8 Famous Texas Rangers

8 Famous Texas Rangers

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Get the full story of the Texas Rangers, one of America’s oldest and most respected law enforcement agencies, from their start in the 1800s to today’s high-tech police work, and all the infamous outlaws they’ve captured along the way.

8 Famous Texas Rangers

Author

Sarah Pruitt

Website Name

History.com

Year Published

2015

Title

8 Famous Texas Rangers

URL

http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/8-famous-texas-rangers

Access Date

March 19, 2018

Publisher

A+E Networks

After riding to victory alongside other Texian forces in the war for independence, the rough-and-ready Texas Rangers served as the new republic’s primary law enforcement agency. They proved their mettle yet again in the Mexican War, but many Rangers went on to fight against their former U.S. army comrades when Texas joined the Confederacy during the Civil War. From Wild West train robbers and gunfighters in the 1870s to bootleggers andgamblers in the 1920s, criminals in Texas faced the wrath of the Rangers. Now an elite police squad tasked with the state’s most serious criminal investigations, the Texas Rangers have undergone many changes in their colorful history—and some particularly memorable characters have emerged over the years.

John Coffee Hays

Born in Tennessee, Hays arrived in San Antonio in 1837, shortly after Texas won its independence from Mexico. By 1841, at the tender age of 23, he was a Ranger captain. A fearless fighter and skilled leader, Hays won his fame defending Texans from raids and attacks by both Native American (Comanche) groups and Mexican bandits. More than any other man, he would come to symbolize the Rangers of the Texas Republic era. During the Mexican War (1846-48), Hays’ Rangers scouted,