The Story · Chronology
A life on the move
From Jay’s birth in northeast Texas in 1836 to his election as sheriff in 1887.
1836
Born in northeast Texas
Grows up working cattle in what later became Harrison County.
1861–65
War west of the Mississippi
Rides with a Harrison County cavalry company in the Trans-Mississippi theater.
Late 1860s
West to Lampasas
Gathers brush cattle and begins taking herds north on the Kansas trails.
1874–76
Frontier Battalion
Serves with Company D of the newly rebuilt Texas Rangers.
1877
Lampasas feud
Refuses work from either side of the Horrell–Higgins feud and watches the peace take hold.
1878
The name sticks
Turns a stampeding herd at the Platte crossing and comes home known as Bison Jay.
1881
His own iron
Builds a ranch in the Big Valley bottoms on the Colorado, one cow at a time.
1887
First county sheriff
Elected sheriff as a new central Texas county forms around Goldthwaite.