Artist: Othmar J. Hoffler (1893–1954)
Burton Charles Mossman Sr.
MOSSMAN, BURTON CHARLES SR. (1867–1956), inducted 1941
Captain of the first company of the Arizona Rangers—established in 1901 to control cattle rustling and other illegal activity—Burton C. Mossman was a hero in the final years of the Old West. Born in Illinois, his family eventually settled in New Mexico in 1882. Mossman became a cowboy and superintendent for the Aztec Cattle Company (also known as the Hashknife Outfit), running cattle in the northern Arizona Territory and across the Mexico border. He was also a sheriff. With a reputation for battling cattle rustlers, the territorial governor appointed Mossman the top lawman for the Rangers. Mossman was best known for the capture of the notorious border outlaw, Augustine Chacon, in 1902. He left law enforcement to focus on ranching, eventually purchasing Diamond A Ranch, near Roswell, New Mexico. He shipped trainloads of cattle to the Chicago market, handling more than a million head of cattle.
Source: Saddle & Sirloin Guidebook 2026, p. 147