The Holbrook news., 1921-05-13
Most Picturesque Body of Fight ing Men the World Has
 Ever Known.
FOUGHT TWO WARS AT ONCE
Organization Dates Back to Time When the Lone Star State Was a Separate RepubIic-Self-ReIi-
 ant, ResourcefuI and Brave.

Dallas.-Texas is the only state which has the distinction, not to say privilege, of working out its own in stitutions before becoming a member of the Union, writes w. P. Urbb of the history department of the Univer- sity of Texas in the Dallas News. This fact has given Texans a singular feeling of independence and has en- shrined the states institutions with a peculiar interest for those within and many without her borders. Her flag, her presidents, her foreign am- bassadors, her army and navy, all have come in for a share of the song and story, the history and tradition of the Lone Star republic.
 Of all her institutions, however, Texas has none which has attracted more attention at home and abroad than that organization of fighting men known as Texas Rangers.
 Just what is the Texas Ranger? The question can be answered best by finding out what he has been, dis covering his origin, tracing his devel- Opment and examining his duties. The exact date of the origin of the Rangers Is lost in the obscurity of early Texas history. Stephen F. Austin mentioned them in his letters of 1923, nearly century ago; Bancroft ascribed their beginning to 1888, but in this he was clearly wrong, for the Rangers had not only come into existence but had acquired a legal status before that time.
 Rangers Date Back to 1885.
 When Texas revolted, in 1885, a general council met, and, as a part of its work, authorized the first Ranger force. This organization was to con- sist of three companies of 25 men each, one to range east of the Trinity, one between the Trinity and BraZos and the third between the Brazos and the Colorado. The men were to serve solely as protection against the h. dians, the remuneration being $1.25 day. 4iassaR
 Thus was the Texas Ranger force created in the midst of revolution, and from that day to this it has existed almost constantly in some form, though under varying titles.
 The first settlers from the United States were introduced into Texas by Stephen F. Austin during the latter part of 1921, now just one century ago. Why did the Mexican govern ment permit an alien race to come in? There are several reasons well known to the historian, and 1t is said that one of them was the desire to place some strong arm between the timorous Mexicans, like those of San Antonio, and the wild Indians. The COmanche's horse might become too hard to hold. Ouien sabe? However this may be, an examination of the land grants made to Americans will show that their holdings tend to form a tier ly- ing roughly between the timber belt and the prairie region. In short, the Americans from the United States were to serve as a buffer between the wild tribes and the interior settle ments, and on them was to devolve the task of conquest at which both Spain and Mexico had failed.
 Mexico Unable to Close the Door,
 Once the door of Texas was open the Americans pushed in with that mighty surge which carried the Anglo American civilization from the Allan tic to the Pacific during the first half of the last century. Mexico, becom- ing alarmed, undertook to close the door, but 1t was too late. The Tex ans-for such the immigrants had be- come-not only stood off the Indians, but turned on the Mexicans and wrest-
 l.. 1886, just 15 years after they had en- tered the state.
 This done, however, they found themselves in a most precarious sit uation. They were caught, as it were, between the jaws of a great wise.