The Men Who War the Star: The Story of the Texas Rangers (56 page)

  17: Tarnished Star

1. Webb,
   Texas Rangers,
   453.
   
2. Ibid., 457; Martin,
   Border Boss,
   175.
   
3. Jenkins and Frost,
   “I’m Frank Hamer,”
   22–30.
   
4. The Brownsville Affray, as it is called, is covered in detail by Ann J. Lane in
   The
   Brownsville Affair
   and by John D. Weaver in
   The Brownsville Raid.
   Lane concentrates more on the national civil rights implications, while Weaver looks at the incident itself and concludes that the soldiers were framed. Members of many old Brownsville families dispute Weaver’s findings. Most of the material on McDonald’s involvement comes from Chapters 38, 39, and 40 of Paine,
   Captain Bill
   McDonald.
   
5. Lane,
   BrownsvilleAffair,
   19–20,29–30. JudgeWelch’scharge, reprintedonpages 357–59of Paine,
   CaptainBillMcDonald,
   accusesthesoldiersof “fiendishmalice and hate, showing blacker than their skins. ”Paine’s book, written three years after the incident, casts McDonald in a heroic mold, defending the integrity of Texas citizenry and law against the federal government and its odious black soldiers. This, of course, reflected national attitudes of the era. Ninety years later, however, the same text makes McDonald appear at best amateurish in this particular incident.
   
6. This incident is told in Paine,
   Captain Bill McDonald,
   Chapter 41.
   
7. Ibid., 271–73.
   
8. Sterling,
   Trails and Trials,
   21. The so-called Bandit War on the Lower Rio Grande is described fully by Sterling and in John R. Peavey,
   Echoes from the Rio Grande.
   
9. The Plan of San Diego and its impact on the border disturbances are detailed by James A. Sandos in
   Rebellion in the Borderlands.
   German influence is discussed in Sandos, 96–97; Jenkins and Frost,
   “I’m Frank Hamer,”
   50–56; and Sterling,
   Trails and Trials,
   25. Sterling also considers possible Japanese influence.
   
10. Sterling,
    Trails and Trials,
    25; quote from Peavey,
    Echoes from the Rio Grande,
    101.
    
11. Sandos,
    Rebellion in the Borderlands,
    86–87; Justice,
    Revolution on the Rio
    Grande,
    45.
    
12. Sandos,
    Rebellion in the Borderlands,
    87–88; Peavey,
    Echoes from the Rio
    Grande,
    100–1; Sterling,
    Trials and Trails,
    32–33.
    
13. Jenkins and Frost,
    “I’m Frank Hamer,”
    57–59; Sandos,
    Rebellion in the Border-lands,
    89–90.
    
14. Sandos,
    Rebellion in the Borderlands,
    92.
    
15. Ibid., 98; Jenkins and Frost,
    “I’m Frank Hamer,”
    60.
    
16. Robinson, “When Bandits Wrecked the Night Train,” 41–42; Sandos,
    Rebellion
    in the Borderlands,
    104.
    
17. Robinson, “When Bandits Wrecked the Night Train,” 42; Sandos,
    Rebellion in the
    Borderlands,
    101–4; Peavey,
    Echoes from the Rio Grande,
    120.
    
18. Peavey,
    Echoes from the Rio Grande,
    121–22; Sandos,
    Rebellion in the Border-lands,
    103–4.
    
19. Justice,
    Revolution on the Rio Grande,
    10–14; Jenkins and Frost,
    “I’m Frank
    Hamer,”
    62–65. The
    rurales,
    or Guardia Rural (Rural Guard), officially were dissolved with the collapse of the Díaz regime, although some units continued to function as the only semblance of law and order. Their closest counterparts were perhaps the Guardia Civil during the Franco regime in Spain.
    
20. Martin,
    Border Boss,
    186ff.
    
21. Justice,
    Revolution on the Rio Grande,
    6–9.
    
22. Ibid., 9–11, 17; Martin,
    Border Boss,
    205–9.
    
23. Justice,
    Revolution on the Rio Grande,
    36; Martin,
    Border Boss,
    205.
    
24. Justice,
    Revolution on the Rio Grande,
    9, 36.
    
25. Sam H. Neill, quoted in ibid., 21.
    
26. “Death to the gringos!”
    
27. Justice,
    Revolution on the Rio Grande,
    21ff.; Warren, “The Raid on Luke Brite’s Ranch,” Warren Papers.
    
28. Justice,
    Revolution on the Rio Grande,
    36–37; Warren, “The Porvenir Massacre,” Warren Papers; In re of the Investigation of the El Porvenir Fight [
    sic
    ], of January 28, 1918, in Presidio County, Texas Legislature, Proceedings of the Joint Committee of the Senate and the House in the Investigation of the Texas State Ranger Force (hereinafter cited as “Proceedings”), 1586ff. The Proceedings contain eyewitness statements on the Porvenir massacre, which were given in a Mexican court and appear in the Texas legislative record in translation. Many of the statements are virtually identical except for a few details, giving the impression of rehearsed testimony. Before reaching that conclusion, however, one must consider the fact that a large number of these people were illiterate, and the Mexican notaries, upon realizing that most people were testifying essentially to the same thing, may have prepared a standardized statement, changing it only when details of the testimony varied.
    
