Transportation News, Volume 29, Number 3, November-December 2003 Page: 3 of 24
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Texas State Publications and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Letter f-r t -h edito
During the 19th century Texas
Rangers were willing to risk their
lives protecting Texans from hostile
Indians and bandits, but the way
they saw it, their job description did
not include working on public roads.
On April 30, 1890, Texas Ranger
Capt. Frank Jones sat in his camp
outside Cotulla and wrote a letter to
his boss, Adjutant General W.H. King.
"Is it lawful," Jones wrote, "for
Rangers to be summoned to work
the public roads of any County in
which they may be stationed?"
Jones said he had heard that
LaSalle County officials were
thinking about pressing his rangers
into service in maintaining roads in
the county. That, or pay the county
for the privilege of not working.
Back then, that's how counties
provided transportation: All able-
bodied men between the ages of 18
and 60 were legally obligated to
work on the roads five days a year
or pay someone to take their place.
It was like jury duty, only you didn't
get any money from the county.
King must have found that state
peace officers were exempt from the
law, or gotten a ruling that rangers
encamped in a particular county as
part of their official duties were not
legal residents. There's no recordthat Jones and his men had to lay
down their Winchesters and pick
up shovels to improve mobility in
South Texas or anywhere else.
The history lesson here is that in
the horse-and-buggy era, using
county residents to build or maintain
roads was a workable system, even if
rangers were exempt. Eventually,
the model was not as effective, and
roadways evolved into a state
responsibility.
Now, with TxDOT moving
toward increased use of tolls in
building new highways, the model
is changing again. But the construc-
tion and maintenance process still
doesn't include rangers.
We got some nice e-mail from
folks who appreciated the TNews
Online "extra" that hit the figurative
streets of cyberspace shortly after
the major award winners were
announced during the annual
Transportation Short Course. Also,
judging from the number of hits
recorded, you also enjoyed reading
the online coverage of the ghostly
goings on in the Greer Building.
Speaking of the Internet, the
Public Information Office has its
new site up on Crossroads. The siteis designed to be a reference source
for all of our public information and
media liaison officers. It's still the
place to find TNews Online, as well
as back issues of Transportation
News.
The letter we got from James L.
Rhodes of Camp Hill, Ala. wouldn't
fit in our monthly letters section,
but it still deserves publication.
Actually, there was no letter, just a
tear sheet from the Coosa County
News.
Highlighted in pink were a cou-
ple of comments Rhodes made in a
column called "Travel Journal." For
reasons that will be obvious, we're
happy to pass them on:
"One can not help but being
impressed by how clean Texas high-
ways are maintained. To their cred-
it, Texans take pride in the manner
in which their freeways are exhibit-
ed to travelers ... Texans take litter-
ing very seriously. If we only had
that spirit here, we would be a
much better place."
Maybe we could loan Alabama
some Texas Rangers to perk up citi-
zen interest in litter prevention.
-Mike Coxfrom the staff of
Transportation NewsTransportation News
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas. Department of Transportation. Transportation News, Volume 29, Number 3, November-December 2003, periodical, December 2003; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth307477/m1/3/?q=%22Government+and+Law+-+Civil+Servants%22: accessed July 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.