from the Texas Department of Public Safety website. There's a lot more good stuff in the article at the link.



https://www.dps.texas.gov/sect...istory-texas-rangers



In 1821, Stephen F. Austin, known as the "Father of Texas," made a contract to bring 300 families to the Spanish province, which now is Texas. By 1823, probably more than 600 to 700 people were in Texas, hardy colonists from the various portions of the United States at that time, who settled not far from the Gulf of Mexico. There was no regular army to protect them, so Austin called the citizens together and organized a group to provide the needed protection. Austin first referred to this group as the Rangers in 1823, for their duties compelled them to range over the entire country, thus giving rise to the service known as the Texas Rangers.

When Austin returned from his imprisonment in Mexico in 1835, a body was organized called the "Permanent Council." On October 17, 1835, Daniel Parker, a member, offered a resolution creating a corps of Texas Rangers, 25 men under the command of Silas M. Parker to range and guard the frontier between the Brazos and the Trinity; 10 men under Garrison Greenwood to work on the east side of the Trinity; and 25 men under D. B. Frazier to patrol between the Brazos and the Colorado.
...
Silver Stars and Sixguns:
The Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers Badge
"They were men who could
not be stampeded"
That's the way the late Colonel Homer Garrison, Jr., longtime director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, once described the men who have worn the silver or gold star of the Texas Rangers, the oldest law enforcement agency in North America with statewide jurisdiction.

Rangers have a heritage that traces to the earliest days of Anglo settlement in Texas. They often have been compared to four other world-famous law enforcement agencies, the FBI, Scotland Yard, Interpol and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Scores of books, from well-researched works of nonfiction to Wild West pulp novels to best-selling works of fiction, have been written about the Rangers. Over the years numerous movies, radio shows and television shows have been inspired by the Rangers.

The Rangers are part of the history of the Old West, and part of its mythology. Over the years, a distinct Ranger tradition has evolved.

As former Ranger Captain Bob Crowder once put it, "A Ranger is an officer who is able to handle any given situation without definite instructions from his commanding officer or higher authority. This ability must be proven before a man becomes a Ranger."

That definition worked well more than 150 years ago and still fits today. Yet, unlike years ago, today Texas Rangers have access to modern communications, which keeps them in touch with the rest of the world.

But a good horse was the only fast means of travel, and the best alibi for outlaws, in the early days of the Rangers.

Despite the long history of the Rangers, the term "Texas Ranger" did not appear officially in a piece of legislation until 1874.

The Rangers have a Museum in Waco, just off I35 and south of the river. It’s worth the few dollars they charge to get in. Room upon room of historical guns that rangers used. Some of the guns Frank Hamer got off Bonnie & Clyde.

They offer a LEO/mil discount.

The Ranger Museum in Waco isn't laid out well (isn't a continuous loop and has dead ends), doesn't flow well (jumps around time wise), good historical items but not displayed well, etc. Very disappointing visit last December as I had erroneously been told it was the better of the two.

The Ranger Museum in San Antonio in the Buckhorn Saloon is better. Flows well, items are very well displayed, better history progression, etc. Not as many items displayed but did much more with less.

The original primary function of the Texas Rangers was not so much law enforcement as it was acting as a military force dealing with marauding hostile natives and criminal gangs. Prior to the US Civil War the Rangers engaged in deep military penetrations of Mexican territory as well as a failed attempt to seize the territory now comprising New Mexico.

As was common in militia organizations of that period, enlistment in the Rangers was usually limited to periods of a few months at a time. Many Texans enlisted due to economic conditions, forced to seek other means of subsistence or to supplement their families' livelihoods while building up their farms and homesteads.

Texas government officials, including the years under Mexican dictates, the brief years of the Republic of Texas, and after statehood, were commonly negligent in funding the Ranger companies. Salaries were seldom paid on time, or in full, and operational needs were frequently taken care of by commandeering food, horses, ammunition, and other needs (sometimes in exchange for hand-written vouchers that were seldom honored by the state treasury, thus a general reluctance for acceptance).

There were no uniforms or any budget for livestock or equipment. There was no official badge of office. Some Rangers found it advantageous to have a means of establishing authority and did so via badges of their own design, usually made by silversmiths in the various towns. One of the most common types utilized the Mexican 5-peso silver coin, carved and stamped into the star within a circle, usually inscribed "TEXAS RANGER" and identifying which Ranger Company was represented.

At the outbreak of the US Civil War Texans organized into military units in support of the Confederacy, and most of the Rangers either joined, or formed the core element of the new units.

After the Civil War the State of Texas was occupied by Union forces. All military forces were disbanded, including the Rangers (also known as the Frontier Battalions). Occupying authorities established a new Texas State Police to enforce Reconstruction laws, becoming a heavy-handed force that was generally hated by the Texans. All local governments (including elected sheriffs) were turned out of office and replaced by Reconstruction appointees.

