History of the Texas Ranger Division
The origins of today's
Texas historian
The Rangers were to be described many times, at first as state troops, later as a police force or constabulary. During most of the 19th century, they were neither. They were apart from the regular army, the militia or national guard, and were never a true police force. They were instead one of the most colorful, efficient, and deadly band of irregular partisans on the side of law and order the world has seen. They were called into being by the needs of a war frontier, by a society that could not afford a regular army. Texans passed in and out of the Rangers regularly; in the early years, a very high proportion of all west Texans served from time to time. If they bore certain similarities to
History of Texas | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Timeline | ||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
Texas portal | ||||||||||||||||||
Creation and early days
By the early 1830s, the Mexican War of Independence had subsided, and some 60 to 70 families had settled in Texas—most of them from the United States. Because there was no regular army to protect the citizens against attacks by native tribes and bandits, in 1823, Stephen F. Austin organized small, informal armed groups whose duties required them to range over the countryside, and who thus came to be known as "rangers". Around August 4, 1823, Austin wrote that he would " ... employ ten men ... to act as rangers for the common defense ... the wages I will give said ten men is fifteen dollars a month payable in property ... "[3] John Jackson Tumlinson Sr., the first alcalde of the Colorado district, is considered by many historians of the Texas Rangers to be the first killed in the line of duty.[4] While there is some discussion as to when Austin actually employed men as "rangers", Texas Ranger lore dates the anniversary year of their organization to this event.[5]
However, the Texas Rangers were not formally constituted until 1835. Austin returned to Texas after having been imprisoned in Mexico City and helped organize a council to govern the group. On October 17, at a consultation of the Provisional Government of Texas, Daniel Parker proposed a resolution to establish the Texas Rangers. He proposed creating three companies that would total some 60 men and would be known by "uniforms" consisting of a light duster and an identification badge made from a Mexican peso. They were instituted by Texan lawmakers on November 24. On November 28, 1835, Robert McAlpin Williamson was chosen to be the first Major of the Texas Rangers. Within two years the Rangers grew to more than 300 men.
In their early days, Rangers performed tasks of protecting the Texas frontier against Indian attacks on the settlers. During the Texas Revolution, they served mainly as scouts, spies, couriers, and guides for the settlers fleeing before the Mexican Army and performed rear guard during the Runaway Scrape and general support duties. These minor roles continued after independence, when the region became the Republic of Texas under President Sam Houston. Houston, who had lived with the Cherokee for many years (and who had taken a Cherokee wife), favored peaceful coexistence with Indians, a policy that left little space for a force with the Rangers' characteristics.
This situation changed radically when Mirabeau B. Lamar became president of the Republic of Texas in December 1838. Lamar had participated in skirmishes with the Cherokee in his home state of Georgia; like most Texians, he had not forgotten the support the Cherokee had given the Mexicans in the Córdova Rebellion against the Republic. He favored the eradication of Indians in Texas—a view that he shared with Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Thomas Rusk. Lamar saw in the Rangers the perfect tool for the task, and he obtained permission from the Texas Legislature to raise a force of 56 Rangers, along with other volunteer companies. During the following three years, he engaged the Rangers in a war against the Cherokee and the Comanche and succeeded in weakening their territorial control.[6]
Mexican–American War
Sam Houston was re-elected President of Texas on December 12, 1841. He had taken note of the Rangers' cost-efficiency and increased their number to 150. Under Captain
With the annexation of Texas within the United States and the Mexican–American War in 1846, several companies of Rangers were mustered into federal service and proved themselves at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. From that moment on, their effectiveness as guerrilla fighters and guides to the federal army through a territory that they were familiar with marked the pace of the American offensive. Rangers played an important role in the battles of Monterrey and Buena Vista. The army, commanded by General Winfield Scott, landed at Veracruz in March 1847, and the Rangers once again provided valuable support at the ensuing Siege of Veracruz and the battles of Cerro Gordo and Chapultepec. They were also responsible for the defeat of the fierce Mexican guerrilleros that hindered the advance of the federal troops, which they achieved ruthlessly and efficiently. By then, the Rangers had earned themselves a considerable reputation that approached the legendary among Mexicans, and when Ranger companies entered and occupied Mexico City with the U.S. Army in September 1847, los Diablos Tejanos (the "Texas Devils") were received with reverence and fear.[10] Their role in the Mexican–American War also won them nationwide fame in the United States and news of their exploits, in the contemporary press became common, effectively establishing the Rangers as part of American folklore. As the Victoria Advocate reported in the November 16, 1848, issue:
