The Texas Rangers : A Century of Frontier Defense Book

J. Frank Dobie, Roy Bedichek, and the author of 'Texas Rangers', Walter Prescott Webb, are considered the fathers of Texas literature. They all gathered tales and folklore that were told around campfires, in parlors and certainly a few saloons. All the information that might be considered common knowledge for a time, but that would have been lost to history had these men not collected and wrote about it.

Webb wastes no time in setting the scene, there were 3 sides to the landscape, the Indian Warrior, The Mexican Vaquero, and the Texas Ranger. All were dead set against each other and at times, two of the three would be against the one. The word Texas means 'friendly', but for its first 100 years, it was anything but. The Rangers were created to apply law and order to a vast piece of real estate for a population and government with few resources.

Ranger companies were formed, having to provide their own horse and gun, usually of a few to 20 men led by a Captain. Often the force was supplemented by locals who had an interest in why the Rangers had arrived, such as cattle or horse thieving or the occasional invasion of Mexico. Often facing great odds, the Captain had to be intelligent, brave and bold, and when successful, his name became part of legend, such as Bill McDonald, or Ben McCulloch.

There is no shortage of action in Texas, even after having seen many western movies and TV shows, one can still be impressed at the scale of the violence that could happen to you out there under a Comanche moon. In many Ranger events they are judge, jury, and executioner, not necessarily in that order, an insight into the conditions of the times. One thing noticeable by its absence, while there are plenty of guns and bad guys, there are no 'show downs' in the middle of the street at high noon.

And it's not all cowboys, Indians and banditos, as WWI arrived, there were Germans on the border, maybe, prohibition to enforce, reluctantly. The chapter on Frank Hamer, who was off and on a Ranger and always a true Texas character, and the man who tracked down Bonnie and Clyde, is a fascinating one. As Hamer was a contemporary, you can tell Webb was a bit in awe of him.

Author Webb was born in 1888 near Austin, Texas, and as the book was published in 1935, in time for the centennial of the Republic, it offers a fascinating perspective, as Webb grew up hearing the stories and later interviewing many old Rangers, their families and cohorts. He adds on a final chapter of his adventure as he spent a few months with the Rangers in the ultimate 'police ride along' which had campouts as well as shootouts!

My second edition has a photo of saddled Rangers on the cover, though the original cover art by Tom Lea (WW2 fans may know him for his '2,000 yard stare' painting) is on the title page, so good stuff, also President Lyndon Johnson provides a forward (1965).

Since 1935 there have been many other books published about the Rangers, something Webb appreciated. If you want the tale from the start, get yourself 'Texas Rangers a Century of Frontier Defense', a Texas map, and saddle up.