Texas Law Men, Part 2

Texas Law Men, Part 2

Texas Law Men, Part 2
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 7
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	8.59

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		raiders, reestablished, sporadic, liquor, uphold, prohibition, manifesto, publicity, robbers, revolutionary, enforcement, authority, burro, ranger, maintain, army
	content words:		Civil War, State Police, Frontier Battalion, Lawless Texans, World War, United States, San Diego, New Mexico, Pancho Villa, Texas Rangers

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Texas Law Men, Part 2
By Mary Lynn Bushong

¹     From 1846 until the Civil War, the Rangers were pressed into service as U.S. government scouts as they were needed because of their knowledge of the territory. Even so, it was back to being a mostly volunteer service with sporadic pay.

²     During the Civil War, the Rangers were made a part of the Confederate army. It was their job as a volunteer force to protect the local population while many Texas men were away fighting in the war. Their only real authority was their weapons and their will to use them.

³     The ten year era of Reconstruction after the war was a bad time for any law enforcement in Texas. The State Police who then oversaw the Rangers were a distrusted and hated organization. Due to lack of funding, the Rangers more or less disappeared from view. Civil War veterans stepped in to fill the gap.

⁴     During the war, the Union government had made a deal with many plains tribes. They would turn a blind eye to any raiding of ranches and homesteads for horses and cattle. Then they would buy the animals that the warriors drove north. In this way they hoped to limit the numbers of men who would join the Confederacy because of the need to stay home and protect their property.

⁵     In 1874, the Rangers were established again under the name Frontier Battalion. Lawless Texans replaced raiding tribes, and order had to be reestablished. It was then that the legend and mystique of the Rangers became firmly entrenched.

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