Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Frontier veteran at last getting his due

By Bill Whitaker

Every year about this time, you hear that familiar and true refrain: There just isn’t enough we can do to show gratitude to our veterans.

That’s doubly true when it comes to the late James B. Dosher. You might have thought he would’ve easily earned the everlasting gratitude of his countrymen, judging from his service as a Texas Ranger, Confederate soldier and U.S. Army Scout during Indian hostilities in our area.

Instead, the federal government long ago decided that because Dosher was a civilian at the time he helped keep U.S. Army soldiers from walking into Indian ambushes, he didn’t deserve the Medal of Honor they awarded him back in 1870.

So in 1916— just 16 years after he’d been laid to rest atop a little hill near Barton’s Chapel in southern Jack County — they quietly revoked his Medal of Honor.

Which Dosher kin understandably have long seen as utterly dishonorable.

At least Dosher found himself in good company. The Army also revoked the Medal of Honor given to several other Army scouts of the era, including William F. Cody, better known in later years as Wild West showman “Buffalo Bill.”

For Dosher descendants, it has been a long road back to respectability for the Tennessee-born Texan. But in 1989, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records at last decided to restore the Medal of Honor to the long-dead Army scout.

Now, through the efforts of family and history buffs, this Veterans Day will see the proper unveiling of a state historical marker at Fort Richardson State Historical Park a mile southeast of Jacksboro. It recognizes “a true and genuine hero of the great state of Texas.”

At 2 p.m. Saturday, a large crowd of descendants will also view a new military Medal of Honor grave marker for Dosher, generally recognized for building the first log family dwelling in Jack County in 1855.

Joining in the ceremonies are Basil Gwinn of Hamby, Lewis Gwinn of Abilene and Glen Gwinn of Clyde, all great-great grandsons of Dosher, and their sister, Geneva Lantrip of Merkel.

Family pride is strong when it comes to Dosher, who kept a record of his adventures in Texas, beginning in 1847.

Because Dosher served as a $50-a-month post guide for Fort Richardson shortly after the Civil War ended, Dosher’s descendants decided the Texas frontiersman’s newly won Medal of Honor should reside at the fort, along with the new state marker honoring him.

Of course, placing the long-sought Medal of Honor in the care of Fort Richardson may well have prevented a battle bloodier than any endured by fort troops 130 years ago.

“Everyone in the family was pretty excited about that medal,” 64-year-old Mildred Harrison of Arlington told me. “But when you have as many descendants as James Dosher did — we’ve invited 107 of them Saturday — well, it can get tricky deciding just who should end up with the medal.

“Gosh, I'm worried that Saturday we might have a fight over who gets the flag!”

Now, that’s family pride for you.

Contact associate editor Bill Whitaker at 676-6732 or whitakerb@abinews.com. Check out Bill’s previous columns at www.brazosbill.com.