CREATION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE FRONTIER BATTALION - “1874 – 1901.”

Frontier Battalion Ranger Statue at Waco Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum

After the Civil War one of the biggest threats to the citizens of Texas was its lawlessness from within and the criminal elements entering Texas from Mexico and other surrounding states. In 1874, the Legislature created two Ranger forces to cope with the situation…the Frontier Battalion, led by Major John B. Jones and an organization called the Special Forces under the leadership of Capt. Leander McNelly. McNelly’s Special Force assignment was to clear the outlaws out of the Nueces Strip.

The Frontier Battalion in 1874 was divided up into six jurisdictions..Co.“A”, CO.“B”, Co.“C”, Co. “D”, Co. “E”,Co. “F”, and Hdqrs. which was located in Austin, Texas. The number of Rangers varied in each company and usually depended upon area to be covered, the purpose of the job assigned, and the population of the jurisdictional area. During the Frontier Battalion period of time the Ranger’s appearance changed to a “cleaner” and a “better dressed” individual. Earlier it was difficult to tell the outlaw from the Ranger and they were known as “some of the most roughen, uncleaned, and unshaven men to be seen.” They were not recognizable as being Rangers. The Indian Wars, all but over, the Rangers were concentrating more and more in the enforcement of Texas law. How ever a number of the Rangers did not know how to read or write and those who did were those who usually became officers within the ranks of the Rangers. The State had regulations that governed the Ranger organization and each company captain would have his own company regulations. Some companies had written rules that regulated card playing, rangers were forbidden to gamble for bullets, about being absent from the company camp area, and many, many more that helped the company captain control his men.

Written reports about the individual Rangers activity (scouts) and the captain’s reports were forwarded to the Adjutant Generals office in Austin where many are still available on request. This was done monthly by all captains.

Unless the Ranger camp had a cook each Ranger had his time to do the cooking and cleaning of utensils. The state would provide such items as salt, salt pork, coffee, beans, and flower for the purpose of preparing meals.Other than that the Rangers lived off the land for additional provisions. Any whiskey kept in the camp was generally for “medicinal” purposes only. The Ranger was usually a young man in his twenties. An old Ranger was in his 40’s and 50’s. The life of a Battalion Ranger was tough in that most of the time he was on the chase, living out doors, in all kinds of weather night and day, and his life being at risk either from the elements or form the outlaw he was after.

The Frontier Battalion

The Frontier Battalion, composed of six companies of Texas Rangers of seventy-five men each, was organized in 1874 as a result of a recommendation of Governor Richard Coke that Texas organize its own force to protect the frontier. On May 2, 1874, John B. Jones was commissioned major of the force. By July 10, 1874, all six companies were in service. Camps were established along the entire frontier line; Jones himself visited all of the companies, enforcing discipline, and, to tie the command together, established a line of couriers to ride from camp to camp to carry information and pick up Indian signs. By October 8, 1874, Jones reported the battalion in good working order. During the first seventeen months of its organization, the battalion had twenty-one fights with Indians; from September 1875 to February 1876 no Indians appeared on the border guarded by the battalion, and a new feeling of security resulted. The Frontier Battalion was established to control ordinary lawbreakers as well as for defense against Indians. This control was particularly necessary in the period of lawlessness and social collapse following the Civil War and Reconstruction. The situation was aggravated by the proximity of Texas to Mexico and the conflict between agrarian and cattle interests, as the farm frontier began to encroach on the ranching area. Men of the battalion made arrests, escorted prisoners, guarded jails, and attended courts; hundreds of lawless men were arrested; thousands fled. Among the special tasks assigned to the group were settling the Mason County War, cleaning outlaws out of Kimble County in 1877, ending the Horrell-Higgins Feud in Lampasas County, terminating the Salt War of San Elizario, and capturing Sam Bass. The breakup of the Frontier Battalion began with the death of Major Jones and the resignation of the principal captains in 1881. A court ruling in 1900 destroyed the authority of the force by allowing only commissioned officers to execute criminal process or make arrests. In reality the order destroyed the battalion. The work of the Frontier Battalion in making Texas “a fairly safe place in which to live” was largely responsible for the tradition which came to surround the term, “Texas Ranger.”

