Rangers at Salt War
#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.
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OTD calendar
Ranger McDonald Shoots Mexicans
#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.
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Hamer at White Owl
#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
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Rangers Threaten Constable Sanchez
#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
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Wright in Weslaco
#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
Bob White
#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
Torture of Jesus Villareal
#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
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Lee Roy Young becomes first Black Ranger
#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
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Texarkana Jr College Integration Attempt
Black-and-white photo of a white man kneeling beside a small white boy on a sidewalk. The boy holds a sign reading “‘All-white’ college.’”
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First episode of the Lone Ranger
#OTD in 1949, the first episode of The Lone Ranger premiered, starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. In this romanticized version of the Wild West, and what it meant to be a Texas Ranger, this ABC show teamed up a Native American named Tonto, and the Lone Ranger to defeat lawlessness. While the television series
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