b'Bill may have made some notable and notorious rolesThe subsequent tale of the Texas Revolution, of the Alamo, throughout his career, but for many of us, his "good guy"of Goliad, of Crockett, Bowie, Travis, and Fannin - and portrayal of Ranger Joe Riley was one of his very bestlater of Houston and his glorious victory over Santa Anna - and I daresay I think Bill saw it as one of his favoriteneeds no retelling here. However, how the impact of the roles as well. repression and how it aroused the Texas leadership which directly led to the establishment of a Ranger force even Bill was someone who always had a smile on his face,before the attack upon and fall of the Alamo does. In was always very glad to see the scores of his fans at thethe wake of Santa Anna\'s brutal repression of the Texas Festival of the West, the Walk of Western Stars in SantaAmericans, the arrest of Austin, who had gone to Mexico Clarita, California, and the many other Western FilmCity to try and reason with the new dictator, and an events he and his lovely wife Joanne always attended.increase in tribal raids the embryonic Texas government, He was arguably one of the top five fan favorites at thejust a small coterie of delegates, convened under Daniel Western celebrity festivals alongside his friends ClintAn early depiction of the Parker\'s tutelage and on October 17, 1835, authorized the Walker, James Drury, Robert Fuller, and Michael Dante.Texas Rangers, c. 1845 establishment of a Ranger force of 70 men. Thus was born He would always kiss the hand of ladies who went tothe Texas Rangers.him to say how much they disliked his "mean" roles in the movies. made gestures of friendship, laying down his bowHowever, the new Texas government quickly realized and arrows, and instructed his followers to do thethat 70 men would be too small a force to deal with Bill was also a great raconteur, a gifted poet, ansame, telling Austin that he and his followers wereIndians, with bad men, and certainly would not be a intellectual (I think he would find that definitionnot a war party but a trading party, off to deal withforce that could confront the Mexican Army regiments a bit curious - but it was so true as he was a giftedthe Mexicans in the coastal communities. Not fullyalready massing near the Rio Grande for a march on linguist who knew Russian and taught it at UCLA)convinced, Austin signaled to his followers to keepSan Antonio. Taking pains to insist that the new force and a war hero who, because of his background in thetheir muskets leveled and their powder dry, and afterwould be Rangers, not a militia that would specifically Slavic languages flew many a dangerous spy missiongiving the Karankawas some tobacco and an old rustedbe designed to deal with the Mexican threat, the eavesdropping on Soviet communications during thefrying pan, he turned away from them but wrote thisgovernment reconvened a month later, increasing the coldest days of the Cold War. ominous premonition about them and by extensionRanger force to three companies totaling 56 men each other Indian tribes in his journal: led by three captains who would report to a major. The And consider this - Bill had a VERY respectful Old Westfirst major of the Texas Rangers would be an inspired ancestral tree, as he could count BOTH Daniel Boone"Those Indians and the Karanquas (sic) may be calledchoice indeed - he was a 31-year-old tough, no-nonsense and Kit Carson as part of his familial lineage - makinguniversal enemies to man - they killed off all nationsattorney and newspaper editor originally from Georgia him a cousin of some other folks named Richard Boone,that came into their power and frequently feast on theby the name of Robert McAlpin Williamson.Williamson Pat Boone, and Randy Boone. He had some big historicalbodies of their victims. The (approach of) an Americanhad left his home state under a cloud. Like William boots to fill, and boy, did he fill them very well.(Andpopulation will be the signal of their extermination forBarrett Travis and Sam Houston, Williamson had boy, did he always like to arm-wrestle, having been athere will be no way of subduing them but extermination"unwisely gotten himself involved with a woman who two-time Arm Wrestling World Champion (but he was(Cox, Mike, The Texas Rangers: Wearing the Cinco Peso,belonged to someone else. Defending her - or his - honor, often nice enough to let friends and fans BEAT HIM). Tom Doherty/Forge, New York, 2008, p. 23). he challenged a man to a duel and murdered him, thus causing him to seek new pastures and a new life.As "Joe Riley" Bill in his way epitomized the goodnessWhile Austin\'s instincts would eventually be proven and courage of the Texas Rangers just as much asright, and wholesale slaughter of the Karankawas byWilliamson met the requirements to be a Ranger - he another great American by the name of Chuck NorrisAmerican settlers would not be long in coming afterwas a fine horseman and quite good with a gun. But he would as Ranger Cordell Walker in his Walker, Texashis first encounter, the demise of the Karankawas,was also a crippled man who had