The Ranger Ideal Volume 3: Texas Rangers in the Hall of Fame, 1898–1987 by Darren L. Ivey

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Ranger Ideal Volume 3: Texas Rangers in the Hall of Fame, 1898–1987 by Darren L. Ivey Bob Cavendish The Ranger Ideal Volume 3: Texas Rangers in the Hall of Fame, 1898–1987. By Darren L. Ivey. (Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2021. Pp. 843. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index.) Texas Rangers in the Hall of Fame, 1898–1987 concludes Darren Ivey's trilogy of Texas Ranger Hall of Fame members. Beginning with William Wright, who entered the Rangers in 1899, and closing with Stanley Guffey, whose Ranger service came to a tragic end in 1987, this volume presents the last twelve inductees, whose tenures occurred during Texas's transition from its "old west" past. Rangers' attention to frontier defense was eventually replaced with labor union unrest, counterfeiting, border incursions, prohibition, and gangster violence. In response, Ranger responses became more sophisticated as the Colt dragoon revolver, lever-action Winchester, and horseback transportation evolved into crime laboratory methodology and automobiles. Yet, law enforcement could also mean roundups and expulsions of such undesirables as gamblers, prostitutes, and vagrants, all handled with full endorsement of local and state officials. Rangers experienced political interference, notably from Governor Miriam Ferguson, who dismissed several Rangers deemed hostile to her administration and replaced them with inexpert partisan devotees. The Texas Legislature restricted Ranger investigations unless they were invited by local authorities. Ranger budgets constantly suffered reductions. Finally, in 1935, Governor James Allred modernized Texas law enforcement by creating the new Texas Department of Public Safety and incorporating the established Texas Rangers. Ranger Ideal is an oblique chronicle of Texas's social evolution seen through the prisms of twelve individuals facing contemporary issues. Texas was maturing and experiencing growing pains. Along the way, Ivey reveals, Ranger tactics changed with the era, albeit not without rough edges. These twelve concise biographies appear in chronological sequence but can be read in random order. Few in number, these men often knew each other, occasionally crossing career paths. Rangers Frank Hamer, Thomas Hickman, and Charles Miller, for instance, each receive an entire chapter and also reappear in subsequent chapters as participants in separate Ranger assignments or incidents, thereby creating an informal network of men and talents. Each of these men stands with his own strengths and vulnerabilities. Ranger Captain Hamer (1884–1955) might have followed "a different path, that of the outlaw" (83), but he instead became part of the team [End Page 532] that stopped the notorious gangster duo Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow (dismissed by Ivey as second-rate hoodlums romanticized in a 1967 movie). Hamer, once arrested, found guilty, and fined for assaulting a reporter, nevertheless humbly credited his career survival to God and his own "doing what is right" (107). Manuel Gonzaullas (1891–1977), another captain, had a mysterious past with no clear personal history prior to his Ranger career. His biographers "had to rely on the contradictory information he himself provided about his early life" (285). He became superintendent of the Bureau of Intelligence and later director of the State Crime Detection Laboratory while continuing his fieldwork. Each Ranger had his personality. Captain Thomas Hickman always dressed the part, wearing a wide-brimmed Stetson hat with tailored western clothes. Marvin Burton's gentle demeanor, once confronted by lawbreakers, erupted into "a one man riot squad" (373). Clinton Peoples's reputation for self-promotion made him unpopular with some, but he was an aggressive proponent for the Ranger Museum in Waco even after leaving Ranger service. Ranger Ideal Volume 3 works as a valuable secondary source and as a highly readable survey of Texas in transition told through lives of twelve men charged with keeping order. While sympathetic toward his subjects, Ivey has not written a hagiography. He defines these Rangers as human beings who dedicated their lives to protection and law enforcement but occasionally stumbled along the way. Without silver bullets or white steeds these imperfect men "moved toward the danger in order to protect that which they held most dear" (613). Bob Cavendish Buda, Texas Copyright © 2022 The Texas State Historical Association