29. Justice,
    Revolution on the Rio Grande,
    37–39; Proceedings, 1586ff.; “cursed them . . . ,” Warren, “The Porvenir Massacre,” Warren Papers.
    
30. Warren, “The Porvenir Massacre,” Warren Papers.
    
31. Ibid.
    
32. Justice,
    Revolution on the Rio Grande,
    40–45; Fehrenbach,
    Lone Star,
    639.
    
33. Harley to Fox, June 11, 1918, copy of letter attached to Memorial of the Mexican General Commission of Claims, Warren Papers.
    
34. Proceedings, 148.
    
35. Harley to W. H. Bledsoe, Chairman of the Joint Committee, copy in ibid.
    
36. Various entries, ibid.; Justice,
    Revolution on the Rio Grande,
    46.
    
37. Webb,
    Texas Rangers,
    513–14; Sterling,
    Trails and Trials,
    51.
    
38. Dallas
    News,
    February 21, 1919.
    

  Conclusion: The End and the Myth

1. White,
   Them Was the Days,
   112.
   
2. John F. Barron to the author, undated interview (1975).
   
3. Prassell,
   Western Peace Officer,
   158–59. The impact of the Ferguson era on the Rangers is described in full in Sterling,
   Trails and Trials.
   
4. House, “Rip-roaring Days,” 19.
   
5. Hamer’s story, with much material on the Bonnie and Clyde case, is told in Jenkins and Frost,
   “I’m Frank Hamer.”
   
6. Mike Cox to the author, telephone conversation, September 3, 1996.
   
7. DPS,
   Annual Report, 1994,
   10.
   
8. Askins,
   Texans, Guns and History,
   184.
   
9. Hunter, “How the Greatest Museum in the South Was Built,” 220–21.
   
10. Heide and Gilman,
    Cowboy Collectibles,
    24–25.
    
11. Ibid., 62ff.
    
12. Malsch,
    “Lone Wolf” Gonzaullas,
    195–96. A tape of a 1952 radio episode with Joel McCrea is available in “The Smithsonian Collection. Old Time Radio Detectives and Crime Fighters.”
    
13. Cartwright, “Chuck Norris,” 103.
    
14. San Antonio Express-News,
    January 24, 1987; Mike Cox to the author, telephone conversation, September 3, 1996.
    
15. White,
    Them Was the Days,
    126.
    
16. George W. Bush to the author, October 21, 1996.
    

Bibliography

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Silver Stars and Sixguns: The Texas Rangers
. Austin: Texas Department of Public Safety, 1995.

Ellington, G. W. “When Cattle Trails Were Highways.” Ranger Reminiscences. Typescript. Record Group 401. Office of the Adjutant General. Texas State Library and Archive, Austin.

Gammel, Hans Peter Nielson, comp.
The Laws of Texas, 1822–1897
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Mooney, James. “Calendar History of the Kiowa Indians.”
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——. Office of the Adjutant General.
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Texas Ranger Sergeant James B. Gillett
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——. Record Group 401. Texas State Library and Archive, Austin.

——. Ranger Reminiscences. Record Group 401. Texas State Library and Archive, Austin.

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——.
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——.
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——. 31st Congress, First Session, HR No. 352.
Payment of Texas Volunteers
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Difficulties on
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El Paso Troubles in Texas
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Caperton, John. “Sketch of Colonel John C. Hays, The Texas Rangers, Incidents in Texas and Mexico, Etc.” Center for American History, University of Texas, Austin.

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——. “Jack Hays Fight on the Gaudaloupe [
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Elm Creek Raid Statements. Earl Vandale Collection. Center for American History, University of Texas, Austin.

Gholson, Benjamin Franklin. “The Death of Nacona.” Earl Vandale Collection. Center for American History, University of Texas, Austin.

Hamby, Thornton K. “An Indian Raid in Young County, Texas, Oct. 13th 1864.” Elm Creek Raid Statements. Earl Vandale Collection. Center for American History, University of Texas, Austin.

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——. Vertical File. Center for American History, University of Texas, Austin.

Kuykendall, J. H. “Col. Samuel H. Walker.” Typescript. Samuel Hamilton Walker Vertical File. Center for American History, University of Texas, Austin.

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——. Vertical File. Center for American History, University of Texas, Austin. Warren, Harry. Papers, 1835–1932. Archives of the Big Bend, Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas.