Photographs documenting the Texas Rangers from the Austin Files collection. The history of the Texas Rangers spans nearly 200 years. Thousands of Rangers patrolled the frontier, fought in military battles, and arrested cattle rustlers. Their story contains heroic acts of bravery, but also moments that challenge our idea of the Rangers as noble lawmen. They protected settlers and enforced laws, but also sometimes executed thieves without a trial, drove Native American tribes from their homelands, and some Rangers even lynched Mexicans and Mexican Americans along the Texas-Mexico border. nsatisfied with the protection the Mexican government provided, Stephen F. Austin created his own force of “rangers” to protect the men and women living in his colony. Austin tasked the Rangers with patrolling the roads and wilderness around the colony for “errant thieves united with Indians.” Many of the men who volunteered as Rangers lived in Austin’s colony and hoped their service would help protect their own families from attacks by American Indians. Some were also motivated by the desire to take revenge on American Indians for past raids. During the Texas Revolution in 1836, the provisional government authorized the first official, government-sanctioned Ranger force to patrol the Texas frontier and protect settlers from raids by American Indians. Though this force was reorganized after Texas won its independence from Mexico, it continued to function in much the same way: groups of volunteers were organized as they were needed to patrol and protect the frontier, then disbanded when their specific missions were done. After the 1836 Texas Revolution, a wave of new settlers headed to Texas enticed by acres of land offered for little money. This increased settlement led to conflicts with American Indians who already occupied the territory and a renewed desire to send the Texas Rangers out on patrol. To protect the new Texans, Ranger companies patrolled the frontier as well as the border with Mexico. It was during this time that John “Jack” Coffee Hays became the most famous Texas Ranger of the era. Fighting in some of the period’s most significant battles between Texans and American Indians, Hays quickly proved himself to be a strong leader, smart decision-maker, and fearless and brutal fighter. He rose up the ranks quickly and was soon leading Ranger companies on frontier patrols and in battles against American Indians. Hays and the Texas Rangers also played a crucial role in securing the Texas-Mexico border during the 1840s. Agaton Quinones and Manuel Leal led groups of thieves who crossed the Rio Grande into Texas to rob travelers and rustle cattle, then fled back to Mexico to sell their stolen goods. These bandits operated under the protection of Mexican Captain Ignacio Garcia, who received a percentage of the profits. In response to the increasing number of attacks by Quinones’s and Leal’s men, Hays was given broad legal powers to track down the thieves and execute them without trial, which he did. After the 1836 Texas Revolution, a wave of new settlers headed to Texas enticed by acres of land offered for little money. This increased settlement led to conflicts with American Indians who already occupied the territory and a renewed desire to send the Texas Rangers out on patrol. To protect the new Texans, Ranger companies patrolled the frontier as well as the border with Mexico. It was during this time that John “Jack” Coffee Hays became the most famous Texas Ranger of the era. Fighting in some of the period’s most significant battles between Texans and American Indians, Hays quickly proved himself to be a strong leader, smart decision-maker, and fearless and brutal fighter. He rose up the ranks quickly and was soon leading Ranger companies on frontier patrols and in battles against American Indians. Hays and the Texas Rangers also played a crucial role in securing the Texas-Mexico border during the 1840s. Agaton Quinones and Manuel Leal led groups of thieves who crossed the Rio Grande into Texas to rob travelers and rustle cattle, then fled back to Mexico to sell their stolen goods. These bandits operated under the protection of Mexican Captain Ignacio Garcia, who received a percentage of the profits. In response to the increasing number of attacks by Quinones’s and Leal’s men, Hays was given broad legal powers to track down the thieves and execute them without trial, which he did. With the U.S.