Lone Star Lawmen: The Second Century of the Texas Rangers

449 Pages·2007·6.02 MB·English

by  Robert M. Utley

LONE STAR LAWMEN
Books by the Author
The Last Days of the Sioux Nation
1963
Frontiersmen in Blue: The United States Army and the Indian,
–
1967
Frontier Regulars: The United States Army and the Indian, –
1974
The Indian Frontier of the American West
1984;2003
High Noon in Lincoln: Violence on the Western Frontier
1987
Cavalier in Buckskin: George Armstrong Custer and the
Western Military Frontier
1988;2001
Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life
1989
The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull
1993
A Life Wild and Perilous: Mountain Men and the Paths to the Pacific
1997;2004(asAfter Lewis and Clark)
Lone Star Justice: The First Century of the Texas Rangers
2002
Custer and Me: A Historian’s Memoir
2004
Lone Star Lawmen
THE SECOND CENTURY OF THE TEXAS RANGERS
Robert M. Utley
1
2007
1
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Copyright © 2007by Robert M. Utley
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Utley, Robert Marshall, 1929–
Lone star lawmen : the second century of the Texas Rangers / Robert M. Utley.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:978-0-19-515444-3
1. Texas Rangers—History—20th century. 2. Texas Rangers—Biography.
3. Outlaws—Texas—Biography. 4. Criminals—Texas—Biography.
5. Crime—Texas—History—20th century. 6. Texas—History—20th century. I. Title.
F391.U932007
976.4'063—dc22
2006025639
135798642
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For Bobby Nieman, a Rangers’ historian...
and
Glenn Elliott, a Ranger’s Ranger
This page intentionally left blank
contents
Preface ix
Prologue 1
1. The Border, 1910–1915 8
2. The “Bandit War,” 1915 26
3. The Big Bend, 1913–1919 48
4. Austin, 1918–1919 68
5. Pat Neff’s “Battles of Peace,” 1921–1925 85
6. Ma and Pa Ferguson, 1925–1927 109
7. Dan Moody, 1927–1931 119
8. Ross and Bill Sterling, 1931–1933 142
9. Return of the Fergusons, 1933–1935 152
10. The Department of Public Safety, 1935 166
11. DPS Birth Pangs, 1935–1938 179
12. Homer Garrison, 1938–1968 192
vii
Contents
13. Gambling...and Other Distractions 216
14. Latino Uprising 235
15. Change, 1965–1985 254
16. Highs and Lows, 1970s 265
17. Highs and Lows, 1980s 282
18. Highs and Lows, 1990s 303
19. A Summing-Up 329
Abbreviations 342
Notes 344
Sources 381
Index 391
maps
Texas xvi
The Upper Border in 1915 36
The Lower Border in 1915 37
Oil Boomtowns, 1920–1933 89
Texas Rangers Field Organization 2000 305
Illustrations follow pages 112and240
viii
preface
Some years ago a friend contracted with a New York publisher
to write a history of the Texas Rangers. He had in mind a complete
history of the Rangers, but his editor instructed him to end the story
as soon as they climbed down from their horses, and so he did. Most
general readers associate the Texas Rangers with men on horseback
who took on Mexicans, Indians, and outlaws to tame Texas in the nine-
teenth century. When they dismounted, they no longer fit the stereotype
and presumably lost their appeal to readers.
I too had in mind a complete history of the Rangers. By the time
they dismounted and took to automobiles, however, I had a full book.
Fortunately my editor, at considerable inconvenience, agreed to let me
finish the story in a second volume. This volume includes horses too, of
course, because Texas contains large areas of difficult topography, but
the new century largely motorized the Rangers.
To me the story of this second century is as compelling as the story
of the first. No work as comprehensive as my first volume, Lone Star
Justice, has ever been written about the twentieth-century Rangers. The
historiography is mainly anecdotal, confined to books and articles about
ix