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 The
Texas Rangers and the
Mexican Revolution:
the Bloodiest Decade, 1910-1920
By Charles H. Harris III and Louis R. Sadler
Review
by Chuck Parsons
The Texas
Rangers and the Mexican Revolution: The Bloodiest Decade, 1910-1920.
By Charles H. Harris III and Louis R. Sadler. Albuquerque, NM: University
of New Mexico Press, 2004. xiv+673 pages. 4 maps. 48 photos. Appendix.
End notes. Selected Bibliography. Index. $37.50 cloth. ISBN 0-8263-3483-0.
The
1910-1920 period of Texas Ranger history has been basically neglected—for
reasons that are not clear—but it remains one of the most fascinating.
The second decade of the 20th century held much turmoil, both within
the history of the Rangers as well as in border history. Extensive rustling
continued, distrust and hatred between Anglos and Hispanics persisted,
and the Rangers were practically eliminated due to politics, animosity
and distrust developed in the beginnings of World War I. These are only
a few of the conflicts that emerged along the border.
This era has been
touched upon by previous Ranger historians, but not nearly as extensively
as authors Harris and Sadler have done here. Dr. Walter Prescott Webb,
for example, devoted only some forty pages to the entire period. Now
we have a broad, highly researched, and well-written study. It is a
work that will prove to be the standard for decades to come.
For those potential
readers who may think this is "just another Ranger book,"
they will find the reverse to be true. This is definitely not a Texas
Ranger whitewash. There are numerous groups of forces discussed herein,
and none of them wear white hats, which is one argument that is frequently
raised in discussing the weaknesses of The Texas Rangers by Webb.
One might wonder
how two relatively unknown writers could produce such a book. Charles
H. Harris III and Louis R. Sadler are both emeritus history professors
at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces. They both have published
extensively in the field, their articles appearing in such prestigious
periodicals as the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, the Hispanic American
Historical Review, the Americas: A Quarterly Review of Inter-American
Cultural History and the Military Review. Their research took them to
such diverse places as the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco,
the Huntington Library of California, the Kansas State Historical Society,
various Federal records centers, Brownsville and Laredo, Mexico City
archival departments, and many other archival sources as well. The key
word describing their research is "exhaustive."
Harris and Sadler
begin their extensive narrative with a brief history of the Texas Rangers,
summing up the 180-year existence of the organization with a single
chapter focusing mainly on the post-Civil War period. Interwoven in
this introductory section is a brief consideration of the happenings
in Mexico, the seizure of power in 1876 by General Porfirio Diaz, and
the "lowering of the U.S. military guard. . . .” The "control"
of Diaz in 1910 and the many changes—and conflicts—that
came in the ensuing decade form the basis of this study.
For many of us,
the most glamorous of the various periods of Ranger history remains
the 1870s, that time when such giants as John B. Jones, C.R. Perry,
Dan W. Roberts, and James B. Gillett served with such distinction. Captain
Perry's Company D, when mustered in during May of 1874, could boast
of seventy-five men! How surprising to learn that, following the era
of the "Four Great Captains" (John R. Hughes, John H. Rogers,
William J. McDonald, and John A. Brooks), there were but four companies:
A, B, C, and D, and they contained a total of twenty-five men! Each
of the four companies was made up of a captain, one sergeant, and the
remainder privates. Funding the Ranger force was difficult in the 1870s,
and that continued to be a struggle well into the 20th century as well.
There were other
problems besides funding. It was during this decade, more than any other
time in Ranger history, that political forces worked for their own advantages
and used the Rangers rather than allow them to do their prime function:
enforce the law. A prime example is revealed in the antics of Governor
Tom Campbell. His policy was to utilize the Rangers to enforce gambling
laws and local-option liquor laws—whether local officials requested
their assistance or not. In short, Campbell believed he could use the
Rangers purely as a personal tool. Of course, his competitor and soon-to-be
Governor Oscar Colquitt assured future voters that when he was elected,
he would not use Rangers to usurp the power of the local sheriff and
"trample under foot the rights of people . . . under the constitution."
