History of Borger by Nyla Harvey
West Texas State College, Canyon, Texas; 1953. A thesis presented to the Faculty of the Department of History West Texas State College.

p. 71. Crime in Borger again came to a head in September, 1929, a little more than two years after the removal of the first Ranger group from Borger. On Friday, September 13, District Attorney John A. Holmes was murdered. Holmes was ambushed as he drove his car into the garage at his home after letting his wife and mother-in-law out at the rear of the house. Five shots from a .38 caliber revolver were fired at him by an assailant who was lurking in the shadows of an adjacent, vacant house, and slipped upon the unsuspecting district attorney as he closed the garage door. He was hit by three shots which killed him immediately.

     Governor Dan Moody was notified of the killing by G.C. Harney and John T. Buckley. Early Saturday morning he telephoned District Judge E. J. Pickens of the Eighty-fourth District, District Attorney Edward W. Thomarson of he Forty-seventh District of Amarillo, and District Attorney Clifford Brawley of the Thirty-first District at Pampa, and asked them to discuss the possibility of calling a special court of inquiry to investigate the assassination. Rangers were sent in to direct the investigation. They arrived September 15. These included Captain Frank Hamer, Captain Tom Hickman, Sergeants J. B. Wheatley, C. O. Moore, and B. M. Gault. City and county officials from almost every section of the Panhandle also came to Borger to assist. Among those reported in Borger on September 15 were: Sheriff J. S. Talley of Perryton, Sheriff O. J. Thorp of Carson County, Deputy John W. McCormick of Carson County, Deputy Sheriff Gib Lewis of Amarillo, ex-police chief H. L. Gaither of Amarillo and Constable A. S. Johnson of Amarillo. Judges and attorneys who came were: District Court Judges E. J. Pickens, Canadian; W. R. Ewing, Pampa; ex-judge Newton P. Willis, Canadian; District Attorneys Clifford Brawley, Pampa; Edward W. Thomerson, Amarillo; and County Attorney Raymond Allred, Wheeler.

p. 74 Several theories were advanced as to possible motives for the killing of the District Attorney. Shortly after the killing, in an interview with the Rangers, Mrs. Holmes revealed that her husband knew his life was in danger and told them of probable sources.

     On September 18, Captain Hamer was reported to have announced that Texas Rangers had in their possession “affidavits substantiating alleged public official conspiracy underworld activities in Borger and Hutchinson County.” “It has developed that district attorney Holmes was delving into alleged underworld activities and was willing to spread out his knowledge before state and federal courts. One of the hypotheses advanced into the slaying of Holmes is that his efforts to rid the county of lawless elements might have led to his ambushment and killing.”

     Captain Hamer was alleged to have reported to Governor Moody that “The Hutchinson County oil town is possessed of the worst organized crime ring he had observed in his twenty-three years as a Texas Ranger."

     Many of the officers of the law are either ex-convicts or under indictment of criminal offenses at the present time.

     On September 29, Mayor Glenn A. Pace of Borger was arrested by Texas Rangers on charges of forcing a witness in a murder case to leave town. He was released on a bond.

     Because of conditions reported existing in Borger at that time, Governor Moody prepared to issue a proclamation declaring martial law for Hutchinson County and Borger on September 27, 1929. Martial law was declared for the county and went into effect at 8:45a.m. on September 30, 1929, with the arrival in Borger of Brigadier General Jacob T. Wolters, one hundred troops, and fourteen officers. The detachment arrived in a special eight-coach train at 8:37 a.m., and martial law was declared eight minutes later. The guardsmen set up their official headquarters in the City Hall. The men were marched to a vacant store building south of the Black Hotel on Grand Avenue where military headquarters were established.

p. 77 After issuing the proclamation, General Wolters and his officers went to the Black Hotel and established themselves there.

     Colonel Louis S. Davidson was provost Marshal in charge at the City Hall. All peace officers turned in their guns at the City Hall. All firearms and ammunition were taken charge of by the guardsmen assisted by Texas Rangers.

     The Rangers again tried to rid the county of bootlegging of liquor. On Saturday, October 5, the Texas Rangers and National Guard officers conducted three “dry law raids.” The result was the arrest of four persons, the capture of three stills, seventy-two gallons of whiskey, and a large quantity of beer.

     Two 125-gallon stills were found in a garage in an Electric City home with seventy-two gallons of whiskey. The whiskey and mash were stored in a storage room underground beneath the back porch. At this place 150 barrels of mash were also destroyed.

     Because of the alleged corruption in city and county government, most of the officials were forced to resign during the period of martial law. N. M. Hood and Henry Meyers retained their positions as county judge and county attorney respectively, but all other city and county officials including the city commissioners were relieved of their duties.

     On October 7, three city policemen and a deputy sheriff were suspended and placed under arrest by the Rangers. Those arrested were Deputy Cal Baird and Policemen J. D. Lee, D. T. Blassingame, and Clint Milhollow. The policemen were booked for “investigation,” and the deputy for violation of the “Dean Law.”

     Brigadier General Jacob F. Wolters announced on October 14 that he had the resignations of Sheriff Joe Owenby, Mayor Glenn Pace, City Commissioners J. W. Crabtree, and J. E. Higgins. Following these resignations General Wolters said Martial Law should soon be lifted. The following day, W. A. Henderson, Borger hotel man and townsite owner, was named mayor. Dyke Cullum and Noe Steinberg became city commissioners and Albert Mace, police chief.

     The National Guard boarded the train at 3:50 p.m. on October 18, after nineteen days in Borger. Governor Moody issued a proclamation which officially ended martial law in Borger on October 29.