Winchester Warriors: Texas Rangers of Company D, 1874-1901

Chapter 8: “Or borrow from some of the men”

127 Chapter 8 “Or borrow from some of the men” Lieutenant Moore’s command was not short of work. There was plenty. Herds of suspected stolen cattle were held for closer inspection , citizens’ reports of alleged Indian depredations poured in compelling highly mobile and exhausting horseback searches, and local lawmen continually made known their want for a detachment of rangers to help out with this or that tribulation.1 One such request even caught the governor’s attention: Domingo Calderon, a Mexican of Bad Character who committed a murder in this County [Tom Greene] two years since is now in this neighborhood with fifteen men from Del Monte, Mexico. Horse stealing and perhaps murder his object[.] Could you not send a detachment of State troops here to arrest him?2 Not unexpectedly, some stuff rolls downhill—like a constituent ’s plea to the governor. Right fast, the next day, Major Jones telegraphed Lieutenant Moore to without delay send ten Company D rangers to Fort Concho and “arrest Domingo Calderon, a Mexican , and assist the civil authorities.”3 Not long thereafter he penned another August 1877 missive to the beleaguered Lieutenant Moore, telling him that once Company D had been reorganized on September 1, he must lead a patrol and check into allegations that “Creed Taylor’s gang are collecting and holding a large herd of cattle….and that they have many cattle which do not belong to them.”4 Under the authority of General Order No. 16 dated August 9, 1877, company commanders were reminded that by the end of the month they must honorably discharge everyone, and furnish them with the appropriate pay vouchers and an accounting of property. On September 1 the new staffing structure for their companies should be and would be in place: Two sergeants, two corporals and twenty privates per company—for a twelve-month term of enlistment, 128  Chapter 8 “unless sooner discharged.” Specifically at the company level, administrators were sharply cautioned to only rehire or recruit fellows that were not “habitual drunkards” or persons of “immoral character or against whom an indictment is [was] found.”5 Strangely, this time, the order specifically devoted two paragraphs to the newly recruited men’s horses, but not a solitary word about wives. A sly wink and nod would soon circumvent that nagging little restriction. Seemingly the upper echelon of the Frontier Battalion’s management team was undergoing a rethinking process about several issues. Lieutenant Moore was doing a little soul searching, too. Did he really want to keep hearing the major’s admonishments about the lateness of his monthly reports?6 Was there a smidgen of duplicity in speaking out of both sides of one’s mouth? That seemed to be what Major Jones was implying in written instructions to him personally, but not mentioned in the General Order No. 16: In recruiting your company you must bear in mind that the original order for the organization of the battalion forbid the enlistment of married men and if any of that class are recruited Texas Ranger James B. Gillett. Courtesy Archives of the Big Bend, Sul Ross University. “Or borrow from some of the men” 129 it must be with the positive understanding that they are not to ask for, or expect, any furloughs during their term of service.7 Was it now okay to enlist a married fellow, despite the longstanding prohibition? Were there any truths whatsoever in those circulating rumors that Company D might be moved out of the Hill Country and deployed to the Texas/Mexican border, somewhere along the meandering Rio Grande? Were the Company D boys, in fact, all the Frontier Battalion, as he and Major Jones wanted, eventually going to be armed with improved carbines, truly legitimizing the Texas Rangers as Winchester Warriors?8 Was there any chance he, too, could win the electorate’s heart, becoming the sheriff in his home county? Would it not be nice to quit this damn helter-skelter camp life, forgoing lonesome nights away from the house? The current Kerr County Sheriff, F. J. Hamer, would not be there forever, would he? Smart politicians always vied for a headstart and a boot up on an opponent—did they not? Lieutenant Moore certainly had not kept his qualms about continued service with the Texas Rangers or his political campaign plans any secret. Nearby townsmen knew change was in the air. Rangers in the...