The Texas Rangers in Old Time Radio

The Federal Bureau of Investigation. Scotland Yard. The U.S. Marshals Service. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The French Police Nationale RAID. Israel's Counterterrorist YAMAM. Germany's GSG 9. The Texas Rangers. 

Bad guys around the globe should be quaking in their boots with the knowledge that there are police organizations of this caliber operating in the world. The officers in these units are the elite selected from those considered their country's finest. Although their missions are law enforcement, the members of these units are trained and equipped to use military-grade weapons, tactics, and intelligence to accomplish their proscribed objectives. The most distinguishing characteristics of their members are professionalism, dedication to duty, personal honor, and the ability to always, ALWAYS, get their man.

The newly independent Mexican Government invited Stephen F. Austin to form a colony of settlers in the Texas territory in 1821. The settlers came from the United States and Europe and found in Texas an untamed but incredibly rich land. However, the Mexican Government did not have the resources to protect the settlers from outlaw bandits or American Indians who also claimed the land. In 1823, Austin put out a call for ten volunteers to act as Rangers "for the common defense". 

The Texas Rangers became a formalized force in 1835, during the Texas Revolution and the early days of the Texas Republic. A company of 56 Rangers was raised to defend against the Cherokee and Comanche Nations, and the number was increased to 150 under Sam Houston in 1841. With the annexation of Texas and the Mexican American War of 1846, many Rangers were mustered into Federal Service, often acting as scouts, guides, and counter-guerrilla forces for the Army.

After the war ended in 1848, the Rangers were mostly stood down, but Governor Hardin Richard Runnels allocated $70,000 to fund the force. Texas was a broad and open territory, so much so that the U.S.  Army could not effectively patrol and guarantee safety to settlers. The Texas Rangers gained a formidable reputation as individual and small unit fighters, a Ranger was expected to "ride like a Mexican, trail like an Indian, shoot like a Tennessean, and fight like the devil."

The Colt Paterson .36 Caliber, a five-shot revolver was extremely popular with Rangers for its reliability and capacity. Samuel Colt sought the advice of Ranger Captain Samuel Walker to improve the weapon, the result was a .44 Caliber six-shooter called the Colt Walker, reputed as the most powerful handgun in the world until the introduction of the .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum in 1935.

During the Twentieth Century, the Texas Rangers have assumed the role of the Texas Bureau of Investigation. There are six Ranger Companies, designated A through F, distributed throughout the State as well as Headquarters Company H in Austin. There are 150 Commissioned Texas Rangers with Legislative Provisions to commission up to 300 Special Rangers in time of emergency. The "Star in a Wheel" Badge of the Texas Rangers was traditionally cut from a Mexican silver five-peso coin.

• The Lone Ranger, 1933 to 1954, WXYZ, Mutual, the Blue Network, ABC. The Masked Man's origin story (included in this collection) begins as a member of a party of six Texas Rangers who were ambushed by the nefarious Cavendish Gang. The brave Indian Tonto comes upon the scene to discover five dead and nurses the sixth Ranger back to health. Tonto digs six graves so that no one will realize that the Lone Ranger was a survivor of the Cavendish attack.
• Town Hall Tonight, April 15, 1936, Red Network. Along with the usual Town Hall silliness, Texas Governor James Allred appoints Fred with an honorary commission to the Texas Rangers in conjunction with the Texas Centennial Exhibition.
• Forecast, August 5, 1940, CBS, "Of Stars and States". The seventh in a series of CBS Programming previews, "Of Stars and States" will profile the entire Union but chooses to start with Texas, lyrically presenting the history of Teas, Sam Houston, the Alamo, and the Rangers.
• Lux Radio Theatre, April 13, 1942, "Northwest Mounted Police". This is an adaptation of Mr. DeMille's first Technicolor picture. Rebellion is being stirred up amongst the Indians and Halfbreeds on the Canadian Prairie. Dusty Rivers is a Texas Ranger who has come North to arrest Jacque Corbeau on a charge of murder. Corbeau is planning to sell guns and whiskey to the rebels, even though he is wanted by the Rangers and the Mounties. Naturally, Rivers and Mountie Sergeant Jim Brett are both in love with a pretty Canadian Nurse.
• The Roy Rogers Show, January 30, 1945, Mutual Network. Roy tells the story of Tom Barnes of the Texas Rangers who investigates a series of murders which result in ranches being sold to a syndicate, and the Sons of the Pioneers sing "Ride Ranger Ride".
• Tales of the Texas Rangers, July 1950-September 1952, NBC. Joel McRae voiced Texas Ranger Jace Pearson who uses the latest scientific police methods to track down bad guys along with his faithful horse, Charcoal. After the show finished its run on NBC Radio, it was adapted by CBS TV as part of the Saturday Morning Kiddie lineup.
• Mr. District Attorney, 1954, ZIV Syndication, "The Case of the Murderous Junkman". The same script was presented as adapted from an actual Ranger case on the May 13, 1951 episode of Tales of the Texas Rangers. A businessman resents that he owes half of his profits to the Mexican laborer who did most of the work, so he shots him in the back with a shotgun.
• Inheritance, June 13, 1954, NBC, "The Texas Rangers". The program is sponsored by the American Legion, presenting heroic historic episodes which are America's Inheritance. Ranger Captain Leander McNelly is a former Confederate officer who is commissioned to form a special force of Rangers to deal with cattle rustlers along (and across) the Rio Grande.
• Have Gun, Will Travel, November 15, 1959, "Fair Fugitive". While in Texas on business, Paladin visits his friend, Captain Jeffers, at a Ranger post near El Paso, and is surprised to find the company on full alert because of the banditos in their jail. Jeffers asks Paladin to transfer a prisoner whom the US Marshalls want in Baltimore, a beautiful Hungarian lady prisoner!