defended U.S. supply and communication lines from attacks by Mexican guerrillas and fought alongside regular U.S. army troops, earning a national reputation for their bravery. After the war, Hays went further west to California, where he made his name in politics, real estate and ranching and helped found the city of Oakland.

Samuel H. Walker

Hays and his men were usually outnumbered in their skirmishes with Comanche and Mexican forces, but managed to hold their own thanks to their highly effective use of a more modern weapon: the revolver. Soon after Samuel Walker joined Hays’ Ranger company in 1844, they and 14 other Rangers took on some 80 Comanches in the battle of Walker’s Creek. Armed with the first practical revolver, designed by Samuel Colt, the Rangers came out ontop in the fierce clash. Walker was seriously wounded, but recovered to become a celebrated Ranger captain during the Mexican War. In late 1846, he made some simple suggestions to improve Colt’s revolver design, and the upgraded “Walker Colt” became the deadliest weapon of the war. Walker was killed in a clash with Mexican forces at Huamantla in October 1847.

Ben McCulloch

McCulloch followed his neighbor and family friend Davy Crockett from Tennessee out to Texas in 1835. He came down with the measles and didn’t make it to the Alamo before its fall, but joined Sam Houston’s army for the Battle of San Jacinto. After joining the Rangers, he fought courageously against Comanches at the Battle of Plum Creek and other engagements and was named Hays’ first lieutenant. During