Excerpt
Life and Death in a Harsh Land
"Texas Ranger" is a blanket term that has meant different things at different
times. Since 1874, it generally has described a full-time, professional state
peace officer, originally charged with protecting the citizens from Indians and
desperadoes, and later with investigating crime in the modern sense. Prior to
1874, however, the term was, in the words of one nineteenth-century writer,
"somewhat vague when sought to be historically applied to the various volunteer
and irregular organizations that have figured in the frontier service of
Texas."'
The earliest ranger-style forces in Texas often were minutemen—much like those
of colonial America-who agreed to hold themselves ready and come together under
the authority of the Texas government when necessary, after which they would
return home and resume their normal lives until needed again. Other times they
might be volunteers who served for a specific length of time, electing their own
officers, much the same as the ninety-day volunteers of the Union Army.
Occasionally, they were ad hoc companies formed with the sanction of the local
community ... read full excerpt from The Men Who Wear the Star ebook
