Texas Rising

[Darrell]

Forgot to mention that I ordered the book The Texas Rangers: Wearing the Cinco Peso, 1821-1900, by Mike Cox, after watching the shows. Hopefully it's better thought of than the show.

Texas writer/historian Mike Cox explores the inception and rise of the famed Texas Rangers. Starting in 1821 with just a handful of men, the Rangers' first purpose was to keep settlers safe from the feared and gruesome Karankawa Indians, a cannibalistic tribe that wandered the Texas territory. As the influx of settlers grew, the attacks increased and it became clear that a much larger, better trained force was necessary.

From their tumultuous beginning to their decades of fighting outlaws, Comanche, Mexican soldados and banditos, as well as Union soldiers, the Texas Rangers became one of the fiercest law enforcement groups in America. In a land as spread-out and sparsely populated as the west itself, the Rangers had unique law-enforcement responsibilities and challenges.

The story of the Texas Rangers is as controversial as it is heroic. Often accused of vigilante-style racism and murder, they enforced the law with a heavy hand. But above all they were perhaps the defining force for the stabilization and the creation of Texas. From Stephen Austin in the early days through the Civil War, the first eighty years of the Texas Rangers is nothing less then phenomenal, and the efforts put forth in those days set the foundation for the Texas Rangers that keep Texas safe today.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031287 ... ailpages00

[Windy Wilson]

I'm waiting for the Rangers in the next episode to come out with Walker pistols.

The Paterson (Patterson?) was released in 1836, and was quite the surprise for several bands of Comanches who thought the fur traders and freighters they attacked were unarmed after the first shot. But that was MUCH smaller than the Walker Colt.

[oilcrash]

I read this article during the portion of Memorial Weekend that I was in Austin with CC acting as chauffeur and tour guide for my wife and I on our 5th anniversary.