The Texas Rangers. A Century of Frontier Defense. By Walter
Prescott Webb. Pages xv, 584. (Boston and New York:
Houghton-Mifflin Company, 1935.)

"A Texas Ranger could ride like a Mexican, trail like an
Indian, shoot like a Tennesseean, and fight like a devil." This
terse description is the central theme of Webb's book. With his
skill at simplification he shows how these traits were evolved in
the clash in Texas between the Anglo-Americans and the Mexi-
cans and Indians whom they sought to overcome or displace. It
was necessary that the Texan learn from his adversaries; cour-
ageous and resourceful though he was, he had to adjust his equip-
ment and fighting tactics to conform to his new environment.
He had to adopt the plainscraft of the Comanche, the horseman-
ship of the Mexican, and add to these certain innate or acquired
qualities which his enemies did not possess. Among the things
the Texans learned was that they had to fight. They could not
surrender to the Indians, neither would the Mexicans show mercy
to a vanquished foe.

The distinctive characteristics of the Texas Ranger force were
developed by 1835. They were "an irregular body; they were
mounted; they furnished their own horses and arms; they had
no surgeon, no flag, none of the paraphernalia of the regular
service. They were distinct from the regular army and also
from the militia." Thenceforth until 1935, when the organiza-
tion was all but legislated out of existence, the Rangers main-
tained this system and practice. The scope of their service has
been wide and varied. They have served as a State police force;
for several decades they fought marauding Indian bands and
patrolled the frontier settlements in an effort--not very success-
ful--to make secure life and property among the pioneers; and
repeatedly they have been called upon to defend the settlements
near the Mexican border against assaults of bandits and guerrilla
bands. They have never been discreet in their tactics or partic-
ular as to the place where they fought. On at least one occasion
they made an extended campaign into Indian Territory and they
repeatedly invaded Mexico. During the last fifty years the or-
ganization has served as a mobile force available for service at
any place where aggravated crime or vice has made its presence
necessary. In the eighties fence cutters received the special at-
tion of the Rangers; during that and later decades horse and
cow thieves learned to fear them more and more; from 1910 to
1920 disturbances along the Mexican border received their atten-
tion; and during more recent years they directed their efforts
against bank robbers and professional killers.

As a history of frontier defense a book on the Rangers neces-
sarily has its limitations. It does not include the work of the
United States troops who, in spite of their blunders, rendered
substantial service in this connection. It seems the author be-
lieved the story of the Rangers constituted within itself a subject
broad enough for one book and he has, therefore, given little
attention to the Federal forces. Indeed his chief problem must
have been that of elimination. From hundreds of episodes he
has selected those which seemed most significant. From thou-
sands of documents he has culled incidents, facts and comments
that illustrate the work and reveal the spirit of this superb organ-
ization. Of detail there is sufficient but it has been selected so
wisely and presented so skilfully the reader is never tired. There
are passages, such, for instance, as the account of the Rangers in
the Mexican War, that might well serve as models of narrative
and description,--history writing that is both a science and an art.

Although the work is based principally on official sources, it is
seasoned with delightful excerpts from memoirs, saga, and tra-
dition. The illustrative quotations that precede each chapter
both reveal the spirit of the organization and constitute a rich
collection of frontier writings and vernacular.

The most impressive quality of the book is its rich store of
biographical information, glimpses of the leaders of this organ-
ization as it parades through the century. These men do not
conform to any pattern; each is made after his own mold. Cour-
age and resourcefulness are about the only common character-
istics. There is boyish Jack Hays, "a shade of melancholy in
his features," who never wore a uniform; droll Big Foot Wallace,
of giant stature and childlike heart; Ben McCulloch, calm and
without fear; Samuel H. Walker, short, slender, spare, and
slouchy, with mild blue eyes and classic face; L. H. McNelly,
with features effeminate and "the soft voice of a timid Metho-
dist preacher," who with thirty men tried to start a war with
Mexico; "Mervyn," the Ranger writer, whose prose would not have
brought discredit to O. Henry; John B. Jones, the pacificator,
whose strongest drink was black coffee, which he loved not so well
as buttermilk; G. W. Arrington, stubborn and unyielding; Ira
Aten, original, audacious, and droll; and Frank Hamer, who seems
to have inherited the courage and efficiency of the intrepid lead-
ers who preceded him.

Wisely conceived, well organized, profusely illustrated, and
beautifully written, the book is a fitting monument to a great
institution.

Hardin-Simmons University,

Abilene, Texas.

Rupert N. Richardson.

How to cite:
"Texas Rangers", Volume 39, Number 4, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v039/n4/review_DIVL4281.html
[Accessed Mon Nov 23 13:27:06 CST 2009]