The Texas Rangers The Texas Rangers have been praised by history but damned by folklore here in South Texas. According to the history books, movies and the T.V. series, the Rangers were intrepid heroes, defenders of the widows, protectors of the poor, in short, unfailing knights of justice. The old "corridos," the ballads of the people, have them in a different role. People didn't find one good thing about the "Rinches" (The Rangers). The people used to think that the Rangers were cruel murderers who found pleasure in torturing and killing. According to them, these men were executioners who slaughtered women and children and lynched without asking any questions. We are talking about the Southwest around 1870. Geographers called the place, "The Wild Horse Desert," but Mexicans had a more appropriate name for it, "El Desierto de los Muertos." The sandy dunes between Brownsville and Corpus were infested with outlaws. More destructive yet were the raids from the south side of the Rio Grande.

The entire area had become unlivable and there probably wouldn't have been any towns between Brownsville and Corpus Christi. Then in 1875 the Governor of Texas sent Capt. Leander H. McNelly to restore order at any cost. A lot of blood was shed, and in the heat of battle innocent lives were lost, but the mission was accomplished.

The Rangers mission is to protect the people who lived in the Rio Grande Valley and other places. They would go along the Rio Grande extending at times far into the interior and also from the Red River and across the center of the state of Texas. The Texas Rangers protected the people from Indian raids and Mexican raiders. Now the Rangers are a six company unit operating under the commander of the chief of criminal law enforcement of the Texas Department of Public Safety. A ranger can be required to travel by automobile, airplane, helicopter, motorboat, jeep, or horseback. Their job now is to insure the protection of life and property from violence; suppression of riots and insurrection; apprehension of fugitives; investigation of major crimes such as murder, rape, robbery, burglary, livestock thefts, felonious assaults, and other felonies. Also the Rangers are equipped with and trained in the use of the most modern tools available to law enforcement.