Travis ran a fruit camp. They made him a officer so he could control the workers camp problems. He was not a regular officer. He kept the migrants in line.
Mystery Gold of the Superstitions. By Robert L Garman. Buy it , read it copies still out there.
By the way. I did Google him before this post and it said he was a police officer in Portland, Oregon. I also read on TNet somewhere that someone said he was a police officer from Portland. Guess I'll just have to read the books.