Omaha daily bee., 1899-10-29
ROUGH RANGERS OF TEXAS
War Waged for Sixty Years on Cattle Thieves
and Desperadoes.
SPLENDID RECORD OF THE ORGANIZATION
Preparations for n Reunion mt san
AntonIo-story of stirring Life
Told by n Tbree-Yenr
Recruit.

The Texas Rangers an organization made
up OF former members Of various companies
Of the Lone Star states famous frontier
fighters, viii meet In San Antonio, Tex, Mo-
vember 2 It Is likely that many hundreds OF
cx Rangers will be at the meeting, for about
5000 Of these men are still alive, and they
all take a great pride in the organization.
Some OF the eX-Rangers are old, white
haired men who fought the murderous
Apaches Comanches and Kiowas in the '4Os
and sos, but the greater number are those
who saw equally dangerous service on the
Texas frontier in the fifteen years imme-
diately following the civil war and whose
principal duty 1t was to drive out the Mexi-
can raiders from across the Rio Grande and
to overcome the white desperadoes who
banded together and terrorzed the settlers
OF the border counties.
In all truth it may be said that no body
OF frontier constabulary in the history OF the
world ever held such record for bravery
and effective work as the Texas Rangers.
They have been magnificent fighters ever
since the time when forty OF them fought
their way through Santa Annals army to the
Alamo to Join its little band of desperate
defenders. and there gave up their lives with
Davy Crockytt, Sam Bowie and Travis.
Those men were the original Texas Rang
ers and their example has ever been in the
minds Of their successors, apparently, for
it is a matter of common knowledge in Texas
that no Ranger ever shirked his duty or
turned his back to the enemy, no matter
what were the odds agairnt him.
In the war for the independence of Texas,
I'm the Mexican war and in the civil war the
Texos Rangers did notable service. Many
of them Joined the Rough Riders when the
Spanlsh- American war was declared and OF
them Colonel Roosevelt has written:
1--WE drew good many recruits from
Texas; and from nowhere did we get a
higher average, for many of them had served
in that famous body CT frontier lighters,
the Texas Rangers. These needed no teach
ing They wero already trained to obey
and to take responsibility. They were splen-
did shots, horsemen and trailers. They
we're accustomed to living in the open, to
enduring great fatigue and hardship, ana
to encountering all kinds Of danger
Rut wars have been but incidents in the
career OF the Rangers, for they have been
fighting a war of their own on the Texas
frontier for over sixty years During that
time they have fought against the enemies
OF law and order in their state ana nave
had hundreds upon hundreds OF battles and
skirmishes with the enemy. The WORK
OF wrestling Texas from the control OF the
lawlcss element which formerly relgne1
supreme alcng her borders has been slow
hut it has finally been accomplished by
the Rangers, fighting for every foot oi
ground throughout the long years.
The Writer Ranger Himself
II was my high privilege 10 be Texas
Ranger for nearly three years-from 1875
to ls7S--and | therefore feel qualified in
measure to act as their historian, although
tho limits of this article are far too cir
cumscribed to admit of any but the briefes
reference to the work Of the Rangers, as
whole | shall rather ccniine myself u
telling Of some of the exploits of my i'm
mediate comrades in tho service or th'
state and endeavor to give in sketchy out
line an idea Of our life from day to da!
In camp and in the saddle.
Captain l.. H. McNelly, who had achieve'
fame throughout the southwest a leader
Of irregular cavalry in the confederate serv
ice during the war, was in command Of tn,
Ranger company which ! Joined at the ag'
OF 10 on the Rio Grande border. There wer'
but little more than forty men in our com
panv but the first work we were set to dt
was to put an end to the cattle stealing b.
thousands OF Mexican raiders along the Ri
Grande a task which had proven too grea
for the many United States troops stationed
along the river. The raiders were well or
ganized and had carried on their depreda
tions for years. They were fine horsemen
expert plainsmen and courageous fighter
when cornered Their leaders were notoriou
bandits who had fought their way to thei
places of command.
But although the Rangers in our troo
were little more than boys-they range
from is to % years Of age, and McNelly him
self was under 30-they did not shrink from
the work ahead of them. The captain ha
picked his men from thousands OF applicant
and the result proved how splendidly h
could Judge men. | doubt II such fearles
body of young dare-devils ever took tn
saddle in the service OF any state wer
McNelly's Texas Rangers But there wa
nothing OF the border ruiIian, cowboy" ele
ment in the makeup of the troop. The
were all we'll educated young fellows. man
of them college graduates, in whose vein
flowed the best blood of the south and south
west, They were real gentlemen adven
turcrs'-not of a kind, however, with thos
who sailed the Spanish Main.
They had sought excitement out on tt
open prairies where wild cattle and vii
uDTbtS Sllll at VIII anu WUeTe u
last herds OF the buffaloes yet grazed, bl
the Ranger company offered superior induce
ments for such as they and II was with ze
and enthusiasm they entered the services
the state.
Thirty battles In Three Years.
Under McNely we found all the adver
ture Wa sougSt, and to spare. In the thr'
years | was with the company we had near
thirty open battles with Mexican raide
and Texas desperadoes and any number
minor encounters with them. We arrest'
over 1000 outlaws in that time and brol
up gang after gang OF horsethieves and ca
lie thieves and murderers who roamed ov
the western part of the state.
We literally lived in the saddle. We ca
rled our blankets with us, and wherev
darkness overlook us on tho plains or
The chaparral there we lay down and sleT
For two years ! never once lad so mu
m sE