The Formation of the Texas Rangers

“Early American senses of ‘freedom’ fundamentally depended upon the taking of Native lands….” – Jeffrey Ostler

In 1823 the Texas Rangers were formed. The formation of the Texas Rangers was a direct result of the deaths incurred by the white settlers at the hands of the Comanche, when they travelled West to claim land. The claiming of land by the white setters is an often romanticized notion brought about by popular media. Books, documentaries and television shows can often skew the view of reality. If one takes a step back and analyses the facts, the reality of the situation is far from romantic. In fact, the chasm from reality and what is often portrayed in striking. The lands in the West were already inhabited. The Native American people were there first. It was their land. They hunted on it, lived off of it and lived a nomadic, somewhat hunter gathering lifestyle on it for centuries. That is not to say that there wasn’t fighting in the West before the settlers arrived, because there was, tribes of Native Americans fought amongst themselves for territory as well as superiority on the plains. However, it wasn’t until the white settlers made their way West that their focus was no longer focused inward, but directed outward at the land-grabbing invaders. As previously mentioned, the Comanche were an exceptionally skilled warrior people. It was this tribe of Native Americans that were at the forefront of defending the West during the battle of the Great Frontier. However, because of the Comanche skill and proficiency on horseback, the settlers were no match. They were at an incredible disadvantage and suffered huge numbers of fatalities when venturing West in order to steal Comanche and Native American land.

What transpired in the coming years was an all-out brutal war. A war that stemmed from the Native Americans acting in self-defense. They were protecting their land and did so remarkably well. So well, that a new force needed to be created in order to keep the Comanche at bay so that the settlers could be protected during their journey West. Because there was no regular army to protect settlers against Natives that were protecting their land from encroachment a new force was needed. Stephen F. Austin put together a group of ten men whose duty was to ‘range’ the land in the West and protect the settlers from attacks. Soon after they became informally known as ‘Rangers’ and formally known as ‘The Texas Rangers’ in 1835. Before, commenting on the Rangers, some context is needed around the need for their creation.

In 1783, American settlers began their century-long westward expansion, largely by exterminating Native Americans and stealing their lands. The US government at the time sanctioned this and authorized more than 1,500 wars, attacks and raids on Indians, the most of any country in the world against its indigenous people. When Columbus arrived in 1492, it's estimated that there were 5 million to 15 million indigenous people living in North America. The number declined sharply to less than 238,000 by the late 19th century.

Native Americans were removed from the lands that they had lived on for generations and deprived of the right to life. They were slowly being exterminated, an entire people were in danger of being wiped out because the US government felt they were uncivilized and the setter would bring civilization to the West. The land grab, came at the expense of Native American life, which the US government and settlers believed was inconsequential. The 1830 Indian Relocation Act compelled southeastern Indian tribes to move from east of the Mississippi River to the west. The westward journey was overseen and controlled by army and militia patrols. Between 1830 and 1850, the government forced nearly 100,000 Native Americans to leave their homelands, thousands of whom died of disease, hunger and cold. This dangerous journey later became known as the "Trail of Tears" and is a harrowing tale in itself. What's more, Native Americans were seriously discriminated against and the killing of them was not only encouraged but it was rewarded. George Washington the first president of the United States described Indians as being like the "Wild Beast of the Forest" and the "Wolf" because they were both beasts of prey. In 1862, on the orders of President Abraham Lincoln, thirty-eight Dakota Indians were hanged in Mankato, Minnesota, still to this day it is the largest mass execution in US history.

Jeffrey Ostler is the professor of Northwest and Pacific History at the University of Oregon and he has spent almost 30 years researching and teaching the incredibly nuanced and incendiary history of what happened on the Great plains. Ostler’s conclusion was that the wars the US government waged against Native Americans from the 1600s to the 1900s differed in a fundamental way from this country’s other contemporaneous conflicts. “Against Native nations and communities,” he says, “it was genocidal war.” And from the beginning, he believes, US leaders understood and embraced this grim viewpoint. However, they concealed their true aims with a series of self-serving narratives built around the ideal of “civilization.” In the beginning this was portrayed as a precious and necessary gift the colonizers were offering to Indigenous populations. Later, “defending civilization” would be cited as justification to kill them.

Of course, the intention to commit genocide is not sufficient to ensure its success. Native nations and communities persisted many years and in fact were successful in defending their lands. Until the formation of the Texas Rangers. Stephen F. Smith initially put together a group of 10 men as previously mentioned. Jack Hayes was appointed leader of the Rangers in 1840 and became a great leader of men. At the initial creation of the Rangers, the Comanche were still having huge success in keeping the settlers at bay. Surveying land was allowed by the US government and this meant anyone that wanted land, could simply go out and take it. They just needed to travel out West, survey the land they wanted and claim it, this was surveying and it was entirely legal and most importantly free. Therefore, huge amounts of people travelled West in order to claim the land which is how the Indian Wars began. Jack Hayes was himself a surveyor, and he became good at keeping other surveyors alive when they made their trip West. It got so good at it, that he became a leader of the Rangers. The Rangers evolved to become essentially Comanche warriors by learning bird signs in order to track people. They made cold camps, as you never made a camp fire if you were near Comanches.

The Rangers learned these techniques of warfare. They excelled at it but they had one problem, which was that they had only 3 shots. They had a Kentucky Long Rifle, and 2 single shot pistols and that is all they had against Comanches on horseback that had perfected the art of firing arrows as many as 10 arrows in 5 seconds. Therefore, initially the Rangers despite being a professional force, they were at an incredible disadvantage. Until, an inventor in the West coast named Samuel Colt came up with an invention in the early 1830s that was a prototype of a 5 shot pistol. The became known as the 5 shot Patterson Colt. Jack Hayes and the Rangers got hold of these guns and immediately knew what it meant. It meant equalizing the warfare against the Comanches. Now they had a 5 shot gun with one interchangeable cylinder. Meaning they had 10 shots in each gun. So they had 10 shots in their left hand and 10 shots in their right hand. Therefore, in close hand combat the entire world changed. So efficient at doing its job was this gun that the US government ordered what became the Walker Colt 6 shooter for the Mexican War. Samuel Walker a famous Texas Ranger and Samuel Colt engaging in an amalgamation in order to win the war in the West. and Samuel Colt became one of the richest men in America and Jack Hayes and the Texas Ranger redefined warfare. Before Jack Hayes people came into the West on foot carrying a Kentucky Long Rifle and after Jack Hayes they came mounted and carrying a 6 shooter. The Comanche and the Native Americans quickly found themselves on the losing side and within a very short period of time their lands hand been forcibly removed from them and they were placed in reservations and had their livelihoods taken away. Which, in turn meant that many suffered poverty, malnutrition and subsequently the Native American people fell into one of the lowest rungs on the socio-economic ladder. The effects of which remain evident today.