Four newly raised ranging companies, have all been organized, and taken their several stations on our frontier. We are much pleased. We know they are true men, and they know exactly what they are about. With many of them, Indian and Mexican fighting has been their trade for years. That they may be permanently retained in the service on our frontier is extremely desirable, and we cannot permit ourselves to doubt such will be the case.[11]
Despite these popular stories and their fame, some of their most brutal interventions, such as the massacre of unarmed civilians, elderly men, women and children in Saltillo, ordered by Samuel H. Walker, remained unknown to the American public at large.[citation needed] Most of the Ranger force was disbanded during the years following the end of the Mexican–American War on February 2, 1848, since the protection of the frontiers was now an official duty of the U.S. Army. But as more settlers sought to establish homesteads in lands traditionally occupied by Indians, the skirmishes with the native peoples became a major political issue. During the 1850s, the Rangers were intermittently called on to deal with this problem, and with the election of Hardin Richard Runnels as governor in 1857, they once again regained their role as defenders of the Texas frontier.
On January 27, 1858, Runnels allocated
In December 1859, Ford and his company were assigned to
The success of these campaigns marked a turning point in Rangers' history. The U.S. Army could provide only limited and thinly stretched protection in the enormous territory of Texas. In contrast, the Rangers' effectiveness when dealing with these threats convinced both the people of the state and the political leaders that a well-funded and organized local Ranger force was essential. Such a force could use the deep familiarity with the territory and the proximity with the theater of operations as major advantages in its favor. This option was not pursued in the light of the emerging national political problems, and the Rangers dissolved until 1874. However, the conviction of their usefulness had become firmly established, and the agency was eventually reconstituted.[12]
Civil War and late 19th century
After Texas
During
The scenario changed radically for the Rangers with the state election of 1873. When newly elected Governor Richard Coke took office in January 1874, it marked the end of Reconstruction for the Lone Star State, and he vigorously restored order to Texas in pursuit of improvements to both the economy and security. Once again Indians and Mexican bandits were threatening the frontiers, and once again the Rangers were tasked with solving the problem. That same year, the state legislature authorized the recommissioning of the Rangers,[14] and a special force was created within its aegis: the Frontier Battalion, consisting of six companies of 75 men each under the command of Major John B. Jones. This group played a major role in the control of ordinary criminals as well as the defense against hostile Indian tribes, which was particularly necessary in the period of lawlessness and social collapse of the Reconstruction.[citation needed]
The Frontier Battalion was soon augmented with the Special Force, a second military group of 40 men under Captain
It was at these times that many of the Rangers' myths were born, such as their success in capturing or killing notorious criminals and
Taft-Diaz assassination attempt
In 1909, Private C.R. Moore of Company A, "performed one of the most important feats in the history of the Texas Rangers".[20] William Howard Taft and Porfirio Díaz planned a summit in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, an historic first meeting between a U.S. president and a Mexican president and also the first time an American president would cross the border into Mexico[21] But tensions rose on both sides of the border, including threats of assassination, so the Texas Rangers, 4,000 U.S. and Mexican troops, U.S. Secret Service agents and U.S. marshals were all called in to provide security.[22] Frederick Russell Burnham, the celebrated scout, was put in charge of a 250 private security detail hired by John Hays Hammond, a nephew of Texas Ranger John Coffee Hays, who in addition to owning large investments in Mexico was a close friend of Taft from Yale and a U.S. Vice-Presidential candidate in 1908.[23][24] On October 16, the day of the summit, Burnham and Private C.R. Moore discovered a man holding a concealed palm pistol standing at the El Paso Chamber of Commerce building along the procession route.[25][26] Burnham and Moore captured, disarmed, and arrested the assassin within only a few feet of Taft and Díaz.[20][27]
Mexican Revolution and early 20th century
At the beginning of the 20th century, Texas's frontiers had become more settled, thus rendering the 1874 legislation obsolete after the organization had existed as a quasi-military force for more than 25 years. Amidst serious legal troubles that questioned the authority of the Rangers to exert such a role, new resolutions appropriate to the current times were adopted. The Frontier Battalion was disbanded with the passing of new legislation on July 8, 1901, and a new Ranger force was created, consisting of four companies of "no more than 20 men each" with a captain in command of every unit. The Rangers had evolved into an agency with an exclusive law enforcement focus.[citation needed]
