Captain Henry Lee Ransom lived during a rarely researched era and was never written about before, despite serving three times as a Texas Ranger. Quiet but authoritative, his phenomenal marksmanship and bravery earned him much respect. And though an incorruptible and courageous lawman, Captain Ransom adored his children and proved to be a gentle, loving, family man.He lived during turbulent times, especially during the Border's "Bandit Wars." Fighting with the US Army in the Spanish-American War, he served in the Philippines twice. While there he earned a medal and promotion for bravery. One astounding feat is described when he and others spent six months in the jungles to rescue soldiers kidnaped by savages.When he wasn't serving in the capacity of a soldier, he was a detective in Houston and was also appointed by the mayor as chief of police to clean up the town. Though his stint as police chief was short, the women of hte town said they could walk safely in the streets afterwards.Termed "one of the great captains" by his peers, he was loved by the law-abiding and feared by criminals. He believed all should obey the law, including high public officials. Perhaps this could have attributed to his assassination at age 44, in 1918--he knew too much and was about to report it. His death was claimed to be an accident, but extensive research in the State Archives produced clues revealed in this book that would indicate otherwise.

The first full-length biography of Frank Hamer whose extraordinary career as a Texas Ranger made him one of the West's most legendary lawmen.

The New York Times bestseller! “Frank Hamer, last of the old breed of Texas Rangers, has not fared well in history or popular culture. John Boessenecker now restores this incredible Ranger to his proper place alongside such fabled lawmen as Wyatt Earp and Eliot Ness. Here is a grand adventure story, told with grace and authority by a master historian of American law enforcement. Frank Hamer can rest easy as readers will finally learn the truth behind his amazing career, spanning the end of the Wild West through the bloody days of the gangsters.” --Paul Andrew Hutton, author of The Apache Wars To most Americans, Frank Hamer is known only as the “villain” of the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde. Now, in Texas Ranger, historian John Boessenecker sets out to restore Hamer’s good name and prove that he was, in fact, a classic American hero. From the horseback days of the Old West through the gangster days of the 1930s, Hamer stood on the front lines of some of the most important and exciting periods in American history. He participated in the Bandit War of 1915, survived the climactic gunfight in the last blood feud of the Old West, battled the Mexican Revolution’s spillover across the border, protected African Americans from lynch mobs and the Ku Klux Klan, and ran down gangsters, bootleggers, and Communists. When at last his career came to an end, it was only when he ran up against another legendary Texan: Lyndon B. Johnson. Written by one of the most acclaimed historians of the Old West, Texas Ranger is the first biography to tell the full story of this near-mythic lawman.

The authors document the secret role of the Mexican president in the insurgency against Anglos during the Mexican Revolution and the Texas Rangers' role in ending the uprising.

The Texas Ranger law enforcement agency features so prominently in Texan and Wild West folklore that its accomplishments have been featured in everything from pulp novels to popular television. After a brief overview of the Texas Rangers' formation, this book provides an exhaustive account of every known Ranger unit from 1823 to the present. Each chapter provides a brief contextual explanation of the time period covered and features entries on each unit's commanders, periods of service, activities, and supervising authorities. Appendices include an account of the Rangers' battle record, a history of the illustrious badge, documents relating to the Rangers, and lists of Rangers who have died in service, been inducted into the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame, or received the Texas Department of Public Safety's Medal of Valor.

Written by a respected Western historian, here is the definitive account of the Texas Rangers, a vivid portrait of these legendary peace officers and their role in a changing West.

The second installment of a no-holds-barred look at the history of the famed Texas Rangers from western author Mike Cox Following up on his magnificent history of the 19th century Texas Rangers, Mike Cox now takes us from 1900 through the present. From horseback to helicopters, from the frontier cattle days through the crime-ridden boom-or-bust oil field era, from Prohibition to World War II espionage to the violent ethnic turbulence of the ‘50s and ‘60s--which sometimes led to demands that the Texas Rangers be disbanded. Cox takes readers through the modern history of the famed Texas lawmen. Cox's position as a spokesperson for the Texas department of Public Safety allowed him to comb the archives and conduct extensive personal interviews to give us this remarkable account of how a tough group of horse-borne lawmen--too prone to hand out roadside justice, critics complained--to one of the world's premier investigative agencies, respected and admired worldwide. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.