William R. Rowland

Who was William R. Rowland?

William "Billy" Richard Rowland was the eleventh sheriff of Los Angeles County, California, and a large landowner in the La Puente area of the San Gabriel Valley. He organized the posse and crafted the successful strategy that resulted in the wounding and capture of notorious bandit Tiburcio Vasquez in 1874. He did not accompany the posse himself for fear of the tactic becoming known. Rowland discovered oil in the Puente Hills and founded the Puente Oil Company, one of the oldest such endeavors in California.

Rowland was born on November 11, 1846, at Rancho La Puente, the son of John and Dona Incarnación Martinez Rowland. She was the daughter of Col. Isaac Williams of Rancho Santa Ana del Chino. He was elected and became sheriff in 1871, when he was 26 years old, still the youngest as of 2011. He was the county's first sheriff of Latino descent.

He was married to Dona Manuela Rowland. They had two daughters, Mrs. C.E. Toland and Mrs. E. Clarence Moore, and two grandchildren, William Rowland Moore and Helen Moore.

While living in La Puente, Rowland commuted daily to his Los Angeles office via the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad.