Winchester Warriors: Texas Rangers of Company D, 1874-1901 [Hardcover]

Bob Alexander (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 3, 2009

The Texas Rangers were institutionally birthed in 1874 with the formation of the Frontier Battalion. They were tasked with interdicting Indian incursions into the frontier settlements and dealing with the lawlessness running rampant throughout Texas. In an effort to put a human face on the rangers, Bob Alexander tells the story of one of the six companies of the Frontier Battalion, Company D. 

 

 Readers follow the rangers of Company D as—over time—it transforms from a unit of adventurous boys into a reasonably well-oiled law enforcement machine staffed by career-oriented lawmen. Beginning with their start as Indian fighters against the Comanches and Kiowas, Alexander explores the history of Company D as they rounded up numerous Texas outlaws and cattle thieves, engaged in border skirmishes along the Rio Grande, and participated in notable episodes such as the fence cutter wars. 
 

Winchester Warriors is an evenhanded and impartial assessment of Company D and its colorful cadre of Texas Rangers. Their laudable deeds are explored in detail, but by the same token their shameful misadventures are not whitewashed. These Texas Rangers were simply people, good and bad—and sometimes indifferent. This new study, extensively researched in both primary and secondary sources, will appeal to scholars and aficionados of the Texas Rangers and western history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Winchester Warriors is Alexander’s best book, and that’s saying a lot, as he is one of our most prolific Old West authors writing today. . . . [I]t is the fine storytelling ability of Alexander that makes this a must buy.”—Wild West History Association Journal

“[Winchester Warriors] explores new territory, goes constantly to primary sources, and is sheer pleasure to read. The definitive study of this company.”—Roundup Magazine

“Winchester Warriors is exciting reading. It is also accurate and provides a great model for future writers of Ranger history.”—Texas Ranger Dispatch

About the Author

BOB ALEXANDER, a native Texan and veteran lawman, began a policing career in 1965 and retired as a special agent with the U.S. Treasury Department. He is the author of numerous books, among them Fearless Dave Allison, Border Lawman; Desert Desperadoes: The Banditti of Southwestern New Mexico; and Lawmen, Outlaws, and SOBs, all winners of the Best Book Award from the Western Outlaw/Lawman History Association. He lives near Dallas, Texas.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: University of North Texas Press; First Edition edition (August 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157441268X
• ISBN-13: 978-1574412680
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,514,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Provides the perspective of the Texas Rangers from the individual who served as one, March 2, 2010

By 

J. Groen "Jerry Groen" (GURNEE, ILLINOIS USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Winchester Warriors: Texas Rangers of Company D, 1874-1901 (Hardcover)

This is a good book that provides the perspective of the Texas Rangers from the individual who served as one. It shares how they lived, "in tents or under the stars", the hard riding that was required, i.e. the importance of a good horse, the days and months of boredom followed by minutes of violence and terror, etc.

Some of the interesting items highlighted in this book are the following. (1) The importance of a good horse was highlighted time and again. In fact, the author emphasized the importance of the horse by mentioning the value of each Texas Rangers, horse, e.g. this one cost $75, and this one was the best in the group worth $120, etc. (2) The continual thriftiness and downright cheapness of the Texas government to the Texas Rangers. For example, although a Texas Ranger may have been paid $40 a month, they would only get 90% of that script. (They weren't paid in actual money but in paper script which they had to cash in at a local bank for less than it was worth.) Consequently, many Texas Rangers didn't stay one for long. There was continual turnover and even many of the officers left and returned a number of times. (3) There were a number of shootouts with the bad guys but mostly the job was about riding, riding, and riding some more to try to catch these guys in the wide open spaces and often not being successful. Also, the local authorities, i.e. County Sheriffs were continually asking for Rangers, and on the other hand, the Texas State government was continuing to reduce the budget causing the need to lay-off Texas Rangers. All in all, they were being asked to do more and more with less.

At times, there are the shoot-outs with the bad guys that liven up the book. Some examples are the shoot-out on Pirate Island with crooks where Captain Jones, in charge of company D, gets killed, the gun-fight between Ranger Fulghum and Charles Caroll where "Fulghum was no second place winner", the gunfight between Ranger McKidrickt, John Selman and Baz Outlaw, and the gunfight with Martin M'Rose, etc. Most of these gunfights occurred in the 1890s which appears to have been an especially violent decade in the life of the Texas Rangers.

All in all, this is a good book, highly recommended for any individual interested in the west. However, it really is not for the casual reader of the west.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Winchester Warriors, September 15, 2009

By 

Jack - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Winchester Warriors: Texas Rangers of Company D, 1874-1901 (Hardcover)

Arrived in 1st class condition. I am reading it now and it is just what I expected it to be.Winchester Warriors: Texas Rangers of Company D, 1874?1901 (Frances B. Vick Series)