Rangers and sovereignty Page: 37 of 188

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RANGERS AND SOVEREIGNTY

to assist the civil officers in making arrests of criminals.
Some of the sheriffs became a little lazy and
depended on the Rangers a little too much, while
others were jealous of the Rangers in getting to their
men first. The Ranger posse was always ready and
day and night was their limit on time. The courts did
not discourage the civil officers, but the Rangers were
their certain dependance. This was kept subrosa by
the legal fraternity.
All our district judges sustained the Ranger work,
as they did nothing except what was advised by the
law branch of the state. We generally turned over
prisoners to the sheriffs, unless it was some bad
hombre that needed a safer jail than the frontier
counties had. The Rangers were under no bond in
doing this work, but each one of them was virtually
commissioned by the Governor of the state, by acting
under his orders, through officers he had commissioned
to do the work.
All the state officers, from Governor down, were our
strong friends and supporters. Our success was their
success and we pulled together like brothers. We
really believe that their pride in the work was as great
as that of the man who performed it.