-Mexican War behind them, the Rangers returned their focus to patrolling the frontier and tracking American Indians, this time with a more aggressive approach. While the U.S. Army was officially in charge of keeping pioneers safe from attacks, there often weren’t enough soldiers to do the job effectively. In Texas, the Rangers filled in the gaps. As in the past, they patrolled the frontier, tracking down cattle thieves and pursuing American Indians who raided settlements. However, the Rangers also became more aggressive. Instead of responding to attacks after they happened, the Rangers began tracking tribes’ movements and going on the offensive. In 1858, Texas Ranger John Salmon “Rip” Ford led 100 Rangers in a six-month campaign against Comanches. The Rangers were joined by an equal number of Tonkawas, who were traditionally enemies of Comanches. Working together, the Rangers and Tonkawas tracked Comanches with orders to punish them for the devastating raids they had conducted in Texas. Ford and his men pursued Comanche raiders to Indian Territory, crossed the border without permission, and then followed them to their permanent camp on Little Robe Creek. There the 200 fighters from Texas attacked 600 Comanches. Despite the uneven numbers, the Rangers’ superior firepower helped them win the battle. They killed 80 Comanches and lost only one of their own in the fight. For many, the victory confirmed that Texas needed to rely on its Ranger force, and not the U.S. Army, for protection. Heedless of the lives lost, the Rangers’ new, more aggressive approach became standard practice for the next twenty years. It only ceased when the U.S. Army and the Texas Rangers forced nearly all American Indians out of Texas. The Texas Legislature approved the first permanent Ranger force in 1874. The Rangers and the U.S. Army drove the last Comanche and Kiowa out of the state soon after. In response, increasing numbers of settlers headed to the Texas frontier and created a new set of conflicts for the Rangers to police. As more and more settlers poured into the frontier, conflicts inevitably arose. When tensions flared over the control of salt lakes near San Elizario in 1877, the Rangers were ordered to keep the peace. They did the same during the Fence Cutting Wars in the 1880s. In that conflict between ranchers who wanted to keep the range open and those who wanted to fence in their land and livestock, the Rangers tracked down and arrested accused fence cutters. The Rangers also assisted local law enforcement when the Sabine County Sheriff asked for help bringing in the Conner Gang, which was terrorizing the entire county. The Rangers became such a regular presence in rural areas that one publication nicknamed them “prairie patrolmen.” As frontier towns grew in size they often created their own law enforcement agencies, eventually making the Rangers less necessary. By 1901, the Rangers’ usefulness was in question and state government shrank their numbers significantly. In the late 1910s, the role of Rangers in Texas was once again called into question as violence and scandal breached public trust and challenged their role as frontier heroes. In 1915, tensions between Anglos and ethnic Mexicans along the Texas-Mexico border exploded into violence between the two groups. To restore order, Governor James Ferguson sent hundreds of Texas Rangers, including many brand new Special Rangers, to the border. To quell the violence, the Rangers implemented their own brand of lynch law against Mexicans and Tejanos. They executed at least 300 “suspected Mexicans” without any trial or conviction. The Governor warned the Rangers to stop executing Mexicans, but the violence continued for several more years. Finally, in 1919, Representative José Tomas Canales of Brownsville requested an investigation of the Rangers before a joint committee. The joint committee found that the Rangers broke the law repeatedly and engaged in unwarranted violence. The appointments of almost all the Special Rangers were cancelled, several companies of regular Rangers disbanded, and both new and existing members were subjected to more stringent qualifications. Under the new leadership of Captains William L. Wright, Thomas R. Hickman, and Frank Hamer, the Rangers reformed and performed as a more professional force in the 1920s. During this time they returned to their law enforcement duties, patrolling for smugglers and cattle rustlers on the border. In 1932, just as their star was on the rise again, the Rangers made a major political miscalculation that had devastating consequences. The Rangers backed incumbent governor Ross Sterling against Miriam “Ma” Ferguson. When Ferguson was elected, she fired every Ranger on the force for supporting her opponent. The Rangers had to rebuild their ranks from scratch. The new recruits weren’t yet up to the task, and Texas experienced a new era of lawlessness throughout the 1930s. Nevertheless, the Rangers continued to professionalize their ranks. In 1935, the Rangers moved under the Texas Department of Public Safety, making them just one part of a larger law enforcement agency. They became the detective arm of the Department of Public Safety, and uniformed law enforcement duties were assigned to Highway Patrol officers.
