Monday evening I got a call from a friend, letting me know that Sonny Zambrano was going to install the granite headstone for Ernest St Leon (Diamond Dick). For those of you unfamiliar with the name, Ernst St Leon was a Texas Ranger, Under Cover man, and Frontier Detective. He served with John R. Hughes and Frank Jones. He earned the name Diamond Dick by way of the large stickpin he habitually wore. He was killed in a gunfight in a Ysleta cantina in August of '98. He was taken to El paso's Hotel Dieu. Despite the doc's best efforts, Diamond Dick died of his bullet wounds on August 31st, 1898. He was only 39 years old.
As far back as we can remember, Diamond Dick didn't have any marker at all. Beth Jones of Concordia Heritage Association located the grave in 1999. Hamilton Underwood constructed and installed a very nice wrought iron cross to mark the grave site. There the situation sit until The CHA purchased a new granite marker for him. I got excited when the call came in, and started making calls myself. Besides my usual suspects, I called and or emailed the local media to let them know whats going on.
So yesterday morning there were quite a group waiting for Sonny. Deen and Ham Underwood, Leon Metz, Marilyn Weaver, myself, Heidi, and the little Buckaroo were all waiting. Sonny was right on time. Deen inspected the stone, and the decision was made on just how it was going to be installed. A camera man from KFOX-TV showed up and shot some good footage.
Leon, myself, and Deen made a few comments for the camera, and as the saying goes: A good time was had by all.
Photo courtesy of Ham Underwood
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