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The Texas-Mexico border is trouble. Haphazardly splashing across the meandering Rio Grande into Mexico is—or at least can be—risky business, hazardous to one’s health and well-being. Kirby W. Dendy, the Chief of Texas Rangers, corroborates the sobering reality: “As their predecessors for over one hundred forty years before them did, today’s Texas Rangers continue to battle violence and transnational criminals along the Texas-Mexico border.” In Riding Lucifer’s Line, Bob Alexander, in his characteristic storytelling style, surveys the personal tragedies of twenty-five Texas Rangers who made the ultimate sacrifice as they scouted and enforced laws throughout borderland counties adjacent to the Rio Grande. The timeframe commences in 1874 with formation of the Frontier Battalion, which is when the Texas Rangers were actually institutionalized as a law enforcing entity, and concludes with the last known Texas Ranger death along the border in 1921. Alexander also discusses the transition of the Rangers in two introductory sections: “The Frontier Battalion Era, 1874-1901” and “The Ranger Force Era, 1901-1935,” wherein he follows Texas Rangers moving from an epochal narrative of the Old West to more modern, technological times. Written absent a preprogrammed agenda, Riding Lucifer’s Line is legitimate history. Adhering to facts, the author is not hesitant to challenge and shatter stale Texas Ranger mythology. Likewise, Alexander confronts head-on many of those critical Texas Ranger histories relying on innuendo and gossip and anecdotal accounts, at the expense of sustainable evidence—writings often plagued with a deficiency of rational thinking and common sense. Riding Lucifer’s Line is illustrated with sixty remarkable old-time photographs. Relying heavily on archived Texas Ranger documents, the lively text is authenticated with more than one thousand comprehensive endnotes.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
  2. p. 1
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  1. Title Page, Copyright Page
  2. pp. 2-5
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. v-vi
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  1. Foreword
  2. pp. vii-xii
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  1. Preface & Acknowledgments
  2. pp. xiii-xxvi
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  1. Introduction to Part I - The Frontier Battalion Era, 1874–1901
  2. pp. 1-14
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  1. Part I - Photo Gallery Texas Ranger Hall of Fame & Museum
  2. pp. 15-37
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  1. Chapter 1. Sonny Smith, 1875
  2. pp. 38-51
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  1. Chapter 2. John E. McBride and Conrad E. Mortimer,1877
  2. pp. 52-68
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  1. Chapter 3. Samuel “Sam” Frazier, 1878
  2. pp. 69-80
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  1. Chapter 4. George R. “Red” Bingham, 1880
  2. pp. 81-90
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  1. Chapter 5. Frank Sieker, 1885
  2. pp. 91-100
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  1. Chapter 6. Charles H. V. Fusselman, 1890
  2. pp. 101-110
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  1. Chapter 7. John F. Gravis, 1890
  2. pp. 111-118
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  1. Chapter 8. Robert E. Doaty, 1892
  2. pp. 119-126
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  1. Chapter 9. Frank Jones, 1893
  2. pp. 127-138
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  1. Chapter 10. Joseph McKidrict, 1894
  2. pp. 139-145
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  1. Chapter 11. Ernest St. Leon, 1898
  2. pp. 146-154
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  1. Introduction to Part II - The Ranger Force Era, 1901–1935
  2. pp. 155-165
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  1. Part II - Photo Gallery Texas Ranger Hall of Fame & Museum
  2. pp. 166-198
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  1. Chapter 12. W. Emmett Robuck, 1902
  2. pp. 199-209
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  1. Chapter 13. Thomas Jefferson Goff, 1905
  2. pp. 210-218
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  1. Chapter 14. Quirl Bailey Carnes, 1910
  2. pp. 219-227
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  1. Chapter 15. Grover Scott Russell, 1913
  2. pp. 228-236
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  1. Chapter 16. Eugene B. Hulen, 1915
  2. pp. 237-245
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  1. Chapter 17. Robert Lee Burdett, 1915
  2. pp. 246-253
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  1. Chapter 18. William P. Stillwell, 1918
  2. pp. 254-266
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  1. Chapter 19. Joe Robert Shaw, 1918
  2. pp. 267-275
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  1. Chapter 20. Lenn T. Sadler, 1918
  2. pp. 276-283
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  1. Chapter 21. Delbert “Tim” Timberlake, 1918
  2. pp. 284-291
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  1. Chapter 22. T. E. Paul Perkins, 1918
  2. pp. 292-298
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  1. Chapter 23. William M. Alsobrook, 1919
  2. pp. 299-307
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  1. Chapter 24. Joseph B. Buchanan, 1921
  2. pp. 308-313
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  1. Afterword
  2. pp. 314-315
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  1. Endnotes
  2. pp. 316-378
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  1. Bibliography
  2. pp. 379-393
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 394-404
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