The Governor's Hounds: The Texas State Police, 1870-1873 by Barry A. Crouch and Donaly E. Brice (review)

The Governor's Hounds offers a much needed reassessment of one of the most hated organizations in Texas history, the Texas State Police. Meticulously researched and written by Donaly E. Brice and the late Barry A. Crouch, this important work examines the organization from its creation in 1870 through its disbandment in 1873. Contrary to long-standing myths that have depicted the force as dominated by African Americans and as a criminal arm of a Republican dictatorship, Brice and Crouch demonstrate that the Texas State Police, although not perfect, did successfully combat violence during an extraordinarily volatile time.

The authors begin with a brief examination of the violent state of affairs in Texas (particularly East Texas) during Reconstruction, highlighting the reasons Governor Edmund J. Davis proposed the organization. At Davis's request, the Twelfth Legislature created the Texas State Police in 1870 to fill what they saw as a void left at the local level by the departure of the U.S. Army after the readmission of Texas to the Union on March 30 of that same year. Although they were not in agreement on all of the details, Davis and a majority of state legislators believed a statewide police force was necessary to quell violence by both individuals and mobs of outlaws that seemed to be rampant throughout Texas. Because of its unmanageable size, the legislature divided the state into four police districts, each under a police captain who reported to the Adjutant General/Chief of Police. When violence in a particular county appeared to be at a fever pitch and local officials were stretched to the limit, officers of the state organization were to be sent in to reestablish law and order. While the governor had the option to declare martial law when he felt it was absolutely necessary, this occurred only three times during the tenure of the organization.

In addition to combating common myths and misperceptions about the era and the organization, Brice and Crouch are careful to give a balanced assessment of the men who served in the State Police, noting that some of them were far from perfect, to be sure. The actions of individuals such as Captain John Jackson "Jack" Helm, who was known to act like a tyrant and may have been an outright murderer, gave Davis's opponents plenty of ammunition, and stoked the flames of political discontent in the state. Other individuals hurt the long-term reputation of the organization, including Chief James Davidson, who appears to have embezzled close to forty thousand dollars from the state just before his resignation in 1872. Yet the authors demonstrate that, in general, the Texas State Police was staffed with mostly law-abiding citizens who successfully reduced the amount of violence in the state during its tenure.

Overall, this is a long overdue reassessment of the Texas State Police. The authors do a first-rate job of addressing the many criticisms of the organization and of putting to rest the myths surrounding the "governor's hounds." The extensive footnotes (almost as many pages as the text itself) based on previously untouched records in the Texas State Archives will delight historians of this era.