Arizona republican., 1902-03-02
Ole Texas Rangers

| heard Alright, and the images called uf
| by mention of the name are likely 90 ne
as various as the listeners. by many
| he IS regarded as a SCrt OF IeSallZeu
vigilante. ruling through the rlght
| evolved of necessity in the realm where
the siX-shooter is the only arbiter. 10
others he is merely mounted police
man. whose beat is marked by miles.
A still more general impression is that
| he is a miltiaman. whose services may
/ be called upon to thWart or capture
| laWbreakers when the regularly ap-
! pointed officers are unequal to the task.
But down in Texas the word means
/ none Of these things. Rather ii means
! all OF them and much besides. To learn
| what he is and what he has done. one
cannot do better than TO travel over the
great region between the Colorado and
| the Rio Grande. one given over to cacti
and coyotes. cattle rustlers and Next
can smugelers Indian marauders and
white men who have gone through the
whole curriculum Of crime. but now
/ transformed by the work of the rangers
! into we'll settled. peaceful and pros
porous section of the greatest state in
| the Union. For years these riders of
| the plains and sand wastes represented
the only personification of the law that
!
string of mounted ranger scouts that
daily patrolled the ground between the
two rivers was the only thread that
bound western Texas to a more formal
civilization Even today ii is the rang
er whose presence means security to
life all along the border.
| Nowhere else in the world is there a
| body of men similar in orga niZation,
| duties or personnel to the rangers of
/ Texas. They are a military body, act
| ing directly under the authority Of the
state. and yet their work is not that of
! troopers. They enjoy the powers of
| civil peace officers. and yet they are
neither deputy sheriffs nor policemen.
They are set apart by no badge or uni
! form of office. The field of their activ
| tiles is as wide as the state they serve.
and their duties are bounded only by
| the limits of possible infractions OF law
and order. Take a city policeman. a
| sheriff, a state militaman and Il United
| States trooper and combine their man
| fold duties in one, and you have an
| idea of the work of Texas ranger
| The membership of this unique or
| ganization has consisted always of
| those restless beings in whom the spirit
| of adventure is the controlling motive. |
| Most of them have been graduates OF
| that school of courage, the coWpunch
| erer's saddle. Some served their APP
| premiership as scouts and guides IN
| the Indian territory: a few are college
! men from the east, who proved their
staying and fighting qualities on the
| plains before joining the rangers. No
! man who is not capable of spending
sixteen hours out OF the twenty-four in |
the saddle could endure the hard riding |
| that the rangers are compelled to IN
dergo. No man who was not a dead
shot. or who could not face without
! fear the business end of d siX-shooter /
in the hands of desperate would be !
considered for a moment as a possible /
recruit.
When vacancies occur in the ranks !
young men who possess these qualities
are sought to FL them. Vacancies sell !
dom occur except when some member /
of the battalion is killed Ii the pursuit
OF his duty or is appointed to another
hazardous and trying position like that
| of sheriff chief of police in some Dor /
| der county or town.
| The recruit is not subjected to any
! examination as to his fitness beyond
! that which the captain of the company
! to which he applies may insist upon.
! Preference is given, OF course. to men
| who are familiar with the country in
which the rangers operate. but this is
| not an essential requisite. II the re-
/ cruit owns a plains-hardened mount.
| so much the better. for the men are re-
| quired to furnish their own horses and
outfit, only their arms. ammunition,
and rations being supplied by the state
With this equipment OF cool. daring
| shooting ability. and d good horse. the
| M q "a ranks The skill
and experience which are to make him
valuable to the state and Il credit to
| the organization. he acquires by the
| actual work of the service. New mem
| bers come into the ranks so slowly that
there is no difficulty in assimilating
them. Nobody joins the rangers from
! sordid motives, for the pay is only $50
per month for the private. and the
| highest employment that he can ever
acquire is the S125 per month paid 10
the commanding officer of the battalion.
Therefore no man is tempted to enter
the service unless he has a real liking
for the work, and these. of course, are
apt scholars.
The ranger service AZ present con-
tains only forty men, scattered in
dozen different places along the Rio
Grande. Although there are but three
or four men on each station. their
presence keeps the unruly in suhjec-
ton. and the few rustlers. bad men,
and professional outlaws who have not
fallen before their rifles give them the
widest possible berth.
1t is safe to say that nowhere in the
world can be found Il body OF men to
equal the rangers for sheer devotion to
duty and fighting ability. As one ap-
preciative historian has expressed it:
Their characteristic qualifications are
intrepid skill in horsemanship. unerring
aim with the pistol and carbine, celer-
ity in movement, GOODNESS in danger
and reckless daring in action. Earl
; Mayo in London Idier.
LARGEST SUGAR MILL