Content provided in partnership with
The Texas Rangers and the Mexican Revolution: the Bloodiest Decade, 1910-1920
USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Jan, 2005 by Gerald F. Kreyche
The TEXAS RANGERS AND THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION THE Bloodiest Decade, 1910-1920 BY CHARLES H. HARRIS III AND LOUIS R. SADLER UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO PRESS 2004, 673 PAGES, $37.50
A certain amount of courage--and strength--is needed to pick up and start reading this nearly 700-page tome. In the understatement of the year, the authors call it a monograph! Yet, it is a fascinating book giving a new and refreshing reappraisal of the Texas Rangers (no, not the major league baseball team formerly owned by George W. Bush).
- Most Popular Articles in News
- The Ten Best Laptop bags
- Tata plans cheapest-ever car for Indian market
- GLOBALIZATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT OF THE THIRD WORLD
- Corn is good for you; Corn is not only a tasty treat, but also a cereal that ...
- THE 50 BEST STYLISH HANDBAGS TO CARRY
- More »
Presented is a brief history of the Rangers, but especially focusing on their activities during the period of 1910-20, when the Mexican Revolution was in full swing. This work is not so much a revisionist history as it is the demythologization of a law enforcement group as famed as Scotland Yard or the Canadian Mounties. At one time, even China inquired as to how the Rangers operated as it was having border problems with Mongolia. Originally, they were called into service as the governor's body guard, but also battled raiding Indians, protected ranchers from smuggling, guarded the Mexican border, and even kept peace during elections. The virtues and warts of the Texas Rangers are given full exposure in what probably is a definitive work. Their boasts such as "one ranger, one riot" are taken to task, although there is plenty of heroism to go around.
Until 1935, when they came under the jurisdiction of a new department, they were the personal police force of the Texas governor. Their fame and capabilities waxed and waned, depending on who was the state's highest official. They numbered only around 100, except in times of crisis, such as World War I, when their ranks swelled to about 1,300.
Their budget always was tight. A Ranger had to furnish his own weapons, horse, and saddle. His pay was poor, but his prestige was high. He had no uniform, badge, or other identification of his being a Ranger until after 1920. They brooked no nonsense and, at times, regarded themselves as a taw unto themselves, acting as judge, jury, and executioner. Until 1910, they made more than 1,000 arrests, traveling over 250,000 miles by horse, automobile, and railroad in pursuit of justice.
Under the iron-fisted rule of Portfirie Diaz, Mexico kept border crime to a minimum. Then revolutionaries such as Pancho Villa, Victorianno Huerto, Felix Diaz, Emiliana Zapata, and Francisco Madeir stirred the country into a revolutionary frenzy. Tex-Mex border towns--such as El Paso and Brownsville, where Hispanics outnumbered Anglos 10 to one--became a hotbed of political intrigue and ugly racism. Many Hispanics regarded the Rangers as nothing less than a Gestapo-like force, and subjected them to sniper attacks and ambushes.
A so-called Plan de San Diego was drawn up by Hispanics--and covertly supported by the Mexican government--seeking the overthrow of the U.S. government. It advocated killing every male Anglo over age 16. The Anglos, because of their minority status, were worried about a possible massacre. Their concern was somewhat justified, as Pancho Villa invaded the New Mexican city of Columbus, killing 18 and burning part of the town.
The co-authors of this book are professors emeritus of the University of New Mexico at Las Cruces and have provided readers with many new and exciting insights about the Rangers and the Mexican Revolution. The book is a mighty one.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Society for the Advancement of Education
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group
Find Research Guides for:
Find Featured Titles for: Health
- AAACN Viewpoint
- ABNF Journal, The
- AIDS Treatment News
- AMAA Journal
- Aboriginal Nurse, The
- Adolescence
- Adolescent Psychiatry
- Advances in Skin & Wound Care
- Age and Ageing
- Alabama Nurse
- Alberta RN
- Alcohol Research & Health
- Alternative Medicine Review
- American Family Physician
- American Fitness
- Men's Fitness
- Psychology Today
- Shape