The Texas Ranger

The Texas Rangers

 Hello everyone! If you’re ever in Waco, Texas be sure to make time to visit the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum. Plan to spend the afternoon…or maybe the day. The Rangers have a storied history and what better place is there to learn about them than in their own Museum and Hall of Fame? If you can’t make the trip, I’ll give you a small taste of the information you can find on their website to wet your appetite:  

  "They were men who could not be stampeded."

 

          Frontier Battalion Co. "B" about 1880, ©2009, TRHFM

That's the way the late Col. Homer Garrison, Jr., long-time director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, once described the men who have worn the silver or gold star of the Texas Rangers, the oldest state law enforcement agency in North America. The Rangers have a heritage that began with the earliest settlements in Texas. They have been compared to other world-famous law enforcement agencies, the FBI, Scotland Yard, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 

Scores of books, from well-researched works of nonfiction to Wild West pulp novels to best-selling works of fiction, have been written about the Rangers. And numerous movies, radio shows and television shows have been inspired by the Rangers over the years.

The Rangers are part of the history of the Old West, and part of its mythology. Over the years, a distinct Ranger tradition has evolved. As former Ranger Capt. Bob Crowder once put it, "A Ranger is an officer who is able to handle any given situation without definite instructions from his commanding officer, or higher authority. This ability must be proven before a man becomes a Ranger."

Early Rangers were required to provide their own horses and equipment. They fought battles in which they were often outnumbered by as much as 50-to-1, so it was common for each man to carry multiple pistols, rifles and knives.


Like Texas, the early Texas Ranger had multicultural roots. Company rolls show that Anglos, Hispanics and American Indians served in all ranks from private to captain. These men freely borrowed from each others' experience and equipment. While most had been born in the American South, many hailed from Ireland, Germany, Scotland and England and spoke with their native accents. Early Rangers shot Spanish pistols, Tennessee and Kentucky rifles, carried Bowie knifes made in Sheffield England and rode swift Mexican ponies. One writer said that a Texas Ranger could "ride like a Mexican, trail like an Indian, shoot like a Tennesseean, and fight like the devil."

 

The force, organized by the governor, was created "for the purpose of protecting the frontier against marauding or thieving parties, and for the suppression of lawlessness and crime throughout the state." Ranger captains picked their own men, who had to furnish their own horses and could dress as they choose. They did not even have a standard badge.

Today, you’re more apt to see Texas Rangers dressed in a more modern look:

A Texan to the core, I learned very early in life to respect and admire the Rangers and to be proud of their history. They are very special people. Well worth taking the time to learn about.

Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum
100 Texas Ranger Trail
Waco, TX 76706 (254) 750-8631

Open 7 Days a Week

info@texasranger.org

   

Continued Happy Reading!

Ginger Chambers

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