Westfall: A sheriff of second chances

For The Madera Tribune

Sheriff Samson Westfall.

---

When Samson Westfall ran against John Jones in 1910, and jerked the sheriff’s badge away from the two-term lawman, he thought the job would be a breeze. After all, he had served once before as sheriff of Madera County, from 1895 to 1899, and things had gone along smoothly then. He had reckoned, however, without Thomas Cook, who had been a thorn in the side of Westfall’s predecessor for months. According to police records, Cook was considered to have had “very desperate and dangerous characteristics,” and there was good reason for that assessment.

On Sept. 1, 1911, Cook ran afoul of Sheriff Westfall — or Westfall ran afoul of Cook. The latter had just been released from the County Jail the day before after serving three months in the local hoosegow. His incarceration had been the result of being convicted of being drunk in public and for committing petty larceny. Together the two offenses brought a 90-day stretch in the new county jail, 45 days each.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise to anybody that Thomas Cook would head for one of the many watering holes on Yosemite Avenue when he felt the fresh air of freedom. The only time he was not drinking was when he was in jail or he was sleeping off a hangover. Town Marshal Ray Northern had suggested to Sheriff Westfall that it might be a good idea to take preemptive action and put Cook back in jail again, if he started drinking. The Sheriff turned a deaf ear to Northern’s proposal however; he said he believed in giving people a second chance. He would have occasion to regret that decision.