The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 107, July 2003 - April, 2004 Page: 483
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Book Reviews
national destiny he believed could save the Union" (p. 158). In keeping with his
Jeffersonian ideals, Tyler's "expansionism was motivated in part by a desire to
prolong the republican agrarian idyll" (p. 159). In later years, Tyler admitted to
Daniel Webster that part of his agrarianism also meant maintaining a "cotton
monopoly" for the good of the national economy (p. 162).
The writing style is easy to read, but Monroe, on occasion, confuses his read-
ers by using the term "Federalism" for the Federalist era, party, and ideology,
and not the system of government, but this is a minor stylistic criticism and in no
way lessens the value of the book. Historians may challenge Monroe's thesis that
republicanism motivated most of Tyler's decisions in office, but he promised his
readers new insights on the presidential tenure of John Tyler, and it appears he
kept his word.
Columbus State Community College JAMES S. BAUGESS
Captain John H. Rogers, Texas Ranger. By Paul N. Spellman. (Denton: University of
North Texas Press, 2003. Pp. xvii+270. Acknowledgments, photographs,
notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 1-57441-159-4. $29.95, cloth.)
Few aspects of Texas history have captured the fascination of the general pub-
lic as the Texas Rangers, the state's elite law enforcement establishment. From
the earliest days when they served as part of frontier defenses to more celebrated
and legendary encounters with outlaws and insurgents, the Rangers have provid-
ed dramatic background for not only historical accounts, but for movies, televi-
sion, and novels as well. At times the line between fiction and reality has been
severely blurred, giving rise to even more publications pitting analytical studies
against myths and lore. The success of recent scholarly publications, most
notably The Men Who Wear the Star: The Story of the Texas Rangers (Random House,
2000) by Charles M. Robinson III and Lone Star Justce: The First Century of the
Texas Rangers (Oxford University Press, 2002) by Robert M. Utley (no relation to
the reviewer) indicates interest in Ranger history is only increasing as new schol-
arship reaches even wider audiences.
Unlike the broader, analytical studies of Robinson and Utley, the work by
Paul N. Spellman is a focused, personal history of one remarkable individual
whose Ranger career spanned the latter part of the nineteenth century and the
early part of the twentieth century-from the Frontier Battalion to the dawn of
the modern law enforcement era-placing him at the center of many celebrat-
ed cases and controversies, including the fence cutter wars, the Conner scrap in
East Texas, the Rio Grande prizefight of 1896, the Laredo quarantine, and the
hunt for Gregorio Cortez. The assignments for John H. Rogers took him to all
regions of the state, placing him in touch with many of the noted historical
characters of the era, both famous and infamous. And through it all, his per-
sonal integrity brought him acclaim as one of the so-called "Christian Rangers,"
guided by the Bible as well as the laws of the state.
The significance of Spellman's book is that it provides new detailed insights
into the life of an important early Ranger, one of the celebrated "Four Captains,"483
2004
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 107, July 2003 - April, 2004, periodical, 2004; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101224/m1/541/: accessed March 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.