The Coolidge examiner., 1935-06-21


state which does not need 20 wnlt
IAe@ until 1890 20 begin the celebration
~ lfs centennial That Is the organ.
iraiion known as the Texas Rangers.
which shares with a similar body of North
American iaw-of1cers. the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police. q reputation and prestige that
IL worldwide
"All honor and praise Is due the Royal cana
dian Mounted and they have received much of
both." wrote Thomas H. Barton. adlutant sen.
erul % Texas and commander % the Texas
Hangers. and Waiter Prescott webb of the de-
paTtment of history az the University % Texas
IN an article In the Frontier Magazine IN 1928
But the Texas force viii not suffer In com
parison The Royal force was created in 1919
but az that time the Texas Ranger organization
had been doing service FOR nearly 80 years II IL
the oldest force % the Kind the American
sentiment
1T came into existence In time % revolution
when a detached handful Of Anglo-Americans-
the Texans-were nshtlnE to free themselves
from a tyraunicai government; ti was born TO
Texas IN the ihrocs of revolution and went
Frimly about the task ~ defending a young ma
tlon whose inhabitants were few aud whose
treasury vas empty. With these Texans there
no pomp and no ceremony. no iag and no
Uniform. little food and often no pay. Yet they
held the line during the existence of the Rep1b-
he of Texns-iSslg- Sss-aEnlnsf two ~ the
most rnerclless and relentless foes known 90
mankind. whereas Ills Ms5es,y's force had TO
contend with the Zoe wlihln-ihe Indian and The
Esqumo-ihe Texas Ranger had 10 contend with
the Indian within and the Mexican without The
Canadian dealt with subjects ard wards: the
Texans wiih an internal enemy and foreign Zoe
The tactics and strategy of the Texas Rang.
were. and today are. Informal as their
dress. determined 10 large measure by their
foes Both tire Comanche Indian and the Mexs.
can we're expert harsemen. aud they made al
their forays and attacks horseback. The
Ranger. therefore. had 20 become horseman
and had 20 adopt weapons suited 70 mounted
conditions. Thus he came In time 20 show great
preference for the six K-shooief. which became his
own sweet weapon. II was faster than the In.
dian arrow and could be managed with effect
from the hurricane deck Of a Texas mustang.
Horsemanshlp and marksmanshIp were the IN
mistakabls traits OF the Texas Rangers"
In the same year tia2sl Chief Justice Fly Of
the Texas cvii court of appeals In a decision
upholdlng the constltutonalIty Of the ranger
law declared. Before the FIRST gun of the Texas
revolution was fred ai Gonzales In December.
ISIS. before the Declaration OF Texan Indc-
pcudence was adopted. before the heroes Of the
Alamo laid down their lives for freedom. and
before the Mexican army under Santa Anna
destroyed by San Houston at san Jacinto. a
ranger force was organized In Texas AS a
matter az fact the Texas Rangers might claim
an origin even farther back than 1886. that
they might jusiinabiy have been celebrating
their centennial at any time during the last Il
years
one Of the FIRST problems which arose TO
hsrass the colony which stephen +. Austin. the
Father of Texas" founded on the Colorado
river In iS22 was the hostility of four Indian
sha
wacos and the Tahuacanos. OF this situation
Eugene C. Barker In bis Life OF stephen +.
Austin" tCokesbury Pressl writes:
when Bastrop (AustIn's land commissioner
reported the dlscouragemcnt OF the settlers In
the fall Of lS22. Governor TrespalacIos ordered
the enlistment OF n sergeant and II men FOR their
protection. They entered service In May. 1s23
and were stationed near the mouth ~ the Colo
RADIO. They were poorly equipped and unpaid
but gave some relief Austin begged General
Cara to pay them and continue them In service
but their subsequent history Is not revealed by
the records.
zone az AustIn's first steps after arriving in
tha settlements was TO offer employment 10 ten
men. 10 be paid by him. 10 serve rangers at
taehed 10 the command OF Lieut. Moses Nor
rlson. but again the documents fail and we do
not know whether the force was organized.
Bastrop wrote at this time that the people were
30 haraSSed by the continual uepredaions-mur-
der. robbery. horse stealing. cattle killing. de
sirucflon OF hogs and crops-that II was difficult
20 find anyone TO assist the surveyors Some
time IN September. however. when party OF
Tonkawas made a raid on the Brazos Austin
followed with about thirty men and compelled
the chief 10 give up the horses and whip the par
tcular braves who had stolen them"
II was not until II years later however. that
the official history OF the Texas Rangers began
In November. 1895. the council which met AT san
Felipe de Austin authorized the formation OF a
Frontier Battalion II was composed OF men
who could ride Ike Mcxicans trail Ike Indians,
shoot Ike outlaws. and whO-like the Co
manches themselves-didnt favor the capture Of
prisoners" By this time those wild riders OF the
plains, the Comanches had become real men
and II was necessary to have some sort Of
regular military establishment TO check their
depredations. Then. too the Texans realized
that the impending struggle for independence
from Mexico could not long be delayed and a
Ranger force would form a nucleus for the army
OF liberation.
Accordingly the council specified that the
ranger force was TO consist OF three companies
OF - men each, one company to range east Of
the Trinity river one between the Trinity and
the Brazos. and the third between the Brazos and