The Battalion lasted 27 years and was dissolved in 1901. They were renamed the Ranger Force but still retaining the title “Texas Ranger.”. In 1935 the Rangers were included as part of the Texas Department of Public Safety and have remained so up to the present time. The Texas Legislature acted into law a few years ago that “as long as there is a Texas there will be Texas Rangers.”

During this period of time the Rangers were involved in some of the most celebrated cases in the history of the State of Texas. Historical facts that would later be mixed with Ranger legend occurred during this turbulent period. This page provides a few photographs of Rangers during the Frontier Battalion period of time. There are literally thousands of Ranger photographs of which these being presented are only a few.

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“Come All You Texas Rangers” as recorded in the 1930’s by Gene Autry. Lyrics are believed to have been written in the 1880’s.

“Sundown / The Texas Ranger” recorded circa 1960’s by Marty Robins.

SOME NOTABLE RANGERS DURING THIS PERIOD

Captain Frank Jones
Captain John B. Jones
Captain Dan Roberts
Captain John Bird
Captain John Coffee “Jack” Hayes.
Captain Leander McNelly
Captain J.A. Brooks
Captain John H. Rogers
Captain Lee Hall
Captain Frank Hamer
Captain Rufus Perry
Captain John R. Hughes
Captain William “Bill” McDonald
Ranger John B. Armstrong
Ranger Ira Aten
Ranger Walter Durbin
Ranger Bazz Outlaw
Ranger John M. Davenport

NOTABLE OUTLAWS DURING THIS PERIOD

Texas’ deadliest outlaw, John Wesley Hardin, a preacher’s son reputed to have killed 31 men.

Another well-known Texas outlaw and train robber; Sam Bass, who had a run in with Texas Rangers did not make it to prison.

NOTABLE EVENTS DURING THIS PERIOD

The infamous Fitzsimmons-Maher bout promoted by Judge Roy Bean near Langtry, Texas.

PRESERVING THE LAW AND KEEPING ORDER

In 1894-95, the Rangers scouted 173,381 miles; made 676 arrests; returned 2,856 head of stolen livestock to the owners, assisted civil authorities 162 times and guarded jails on 13 occasions.

The above information is courtesy of the Texas Ranger Hall and Fame Museum

For more information on the Frontier Battalion please go to Home Page and click on link Archives and Manuscripts and enter
information into the search box. You will be able to download and print information on the Ranger you are looking for. The information covers a period of 1836 – 1935.

Selected Texas Ranger photographs are provided by Jim Ryan and the Texas Ranger Museum and Hall of Fame located at Waco, Texas. PHOTOS MAY NOT BE COPIED IN ANY MANNER WITH OUT CONSENT OF JIM RYAN OR THE WACO TEXAS RANGER MUSEUM AND HALL OF FAME.

The Texas Rangers Frontier Battalion brought the law to Texas. One of the requirements for being hired as a Texas Ranger was that he be able to ride and shoot accurately. They had to furnish their own horse and weapons. The phrase “No man in the wrong can stand up against a fellow in the right and just keeps on comin.” “He would charge Hell with a bucket of water” and “They are men who will not be stampeded.” During the Battalion days the Ranger did not wear a badge as the State of Texas did not furnish badges. Instead he carried a “Descriptive List” which was signed by his Captain or the Adjutant General.

Texas Ranger Walter Durbin

Durbin joined the Texas Rangers in 1883 Greer County. Durbin was by no standard an ordianry man. He served
with distinction as a Texas Ranger, United States Deputy Marshal, Sheriff of Frio County, a San Antonio officer and as a deputy sheriff of Bexar County. For a brief, but dangerous, period,he was employed as a mine guard in Mexico while his last employment was as a special officer for the Southern Pacific Railroad. But it was as a Texas Ranger that he was to gain his greatest fame and was instrumental in bringing to justice many criminals, including several murderers. As a sheriff he journeyed hundreds of miles, walking a part of the way in his determination, to return a wanted man to justice. Another experience took him to the Indian Territory on the trail of a herd of stolen stock; the thief was identified, arrested and convicted. It was a result of this determination that he became famous as a man-hunter. Walter Durbin served most of his Ranger time in Company “D” which was based in Uvalde, Texas.

