The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-03-19
RANGERS,
Texas Yielding to
Law and Order.
PICTURESQUE TYPE.
Has Played Notable Part
in Lone Star State.

/ with the disappearance of the bad
men and the gradual extinction of the
wild tribes of Indians infesting the
( IeXaS and Southwestern frontier. an
other hardly less important and far
more picturesque and necessary type of
men are becoming memories of the past
as the days of their usefulness are
drawing to close.
The pride of the Lone Star State, the
Texas ranger having played his part,
says the Philadelphia Times, is grad
ually shrinking away to mere nothing
ness before the march of civilization.
law and order. He contributed an i'm
portanL part in breaking the shackles
mat bound this vast empire to the
Mexican government. After this he pur-
sued a relentless policy of eXtermina-
ton against the various marauding
bands of desperadoes that made the
Wild and bad lands Of Texas dreaded by
all, And last, but not least, he wiped
Out Che roaming Indian tribes who
plundered, robbed and murdered as
fancy dictated, until today he has made
Texas famed the world over for the
vast strides which this commonwealth.
as large as all New England and the
middle states combined, has been max
ing III wealth and population.
The Texas ranger is a born fighter.
, brought up from babyhood almost IN
the saddle, quick, dead shot, cool
caring temperate, Injured to ell kinds
of hardship, and ready at all times to
uphold justice and defend the weak
against the strong.
When the Alamo had fallen and The
tnghtful massacre there mad occurred.
General Sam Houston organized
among the settlers in the territory
troop of 1900 mounted rihemen Their
object was to accomplish the impossi-
ble-free Texas and avenge their fallen
martyr patriot, kinsmen and frien1s.
They did wonders. Their battle cry was
remember the Alamo" and wherever
they rode and fought the enemy Eek
pected no quarter" and if fortunate
enough to survive the onslaught, never
gave any If the members of that de-
voted band fell into their hands With
the fall of the Alamo fate seemed
against the Texans gaining their lib
erty, but on Houston's call to arms vol
unteers hockA to him from all direc-
lions.
Only the best men were taken, and
only the brave men who were not afraid
to die if need be. The very mention of
their name spread terror to the hearts Of
the 'Greasers," and when in the silent
watches of the night the Mexican
guards heard the oncoming thunder of
horses hoofs and the dreaded cry, RE
member the Alamoi" in terror they
threw away their arms and rushed to
safety, crying out with fear, while the
little band would sweep through the
encampment, leaving a wide swath of
dead and dying behind them, and be
away on the trackless prairie again be-
fore the enemy knew what had hap
pened to them. By this means the
fame of liberty was famed into a
bright glow again, until, at the battle
Of San Jaclneo, they routed the Mexi-
can army under Santa Ana and obliged
the Mexican government to acknowl-
edge their independence.
Organized in 1885 during the spring
of that year they were continued in
service after the war and constituted
& sort of standing army for this unique
republic. They repealed horyles of muir
derous Mexican marauders from be-
yond the Rio Grande, fought into sub
mission the fierce Apaches. Comanches
and Kiowas and administered justice on
a wholesale plan to a great number Of
the red-handed ruffians. and outlaws
who f1ocked into the new republic from
all parts of the United States.
They became so much of an institu-
ton for the protection of life and prop
erty Of the settlers and lonely ranch
men of the territory that when Texas
became a state twelve hundred of the
rangers were retained as mounted police
along the Mexican border and for hold
ing in check the almost intractable In
dian tribes of the southwest. Until 1884
the Texas Rangers were almost con-
stantly in the field. At times there were
reserve rangers to the number of three
thousand among the frontiersmen, who
were called out many times to aid in
queIling uprisings of one sort or an
other.
At the breaking out of hostlities he
tween the north and the south, General
Con Terry, an old ranger, organized
the famous command known as Terry's
Texas Rangers composed almost
entirely of former Texas Rangers
and frontiersmen, the bark Of
whose rife meant death to the
enemy upon whom a bead had been
drawn. They fought from Bull Run to
Appomattox and lost 70 per cent Of
their original muster roll, sharing hon
ors with the celebrated Louisiana Ii
gers as to which organization proved
the best fighters and most daring.
While they were away fighting for the
lost cause the Indians grew restless
upon the frontier again, and soon af-