Don Wildman

They develop quite a reputation, especially within the war, for ruthlessness.

I mean, Battle of 1846 and Battle of Monterey, Texas Rangers are massacring civilians, burning nearby settlements.

Had they been utilized by the military strategically that way?

General Zachary Taylor, later president, is quoted to have said, there is scarcely a form of crime that has not been reported to me as committed by them.

And this is where things start to get controversial historically.

The Rangers are accused of atrocities.

How does this come out?

I mean, where do we hear about Texas Rangers?

Yeah.

Their main targets, I mean, certainly within the borders of Texas, were the Apache and Comanche tribes.

What was their goal in that?

Were they claiming land for people or were they just killing people?

I mean, what was their general objective?

Battle of Little Rope Creek, 1858.

We're moving across the decades here.

Civil War is coming up.

But a ranger named John Salmon Ripford, I guess his name was Ripford, led a group of 100 rangers on a months-long campaign from Texas into Indian Territory, as you mentioned, modern-day Oklahoma, against the native Comanche tribe.

as was done in those days, aided by another tribe, the Konkawa tribe, traditional enemies of the Comanche.

They basically tracked them to their permanent camp.

Tell me what went down then.