Ranger Bass Outlaw – Georgia 1855 or 1859 died El Paso, Texas 5 April 1894.

In 1932 Eugene Cunningham, the eminent writer and historian of frontier affairs, wrote an article on Bass Outlaw, a former Texas Ranger. He researched his subject by talking to old-timers who had known, worked with and had tangled with Outlaw during the nearly eight years he had been a Ranger. He spoke with men such as Jim Gillette and other ex-Rangers who had survived the turbulent years to grow old; and like most old men they were eager to recall the old days and spoke freely. Cunningham carefully wrote it all for the record. He titled his treatise “The Little Wolf” and in those three words accurately summed up the character of Bass Outlaw better than all the words ever written about this strange, moody, little known man.

Bass Outlaw personified a prairie wolf. He was brave, wily and determined in battle. He was unpredictable in that he was either withdrawn or dangerously aggressive depending on his mood of the moment. He yearned for companionship but was basically a loner. He was a Texas Ranger from 1885 until 1893. He was at times a credit to the force. At other times he was an acute embarrassment. He saw promotion come his way faster than it had for many more deserving Rangers. He might well have become a notable legend in the fashion of Dick Ware, James Gillett, Bill MacDonald and John Hughes and so many others. Instead he fell victim to personal demons and became someone the Rangers, even today, would just as soon forget – except they can’t. Bass Outlaw is a part of Ranger history, the part that proves every group is made up of two distinct elements, one good, one bad. Bass Outlaw was one of the bad.

Bass Outlaw had been born into a highly respected, genteel Georgia family that proudly traced its lineage directly back to Thomas Outlaw, a “Gentleman Landowner” of Cardeston, England who died in 1650. Thomas Outlaw is the direct ancestor of nearly everyone in North America bearing that surname. So Bass Outlaw came from fine stock and a branch of the Outlaw family tree that revered its roots. How young Bass managed to be born with a renegade gene is unknown but from early childhood it was obvious he was not, and likely would never be, a “gentleman”. Still, his parents tried. They furnished him with a good education and brought him up in a environment of fine manners. There is no evidence to show that he was ever slated to merge into the family business but in all likelihood his parents had tried to interest him in some aspect of commerce. What is equally as likely is that he preferred to play cards and drink if his days in Texas can be used as an indicator of his past.

Unfortunately, very little is known of his youthful days except that he spent his first thirty years in Georgia, Tennessee and Arkansas. What is known is that he was the family’s black sheep who wanted only one thing in life. All his life he had wanted to be a Texas Ranger.

He was 30 years old before he finally made the trip from his Georgia home to Texas. Immediately upon arrival in that roaring state he went to the nearest Texas Ranger office and submitted his application. He had good credentials and offered acceptable references.

The application was approved, possibly too quickly, and the new recruit was assigned to E Company. There he soon made a solid reputation for himself as a quick draw with a deadly accurate shot. He could ride with the best, learned readily how to track even the faintest signs and was earmarked as a recruit with a future. Once he began field work his composure under fire was viewed with satisfaction. He showed a willingness to accept orders. His officers agreed he had the capabilities to go quite a distance in the force.

From the few descriptions later given by contemporaries and one photo he left behind Outlaw appears less than conspicuous. He was only about 5’4"3 and weighed perhaps 150 lbs. but seems thinner because of narrow shoulders. His chin receded. His eyes, cold and unfriendly, were pale blue. He sported a mustache best described as brushy, not the heavy, flowing types worn by the likes of Doc Holliday, Luke Short or Wyatt Earp which were the fashion of that era. If it wasn’t for his prowess with rifle and pistol he would not likely have commanded any attention at all.

His self-confidence seems to have been suspect, propped up mainly by the awe in which others held his uncanny ability to place a shot where he wanted it to hit plus the speed in which he could bring his weapon into action. In an era where marksmanship was rarely of notable quality he was a standout. He knew it and capitalized on it.

