THE TEXAS RANGER.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 193, 15 August 1931, Page 9

THE TEXAS RANGER.

Best Weapons are His Courage and Tact. THE ONE-MAN ARMY. To on© unfamiliar with tlie history of Texas the recent remark of the Mayor of Dallas that he could “rid Chicago of its gangsters in three w’eeks with 23 average policemen and a Texas Ranger” seems idle braggadocio. But to the native of the Lone Star State, the “furriuer” conversant with Texas history, and to the Rangers themselves, there is more than an empty boast in the declaration. A Texas Ranger story, which regularly makes the rounds of the raconteurs, fends emphasis to the belief that only one Ranger is needed to handle one situation, regardless of its whereabouts or of the number of persons involved. The locale of the story is anywhere in Texas. A riot is in progress; chaos reigns; the sheriff appeals to the Governor for aid. The next train from Austin brings a Texas Ranger—a long, gaunt fellow, square-jawed, grey-eyed, smiling. He wears homespuns, a livegallon hat, and his boots, with heels awry, accentuate his bowed legs. “Only one Ranger ?” inquires the sheriff. “Well, you’ve only got one riot, ain’t yuh ?” drawls the Ranger. Many stories of fact and of fiction have been told of the colourful life of the Texas Rangers, especially of their purpose, their mythical “probationary school” and their organisation. The fictional impression of the Texas Ranger is that he is a trained trooper, not unlike the North-west Mounted Police of Canada. The impression also prevails that the Rangers do patrol duty along the border between Texas and Mexico, and that there are whole battalions of Rangers operating throughout the State. The fact is that there are now just 31 Rangers in Texas, with the largest company—five members—stationed at the capitol in Austin. When Apaches Menaced. Early in the year 1836 Stephen F. Austin founded a settlement near what is now Groesbeck, Limestone County, when that section was a part of Mexico. A band of Apaches, bearing a white flag and signalling that they were on a friendly mission, gained admission to Austin’s stockade. Once inside they raided the storehouse, massacred nearly all the settlers, and escaped with Cynthia Ann Parker, the nine-year-old daughter of one of the pioneers," as captive. The Indians returned again and again to kill and rob. The few remaining men of the settlement, joined with others from near-by pueblos, formed themselves into a range guard. They vowed to recover the Parker child and exterminate the Apaches. For almost fifty years these Rangers and their successors fought the Indians in Texas along the old Chisholm Trail from Pre sidio, Mexico, to Indian Territory, now Oklahoma.

For twenty-five years after her abduction the Rangers kept up their search for Cynthia Ann Parker. The Apaches had a system of tribal communication by painting hieroglyphics on the sunparched shoulder-blades of dead buffalo —an expansive, fan-shaped bone that afforded ample writing surface. The Rangers learned to decipher this Indian language and kept on the trail of the band that had captured the girl. When ultimately found, Cynthia Ann Parker refused to leave her Indian spouse, Chief Quanah, and their children. While Texas was still a part of Mexico, and long after it became an independent republic and a State of the Union, the Rangers served as a State police, guarding the Chisholm Trail, then the only avenue for the transportation of cattle to the markets of the North. The Rangers formed the skeleton structure of the army of the Texas Republic, with many noted men among them. Official Recognition. It was during those days that the Rangers received official recognition and the President of the Texas Republic approved the recruiting of 1600 men to the force—the greatest number in the organisation’s history. Since the close of the war between the Republic of Texas and the United Mexican States the Ranger force ha«s never been more than a few hundred men. In 1874 the Texas Legislature authorised the organisation of six companies of Rangers of seventy-five men each, but the small appropriation provided funds for the operation of the battalion for only five months. Although the pay of the Ranger is lees than 100 dollars per month, the legislative appropriation for their support and maintenance has not been sufficient to provide for more than six companies of five men each. There are not and never have been any formal or prescribed rules or qualifications for service. Rangers are chosen by the Adjutant-General of the State, to whom they must be known as men of high principles and good moral character, of unflinching bravery, and the ability to shoot straight. But the Ranger’s greatest attribute is tact—Ahe quality of never starting trouble and never hesitating to stop it when sonic one else has started it. Rangers do not wear and never have worn uniforms. They are not unlike any other Texan from the open country, sun-tanned, quiet unassuming men of average physique Their only identification is a tiny five pointed star of white metal with the word “Ranger.” He Is The Law. When a Ranger draws his gun it is because all his other powers of persuasion have been exhausted. Unlike some police, who are trained to fire their re volvera into the air to summon aid or to frighten law offenders into submission the Ranger must handle his situation alone. He is the law. To summon aid would mean an admission of inability to handle his problem. The Ranger operates upon verbal orders only. Whenever a situation gets out of control of any Texas community’s regular police force, or when an unusual condition develops, whether raids of cattle thieves in West Texas or murders in the oil regions, the Ranger, or a “company” of them, is dispatched to the scene. They are directed by the Adju-tant-General.