One Ranger - One Riot

One of the most lasting impressions I took from my 20+ years of living in the Lone Star State was the mystique surrounding the Texas Rangers. It hasn't abated even in the 21st century. It is widely known there that if your evil ways have attracted the Texas Rangers' attention, you might as well drive to Austin and turn yourself in - the party's over. From the nomadic serial killer, Resendiz, in our lifetime, to the infamous Bonnie & Clyde in our parent's day, and back further to King Fisher of the Mexican bandito period, the bad guys all came to justice at the hands of the Texas Rangers.

The legends abound of Ranger exploits but the most famous one that endured, despite being dispelled, is the one surrounding "One Ranger, One Riot." This one holds that the riots in the border towns of the late 19th century prompted a sheriff to contact the Rangers. On the day the train pulled in to the town, the sheriff met the train and waited for the boxcars to open up and for a troop of Rangers to come barreling out on horseback. He waited and finally one Ranger exited the passenger car, to which the sheriff, stunned, said to the Ranger, "You're alone! We've got a riot going on in this town." To which the Ranger softly replied, "One Ranger, one riot." Or something like that. In fact, that story has been more accurately linked to an illegal prize fight that the Governor wanted stopped and the Ranger actually replied, "Ain't I enough? How many prize fights do you have?" Also in fact, there were probably thirty or forty Rangers there, not one. Still, this impression didn't take wings from that one situation alone. The Rangers were fearless and in the early days, quite vicious. Some of the lore has scrubbed away the more despicable actions of Rangers like McNelly, who administered frontier justice with extreme prejudice. In that King Fisher and his bandits were killing entire towns and rounding up all of the cattle on the border and returning to Mexico, most Texians applauded the carnage-in-kind.

The Texas Rangers of today, and since 1935, are a division of the Texas Department of Public Safety. There are 134 Rangers (set by statute) distributed throughout the state, attached to 7 stations. The 8th station, the administrative offices, are in Austin, Texas. The Texas Rangers are equivalent to the Bureaus of Investigation in other states. Their forensic skills are unmatched, though working with a relatively small staff of experts. They wear an "authorized", though not mandated uniform of a Stetson, starched shirt, boots, with a .357 Sig Sauer or .45 Colt sidearm. Most Rangers carry 12 gauge shotguns and some, Ruger Mini-14 Rifles. They must periodically qualify for any firearm that they carry with them. And of course, they wear the famous Texas Ranger badge. Still today, the badge is made of Mexican silver. In the beginning, it was hammered out of a Mexican 5 Peso coin. It still sports the five-pointed star of the Republic of Texas, when Texas was still a nation, not a state.

All law enforcement has a fraternity, a brotherhood. In the Texas Rangers, it is more - it's a family. I have a friend in Houston, Harry Theriot, whose uncle had retired from the Texas Rangers years ago. Upon his uncle's death, many of the contemporary Rangers, most of whom never knew this man, a few not yet born when he retired, attended his funeral in West Texas. The Rangers are that close.

Not untouched by controversy, the Texas Rangers have been a legendary influence on Texas history for 185 years. I remember living in Houston when the serial killer, Angel Maturino Resendiz, was being hunted by everyone from the FBI to the RCMP of Canada. Though not a native Texan, it gave me great pride when one Texas Ranger, Drew Carter, took Resendiz into custody in El Paso, Texas. One serial killer - one Ranger......