One Riot, One Ranger Fuels 200-Year Old Legend

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Texas kicked off festivities on Texas Independence Day, to commemorate the 2023 Bicentennial of the Texas Rangers.

As the Rangers approach their 200th year of service, their legend is embodied in the following quote.

When Texas Ranger Captain Bill McDonald was sent to Dallas in the 1890s to prevent a scheduled prizefight, McDonald was greeted at the train station by the city’s anxious mayor, who asked: “Where are the others?” To which McDonald supposedly replied, “Hell! ain’t I enough? There’s only one prize-fight!” (credit: Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum).

**Texas Ranger Chief Chance Collins Addresses Kickoff of 2023 Texas Ranger Bicentennial**

The Texas Rangers are the oldest serving state law enforcement agency in the United States.

**Texas Ranger Displays Drones Used For Crime Fighting Operations**

Armed with the latest technology, Rangers wear distinctive white cowboy hats, white western-style shirts with silver badges crafted from Mexican Cinco peso coins, and cowboy boots.

The event started at the Dickies Arena on the grounds of the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo with special help from Brad Barnes the President/General Manager of the Exposition and Livestock Show.

It concluded on Mule Alley hosted by Craig Cavileer in the Fort Worth Stockyards at the Hotel Drover.

**(L) Bob Sims buying mules to work the Texas oil fields. Mule Alley Fort Worth Stockyards circa 1940**.

**Artist’s aerial drawing of the mule barns at the Fort Worth Stockyards.** Date Unknown.

**Herd of Texas mules at Mule Alley at Fort Worth Stockyards circa 1939**

One note, Mule Alley is where Robert Riggs’ great uncle Bob Sims bought mules for use in the East Texas oil fields in the 1930s and 40s.

Those places are steeped in Texas history. Fort Worth known as “Cowtown” is where the West began.

And there is nothing more Texan than the Texas Rangers.

In this episode of the True Crime Reporter™ Podcast’s Texas Ranger Files, Robert Riggs and Bill Johnston talk to Russell Molina, the Chair of the Texas Ranger Bicentennial in 2023.

Russell Molina is a Houston business entrepreneur and civic leader long associated with supporting the Texas Rangers.

If you are a fan of Taylor Sheridan’s TV series Yellowstone or 1883, you are going to like this episode.

We even include tips on how to buy a Texas Ranger cowboy hat!

Links to the Official Texas Ranger Bicentennial Cowboy Hats

https://bit.ly/200xSBTexasRangerLimited

https://bit.ly/40xSBTexasRangerLimited

https://bit.ly/10xPecanTexasRangerLimited

Link to Texas Ranger western belts and apparel

The Hat Store

Houston Tex Mex

Note: You can read more about the history of the legendary Texas Rangers and see vintage photos on our blog at True Crime Reporter™.

For official historical information visit the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum online or in person at the museum in Waco, Texas.