He gave up a good paper route to be Sheriff.

Although his name conjures up images of weekly gunfights, he was actually given the matinee-sounding

sobriquet when his father set him astride a watermelon and his uncle commented his eyes looked "a little buckshot."

This was a fortuitous slip, for nobody would take "Bloodshot" Lane seriously, even without the watermelon.



Newly married, young Buckshot needed a better paying job than his early morning paper route, even though it was

the largest in the county. He ran for Sheriff on a campaign slogan of "Vote for me, or get your paper in the mud."

While that isn't exactly true, it might have been on the minds of the voters who elected him by a wide margin.



Buckshot served as Wharton Constable for 8 years and as Sheriff for 12 more. Early on he gained a reputation

for honesty and fair play. Employing a common sense approach to law enforcement, he would differentiate

between the "accidental" and habitual criminal.



He taught himself fingerprinting, learned to fly, and raised money for an airplane the county couldn't afford

by requesting a dollar from anyone who wanted to donate. His fund-raising slogan was "A Buck for Buck".

A total of $6,500 was raised and Buckshot had the name of every donor painted on the aircraft.



Long before "America's Most Wanted," KULP Radio in El Campo gave Buckshot an early morning 15 minute "program"

six days a week, where he would tell individuals with warrants to turn themselves in. Many did.

Talk about a wake-up call. "It's 6 am, 56 degrees and John Johnson, if you're listening, don't make me come get you!"



Buckshot had his shoot-outs to be sure. One left his car riddled with 52 bullet holes and his hat with another.

His adversary was taken to the hospital and as Buckshot said; "never got over it."

Early in his career, Buckshot carried a Luger pistol, but after having three bullets go "clean through" a suspect,

he switched to a .45 for more stopping power.



Buckshot made every important national magazine. Life, Time and The Saturday Evening Post all
carried stories about or by Buckshot.

_Wharton County, Texas Historical Society_