The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1899-05-20
THE TEXAS r GERS.
Old Institution to Be Legislated Out
!: 5 * <5s Of Existence. & .5+
Has Lost Caste OF Late Years and
Has Dvyindled Down to
-.1 q Mere Handful Of
- = Old Timers.

III
ways been to me the most character
istic of the men of Texas, if bit of leg
islation now pending manages to pass"
said Frank +. Lamar, of Austin, in that
state. "The proposition is up to do
away with the Texas state rangers,
body of rough and ready fellows who
were cross between the gentleman
cowboy, the policeman and the tough
man. of the plains. At one time there
was bunch of these fellows, who Liked
the rough and careless lives they had
to lead. They were the most irregu-
lar CT regulars, but they were a very ef-
ficicnt police force for the state, and
they have a record Of very many cood
deeds performed in the line OF duty,
as well as one OF some pretty rough
fun.
'They came into being just after The
war as a sort of mounted police for
our frontier, to guard the then sparse
ly settled country from the 'grcasers'
who came over from Mexico to steal
cattle or snuggle goods from che ccun-
try to the other. They hated grcas-
ers, Indians and squawmen as his Sa-
tanic majesty is said to hate holy wa
ter, and would rather kill one than eat
a square meal or kill RATHER. They
had a sort of uniform, but the prin-
cipal feature of it was the saddle of
their horses, and whenever one had
made good bit of money it was
saddle that he first thought of pur-
chasing. Some of these were gorgeous
in the extreme, all covered with silver
ornaments and fligree work of all
sorts. Each of them carried a navy re-
volver, carbine, a lasso and blanket
when he was on duty. Their ponies
were. the tough little bronchos of the
plains, and they could ride like the
devil, shoot to kill, riding or standing,
and endure any hardship. They feared
neither God, man nor the devil, rs has
been well said of them, and each lad
lot Of notches in the butt of either his
carbine or his revolver, generally in
both, as proof of the individuals they
had killed in the line CT duty, each
notch indicating life taken. 1t vas
generally the life of a man whom the
community could we'll spare. They
thus marked the passage to their last
account of horse thieves, sn2ugglers, In
dams or bad men, who were the worst,
as they were the most cowardly and
treacherous, Of the whole bunch.
''Of late years the rangers lave
rather lost caste and they have dvin-
1nl +o ~1>
pay from the state. The country has
: become 50 generally settled and the
: tough element SO well subdued that
there seems now no longer any place
/ for them in the police scheme Of the
state. [ am not the only old Texan
. that is sorry to see the rangers 90, for,
even though they have of late lived
rather in the Imagination Of the people
than in fact, they were so thoroughly
feared by thieves and rutfans that their
past reputation has served to keep these
; people on their good behavior. We
all fear that with the passing of this
body there may return frontier troubles
/ and perhaps the old-time thievery and
smuggling. But I suppose the state
officers and legislators know best about
| the matter, and we will have to &C.
! cept their dispersion whether or no.
But one thing do know, and that's that
the women who have to live on the
ranches will regret the passing of the
rangers. They rarely had any use for
, them, but when there was any trouble
! and the rangers were around, the wcm-
: en- folks knew they were safe. Ma ny
; woman owes her life to the timely ar
rival at the ranch of one or more +of
these members of our frontier police
They've been mighty good friends to
the Texans, but as they have out]iyed
their day in helping along the scheme
| of civilization I suppose they must go.
They will be nightly missed by the
early settlers Of the state, those men
who aided to develop the big ranches.
some of whom are bigger than the
states up east herein. Y. Times.