The Idaho recorder. [volume] (Salmon City, Idaho) 1886-1927, 1921-05-27
Texas Rangers
Real Fighters

one fr0ntier-fhe lndian-extenueu
along the edge Of the great prairie
from the Rio Grande to the Red river,
distance of $40 miles; the other
the Northumberland from some
point on the Rio Grande to the mouth
Of that stream. an approximate dis
lance of 300 miles. The actual south-
ern boundary of the settlements at
the time of the republic really CORE
spOnded with the Nueces.
1t should also be observed that for
every mile that the Indian frontier
was pushed back, the Mexican line
was heightened by just so much until
the two attained combined length |
Of more than 1000 miles, Surely no
state was ever more desperately stu
ated than the young republic. Some
times she was at peace with one en-
envy and sometimes with the other;
but again she fought them both. War
| was the rule, the commonplace of
daily life, and death was the price
| Of defeat, for the enemies Of Texas
| knew no mercy
Oevisine a Fighting Force.
What sort of fighting force would
Texas devise to meet this unhappy
situation? Had the state been popu
lous and wealthy. as she Is today, the
answer would have been simple. In
| those days her population was less than
that of Dallas, and her promise to pay
was worth about 16 cents on the dollar.
Hard money was a negligible guam
| fity Tbacn fbtnUs a standing
army impossible. Whatever fighting
force was provided must be small and
inexpensive in order to be maintained
at all. 1t must rise In time of need
and dispense when the danger had
passed. Such are the circumstances
Of our early history out of which
evolved this peculiar fighting force.
These early Rangers were semi
military in character, varied in forma-
ton and organization, ununlformed
and undrilled, and irregular in opera
tions. They We're. In sense, indig-
enous to Texas, having sprung from
the soil made fertile by the blood OF
their kinsmen, and they soon became
the frontier fighting force par excel
lenee of the world. They were the
forerunners of such organizations as
the Northwest Mounted Police of Can
ada. the Cape of South Africa and
the Pennsylvania State though unlike
any OF them. They were the Anglo
American solution Of the problem Of
the frontier. The true character Of
the Rangers becomes clear only In the
, light of that knowledge which comes
/ from an acquaintanceshIp with the
> nature and disposition of their foes.
| the Mexicans on the one hand and the
| Indians on the other.
From long experience with the Mex
leans the Texans had come to distrust
| every word and deed of the race.
' They doubted their honor feared their
r mercy and despised their valor-les-
' sons dearly learned at the Alamo,
: Goliad and San Jacinto. From the In
7 dians, whose position on the West
q has already been indicated. they also
I took hard lessons. The ubmanche
e warrior was terrible foe. courageous
8 cunning and cruel an adept In all the
}, practices and subterfuges Of partisan
= warfare. and In order to meet him the
l. Ranger had to adopt his tactics. Fol
:, example, the Comanches always came
9 suddenly. mounted on the fleet prairie
Il mustangs, which they managed with
= consummate skill. and which Dor,
II them away with the speed OF the wind
e Faced Torture and Death.
IS Again, the Comanches never per
e mitted themselves TO be made captive
e and TO become their prisoner mean
'e torture and death. Here were th'
b ready-made rules by which tn,
Rangers had TO fight They were o
necessity superb horsemen. using thei
n legs mostly for mounting and stickinI
1t on. They were sure marksmeu. show
O. Ing great preference for the revolving
D. six-shooter. They were yersed In wood
IL craft and possessed an uucanny sens
n Of direction. and they knew the Tor
he of the forest as well as that Of tn
I plain. Col John s. Ford, himself
g Ranger. soldier sna newspaper mar
IS. summed up their qualities In thes
T. words:
In The Texas Ranger can ride like
n Mexican trail like an Indian. shoe
Ike a Tennesseean and fight IKE
Id very devil" Above all. these frontier.
IT, men were the embodiment OF insi;yiC
e, ualisin II was their outstanding trai
% Z their chief Characteristic They -.er