The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1899-06-24
THE TEXAS RANGERS
Old Institutioa 70 b Lesislatea ou.
Of Existence.
Hhas Lest Caste 20 late Tearu ana
Has nwindiea Dswn 90
. Nere kbanaral 81
0Ad ftmerz-

We are going 70 lose what has al
ways BEEN 10 me the most character
lstie OF the men Of Texas. IL bit of Ies,-
tslAiion noN pending manages 70 pass .
said Frank r. Lamar. OF Austin. in that
state The proposition is Up TO do
away with the Texas state rangers. a
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 hanch Of these fellows. who liked
the rough and eareIeSs lives they had
To lead. They were the most irreuu-
lar of regulars. but they were a very ef-
heleni police force for the state. and
they have reeord of very many good
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 sort OF mounted police for
our frontier, TO guard the then sparse
" settled country from the -greasers'
who came over from Mexico TO steal
cattle or smnggl. goods from one csoun-
try 10 the other. They hated greas-
ers. Indians and squawmen as his Sa-
fanle majesty Is said TO hate holy Wa
ter. and would rather kill one than ear
square meal or kill a RATHER. They
mad sort Of uniform, but the prin-
eipal feature of il was the saddle OF
their horses. and whenever one had
made good bit of money it was a
saddle that he first thought of uur-
chasing. Some of these were gorgeous
IN the extreme, all covered with sayer
ornaments and tiligree work Of AN
sorts Each of them carried a navy re-
volver. a earbine. q lasSo and a blsnke,
when he was on duty. Their ponies
were the tough little bronehos of ths
plains, and they could ride ike the
deyiE shoot to XIII. riding or standing
and endure any hardship. They feared
neither God, man nor the devil. as has
been well said Of them. and each had
lot Of notehes in the butt of either his
carbine or his revolver, generally in
both as proof of the individuals they
had killed in the line Of duty. each |
notch indicating life taken. II was
generally the life of man whom the
e 8, could well spare. They 4
thus marked the passage to their last
account Of horse thieves. smugglers. In I
dlans or bad men, who were the worst.
as they were the most eowarcllv and /
treaeherous. Of the whole bunch.
VI late years the rangers have
rather lost caste and they have dwin- /!
died down 10 about so in all. drawing, 1
pay from the state. The country has 4
become 50 generally settled and the
tough element SO well subdued that
there seems now no longer any place
Tor 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 peoDla
than IN fact, they were so thoroughly
feared o. thieves and rutIians that their
past reputation has served to keep thesc
people on their good behavior. We
all fear that with the passing of this
body there may return frontier troubles
ana perhaps the old-time thievery and
smuggling. But 1 suppose the state
officers and legislators know best about
the matter, and we will have to &C.
cept their dispersion whsther or no
But one thing l do know, and thatisthat
the women who have to live on the
ranches viii regret the passing of the
rangers. They rarely had any use for
them, but when there Was any trouble
ana the rangers were around. the wom-
en folks knew they were safe. MANY
woman owes her life 10 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 outHved
ihe'F DAY in helping along the scheme
~ civilization | suppose they must go.
Ihey will be nightly missed by the
Early settlers of the state, those men
'Vho aided to develop the big ranches.
some of whom are bigger than the
states up east here."--N. Y. Times.