Welcome to the Legendary Sheriff Web site. This site is about the life and times of Sheriff Buford Pusser. Buford went from a poor painfully shy child to become a cult hero in movies and books as sheriff.

In his three terms as sheriff of McNairy County Tennessee his legacy would be rest on hand full violent events on the state line of Mississippi and Tennessee with a group pinned the “State Line Mob”. These hotspots ran illegal gambling, prostitution, bootlegging, moonshine, robbery, and even murder ran freely from the early 1950’s until Pusser became Sheriff in 1964 and his counter part in Alcorn County Mississippi; S C “Preacher” Wilbanks (1963).

The state line cast of characters was as colorful as they were dangerous. Jack Hathcock would be the leader of the state line until he was murdered in 1964, his ex-wife Louise Hathcock and lover Carl “Towhead” White would run the Shamrock operation until her death in 1966 with White in prison at the time.

It would be in the battle with the State Line Gangsters that had no victors the price that Buford would pay would be high. Pusser forced to kill Louise Hathcock after she pulled a gun at him at the Shamrock Motel. On an early morning August 12, Buford and his wife Pauline would drive into an ambush on New Hope road; killing Pauline and seriously injuring Buford. It would be this event that would lead to the legend and the movie “Walking Tall”.

Pusser’s political enemies were as ruthless as the criminals on the state line. Rumormongers, corrupt, even to the point of trying to frame Pusser for a crime in 1972 would be a former McNairy Sheriff Clifford Coleman. Coleman who was Sheriff for his own three terms from 1956-62 and his Chief Deputy James Dickey would be elected sheriff from 1962-64 and during their tenure the state line ran wide open with little or no effort to control their criminal activities. Dickey during his election run in 1964 would be killed in a single car accident in the early morning hours leaving the Shamrock Motel and his paramour Louise Hathcock. Dickey was under his own dark cloud and was in the process of being indicted on several felony charges.

Pusser’s life, legend, and death are shrouded in controversy even to this day. Eddie Bond and W R Morris both claim they were the responsible parties who brought Pusser to national exposure and even sued the estate after Buford died. Contracts and time lines will show they had a small part but wanted money and all the credit.

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Buford Pusser Project

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