The Mexican Revolution that began in 1910 against Mexican President Díaz changed the relatively peaceful state of affairs along the border. Soon after, violence on both sides of the frontier escalated as bands of Mexicans took over border towns and began crossing the Rio Grande on a near-daily basis. Taking over trade routes in Mexico by establishing themselves as road agents, Mexican banditos turned towards attacking the American communities for kidnapping, extortion, and supplies. As Mexican law enforcement disintegrated with the collapse of the Diaz regime, these gangs grouped themselves under the various caudillos on both sides of the border and took sides in the civil war, most simply to take advantage of the turmoil to loot.[28] As the lack of American ability to defend its southern border became more apparent, the scope of these activities turned to outright genocide with the intention of driving Americans out of the Southwest entirely; this became known as the Plan de San Diego in 1915. In several well-rehearsed attacks, Mexicans rose up and in conjunction with raiding Villista guerrillas, within weeks had killed over 500 Texan women, children, and men.[29]
The Texans were determined to restore control and order by any means necessary. As Governor Oscar Branch Colquitt instructed Ranger Captain John R. Hughes, " ... you and your men are to keep Mexican raiders off of Texas territory if possible, and if they invade the State let them understand they do so at the risk of their lives."[30] Hundreds of new special Rangers were appointed by order of the state, which neglected to carefully screen aspiring members. Rather than conduct themselves as law enforcement officers, many of these groups acted more like vigilante squads. Reports of Rangers abusing their authority and breaking the law themselves increased.[31]
The Rangers used censorship and murder to suppress political dissent. In 1914 Rangers destroyed a printing press and arrested journalists at El Progreso, a newspaper in Laredo, because the newspaper had criticized the United States occupation of Veracruz. Rangers feared an uprising by non-white people in Texas because of the Plan of San Diego, a 1915 document calling for a racial utopia and succession from the US. They executed Mexicans and Tejanos at various locations around the state, and left their bodies on display as a warning, including 12 hangings in Hidalgo County in September 1915.[32]
The situation grew even more dramatic when on March 9, 1916,
The final straw was the Porvenir Massacre, involving the killing of innocent villagers wrongly accused of raiding the Brite Ranch Store on Christmas Day in 1917. In January 1918 a heavily armed group of Texas Rangers, ranchmen and members a troop of U.S. Cavalry descended upon the tiny community of Porvenir, Texas on the Mexican border in western Presidio County. The Rangers and company rounded up the inhabitants of the village and searched their homes. They then proceeded to gather all the men in Porvenir (fifteen Mexican men and boys ranging in age from 16 to 72 years) and march them off into the darkness. A short distance from Porvenir, the men were lined up against a rock bluff and shot to death.[33]
Before the decade was over, thousands of lives were lost, Texans and Mexicans alike. In January 1919, at the initiative of Representative José T. Canales of Brownsville, the Texas Legislature launched a full investigation of Rangers' actions throughout these years. The investigation found that from 300 up to 5,000 people, mostly of Hispanic descent, had been killed by Rangers from 1910 to 1919, and that members of the Rangers had been involved in many acts of brutality and injustice.[34]
These were the most turbulent times in the history of the Rangers, and with the objective of recycling the force's membership, putting it back in tune with its past and restoring the public's trust, the Legislature passed on March 31, 1919, a resolution to purge it and enhance it and its procedures. All special Ranger groups were disbanded; the four official companies were kept, albeit their members were reduced from 20 to 15 each; better payment was offered in order to attract men of higher personal standards; and a method for citizens to articulate complaints against any further misdeeds or abuses was established.[citation needed]
The reforms proved positive, and the new Ranger force eventually regained the status of a respectable agency. Under the command of captains such as Frank Hamer (who later became famous for leading the party that killed the outlaws Bonnie and Clyde), the Rangers displayed remarkable activity in the following years, including the continuous fighting of cattle rustlers, intervening in the violent labor disputes of the time and protecting the citizenry involved in Ku Klux Klan's public displays from violent mob reaction. With the passage of the Volstead Act and the beginning of nationwide prohibition on January 16, 1920, their duties extended to scouting the border for liquor smugglers and detecting and dismantling the illegal stills that abounded within Texas.