His temper was hair-trigger and his hand was never far from the butt of his .45 during those temper tantrums. He seemed to revel in his new-found notoriety and kept everyone on edge as they tried to anticipate what he might do next. To add to his mystery he made no effort to disavow a rumor (possibly self- started) that he had murdered a man in Georgia and that there was a warrant outstanding for his arrest. Because it flies in the face of logic that a wanted murderer would be so keen to become a Ranger this rumor could normally be considered sheer nonsense was it not for the fact that the notorious assassin James “Killin’Jim” Miller had also been a Ranger on not one but two occasions. At any rate the Ranger hierarchy paid the rumor no heed.

However, within a couple of years Outlaw had begun to show his dark side. He more and more displayed a tendency to sulk when things did not go his way, became quarrelsome, was given to outbursts of temper and moods of indifference. He soon became generally disliked by most, if not all, of his fellow Rangers. Eventually he was left strictly alone. Perhaps worse he resumed his old habit of seeking company in drink during his off-duty hours, a tendency the Ranger “brass” frowned upon and did their best to discourage lest off-duty become on-duty. He would forsake the whiskey long enough to make his superiors think he was reforming but reformation never lasted. He very rapidly wore out his welcome in E Company.

In 1887, following complaints from members of E Company, Outlaw was quietly transferred to D Company. He changed his ways for the next year and a half and in April 1890 was promoted first to corporal then quickly to sergeant when the senior NCO, Sgt. Fusselman, was killed during a running battle with bandits in the Franklin Mountains.

As a sergeant Outlaw did quite well and began to once again show the promise he had displayed during his “rookie” months. His superiors began to feel he had turned himself around. His men followed him because, despite his flaws of personality, they felt he would never let them down in a tight spot – a belief they never had to doubt. But, while he was a competent NCO on the trail, he was not adequate in camp. He despised paper work, his reports were late always and camp routine suffered under his supervision. It soon became clear that he was not officer material, even in an acting capacity. Also, he had resumed drinking as much as ever during his off time. It was this affinity with John Barleycorn that led him to his final disgrace. Bass Outlaw, the heavy drinker was also a poor card player. These two factors make a bad combination. In 1893 Outlaw, as the senior sergeant, was put in charge of D Company (then camped near Alpine) while the commanding officer, Captain Frank Jones, was away on business.

No sooner had Jones departed when Outlaw saddled his horse and left the camp heading for Alpine. There he began drinking in the Buckhorn Saloon. Soon he engaged in a poker game with an ex-ranger named Anglin. Anglin was not a professional gambler but he was an expert player. Moreover, he never drank while at the gaming table. As a result he held a decided advantage over the tipsy Outlaw who became very drunk as the evening wore on. By midnight Outlaw was broke.

The game over, Anglin began to scoop the cash and chips into his hat when Outlaw stood up and accused Anglin of cheating. His hand hovered near his gun butt. Anglin, not one to be intimidated, also stood up arms out with palms up indicating to Outlaw and all witnesses that he was unarmed. He then tried to reason with the angry man.

Outlaw, though drunk, still had enough common sense to know he could not shoot an unarmed man without facing trial for murder and a probable date with the hangman. So he continued to shout and exhort Anglin to get a gun so the matter could be settled.

As the argument raged someone rushed for the sheriff’s house. Within minutes the sheriff, ex-Ranger Jim Gillett, one of the true Ranger legends, entered the saloon. He ordered an immediate cessation of the ruckus and told Anglin to get out and be quick about it. Anglin, needing no second telling, departed without a further word.

Gillett managed to calm Outlaw, steered him out of the saloon, put him on his horse and ordered him to get back to camp, muy pronto. Outlaw finally left but not before causing a few more minutes ruckus. For a time it appeared Gillett would be forced to draw down on the enraged Outlaw. This would have been a classic shoot-out for Gillett was no slouch with a pistol and was sober to boot. All in all, though, the two would likely have ended up killing each other. Gillett eventually got Outlaw on his way and things settled down.

