The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 83, July 1979 - April, 1980 Page: 329
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The i9r Reyes Conspiracy: The Texas Side
suffering; the Rangers at times had been overly quick on the trigger and
had committed occasional acts of rowdyism.12 Indeed, among his first
official acts Colquitt further reduced the already understrength Rang-
ers, so that by February, 1911, instead of their authorized complement
of eighty men they numbered fourteen. The governor adroitly extri-
cated himself from this awkward situation. In September, 1911, he met
with President Taft in Hutchinson, Kansas, and persuaded the chief
executive to have the federal government bear the cost of increasing
the Rangers. This is perhaps the only case in American history in which
the federal government has subsidized a state police force to help defend
the United States border. On the basis of the agreement, the Rangers
were expanded to forty-three men in October.'3 Thus, it was the Mexi-
can Revolution that gave the Texas Rangers a new lease on life.
Yet Colquitt utilized this augmented Ranger force in a curiously
limited way. During the Madero phase he had been concerned not only
with protecting the border but also with suppressing revolutionary ac-
tivity in Texas, as evidenced by his neutrality proclamation and the
Rangers' efforts to apprehend Mexican plotters. Now, however, the em-
phasis was solely on protecting the border. Why? The governor's neu-
trality proclamation was still in effect; he had many more Rangers at
his disposal; and there was every indication that Mexican plotting con-
tinued unabated: in San Antonio, for instance, anti-Madero conspira-
tors had been gathering during the summer of 1911.14 The arrival of
Reyes in October of course greatly raised the level of intrigue. But
Colquitt did nothing-in effect he was ignoring his own neutrality
proclamation.
In view of his earlier policy, Colquitt's inaction regarding the Reyes
conspiracy, which was an open secret in San Antonio, seems puzzling at
first glance. It becomes much more understandable in light of the fact
that two of Reyes's principal coconspirators were influential Texas po-
litical figures and supporters of Colquitt.
12Houston Chronicle, Sept. 5, 191o; El Paso Morning Times, Jan. g9, Feb. 27, 1910; Tom
M. Ross to J. O. Newton, Jan. 12, 191o, AGC; Ross to Newton, Jan. 31, 191go; Newton to
Ross, Jan. 29, Feb. 12, 191o, "Correspondence Concerning the Texas Rangers," Vol. 18,
Walter Prescott Webb Collection (Archives, University of Texas Library, Austin); Colquitt
to Mrs. W. E. Collins, Jan. 11, 1911, Colquitt Papers, ibid.
13Adjutant General to Chief of Staff, Department of Texas, Feb. 13, 1911; Headquarters
Ranger Force, General Orders No. 5, Oct 2, 1911, AGC; "Expense of Patrolling the Boun-
dary in Texas," Senate Documents, 62nd Cong., 2nd sess. (Serial 6,175), Doc. No. 404.
14Wilbur reports, July 6, 1911, roll 2, Aug. 28, 1911, roll 1; Thompson reports, July 7,
11, 15, 26, 1911, roll 1, BI.329
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 83, July 1979 - April, 1980, periodical, 1979/1980; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101207/m1/387/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.