b'The Texas RangersPart One: The Golden Years, 18361896 By Alan RockmanRANGER\'S COMMANDCome all of you cowboysall over this land,I\'ll teach you the law of the Ranger\'s Command:To hold a six-shooter, and never to runAs long as there\'s bullets in both of your guns.I met a fair maiden whose name I don\'t know;I asked her to the roundup with me would she go;She said she\'d go with me to the cold roundup,And drink that hard liquor from the cold, bitter cup.We started for the canyon in the fall of the year John Armstrong, Frank Jones, and Leander McNellyExpecting to get there with a herd of fat steer;And the rustlers broke on us in the dead hours of night;She \'rose from her warm bed, a battle to fight. you were 17 years of age and serving as a deputy sheriff(The writer has his own opinion - but he\'ll leave it up to or marshal\'s assistance in some dusty Texas plains town.you to decide - with just one clue. In the long run, the She \'rose from her warm bed with a gun in each hand, Suffice it was to say that the average lawman was anRangers did bring law and order to an untamed state, Said: Come all of you cowboys and fight for your land, older man, late twenties, early thirties, or more. warts and all - the good outweighing the bad).Come all of you cowboys and don\'t ever runAs long as there\'s bullets in both of your guns. Until the late 19th century the only proof of what andTheir exploits, real or imagined inspired many awho they were was either the enlistment papers or aWestern movie and TV show. They were the Texas Written by Woody Guthrie and Sung by The Hillmenscrap of paper showing their oath of office. The firstRangers and this is the story of their golden years (1964) Chris Hillman, Vern Gosdin, Rex Gosdin, known instance of one wearing their distinctive CINCObetween 1836-1896 told in brief but hopefully captivating and Don Parmley. PESO badge was noted in 1888. They started smallvignettes spotlighting the major events of Rangerwith the authorization of three companies of 56 menhistory and experiences.each and never exceeded 500 at any given point in theirA storied and (mostly) glorious career. "JOE RILEY". . .large proportion . . . were unmarried. A few ofBefore going any further in telling the story of the them drank intoxicating liquors. Still, it was aThere were good and great men among them, brave,Texas Rangers this writer hopes you will indulge him company of sober and brave men. They knew theirresolute, fearless men like RIP Ford, John Coffee Hays,as he would like to honor the memory of William duty and they did it. While in a town they made noLeander McNelly, John Armstrong, John Hughes, John"Big Bill" Smith. He was a GOOD FRIEND, A GOOD braggadocio demonstration. They did not gallop throughJones, Lawrence Sul Ross, Frank Jones, and Sam WalkerACTOR, AMERICAN PATRIOT AND A GREAT MAN the streets, shoot, and yell. They had a species of moral- the last two were killed in the line of duty proving howwho, before becoming known to many TV and movie discipline which developed moral courage. THEY DIDhazardous their choice of service truly was. Two of themaudiences as the snarling, menacing mustached "Baddest RIGHT BECAUSE IT WAS RIGHTCaptain Johnwould also leave their mark on the history of Arizonaof the Bad\' had started his acting career as the handsome, "RIP" (Rest in Peace) Ford - Jeff Milton and Texas John Slaughter, both of whomalways smiling, clean-shaven, good-natured but earnest would trade in their Cinco Peso badges for work as aTexas Ranger Joe Riley on Laredo which aired for two They patrolled and roamed all over the 261,232 squareshotgun carrying express rider for Wells-Fargo (Milton)seasons on NBC between 1965 and 1967 and which can land miles of Texas Territory from the Red to the Rioand in Slaughter\'s case Sheriff of Cochise County,still be seen today Saturday mornings on GET TV.Grande, from the prairies and the plains to the Hillpatrolling the streets of Tombstone less than a decade Country and south, with occasional forays into Mexico,after Wyatt and Doc rode off into the sunset.New Mexico and the Indian Territory hunting wanted desperadoes, chasing and attacking Comanche andThere were also, as in almost all superb regiments, Kiowa bands, just generally trying to keep the peacedivisions, companies and corps quite a few rotten and protect the citizens of Texas. They were lean, tough,apples, and sad to say not just a few racists who would rugged men who knew the country and the terrain,mistreat - and occasionally murder a "Buffalo Soldier," they were skilled horsemen with years of experiencei.e., a trooper of the Black 9th and 10th Cavalry (as with firearms, and they were more than adapt with bothwill be noted, Jeff Milton had the misfortune of serving simply because they were prerequisites to survive onunder one such man.) They also mistreated Mexican the wild and unpredictable plains and prairies of Texasinhabitants, and during times of strife and conflict along where you never knew who or what would be comingthe Red River, would murder not a few innocent and around the bend. not-so-innocent Indians who fell into their hands. But were the Rangers a truly rotten group of gun-happy They had to bring their own equipment, their ownracists and borderline outlaw varmints, a "cult of glory" firearms, and their own horses to join up. And to beas one recent history suggests? Or were they truly the one you had to be at least 21 with eight years of lawgood guys performing a rough, hard, but necessary job enforcement training under your belt. Which made itof bringing law and order to a rough, hard, and veryRest in Peace Big Billalmost impossible to be a man younger than 25 unlesswild state?18 November 2021'