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

The Rangers, Company B, and Captain McDonald in the Field: A Pictorial Essay

THE RANGERS, COMPANY B, AND CAPTAIN MCDONALD IN THE FIELD A Pictorial Essay Then mount and away! give the fleet steed the rein— The Ranger’s at home on the prairies again: Spur! spur in the chase, dash on to the fight, Cry Vengeance for Texas! and God speed the right. —“War Song of the Texas Rangers,” in Thomas Knowles, They Rode for the Lone Star) Governor Culberson, from among the rest, Chose four Rangers, whom he thought best. He ordered us to San Saba to put down crime— We met in Goldthwaite, all on time. Two from the Panhandle, two from the Rio Grande, Which made a jolly little Ranger band. We stopped at a hotel to stay all night. From what the people said, we expected a fight. They puffed and blowed, and said we were in danger, For a bushwhacker didn’t like a Ranger. We laughed at such talk, and considered it fun; But wherever we went, we carried our gun. —“Texas Rangers after the Mob,” in W. J. L. Sullivan, Twelve Years in the Saddle for Law and Order on the Frontiers of Texas) SOURCE: ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE, CAPTAIN BILL MCDONALD, TEXAS RANGER: A STORY OF FRONTIER REFORM, 1909, FRONTISPIECE. A collage of McDonald’s careers outside and inside law enforcement. The advertisement for his grocery store came from the Dallas Weekly Herald, Feb. 28, 1874. The other items appeared in various archival records. Before his years as a Ranger captain, McDonald served as a deputy sheriff and a deputy US marshal. As an officer in the Frontier Battalion, he liked to use the phrase, “Texas State Rangers.” During the era of the Frontier Battalion, railroads issued passes to the Rangers, either for the entire route or from station to station , in different ways: free trips or tickets issued at half-price or the full amount. At the end of his life McDonald’s motto appeared on his letterhead paper. See AP 1114, PP. (COURTESY HAROLD J. WEISS, JR.) Woodford H. Mabry (1856–1899) was a Texan by birth and adjutant general of Texas by appointment of the governor in 1891. In this role he replaced Wilburn H. King. Bill McDonald first served as a Ranger captain under the tutelage of the able and efficient Mabry. Mabry left the office of adjutant general in 1898 to serve in the Spanish-American War. (COURTESY TEXAS STATE LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES COMMISSION.) The office of the adjutant general of the state of Texas at the turn of the twentieth century. The adjutant general and his staff, like E. M. Phelps pictured above, manned this command post for the Frontier Battalion (1874–1901) and the Ranger Force (1901–1935). Orders and reports passed between the adjutant general’s office and Ranger Company B under the command of Bill McDonald. (COURTESY TEXAS STATE LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES COMMISSION.) Standing from left: James A. Brooks, John H. Rogers, _____ Waite (or Thurlow A. Weed); seated from left: Lamartine P. “Lam” Sieker, John B. Armstrong, and William J. “Bill” McDonald. The classic photograph of the different types of Rangers by the late 1800s: the organizational Ranger, like Sieker; the intrepid Ranger in the citizen-soldier tradition, such as “Little McNelly” Armstrong; and the hard-bitten peace officers and dauntless crime fighters, including Brooks, McDonald, and Rogers. Armstrong (1850–1913): Born in Tennessee, he came to Texas and joined the ranging company under the command of McNelly in the 1870s. He rose to the rank of lieutenant and became known as “McNelly’s Bulldog.” After his Ranger service, Armstrong served as a US marshal and owned a ranch. Brooks (1855–1944): Born in Kentucky, he joined the Rangers in the early 1880s and rose through the ranks to be a celebrated captain until his retirement in the first decade of the twentieth century. In his later life Brooks became the faithful public servant by serving as a state legislator and as a county judge of Brooks County (named in his honor). Rogers (1863–1930): Born in Texas, he joined the Ranger service in the early 1880s and rose through the ranks to become a captain in the next decade. Rogers belonged to the group called the “Christian Rangers,” along with M. T. Gonzaullas, P. B. Hill, A. T. “Augie” Old, and Thalis Cook. In his later life Rogers also served as a United States marshal and...