DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it — my job is just to do it justice. By March of 1822, Stephen F. Austin had drawn about a hundred and fifty colonists out to Texas.
A hundred and fifty souls, scattered along the Colorado and the Brazos rivers, and the land was not exactly rolling out a welcome mat. The pioneers faced hardships of every kind, and chief among their concerns was protection from Indian attacks along those two rivers. Now, the Mexican governor at the time — Trespalacios — was paying attention.
Come December of that same year, he divided Austin's colony into two districts. Each district got an alcalde to handle local administration and a captain to handle protection. Sensible enough on paper.
But 1823 arrived, and with it came several Indian attacks on members of Austin's colony. The situation along the Colorado District got serious enough that Captain Robert Kuykendall and Alcalde John Tumlinson went directly to Trespalacios and requested permission to raise a company of men to protect the colonists. Ten men were recruited.
They served under the command of Moses Morrison. Then Stephen F. Austin returned from Mexico City in August of 1823, and what he found waiting for him was a colony still plagued by Indian disturbances.
So Austin made a decision — and he reached into his own pocket to make it. He announced he would employ ten additional men, at his own expense, to serve as Rangers for the common defense. He used that word.
Rangers. Now, the law enforcement body the world would come to know as the Texas Rangers wasn't formally organized until 1835. But here's the thing the marker makes plain: those Rangers of Austin's Colony — those ten men, that word, that idea — they are the earliest recorded force of that type raised in Texas.
And they served as the model for everything that came after. Every legend has a first day. This was theirs.
What the marker says
By March 1822, Stephen F. Austin had attracted about 150 colonists to Texas. The pioneers faced many hardships, including concern for their protection form Indians along the Colorado and Brazos rivers. In December of that year, Trespalacios, the Mexican governor, divided the colony into two districts, each having an alcalde to preside over matters of local administration and captain to handle protection of the colonists. In 1823, after several Indian attacks on members of Austin's colony, Captain Robert Kuykendall and Alcalde John Tumlinson of the Colorado District requested permission form Tresplacios to raise a company to protect the colonists. Ten men were recruited to serve under the command of Moses Morrison. When Stephen F. Austin returned from Mexico City in August 1823, he found the colony still plagued by Indian disturbances and announced that he would employ ten additional men, at his own expense, to serve as "Rangers" for the common defense. Although the law enforcement group known as the Texas Rangers was not formally organized until 1835, the "Rangers" of Austin's Colony are the earliest recorded force of this type raised in Texas and served as a model for the later formation of the Texas Rangers. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986