One of the Rangers' highest-profile interventions during this period was taming Texas's oil boomtowns, which had developed into lawless territories. During the 1920s, martial law was decreed on several of these towns, such as Mexia and Borger; at others, like Desdemona, Wink, Ranger, Kilgore and Burkburnett, the situation was also very serious, and the Rangers were called in to quell agitated locals and terminate all illegal activities. This trouble continued until well in the 1950s, but the Rangers prevented it from growing into an even more dramatic problem. At Borger, a total of ten officers were sent on April 7, 1927, including Captain Hamer. The balance of the Rangers' activities upon their arrival as reported was:
- A thorough-going clean-up was put underway. The liquor traffic was broken up, many stills being seized and destroyed, and several thousand gallons of whiskey being captured and poured out. Two hundred and three gambling slot machines were seized and destroyed, and in a period of twenty-four hours, no less than twelve hundred prostitutes left the town of Borger.[28]
Modernization and present day
The Great Depression forced both the federal and state governments to cut down on personnel and funding of their organizations, and the Rangers were no exception. The number of commissioned officers was reduced to 45, and the only means of transportation afforded to Rangers were free railroad passes, or using their personal horses. The situation worsened for the agency when its members entangled themselves in politics in 1932 by publicly supporting Governor Ross Sterling in his re-election campaign, over his opponent Miriam Amanda "Ma" Ferguson. Ferguson was elected, and immediately after taking office in January 1933, she proceeded to discharge all serving Rangers. The force also saw its salaries and funds slashed by the Texas Legislature, and their numbers reduced further to 32 men. The result was that Texas became a safe hideout for the many Depression-era gangsters escaping from the law, such as Bonnie and Clyde, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, Pretty Boy Floyd and Raymond Hamilton. The hasty appointment of many unqualified Rangers to stop the increasing criminality proved ineffective.[35]
The general disorganization of law enforcement in the state convinced the members of the Legislature that a thorough revision of the public security system was in order, and with that purpose it hired the services of a consulting firm from Chicago. The resulting report yielded many worrying conclusions, but the basic underlying facts were simple: the criminality levels in Texas were extremely high, and the state's means to fight them were underfunded, undermanned, loose, disorganized and obsolete. The consultants' recommendation, besides increasing funding, was to introduce a whole reorganization of state security agencies; especially, to merge the Rangers with the Texas Highway Patrol under a new agency called the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). After deliberating, the Legislature agreed with the suggestion. The resolution that created the new state law enforcement agency was passed in 1935, and with an initial budget of $450,000, the DPS became operational on August 10.
With minor rearrangements over the years, the 1935 reforms have ruled the Texas Rangers' organization until present day. Hiring new members, which had been largely a political decision, was achieved through a series of examinations and merit evaluations. Promotion relied on seniority and performance in the line of duty. More sophisticated means of crime fighting were put at their disposal, like automobiles, advanced weaponry and forensics. By the late 1930s, the Rangers had one of the best crime labs in the United States at the Headquarters Division in Austin. The appointment of Colonel Homer Garrison in September 1938 as director of the DPS proved decisive as well. Under his leadership, many respected captains such as Manuel T. Gonzaullas worked extensively to restore the good name of the force that had been compromised in the previous decades, keeping it in line with its traditions within a modern and civilized society and regaining its high status.[28] The number of commissioned officers grew and the Rangers developed a clear detective function, while the Highway Patrol took charge of direct law enforcement duties.
