Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-03-27
THE TEXAS RANGERS
One Of the Most Efficient Armed
Organizations In the World.
MEN Who ride, SHOOT and DARE

Mexican news or Late ana Ner)
Likely They Will Figure Some More
Their Motto is "When You Go fol
Them Get Them"
Sir Gilbert Parker has made the
fame of the Royal Northwest Mount
ed police of Canada secure in English
speaking countries and most Of the
other civilized lands where stories Of
grit and daring and GOODNESS in the
face of great dangers are appreciated
But there is another body of pictur
esque men, whose organization is old
er, whose history teens with brillian
exploits and hair-raising rides anC
charges, whose horsemanship ant
craftsmanship are superb, but whose
daring is yet to be recounted by s
man gifted as is the English narrator
of the deeds of the Northwest Police.
The organization referred to is tina
of the Texas Rangers, whose word Ii
law on the Texas side Of the Rit
Grande, and the very mention O.
whose name is sufficient to cow int
submission the most desperate Mexi
can renegade who now and then cross
es the border to steal, and even a
times to murder.
The other day the newspapers o
the world featured a story from Lar
edo, Texas, the little American city OF
the Rio Grande, opposite the Mexican
city of the same name, which told o
the invasion of Mexican territory b!
body of armed Texas Rangers unde
command of Capt. Sanders. The al
legged exploit raised a hullabaloo, ant
great was the relief, at least in ad
ministration circles, when the Ranger
reported that they had not crossed
but had waited on this side Of the Ri
Grande to receive the body Of th'
murdered American ranchman, Gle
mente Vergara.
First Taste of limelisht.
Although the Texas authorities hav'
subsequently denied that the Ranger
crossed the Rio Grande, the inciden
was enough to bring the Rangers int
the public eye as they probably neve
were before in all the three score year
and ten Of their picturesque history
Nearly everybody knows that such al
organization is in Texas and that th'
men are charged with the protection
of life and property. But few people
outside of Texas know much abou
the history Of the Texas Rangers, tn,
reasons that caused the Texas legis
Ilature to authorize their organization
shortly after the close Of the Mexican
war, the kind of men they are, wha
they look like, where they operate ant
who their commanders are.
First Of all--what is the organiza
ton known as the Ranger Force o
Texas?
The act providing for the organiza
ton, as passed by the legislature o
Texas, states that it is "a Range
force for the protection Of the frontie
against marauding and thieving
and crime throughout th'
state" 1t is an organization Of fou
companies, each commanded by
captain and each made up Of on
sergeant, one quartermaster ant
twenty enlisted privates. Thus th'
maximum strength Of the Texa
Rangers is go men.
The law confers on the Rangers al
the power and authority Of peace Of
fcers, and they are permitted to oper
ate in any part Of the state. But there
are also restrictions and the Ranger
must keep within the law; they mus
not use abusive language nor be 'un
necessarily harsh" with those will
whom they come in contact 'in th'
line Of duty" They act under th'
direct orders of the governor, wher
it is possible to communicate Will
that official. When not possible the!
use their best discretion and "best dis
cretion' has been the procedure IL
most of the cases in which they hav'
figured during the past seventy years.
AS originally organized the Ranger
were intended not for service alont
the Rio Grande, as so many people
think, but for service along the north
ern border of the state for the protec
ton Of the people Of northeastern
Texas from the raiding bands Of In
dians who in the old days were in th'
habit of swooping down from the In
dian Territory to steal and commi
other depredations. In those days th'
force numbered about 400 men and o
this number less than fifty were as
signed to duty along the Mexican
border. Mexico, so far as the United
States was concerned, was a fairl!
peaceful community at that time.
What is a Ranger?
But the zone of greatest activit!
was not long confined to the Indial
Territory boundary line, and a few
years after the close Of the Civil wa
we see the Rangers massed in fore
along the Rio Grande. The rive
country had become infested will
murderers, cattle thieves. moonshiner
and counterfeiters. Something had t
done to curb these outlaw bands an,
the Rangers got the job.
What kind of man is the Ranger
what does he look like; how does h
amuse himself, and what sort of
uniform does he wear?"
The writer asked that question
few days ago of Capt. William NICK
Lambdin of the Sixth United State
field artillery. Capt Lambdin is
native of Waco, Texas. He has know
the Rangers all his life and, like a
Texans, he is proud Of them and thei
history.
Why" replied Capt. Lambdi
when asked that question, "a Range
lis just like any other decent fellow
He is clean-cut, he is crack shot
he is always sober, he is an expeI
horseman, and he is as clearheade
as a glass of Texas Crazy spring water
He does not wear any uniform exceI
ordinary clothes like the other decer
people on the border affect, he doesn
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