Type of Officer: Special Officer
Jurisdiction: Santa Fe Railroad
County: Sumner
Death Date: 6/1/1911
Added to Memorial: 2007
Circumstances of Death: Gunshot
Shortly after midnight on June 1, 1911, Santa Fe Railway Special Officer John Cates was checking security seals on the freight cars of a train that had just arrived in the rail yards at Wellington. Loaded freight cars were temptation to thieves and special security precautions were taken by Santa Fe special officers at every division stop. As Special Officer Cates was
examining freight cars at the rear of the train, several shots were fired by unknown assailants and Cates was fatally wounded. Special Officer Cates was 46 years old at the time of his death. He formerly was the Guthrie, Oklahoma police chief.
Panel: 35