Tom Mayfield left his parents' Gonzales County farm in 1898 to help buy horses for Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Between 1910 and 1921 he served as Pharr City Marshal, Texas Ranger, and Hidalgo County Deputy Sheriff. His role in exposing a German-Mexican World War I plot in nearby San Diego and his escape from a Mexican firing squad in 1921 made him a local celebrity. As Pharr-San Juan-Alamo's deputy constable from 1938 to 1963, he gained the community's highest respect. He spent his last years as a resident of the San Juan Hotel.