| Texas Ranger Division | |
|---|---|
 Patch | |
 Logo | |
 Badge | |
| Common name | Texas Rangers |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | October 17, 1835 (modeled after Stephen F. Austin's 1823 ranger companies) |
| Preceding agency | |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction | Texas, U.S. |
 | |
| Map of Texas Ranger Division's jurisdiction | |
| Size | 268,820 square miles (696,240 km2) |
| Population | 27,469,114 (2015 est.)[1] |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Austin, Texas, U.S. |
| Texas Rangers | 234[2] |
| Support employees | 68[2] |
| Agency executive |
|
| Parent agency | Texas Department of Public Safety |
| Companies | 6 |
| Website | |
| dps.texas.gov/texas-rangers | |
The Texas Ranger Division, also known as the Texas Rangers and nicknamed the Diablos Tejanos (Spanish for 'Texan Devils'),[4] is an investigative law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in the U.S. state of Texas, based in the capital city Austin. In the time since its creation, the Texas Rangers have investigated crimes ranging from murder to political corruption, acted in riot control and as detectives, protected the governor of Texas, tracked down fugitives, served as a security force at important state locations, including the Alamo, and functioned as a paramilitary force at the service of both the Republic (1836–1846) and the State of Texas.
The Texas Rangers were unofficially created by Stephen F. Austin in a call-to-arms written in 1823. After a decade, on August 10, 1835, Daniel Parker introduced a resolution to the Permanent Council creating a body of rangers to protect the Mexican border.[5] The unit was dissolved by the federal authorities after the Civil War during the Reconstruction Era but was quickly reformed upon the reinstitution of home government. Since 1935, the organization has been a division of the Texas Department of Public Safety (TxDPS); it fulfills the role of Texas' state bureau of investigation. As of 2019, there are 166 commissioned members of the Ranger force.[2]
The Rangers have taken part in many of the most important events of Texas history, such as stopping the assassination of presidents William Howard Taft and Porfirio Díaz in El Paso, and in some of the best-known criminal cases in the history of the Old West, such as those of gunfighter John Wesley Hardin, bank robber Sam Bass, and outlaws Bonnie and Clyde.
Scores of books have been written about the Rangers, from well-researched works of nonfiction to pulp novels and other such fiction, making the Rangers significant participants in the mythology of the Wild West and modern culture.[6] The Lone Ranger, perhaps the best-known example of a fictional character derived from the Texas Rangers, draws his alias from having once been a Texas Ranger. Other well-known examples include the radio and television series Tales of the Texas Rangers, Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call from the Larry McMurtry novel series Lonesome Dove, and Chuck Norris portraying Cordell Walker in Walker, Texas Ranger. The Major League Baseball (MLB) team Texas Rangers is named after the division.
The Rangers are legally protected against disbandment.[7] There is a museum dedicated to the Texas Rangers known as the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco, Texas, which celebrates the cultural significance of the Rangers.[8]
- ^ "Table 1. Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015". U.S. Census Bureau. December 23, 2015. Archived from the original (CSV) on December 23, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
- ^ a b c "Texas Department of Public Safety – Texas Rangers". Archived from the original on October 16, 2011. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- ^ DPS announces staff promotions. Sealy, Texas. May 15, 2018. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Sublett, Jesse (December 31, 1969). "Lone on the Range: Texas Lawmen". Texas Monthly. Archived from the original on July 12, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- ^ "TxDPS – Texas Rangers Historical Development". Txdps.state.tx.us. Archived from the original on March 19, 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
- ^ Davies, Dave (June 8, 2020). "'Cult Of Glory' Reveals The Dark History Of The Texas Rangers". NPR. Archived from the original on August 28, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
- ^ "Texas Ranger Hall of Fame". Texasranger.org. Archived from the original on March 20, 2016. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
- ^ Martinez, Monica Muñoz (2018). The Injustice Never Leaves You: Anti-Mexican Violence in Texas. Harvard University Press. pp. 254–255. ISBN 9780674989382.