Ranger Hall of Fame Removes Praise of Slave-Catching

The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum appears to have removed language praising one of its honorees for tracking down people fleeing bondage for freedom in Mexico. For years, it has praised William “Bigfoot” Wallace for tracking down those risking everything to gain their freedom. “Wallace’s skills were often put to use trailing runaway slaves trying to get to Mexico” reads the wall panel in the Museum’s”Hall of Fame.” As of earlier this fall, the online text on the Hall of Fame and Museum’s website had the same line. Now, that has been removed in the newly-updated online version.

Why? In October of 2020, RTF members Gonzalez, Johnson, and Martinez sent a lengthy letter to the museum at its directors request. Our letter mentioned the praise of Wallace as one example of the “continued celebration of individual Rangers who captured fugitive slaves, murdered innocent civilians, and used terror to keep ethnic Mexican communities disfranchised” that “makes this museum out of step with professional historical standards. ” More recently, in a November gathering at Scheriner University’s Texas Center, Gonzalez and Johnson also mentioned Wallace’s slaving. (See this video at about 27:40). Especially now that the Texas Monthly podcast “White Hats” is getting so much attention, is the Ranger Museum feeling pressure?

Whatever the cause, we welcome the fact that the Museum, in this case at least, is not celebrating enslavement. It is outrageous that a taxpayer-supported institution authorized as “the official historical center of the Texas Rangers by Appointment of the State of Texas” praises slave-catching in 2022. Yet the removal of the sentence also serves to erase the role of the Rangers in upholding the institution of slavery, a subject that a responsible museum operated in accordance with professional standards for museum exhibits would feel obligated to address.