Show Me Your Badge, Ranger

By Kathleen Rice Adams

Texas Ranger, c. 1846 (Library of Congress collection)

Texas Ranger badges are a hot commodity in the collectibles market, but the caveat “buyer beware” applies in a big way. The vast majority of items marketed as genuine Texas Ranger badges are reproductions, facsimiles, or toys. Very few legitimate badges exist outside museums and family collections, and those that do hardly ever are sold. There’s a very good reason for that: Manufacturing, possessing, or selling Texas Ranger insignia, even fakes that are “deceptively similar” to the real thing, violates Texas law except in specific circumstances.

According to Byron A. Johnson, executive director of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum (the official historical center for the Texas Ranger law-enforcement agency), “Spurious badges and fraudulent representation or transactions connected with them date back to the 1950s and are increasing. We receive anywhere from 10 to 30 inquiries a month on badges, the majority connected with sales on eBay.”

If you had to, could you identify a legitimate Texas Ranger badge? Test your knowledge: Which of the alleged badges below are genuine? Pick one from each set. (All images are ©Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, Waco, Texas, and are used with permission. All Rights Reserved.)

Set 1

©TRHFM, Waco, TX

©TRHFM, Waco, TX

Answer: The right-hand badge, dated 1889, is the earliest authenticated Texas Ranger badge in the collection of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum. Badges weren’t standard issue for Rangers until 1935, although from 1874 onward, individual Rangers sometimes commissioned badges from jewelers or gunsmiths, who made them from Mexican coins. Relatively few Rangers wore a badge out in the open. As for the item on the left? There’s no such thing as a “Texas Ranger Special Agent.”

Set 2

©TRHFM, Waco, TX

©TRHFM, Waco, TX

Answer: On the left is an official shield-type badge issued between 1938 and 1957. Ranger captains received gold badges; the shields issued to lower ranks were silver. The badge on the right is a fake, though similar authentic badges exist.

Set 3

©TRHFM, Waco, TX

©TRHFM, Waco, TX

Answer: The left-hand badge was the official badge of the Rangers from July 1957 to October 1962. Called the “blue bottle cap badge,” the solid, “modernized” design was universally reviled. The right-hand badge is a fake. According to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, “No genuine Texas Ranger badges are known to exist with ‘Frontier Battalion’ engraved on them.”

Set 4

©TRHFM, Waco, TX

©TRHFM, Waco, TX

Answer: The badge on the right, called the “wagon wheel badge,” has been the official Texas Ranger badge since October 1962. Each is made from a Mexican five-peso silver coin. The badge on the left is a “fantasy badge.” According to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, the most common designation on such badges is “Co. A.”

How did you do?

For more information about the Texas Rangers—including the history of the organization, biographical sketches of individual Rangers, and all kinds of information about badges and other insignia—visit the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum online at TexasRanger.org. The museum and its staff have my utmost gratitude for their assistance with this post. They do the Rangers proud.


And while we’re on the subject of Rangers... My short story “The Second-Best Ranger in Texas” bows tomorrow as a 99-cent e-book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords.

His partner’s grisly death destroyed Texas Ranger Quinn Barclay. Cashiered for drunkenness and refusal to follow orders, he sets out to fulfill his partner’s dying request, armed only with a saloon girl’s name.

Sister María Tomás thought she wanted to become a nun, but childhood dreams aren’t always meant to be. At last ready to relinquish the temporary vows she never should have made, she begs the only man she trusts to collect her from a mission in the middle of nowhere.

When the ex-Ranger’s quest collides with the ex-nun’s plea in a burned-out border town, unexpected love blooms among shared memories of the dead man who was a brother to them both.

Too bad he was also the only man who could have warned them about the carnage to come.

 

Descended from a long line of Texas ranchers, preachers, and teachers on one side and Kentucky horse thieves and moonshiners on the other, Kathleen Rice Adams had no choice but to become an outlaw. Maybe that’s why all of her protagonists wear black hats. Visit her at KathleenRiceAdams.com.

WESTERN READING FOR THE YOUNGER SET by CHERYL PIERSON

There’s been some discussion about how to get younger readers interested in western books in our group, and since today is “Six Sentence Saturday” I’d like to show everyone what James and Livia Reasoner have been working on.

James and Livia just had a book released through Painted Pony Books. It’s called THE PHANTOM RANGER AND THE SKATEBOARD GANG, and it’s for Middle Grade Readers, ages 9-12.
It’s an excellent story about a young girl, Codi Jackson, who solves the mystery of the "skateboard gang”—a group of kids who are terrorizing the local mall by stealing purses. Codi does this with the help of her great-great-great grandfather, Cody Jackson. Did I mention…he’s a ghost? It’s great reading and would make a wonderful Christmas gift for any young reader!

Here’s the blurb:
Codi Jackson and her father have been forced to move again. Codi’s getting used to being the “new girl” in her fifth grade class—but that doesn’t mean she has to like it. Can’t life just be normal? With her mother out of the picture and her father working odd shifts as a police officer, friends are important—as long as they’re not the wrong kind.

