On February 8, 1918, Texas Ranger Captain William Hanson wrote a letter to his boss, Adjutant General James Harley, about his trip to Marfa, Texas. Just two weeks earlier, Marfa-based Texas Rangers under the command of Captain J.M. Fox had perpetrated the Porvenir Massacre, one of the most reprehensible actions ever undertaken by the Rangers, […]
On a gloomy Saturday afternoon in January, the Duval County Historical Commission unveiled a historical marker commemorating the signing of El Plan de San Diego. A The declaration, written over a hundred years ago, called for a revolution against the United States to free the Southwest. This declaration was not the work of a fringe
The Plan de San Diego: A Triumph of the Mexican American Spirit Read More »
#OTD on November 5, 1877 Texas Rangers under the command of John Tayes and John Jones arrived in the El Paso area to quell the San Elizario Salt Wars, leading to one of the few Ranger defeats.
Rangers at Salt War Read More »
#OTD on November 10, 1906 Texas Ranger Captain William McDonald and several others shot and killed at least 4 Mexican men and wounded several others.
Ranger McDonald Shoots Mexicans Read More »
#OTD on November 15, 1922 a white mob of 300 people, in KKK fashion, marched through the streets of Breckenridge, harassing and intimidating Mexican American and African American workers. Gov Pat Neff sent in Ranger Frank Hamer, who investigated but did nothing. 1922 was a particularly violent year in Texas. It saw the murder of
Hamer at White Owl Read More »
#OTD on November 16, 1918, Texas Rangers Daniel Hinojosa and George Hurst threatened the life of San Diego Constable Ventura R. Sanchez, even though he was a fellow law officer who attempted to do his duty. Hinojosa had a sordid past. In 1915 he and Sheriff Frank Carr had arrested Adolfo Muñoz, whom they later
Rangers Threaten Constable Sanchez Read More »
#OTD on November 24, 1922 Texas Ranger William Lee Wright was dispatched to Weslaco to investigate the brutal beating and lynching death of Elias Villareal Zárate. Villareal (called Zárate by the press) died at the hands of a mob that had broken him out of jail. Villareal did construction work in Weslaco. On the night
#OTD in 1937, Bob White, a Black farmworker, was found guilty of rape and sentenced to death based on a forced confession extracted with the help of Texas Rangers. Though little remembered, the case is one of two Supreme Court rulings against Ranger conduct. In August 1937, White was arrested in Polk County, Texas, for
#OTD in 1918, Texas Rangers illegally held and tortured Jesus Villareal of Copita, TX on his way to his niece’s wedding near Roma. Villareal was traveling with his two nephews to the wedding, when he was stopped by a Ranger at one o’clock in the morning who asked him to drive him a mile or
Torture of Jesus Villareal Read More »
#OTD in 1988, Lee Roy Young became the first African American man to be allowed to join the Texas Rangers. Young served in the U.S. Navy for four years during the Vietnam war before attending UT Austin and graduating with a degree in sociology with an emphasis on criminology. After college, Young joined the @TxDPS
Lee Roy Young becomes first Black Ranger Read More »