When Captain Jones returned to the Ranger camp the following day he was informed of Outlaw’s misbehavior – and forced him to resign on the spot. He was paid off and told to get out of camp.

Humiliated, Outlaw went into Alpine determined to have it out with Gillett whom he believed had told Jones of the incident. He was eventually convinced that Gillett had done no such thing. The two made an uneasy peace which lasted for the weeks that Outlaw remained in Alpine.

For several months Outlaw, generally behaving himself, remained in Alpine living on his final pay. He had begun spending innumerable days in the brush country. He played down his trips but it was clear to all that he was searching for the loot from an 1891 train robbery. It was general knowledge that the money had been buried by the robbers even as they were being tracked by a group of Rangers of which Outlaw was one.

The Rangers knew who the robbers were and they in turn knew the rangers were onto them. The leader was run to ground and killed himself rather than surrender. The other three gang members were eventually captured. But their loot was never recovered. (As is so often the case the loot increased annually from the original $10,000 to $60,000). Over the years dozens of searchers have combed the area without success – at least no one ever laid claim to having found it. More than likely several bags of money is still out there in the chaparral. Bass Outlaw, one of the early treasure hunters, enjoyed no better luck than had his predecessors. Equally as unlucky were those dozens who were to come later.

Bass Outlaw mooched around Alpine for some time before he applied for – and received – a position as deputy to US Marshal Dick Ware, an ex-Ranger. (It was Ware who had headed up the Ranger posse that had cornered and killed Sam Bass at Round Rock in 1878). Ware had a soft spot for former Rangers and decided to give Outlaw one final chance. He hired him as deputy US Marshal in early Spring 1894.

Outlaw proved to be a good deputy and worked well with his partner Bufe Cline. Marshal Ware had no trouble with him – at first.

On 04 April, 1894 Ware and his deputies journeyed to El Paso to attend court hearings against several outlaws and rustlers they had arrested between sessions. The following morning all three attended the court’s opening. It was 05 April, the final day of Bass Outlaw’s life.

In keeping with the procedures of the era deputies were entitled to fees commensurate with the work involved in serving summonses, preparing cases and compiling the necessary paper work in the cases. Cline had done most of the preliminary work and had served all the summons so Ware awarded him the summons fees. Outlaw, who had done very little, was sullen and in a foul mood because he thought the fees should have been split 50-50. Following a bitter argument with Marshal Ware Outlaw stormed out of the courthouse.

He may have been heading for a saloon but if this was the case he changed his mind when he ran into a couple of old acquaintances, Frank Collinson and Ernie Bridges. He bent their ears with his supposed grievances and both men knew they should get Outlaw off the street before he tried something foolish. They said later they felt he was about to storm back into the courthouse for a shoot-out with Ware. They steered him toward the hotel where he was staying.

They were almost there when Outlaw decided he would forgo the hotel in favor of a visit with his favorite whore who worked at the brothel owned by Tillie Howard, one of El Paso’s most famous madams. He insisted that Bridges accompany him, an insistence backed by a hand on the gun butt. Bridges, not a cat- house regular, reluctantly accompanied him along Utah Street towards Tillie’s place.

Collinson, alarmed, was about to follow when he spotted John Selman, the El Paso police officer who sixteen months later would gain lasting notoriety by killing John Wesley Hardin in the Acme Saloon.4 Collinson went to him, told the story, and the two men followed Outlaw and Bridges at a discreet distance.

When Outlaw arrived at Tillie’s he demanded his favorite girl only to be informed she was with a client and that Tillie had no intention of disrupting her. Outlaw erupted in rage, stormed through the house tossing chairs and furniture aside as he passed through to the back door. He disappeared into the back yard.

Suddenly a shot was heard. Selman and Collinson, followed by Bridges, rushed to the back yard. Meantime, a young Ranger, Joe McKidrict of D Company, who was walking nearby with a city constable, also heard the shot. Both rushed to the yard from the opposite direction.

