When you read the words Texas Ranger or see an image of a Ranger, what comes to mind? The roots of today’s Texas Rangers trace back to the first days of Anglo-American settlement of the Mexican province of Coahuila y Tejas, in what is now Texas. And, while now recognized as one of the most highly-respected law enforcement agencies in the world, the early history of the Texas Rangers is one of economic expansion, rugged determination, taming of rugged land, and a complicated relationship with Mexico. And, as such, not unlike what can be said about Texas.
By the early 1820s, the Mexican War of Independence had subsided, Mexico was newly independent, and at the urging of the young Mexican government, some 60 to 70 families had settled north into land that would become known as Texas. Because there was no regular army to protect the citizens against attacks by native tribes and bandits, in 1823, Stephen F. Austin organized small, informal armed groups whose duties required them to range over the countryside from the Brazos River north to present-day Dallas, and who thus came to be known as “rangers.”
