Customer Reviews

Texas Constables: A Frontier Heritage

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Hartley does a good job of telling the history of some of Texas' more notable Constables, and even gives a good dose of early Texas history, but if you are looking to learn about the job of Constables, how the position has evolved and how it functions today, this book will be a bit of a let down for you.

The book does give a good account of past Constables, including several good case histories of some of the Texas Constables that have been killed in the line of duty. This 200 page book is broken into seven chapters, each dedicated to a specific time.

I was disappointed in that I was anticipating a more indepth study of the job itself, but must say I was pleasantly surprised that this little known author did a superb job of touching lightly on a variety of topics. Having grown up in the Texas panhandle, I was pleasantly surprised to find a chapter dedicated to this sparsely populated region and the frontier towns of Mobeetie and Tascosa.

The Texas history buff will enjoy this book and will see a few recognizable names.

I really enjoyed this book. It has so much amazing history in it, even old pictures of lawmen that served in Texas.

Texas Constables: A Frontier Heritage is a compelling history of a the Texas Constable, a branch of law enforcement quite distinct from the better known Texas Rangers, U.S. Marshals, and even the town marshals that dominate the legends and lore of Texas law enforcement. From the establishment of the Texas Republic to its transformation to being the Lone Star State, down to the present day, Texas Constables offers a compendium of facts, personalities and events that will prove deeply engaging for both the history and the western history buff. For example, the cattle thief turned Texas constable who killed infamous outlaw John Wesley Harding in 1895 -- only to be later gunned down himself by a United States Marshall. Texas Constables is a welcome and valued addition to the annals of Western Frontier history in general, and the history of Texas law enforcement in particular.