The quality of the force in terms of training, funding, modernization and number strength has continued to improve. In the last few decades, the Rangers have intervened in several thousand cases with a high level of effectiveness,
Notable Texas Rangers
-
William Callicot
-
Robert Kinghorn
-
George Wythe Baylor
See also
Notes
- ^ Fehrenbach, T.R., Lone Star, Wing Books, (1991 Edition), pp. 472-477.
- ^ Fehrenbach, Lone Star, p. 473.
- ^ Robinson, Charles, The Men Who Wear the Star: The Story of the Texas Rangers.
- ^ [Transactions, Texas Lodge of Research, Captain Peter F. Tumlinson: Texian Ranger and Mason. Doyle, Brett Laird XXXIX (2004– 2005) 83–91.]
- ^ Cox, Mike, The Texas Rangers.
- ^ Webb, Walter Prescott, The Texas Rangers: A Century of Frontier Defense.
- ^ O'Neal, Bill, Captain Jack Hays, Texas Ranger Dispatch Magazine, the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, issue 1, 2000.
- ^ Circelli, Jerry, Lawmen of the Old West Archived 2007-10-08 at the Wayback Machine, Western Horsemen Story. Retrieved March 26, 2007.
- ISBN 978-0-8117-0400-7.
- ^ Ford, John Salmon, Rip Ford's Texas.
- ^ Cox, Mike, Texas Ranger Tales: Stories That Need Telling.
- ^ Wilkins, Frederick, Defending the Borders: The Texas Rangers, 1848–1861.
- ^ Webb, Walter Prescott, The Texas Rangers: A Century of Frontier Justice, University of Texas Press, 1965, second edition, pp. 219–229.
- ^ Utley, Robert M., Lone Star Justice: The First Century of the Texas Rangers, Berkley Books, 2003, p. 144.
- ^ Wilkins, Frederick, The Law Comes to Texas: The Texas Rangers 1870–1901.
- ^ Captain Frank Jones killed 1893 is 3rd from right front row
- ^ Parsons, Chuck & Hall Little, Marianne E., Captain L. H. McNelly, Texas Ranger: The Life and Times of a Fighting Man.
- ^ Parsons, Chuck & Hall Little, Marianne E., ibid.
- ^ "McDonald, William Jesse". tshaonline.org. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
- ^ a b Harris 2009, p. 26.
- ^ Harris 2009, p. 1.
- ^ Harris 2009, p. 15.
- ^ Hampton 1910.
- ^ Daily Mail 1909, p. 7.
- ^ Harris 2009, p. 16.
- ^ Hammond 1935, pp. 565–66.
- ^ Harris 2009, p. 213.
- ^ a b c Cox, Mike, op. cit.
- ^ Johnson, Benjamin Herber, op. cit.
- ^ Cox, Mike, ibid.
- ^ Harris, Charles H. III & Sadler, Louis R., The Texas Rangers And The Mexican Revolution: The Bloodiest Decade, 1910–1920.
- ISBN 9781477310366.
- ^ Cynthia E. Orozco, "Porvenir Massacre," [Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 10, 2016
- ^ Harris, Charles H. III & Sadler, Louis R., ibid.
- ^ Webb, Walter Prescott, op. cit.
- ^ Texas Rangers from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved October 13, 2005.
- ^ "The division relating to the Texas Rangers may not be abolished" - Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 147, Sec. 1, September 1, 1987.
References
- Doyle, Brett. Laird Transactions, Texas Lodge of Research, Captain Peter F. Tumlinson: Texian Ranger and Mason. Doyle, Brett Laird XXXIX (2004–2005) 113–24 Published by the Texas Lodge of Research A. F. & A. M. 2006.
