Some Texas Ranger Trivia

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

Seeing RangerClay's motto "One riot, one ranger" got me to thinking that some of the stuff we Texans have heard all of our lives, might need some explaining to folks in other parts of the country.

The "One riot, one ranger" saying comes from an incident in 1890 involving Texas Ranger Captain W. J. McDonald. Seems there was going to be this big prizefight in Dallas and the mayor was worried it would get out of hand. The mayor called the governor and asked for a company of rangers to keep order. When the train pulled into Dallas and the single ranger got off, the mayor, all in a panic asked "Where's the rest of the company?" To which Captain McDonald replied "****! ain't I enough? There's only one prize-fight!"

Another contribution from Captain McDonald is his personal creed: "No man in the wrong can stand up against a fellow that's in the right and keeps on a-comin." Those words have evolved into the Ranger creed.

And, during WWII when U.S. Army Rangers landed in France, the German press thought those commandos were Texas Rangers. This apparently caused considerable panic among the German people. The Reich's minister of propaganda eventually had to clarify matters.

Rangers continued to add to their legend during the 1950s. When inmates in the Rusk State Hospital for the Criminally Insane rioted and took hostages, Ranger Captain R. A. "Bob" Crowder walked into the maximum security unit armed only with the .45 on his hip. Crowder and the leader of the mob had a conversation and the inmates surrendered.

And finally, the Texas Rangers also have the distinction of being the only State law enforcement agency to be asked by the Federal Government to lead an investigation at a federal crime scene. That occurred in 1993 after the Branch Davidian compound was burned near Elk, Texas (not Waco as has been erroneously reported for years by the press).

[texastrophies]

Re: Some Texas Ranger Trivia

Good stuff