It would be quite a few years before the State of Texas was returned to control of elected state officials, and the Rangers were not reinstated as a state agency for many years. The Rangers served as a strong deterrent against local corruption in government, as the primary enforcement agency during the Prohibition Era, and were instrumental in dealing with Depression Era crime including the "automobile bandits" terrorizing communities and regions (an example being Bonnie & Clyde).

The modern Texas Rangers are organized as an arm of the Texas Department of Public Safety, which also includes and oversees the Texas state patrol as a primary statewide law enforcement agency. The Rangers have grown and developed over the decades and now consist of the premier state investigative agency for serious crimes and organized crime.

For most of its history the Rangers seldom included more than a hundred officers, organized in companies assigned to designated portions of a state that is physically larger than France. In recent decades the Rangers are recruited from the ranks of Texas Department of Public Safety officers, selected based on a solid history of excellence in investigative skills and abilities to act independently, frequently in isolated areas with little in the way of assistance or communications.

A few other states have followed the lead of the Texas Rangers by forming similar organizations through the years. New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and others have all fielded ranger companies during their territorial years and later as needed to deal with problems beyond the means of local resources, particularly organized crime and political corruption.

I have the greatest respect and admiration of the Texas Rangers. A number of years ago, while I was
on a protective assignment with President Gerald Ford, I was teamed up for about two weeks with the
late Texas Ranger Stuart Dowell (1932-2006). I learned since that he accomplished some great things as a ranger. I'm confident that if Stu had
been at the recent Texas schoolhouse shootings, he
would have done what needed to be done, and many
children and two teachers would be alive today.
Rest in peace Ranger Dowell.

Mike Shannon, Retired US Secret Service.

My family is part of the "Old 300," the 300 families that came to Texas with Stephen F. Austin before the Alamo. They were granted 4,000 acres near the Brazos river, I wish we still had it! I was fortunate though to grow up hunting, fishing and riding horses on 250 acres in Austin County.

There is a museum for the Old 300 in San Felipe, Texas, 50 miles west of Houston on I-10.

Nicest thing I own is a 1904 Colt .45 from my Great Grandfather who was the Sheriff of McClennan County (Waco). Love the old Texas history.

If anyone feels like reading a little more deeply, a couple of guys named Sadler and Harris have written some excellent books. Oddly enough, though, they tend to be published by the University of New Mexico Press. I thought New Mexico (and Arizona) had Rangers of their own?

quote:

Originally posted by Il Cattivo:
I thought New Mexico (and Arizona) had Rangers of their own?

Kinda, but not of the same stripe.

The Arizona Rangers and the New Mexico Rangers (now known as the New Mexico Mounted Patrol) are volunteer law enforcement auxiliaries, who are primarily called upon to assist with stuff like natural disaster response or traffic control at large events.

Whereas the Texas Rangers are full time professional law enforcement, and are the premier law enforcement agency for the state.

So they took the Ma Ferguson route - bypassed the Rangers and went straight to the Special Rangers. Thanks, Rogue, I didn't know that.

As said, the original rangers were mostly Indian fighters, trying to keep the settlers and ranchers safe from the Comanche and the Kiowa.

As the Indians got whipped and began to stay whipped, the Rangers branched out into law enforcement and crime suppression.

I just finished D.W. Roberts' "Rangers and Sovereignty." Roberts was an early Ranger who started Rangering just after the Civil War. It was fascinating.

So who came up with the slogan: "One riot, one Ranger"?

(God bless the Texas Rangers!)

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
So who came up with the slogan: "One riot, one Ranger"?

It stems from a (potentially apocryphal) story involving a Ranger in the very early 1900s.

From https://www.texasmonthly.com/a...-range-texas-lawmen/

One Ranger who has come to epitomize the Ranger service of the early 1900s was Bill McDonald, captain of Ranger Company B. One reason McDonald is still so well-known today is that he had a knack for hard-boiled talk. The “One Riot, One Ranger” legend apparently originated when McDonald was sent to Dallas to prevent an illegal prize fight. According to the story, McDonald was met at the train by the mayor who then asked: “Where are the others?” McDonald then replied: “Hell! ain’t I enough? There’s only one prize-fight!”

I recently read "The Kings of Texas", quite a bit about the Rangers and the border around Brownsville. Some amazing times, the story is very violent.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be Texas Rangers"...

A good read is "One Ranger", the story of Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson.

I had the great honor to work with Rangers when assigned in San Angelo in 2008. I admire the rangers I know and the uniquely American, storied history of the Rangers. One Ranger and One Ranger Returns are a couple of good books on the subject. I can spend hours in the Waco museum