When Codi and a classmate, Keith Wright, are assigned to work on a history project, Codi has to make some hard decisions about her popularity in her new school.
But everything changes when Codi picks up an old Texas Rangers badge that belonged to one of her ancestors and he appears right before her eyes! Her great-great-great-grandfather says he’s come to help her, but how? And how is she going to explain the ghost of her long-ago Gramps to her history project partner and her father?

I chose the Six Sentences from where the phantom appears to Codi for the first time. I love the way he’s likable enough not to scare the socks off of Codi, but still, who wouldn’t be a little frightened ? Codi’s heart for adventure shines through and allows her to accept her ancestor and get to know him (that’s where the history part comes in!)

The badge started to feel warm. No, not warm, Codi realized. It was actually getting hot. She dropped it.
"Whut in tarnation?"
Codi gasped at the strange voice. She looked up, and her mouth fell open in shock. Her eyes grew wide as she pressed back against the headboard of her bed. Patches crouched and let out an angry hiss.
A man was standing at the foot of Codi's bed. A man with a short white beard and a big white hat...


The Phantom Ranger and the Skateboard Gang is available here:
http://www.amazon.com/Phantom-Ranger-Skateboard-Gang-ebook/dp/B00GYAOFU6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1386439687&sr=1-1&keywords=The+PHantom+Ranger+and+the+Skateboard+Gang

Ranger Jim’s Ramblings James J. Griffin

As promised, today’s positing will be a bit about the history of the Texas Rangers.

So, the first question from my last posting. When were the Rangers established, 1823 or 1835? The correct answer: Technically, both. Stephen Austin organized the first volunteer company of “Ten Men to act as Rangers for the common defense” in 1823. Two companies were formed, their members to be paid “fifteen dollars a month, payable in property.” These two companies are regarded as the ancestors of the modern day Texas Rangers. 

In 1835, with the movement for independence from Mexico growing, a “Corps of Rangers” to defend against Indians was formed. These men were to be paid $1.25 per day. They had to furnish their own guns, horses, and equipment.

The first time the term “Texas Rangers” officially appears in a piece of legislation is not until 1874. However, the 1823 date is the one used to determine the anniversary celebrations for the Rangers, and the official date for their establishment.

Contrary to popular perception, the Texas Rangers, especially the Rangers of the pre-Civil War era, were not all white males. Anglos, Hispanics, and Native Americans all served as Rangers, and some men from all those groups were in fact officers. There were African Americans attached to the Rangers; however, not in any official capacity. They mostly were employed as cooks or servants, or occasionally as scouts. Of course, they often had to fight just as hard, but never got the credit or pay. Even after the Civil War, until the 1930s, when tensions between white and Mexican ancestry Texans were at their highest, there were still some Hispanic Rangers. Females? Not a chance. The first female Ranger wasn’t appointed until the 1970s. When that happened, quite a few veteran Rangers quit in protest.

One Native American Indian tribe which became closely allied with the Rangers was the Tonkawas. They became trusted friends and scouts, especially because the Rangers helped fight their hated enemies, the ferocious Karankawas, who were reputed to engage in cannibalism.

The legend that Texas Rangers hand-carved their badges from Mexican five or ten peso coins? No evidence has ever been found to prove that conclusively. The Rangers didn’t even officially adopt badges until the turn of the 20th century. Until then very few wore badges at all. The most likely story is a few Rangers had badges carved for them, and the custom  gradually spread. The illustration accompanying this post shows a Texas Ranger badge from the late 1880a or early 1890s. Today, all Texas Ranger badges are carved from Mexican cinco peso coins. And don’t buy that “genuine antique” Texas Ranger badge you saw listed on eBay. It’s a fake. There’s big business in selling fraudulent Texas Ranger badges to unsuspecting buyers.

Texas Rangers never have worn an official uniform. Today they do have a dress code, which calls for a white Western hat (can be straw in the summer) dress shirt, western slacks and boots, and a tie. Of course, that’s not required when in the field on horseback, undercover, and so forth. And most Rangers today don’t own horses, with those that do mostly being the ones stationed in West Texas. The others borrow horses when needed from the Texas Department of Corrections.

Kathleen was the winner to the "This Little Piggy Murder" quiz.


Now, the answer to the burning question - What was the “This Little Piggy Murder”?

The This Little Piggy murder involved two country neighbors, which Jim tells me in Texas means two people whose houses aren’t all that close to each other. One of them was a younger guy who lived alone, and had been discharged from the military due to mental health issues. He had two feral-looking pigs named “Wilbur” and “Charlotte”. Wilbur and Charlotte dug their way out of their pens and got into the neighbor’s garden, which they proceeded to tear up. The neighbor, thinking they were wild pigs, shot them with his .45. While he’s skinning the pigs, their owner comes along and sees him doing that. He goes home, gets his 9mm, and shoots at the neighbor 16 times, hitting him five. The final shot, Jim says, was a “coup de grace point blank to the head.”

So there you have it. No word on who got the ham, bacon, and pork chops.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my best friend (along with my dog) in the world, my horse, Yankee. He turned 20 yesterday.

Nest time out… more on the Texas Rangers… or horses… or both.