Death of a Texas Ranger: A True Story of Murder and Vengeance on the Texas Frontier by Cynthia L. Massey (review)

The more one examines this book, the more one becomes interested in the author, Cynthia Leal Massey, and the subject matter, Texas Ranger Sergeant John Green. The former has put together an informative and readable study of Texans and their culture in the latter half of the nineteenth century (although the moving around of times and places in the chapters for dramatic effect can confuse the readers). The latter, a member of Minute Men Troop V of Medina County, was shot by a fellow Ranger.

Gun battles between peace officers—the white hats—in the western United States occurred more often than noted in histories of the states and nation. This happened between marshals, sheriffs, and Rangers when grudges and bad blood surfaced, when drinking, gambling, and fighting took place in saloons, and when jurisdictional disputes arose between local, state, and national lawmen. In Texas, the Ranger-versus-Ranger confrontation occurred at different times and places, such as, for example, W. H. “Buck” Guyse’s shootout with fellow Rangers in 1881; Bass Outlaw’s gunning down another Ranger in l894; and Captain K. F. Cunningham’s gunfight with another Ranger, whom he killed in 1919. Sometimes a brief statement like this appears in the records of a Ranger company: Private Sterling Price killed Private George May.

In the early 1870s, Texas had several statewide law-and-order organizations before the creation of the Frontier Battalion in 1874. These included the Reconstruction State Police (1870–1873), the Frontier Forces (1870–1871), and the Minute Men companies of the various counties (1871–1874). The latter two were often referred to as Texas Rangers.

The roster of Troop V of the Minute Men of Medina County (1872–1873) included Sergeant Green and Private Cesario Menchaca, one of several Hispanics in the company. On July 9, 1873, after returning from a scout for Indian raiders, Menchaca, on guard duty, shot and killed Green with his Winchester carbine. Instead of surrendering himself to authorities, the guilty Ranger private fled. For decades attempts were made, especially by the sergeant’s son, to have the murderer extradited from Mexico. But Menchaca died in that country in 1910.

Over time the reasons for the murder have become blurred by fading memories and misleading statements. Some believed Indians along the frontier were involved. Others took the position that a bounty or a paid assassination was involved. Massey concludes that the shooting was accidental, resulting from bad feelings between the two Rangers. At one point she writes: “Green treated Menchaca gruffly. They exchanged pointed barbs. Other than that, the two men stayed clear of each other” (60). This occasional sparring came to an end in a confrontation and a shooting on that fateful day.