overcome a disability Ranger series almost three decades later. due to the merciless retaliation by American settlersthat would have thwarted the determination of lesser as a response to their excesses, would only give waymen. Stricken with some childhood disease, possibly "The Baddest of the Bad" was, in real life, truly one ofto the depredations of amore aggressive, morepolio that caused his right leg to bend backward at "THE GREATEST OF THE GOOD". murderous, though not a cannibalistic tribe known asthe knee - he had built a third wooden leg that would the Comanches whom would wreak havoc upon the fewallow him easier access to mounting his steed as well Bill sadly left us on July 5th to ride that heavenly trailand far between American settlers. as moving about, Williamson had earned the moniker that so many other great and good Cowboys have ridden"Three-Legged Willie" that stuck with him till the end of before. "Joe Riley" was a GOOD Texas Ranger, WilliamBut of singular interest to the saga of the Texashis days. By sheer will, he had overcome his disabilities Smith was MY FRIEND and this writer dedicatesRangers is concerned was that this encounter betweenbut Williamson was a realist. He knew he could never this story of the Texas Rangers to him. REST WELLAustin\'s party and a tribe considered to be hostileassume command in the field so he was content to COWBOY AND GOD BLESS. impressed Austin and other Texan leaders to considerorganize, advocate for, and deploy his three companies. the establishment of an American militia designed toHe had his work cut out for him but he did it well in the THE EMBRYONIC YEARS OF THEprotect the settlers and their isolated communities. Onevery short time he commanded the Rangers, even though RANGERS (1821-1847). of the leaders, a Daniel Parker, formerly from Virginiaone of his very first orders led to a tragedy that was Now, the rest of the story. To begin to recount the storywould become instrumental in the formation of thebeyond his control.of the Texas Rangers one must know a few things aboutRangers - ironically his niece would be among the first the background of the Rangers and the urgency that ledvictims of the Comanche - kidnapped by warriors ledWhile organizing a Ranger company in the town of to their recruitment. by the Chieftain Peta Nocona, she would eventuallyGonzalez, Williamson was made aware of the dire give birth to the most famous of all of the Comanchesituation at the Alamo. He ordered the entire company of DID YOU KNOW THAT CANNIBALISM WAS ANnemesis\'s of Texas - and later arguably the greatestGonzalez Rangers, approximately 30 men in all, to ride INITIAL REASON FOR THE FORMATION OF THENative American leader to ever come out of the state -to the aid of Colonel Travis. Every man in that Gonzalez RANGERS? one Quanah Parker.But we anticipate events. Company of Rangers arrived in time to die alongside Travis, Bowie, Crockett, and the rest of the Alamo men. Yes, it is true, folks. It was none other than StephenFurthermore, as more Americans came to settle inThere was no time for regrets though, as Williamson Austin, the founding father and early leader of theTexas, Austin, Daniel Parker, and their followers wouldnot only had to reorganize his battered companies, he American colony in Texas who,200 years ago, in thesoon discover that they had bigger fish to fry thanalso had to assist Sam Houston as well as deal with the early fall of 1821, encountered the Coco, an offshoot ofsome small cannibalistic tribe along the east coast ofsavage raids of the Comanche, who, just weeks after the fearsome Karankawa tribe along the east coast ofthat territory, for the liberal Mexican government thatHouston\'s victory at San Jacinto, in arguably the most Texas near Goliad. His Mexican contacts had warnedonly required conversion to Roman Catholicism as anotorious raid ever made on the Texas frontier struck at him about this strange, tattooed tribe who wouldprerequisite for settlement would soon be replaced bythe fort Daniel Parker\'s very own family had set up for initially befriend traders and settlers, then suddenlya general who not only assumed dictatorial powers butthemselves and other new American settlers. Daniel was and without warning, attack, and massacre the hatedalso hated all Americans and did not want them or theiraway at the time, but his family was decimated, his father whites within their midst. Worse, the Karankawas wereslaves in Texas. His name was Don Antonio Lopez deJohn, brothers Benjamin and Silas brutally murdered, known to be cannibals who would make a feast out ofSanta Anna, and he soon instituted repressive policiesand absconded with five children and two women - one the remains of the victims they slaughtered. With thatthat not only infuriated the Americans but would alsoof the children was Daniel Parker\'s nine-year-old niece knowledge, Austin told his party to arm themselveslead to the imprisonment of Stephen Austin. Cynthia Ann, who, unable to be rescued or ransomed, and warned the Karankawas off. The chief subsequentlycontinued on page 20ArizonaRealCountry.com November 2021 19'