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Wild, Wild West
 Keepers of the Peace

Keepers of the Peace
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 3 to 5
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.48

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    imagine, lawman, militia, province, reload, rifles, shots, settled, investigate, saddle, banks, root, several, against, shoot, weapon
     content words:    Wild West, Texas Ranger, Stephen Austin, Texas Rangers, Native American, Since Rangers, Many Rangers, Sam Walker

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Keepers of the Peace
By Mary Lynn Bushong 		  
1     Imagine what it would be like to be a lawman in the Wild West. You are not a sheriff, but a Texas Ranger. You protect people. You investigate crimes. You capture or kill criminals. You don't just work in a town, but watch over hundreds of square miles.
 
2     When Stephen Austin started a colony in the Mexican province of Texas, he needed a way to protect his people. He formed a militia to do this. This militia is the root of what became the Texas Rangers.
 
3     Men who joined the militia did not always sign up for long periods of time. Sometimes it was only for a few days or weeks.
 
4     The first Rangers were paid in land. They also had to supply their own horse, weapons, and saddle. Later on the men were paid in dollars, but sometimes they were not paid at all. They served because they wanted to protect their people and land.
 
5     Many different kinds of people served as Rangers. Some were Anglos, but many others were Hispanic and Native American. Since Rangers selected their own officers, there was an even mix of races in all the ranks. What mattered most was how well a job was done.

Paragraphs 6 to 12:
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