- Ford, John Salmon. Rip Ford's Texas (University of Texas Press. 1987). ISBN 978-0-292-77034-8.
- Hampton, Benjamin B (April 1, 1910). "The Vast Riches of Alaska". Hampton's Magazine. 24 (1).
- Harris, Charles H. III; Sadler, Louis R. (2009). The Secret War in El Paso: Mexican Revolutionary Intrigue, 1906–1920. Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 978-0-8263-4652-0.
- Harris, Charles H. III; Sadler, Louis R. (2004). The Texas Rangers And The Mexican Revolution: The Bloodiest Decade. 1910–1920. Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0-8263-3483-0.
- Johnson, Benmamin Herber. Revolution in Texas: How a Forgotten Rebellion and Its Bloody Suppression Turned Mexicans into Americans, Yale University Press (2003). ISBN 978-0-300-09425-1
- Knight, James R. & Davis, Jonathan. Bonnie and Clyde: A Twenty-First-Century Update, Eakin Press (2003). ISBN 978-1-57168-794-4
- ISBN 978-0674976436
- Parsons, Chuck & Marianne E. Hall Little. Captain L. H. McNelly, Texas Ranger: The Life and Times of a Fighting Man, State House Press (2000). ISBN 978-1-880510-73-5.
- Robinson, Charles. The Men Who Wear the Star: The Story of the Texas Rangers, Modern Library, (2001). ISBN 978-0-375-75748-8
- Swanson, Doug, J. Cult of Glory: The Bold and Brutal History of the Texas Rangers. Viking Press, (2020). ISBN 978-1101979860
- Webb, Walter Prescott. The Texas Rangers: A Century of Frontier Defense, University of Texas Press (1989). ISBN 978-0-292-78110-8
- Wilkins, Frederick. Defending the Borders: The Texas Rangers, 1848–1861, State House Press, (2001). ISBN 978-1-880510-41-4
- Wilkins, Frederick. The Law Comes to Texas: The Texas Rangers 1870–1901, State House Press, (1999). ISBN 978-1-880510-61-2.
- Wilkins, Frederick. The Legend Begins: The Texas Rangers, 1823–1845, State House Press, (1996). ISBN 978-1-880510-41-4
- "Mr. Taft's Peril; Reported Plot to Kill Two Presidents". Daily Mail. London. October 16, 1909. ISSN 0307-7578.
Primary sources
- Barrow, Blanche Caldwell & John Neal Phillips (Ed.). My Life With Bonnie & Clyde, University of Oklahoma Press (2004). ISBN 978-0-8061-3625-7.
- Cox, Mike. Texas Ranger Tales: Stories That Need Telling, Republic of Texas, (1998). ISBN 978-1-55622-537-6
- Gillett, James B. (1921). Six Years with the Texas Rangers, 1875 to 1881. Von Boeckmann-Jones Company.
- ISBN 978-0-405-05913-1.
- Texas State Library. "Rangers and Outlaws (Transcripts related to the Texas Rangers)". Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
External links
- Official Texas Rangers website (Texas Department of Public Safety)
- Official Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum
- Rangers and Sovereignty, Published 1914, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
- Texas Rangers from the Handbook of Texas Online
- In the Ranging Tradition: Texas Rangers in Worldwide Popular Culture.
- The King Ranch and The King Rangers
- Excerpt detailing Ranger misconduct during the Mexican-American War.
- Lone Stars and Gunsmoke a Primary Source Adventure, a lesson plan hosted by The Portal to Texas History
- Website regarding Texas Rangers photograph {reference only}
- The Adventures of Big-Foot Wallace, the Texas Ranger and Hunter, Published 1870, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
- Website including Texas Ranger Battalion photograph at Camp Verde {reference only}
- Website including Texas Ranger photograph {reference only}
- Website including Texas Ranger photographs {reference only}
- Full text digital copy of Captain Bill McDonald, Texas ranger: a story of frontier reform by Paine, Albert Bigelow, 1861–1937
- The Problem of Identity in a Changing Culture. Popular Expressions of Culture Conflict Along the Lower Rio Grande Border, by Dr. Américo Paredes.