the texas rangers
walter prescott webb
university of texas press
the texas rangers is a primer for the history of this law enforcement group. published in 1935, the book accounts for the establishment of the rangers and details, historically, the growth to 1935.
it is not , and was not intended to be a detail of exploits of the organization or individuals, although many are recounted within the pages. if exploits and sagas are the search, this recount will probably fall short of your expectations.
notable, the book is well documented. all accounts, with minor exception, are taken from official reports and cross refrenced to try and keep accurate, the refrences made. these refrences will help the reader follow threads to individuals and materials which may give aid to exploits and occurances not detailed within the read of this book.
this is not to say the book is dry and without humor and saga for mr webb certainly used these to draw a complete picture of the history and growth of the rangers.
official reports must be read as they are written, with a certain amount of detail unexplained. let me elaborate. when, in a report, a ranger might detail the happenings of an event to his superiors he might explain that such and such happened and that the desperados were left to be attended to by the local authorities. what might not be said in the report is the desporados were all killed and the local authorities were left to the task of removing the bodies to the morgue.
a great deal of misunderstanding of the rangers exist with folks today. the reading of this account will surely give trhe reader a more clear view and understanding of the times, events, and circumstances which shaped the rangers and not only them but the state also.
it was stated in a post not many days ago that the writer was under the assumption the rangers always worked alone, the one riot one ranger mindset. the author takes the rangers from, really, a military organization to the begenning of the era of the one riot one ranger period-to which in some extent it is today.
the book should be the beginning reader for anyone whose is interested in this history. certainly more daring exploits exist in diaries and other books published but none will give the reader a truer insight into who an ranger was and what characteristics of a man made him the maker of a history of the finest police organization of its time .
blessings