McKidrict was in El Paso for the same reason as Outlaw. He was attending the court sessions and only by chance had he been on Overland Street when the shot rang out. McKidrict knew Outlaw, had always been friendly towards him and felt safe enough as he approached. What was said is unknown but whatever it was Outlaw took exception and shot the youngster in the forehead. McKidrict died on the spot.

The moment Outlaw fired at McKidrict, Selman, Collinson and Bridges entered the yard. Outlaw turned to face the three but Selman, the only one armed, had not yet drawn his pistol. Outlaw, turning, fired hitting Selman in the thigh. Before Selman knew what had hit him Outlaw fired a second shot. It too found Selman’s leg.

Selman, no stranger to gunfights, drew his pistol, braced and fired one shot. The bullet ripped into Outlaw’s chest burying itself deep within about an inch above the heart. Outlaw, who had never before felt the searing impact of a bullet, had no idea of the numbing pain involved in being hit fully by a heavy-caliber bullet. Recoiling in shock he dropped his pistol as all his fighting spirit deserted him. He staggered but did not fall. Acting perhaps on instinct he leapt the fence and ran down the alley directly into the arms of Ranger McMahan, also of D Company. McMahan stopped Outlaw in mid-flight and made an easy arrest, easy because Outlaw was already in a state of collapse.

McMahan felt certain that Outlaw was fatally wounded. He half carried, half dragged his erstwhile sergeant over to Barnum’s Saloon on the corner of Utah and Overland Streets. Barnum’s was a saloon/brothel so McMahon knew a cot would be there for Outlaw to lie on. Someone hurried to fetch a doctor as Outlaw was carried into a back room and dumped on a cot. It is said the owner of the cot, seeing her wages for the night about to be disrupted by a dying man, protested vigorously and profanely. Barnum, not wanting undue publicity, found her another room to shut her up.

It may have the hubbub that awakened him for Outlaw opened his eyes. He must have known he had only a short time left to live for he looked around at the small crowd that had gathered. He half raised himself onto one elbow and said:

“Gather my friends around me for I know I must die.”

He then fell back into semi-consciousness. It was a little after 5:30PM.

A doctor arrived, examined the dying man, announced there was nothing he could do and hurried off to deal with the bullet holes in Old John Selman’s leg. Meanwhile the body of Ranger McKidrict, having been carried by his friends to a nearby mortuary, was being tended to.

Bass Outlaw died a few minutes before 9PM. The little room was empty except for a couple of police officers for by then the crowd, their curiosity sated, had dispersed. There were no friends gathered around for the simple reason that he had no friends. The one person he could have called a friend was the Ranger he had killed less than four hours previously.

Ranger Joseph McKidrict was removed to D Company’s headquarters at Ysleta, about ten miles from El Paso. There he lay in state for a day. His casket was covered with flowers. The blooms had been gathered by the town’s children because he had been a special friend to the town’s young people. His funeral was in the tradition of the Texas Rangers. The school was closed so the children could attend.

Bass Outlaw, the black sheep of a genteel family, was buried with nothing to suggest that he was mourned. For him there was no lying in state. His coffin was a plain pine box hastily hammered together by a local carpenter for the going county fee. There is nothing on record indicating he received a church service, a march to the grave side, a bugle, a three gun salute. Present at Outlaw’s grave side were a gravedigger and a minister who read a few prayers in the Christian tradition. Bass Outlaw’s dying words, sad and sentimental though they were, had brought forth no friends. For Bass Outlaw there were no flowers, no eulogy and no mourners – even his favorite girl from Tillie Howard’s pleasure palace chose not to attend.

Ranger and minister Winter Martin Green

Green was born at Eudoria, Kansas and died June 2, 1940 in Wichita, Kansas. He was ordained
a Baptist minister at the age of 19. In 1897 Green came to Southwest Texas where he preached in
Del Rio, Sabinal, Hondo, and surrounding areas. During this time he joined the Texas Rangers and became proficient in the Spanish language. He was an aavid collector of Indian artifacts and geological specimens.

His records (request for pension) show that Winter Martin Green joined the Texas Ranger Frontier Battalion Company “A” on the 25th day of 1874 attested to by Henry Hutchings, Adjutant General, State of Texas.

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