, not counting buckshot, effectively ending the two-year trail of crime committed by Parker and Barrow.
Hamer immediately became a national hero but refused to capitalize on it. He turned down $10,000 to help write a book about the case.
As for that movie — Hamer's family sued the producers in 1968 and got a settlement out of court.
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