Dealing with political
bosses was only one problem of the decade, however. More deadly was
the responsibility of protecting Texas ranchers from not only Texas
rustlers but also raiding parties and smugglers from across the Rio
Grande. From Brownsville to El Paso was a huge area of wild and rugged
land, and it was a physical impossibility for a mere handful of even
the most dedicated law officers to defend realistically. The Rangers
fought rustlers and sometimes lost. A prime example is bandit Chico
Cano's successful ambush of Customs Inspector and ex-Ranger Joe Sitter,
Ranger Eugene Hulen, ex-Ranger Charles Craighead, and three of Captain
Fox's Rangers of Company B. Sitter and Hulen were killed, and their
bodies were badly mutilated. In spite of their best efforts, neither
the Rangers nor any other arm of the law ever caught up with Chico Cano.
The old bandit died in 1943.
There were the
revolutionary forces to contend with as well. Rangers were to enforce
the neutrality laws, prevent revolutionary figures from using the U.S.
soil to plan their coup d'etats, occasionally assist in recovering kidnapped
individuals, enforce anti-gambling laws, and occasionally interfere
with a husband beating his wife.
Whereas the 1890s
had their period of the "Four Great Captains," the 1910-1920
decade had captains who have become infamous in Ranger history. One
of the most well-known photographs from this period shows Ranger Captain
Monroe Fox and two others on horseback with their lariats around the
bodies of four dead Mexican bandits. The Rangers received considerable
criticism not only for their seemingly common practice of executing
Mexicans prisoners—guilty of a crime or not—but also for
their disrespect for the dead. The critics conveniently overlooked the
fact that the bandits had even less respect for their victims, frequently
using rocks and rifle butts to mutilate Anglo victims. Respect for the
dead was uncommon among the fighting men of the border during this period.
Harris and Sadler
present a multitude of names and a plethora of facts about both the
problems on the Texas side of the river and also the revolutions on
the Mexican side of the water. Fortunately, we do not get lost in the
litany of facts and the depiction of violent incidents.
These two authors
provide exciting reading. Their descriptions of the confrontation between
elderly rancher James B. McAllen and eight bandits is one example. The
octet called at McAllen's house and called him to the door. His unidentified
housekeeper, a senora refugee from the Revolution, realized that the
men meant to kill her employer. She roused McAllen from his afternoon
nap, gave him a shot of whiskey, handed him a loaded shotgun, and informed
him he would have to fight for his life. The front of the house had
four windows covered by thick, green, wooden shutters. McAllen fired
through one of the blinds with both barrels of his ten-gauge shotgun,
loaded with buckshot. The blast killed not only the leader of the raiders
but his horse as well. For twenty minutes, gunfire raged between the
marauders and McAllen, who moved from window to window to fire while
the housekeeper loaded his rifles. The rancher managed to kill another
bandit and wound three more. The surviving thieves evidently decided
that if McAllen was going to act that way, then to hell with him. They
rode off, firing off a final volley of bloodcurdling threats. We only
wish the identity of the housekeeper had been preserved for history.
She must be considered as brave as McAllen!
In spite of such
great prose and the presentation of great historical events that have
been relatively untouched, occasionally the authors err in a surprising
manner. In dealing with the killing of H.F. Boykin by Horace L. Roberson
(described as a "hard-bitten border character, soft-spoken, and
with a short fuse"), the authors write that he "was a man
who literally got away with murder." Roberson may have been all
that Harris and Sadler say, but he stood trial and was found not guilty
of murder! Defining him as one who got away with murder is therefore
legally incorrect. In addition, one is left with quite a false impression
of William Davis "Dave" Allison from Harris and Sadler's description.
They write, "David William 'Dave' Allison [sic. William Davis is
correct] was a gunslinger with a colorful past." This is certainly
acceptable, but we are later informed that "Allison despised Mexicans,"
which is open to debate. The authors quote George S. Patton Jr., constable
of Sierra Blanca, saying of Allison, "He kills several Mexicans
each month." Patton may have believed what he wrote, but the statement
is certainly absurd. The authors, however, make no comment on it, as
if they are accepting it as well.
In spite of these
latter comments, this book is a must-read for those who follow Texas
history in general and Texas Ranger and Mexican Revolution history in
particular. The sixty-eight-page appendix listing all Texas Rangers
who served from 1910-1920 is invaluable. It provides the names and dates
of service and will be of great assistance to subsequent Ranger historians
as well as genealogists.
Needless to say,
The Texas Rangers and the Mexican Revolution is highly recommended.
It provides excellent reading, is accurate history—less a few
points—and covers the era from not only the Texas Ranger but also
the Mexican Revolution viewpoints.
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