Yours to Command: The Life and Legend of Texas Ranger Captain Bill McDonald

Chapter 5. Proceed to El Paso: The Rangers and Prizefighting

Unlike the legendary “one-Ranger-one-riot” story, Captain McDonald did not come alone to El Paso to stop a prizefight in February 1896. The Rangers came en masse. The chief executive of the state of Texas gave the order. In the midst of the dispute about holding the prizefight, Governor Culberson summed up his feelings of opposition to such an event in a succinct message to Adjutant General Mabry: “I will see it through.”2 This unwavering attitude has been a characteristic of those individuals in America who have sought to make certain activities a crime against the health, welfare, morals, and safety of society. Through a mixture of religious, political, and economic beliefs, { 1 0 1 } Chapter 5  PROCEED TO EL PASO: THE RANGERS AND PRIZEFIGHTING There was trouble in Dallas. A prize fight had been scheduled, and since there was a state law making ring encounters illegal, the town was divided against itself over whether the affair should come off as planned. Fearing serious disturbances on fight night, some of those among the citizenry had asked the governor to send Texas Rangers. And so, on the day of the event Captain Bill McDonald, lanky, whitemustached state trooper, who spoke with a slow drawl in his voice, dropped off the train in Dallas. He was met by the mayor. His Honor was glad to see the Captain, but he appeared worried as he looked up and down the platform. “Where,” he asked, “are your Rangers?” “Hell!” exclaimed Captain McDonald, “you’ve only got one prize fight, haven’t you?”1 different people in this country have criticized play, games, and more organized sports as a misuse of time and have attempted to outlaw sporting ventures, from shuffleboard to bowling to prize- fighting. By the turn of the twentieth century those who opposed such criminal acts could seek relief through a network of social control—from the populace to sympathetic state politicians to enforcement by the police. The banning of pugilistic encounters by legislative action created a set of contradictions in American life since colonial days. From England to Puritan Massachusetts Bay to Texas and other states by the early 1900s, citizens had argued about the nature of sport—whether sinful or not—and about the time and place to carry out sporting activities. Thousands cheered or whispered in awe when the great John L. Sullivan threw a punch. For some, the manly art of boxing became a safety valve for aggression and surely built a martial spirit that the nation and the military could tap. For others, especially promoters and businessmen, two fighters in a ring brought additional benefits, all of which were acceptable to segments of the population in El Paso: attraction of tourists, economic gain, town-building, and favorable publicity from advertising and the news media. Yet sport has raised moral and social questions that bedeviled earlier generations. Did not play and games interfere with one’s work and family obligations? Was not bare-knuckle and glove prizefighting a brutal part of the combat sports that should be abolished along with the bloody entertainment involving animals like bullfighting and cockfighting? Should not the occasion for holding a sporting event be restricted: no recreation on Sundays and no boxing match that brought together undesirable, disorderly characters —gamblers, drunks, prostitutes, and pickpockets? From El Paso to points east and west such people were called “toughs” and a “rabble .” Paradoxically, then, by 1900 pugilistic events were illegal in most places, scorned by upright citizens, trumpeted by promoters, tolerated by some authorities, and followed by all social classes.3 Y O U R S T O C O M M A N D { 1 0 2 } The outlawing of prizefights created problems of location and law enforcement jurisdictions. When Dan Stuart, the portly boxing promoter and head of the Florida Athletic Club, tried to match Heavyweight Champion James J. “Gentleman Jim” Corbett with challenger and Middleweight Champion Robert “Ruby Bob” Fitzsimmons, the fight had to be moved from Florida to Texas and Arkansas. As the prizefight came westward, a similar pattern of events took place: pugilistic encounters banned by legislative action; local citizens divided over the pros and cons of the sport; opposition parties led by ministers; state officials prepared to execute the laws; and police forces called upon to enforce the laws and make arrests. At the...