The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 29, July 1925 - April, 1926 Page: 30
330 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
was not sufficient, said the Governor; the frontier needed a per-
manent force of several hundred mounted men, or the organization
of an expedition to follow the Indians, destroy their camps, and
.exterminate them. He considered the advisability of the state's
raising an additional force.63 The Legislature immediately passed
a bill providing for a company of rangers to serve six months.
Captain John S. Ford was in command.64
Late in 1859 the Legislature introduced a bill authorizing the
Governor to raise a regiment of rangers, ten companies, if neces-
sary, for the protection of the frontier. This was not approved
.until January 2, 1860.65
Some Engagements of the Rangers.-A complete account of
ranger operations, if it were possible to compile one, would no
doubt fill several volumes. The writer gives account of five or
six engagements in order to show further the nature of the rangers'
work, the sections of country where they ranged, and the numbers
engaged.
In April, 1848, Captain Highsmith and his company fought a
band of Wacoes on the Pedernales River in country that is now
Blanco county. They defeated the Indians, and Captain High-
smith killed their chief, Big Water, in a hand-to-hand fight.66
Lieutenant Edward Burleson was returning from San Antonio
to his camp at Los Ojuelos in the lower Rio Grande country on
January 27, 1851, when, on the Laredo road near the Nueces
River, he discovered three mounted Indians. Sending most of
his force on, he pursued the Indians with eight of his men for
about three miles. The Indians then halted, and eleven warriors
appeared on foot and ready to fight. The rangers dismounted and
charged the reds. After some desperate fighting, four Comanches
were killed and eight wounded, and the Texans had two killed
.and seven wounded. They learned that the Comanches were hiding
in order to fall on an unarmed train of Mexican carts, and had
not seen the Texans. The party reached Laredo in a day or two,
where they received medical attention."7
"Senate Journal, 7th Texas Legislature, 1857-1858, pp. 392-393.
"4Brbwn, A History of Texas, II, 375.
"Gammel, Laws of Texas, IV, 1375-1376.
"Wooten (Ed.), A Comprehensive History of Texas, II, 339.
"7Brown, A History of Texas, II, 359-361.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 29, July 1925 - April, 1926, periodical, 1926; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117141/m1/38/?rotate=270: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.