James Henry Boone: Cowboy, Sheriff, and Washington Park Proprietor (1859–1906)

James Henry Boone was a cowboy, U.S. Customs mounted inspector, sheriff of El Paso County, and proprietor of the Washington Park entertainment venue in El Paso, Texas. Boone was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, on July 2, 1859, to Ben Turner Boone, Jr., and Annie Elizabeth (Beddingfield or Bennyfield) Boone. As a young man, Boone, who was then living in Alabama, left home and came to Texas, where he settled in the San Antonio area and began working as a cowboy.

In 1884 Boone moved to El Paso and was soon appointed to the position of mounted inspector with U.S. Customs (see U.S. CUSTOMS BORDER PATROL). He was quickly promoted to the rank of captain and was responsible for all patrol activities along the Rio Grande in the El Paso area as well as the land border in what would become the states of Arizona and New Mexico. During his tenure as a mounted inspector, Boone and the officers under his leadership were engaged in interdicting various types of contraband and dutiable merchandise, arresting smugglers, and investigating and restricting illegal Chinese immigration into the United States. Boone served in this position for approximately ten years before deciding to run for the office of sheriff of El Paso County. During his tenure at U.S. Customs, he served under collectors of customs Joseph Magoffin and Capt. Charles Davis.

Boone was elected to the office of sheriff in 1898 and was reelected several times before resigning from office in July 1905. Sheriff Boone earned a reputation as a capable and efficient public servant. An 1899 article in Police News and reprinted in the September 5, 1899, edition of the El Paso Times described him as “an old-time frontier officer….out fighting Indians, catching smugglers and criminals for the past eighteen years.“ The publication described Boone as an “intrepid and dashing” law enforcement officer who was “very popular” and “feared by all outlaws.”

On November 12, 1904, Sheriff Boone began enforcing the state of Texas “blue laws” and those prohibiting gambling for the first time in the history of El Paso. An article published in the Washington Post on July 3, 1904, pointed out that there were “ninety-four wide-open public gambling places within two miles of the customs house” and referred to the city as the “Monte Carlo of the United States.” Prior to this date, Boone said he had not enforced the gambling laws “Because there was a precedent that allowed laws to go unenforced” in El Paso.

While serving as sheriff, Boone began the development of a resort known as Washington Park just outside El Paso. Having leased the park from the city, he invested approximately $90,000, according to a feature in the El Paso Times, and did extensive landscaping and construction. This park contained a theater, racetrack, grandstand, stables, gardens, and a baseball field. A main park building included a roller skating rink, restaurant, saloon, billiard hall, dance hall, and ten-pin bowling alleys. The Boone family apparently resided in part of the building. In addition, the park operated a miniature train and rented boats to explore a four-acre lake. Described as “the beauty spot of El Paso,” unfortunately, the park was never profitable, and in 1906 Boone sold his interest in the park to the local streetcar company.

Boone married Isabelle Rodgers in Karnes County, Texas in December 1881. The couple had two daughters, Alice Ethel and Jessie Clarissa. Boone then married Annie H. Heep in Hays County, Texas, on December 22, 1889. His marriage to Lillian Mebus occurred on December 27, 1904, in El Paso. Boone had no known children from his second or third marriage.

While traveling in Eureka, California, James Henry Boone died of food poisoning on July 26, 1906. He was forty-seven. He was buried at the Concordia Cemetery in El Paso, Texas.  North Boone Street which borders Concordia Cemetery in El Paso is named in honor of James H. Boone.