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The Colorado Mounted Rangers, also known as the Colorado Rangers, are a statutory state law enforcement auxiliary that assists law enforcement and other first responder agencies across Colorado. Rangers annually provide more than 50,000 volunteer hours to the State of Colorado supporting local police and sheriffs departments. Rangers are unpaid and the Auxiliary is not funded by tax dollars. The Rangers are the oldest statewide law enforcement agency in Colorado, originally organized in 1861. ==History== The Rangers trace their roots to the Jefferson Rangers, keeping the peace in the unofficial Jefferson Territory during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. In 1861, as the Colorado Territory was established, they were reorganized as the Colorado Rangers continued to serve as Colorado's only statewide law enforcement agency thru the 1920s. The Colorado Rangers were fashioned after the well known Texas Rangers and served as both law enforcement and state militia. The Colorado Rangers often fought on horseback with repeating revolvers and were instrumental in the Battle of Glorieta Pass, helping to stop the Confederate advance towards the Colorado Gold Fields. This is known as the "Gettysburg of the West" After the Civil War, the Colorado Rangers returned to their law enforcement duties. From time to time the Rangers were also called upon by Colorado's Governors to keep the peace during times of civil unrest, natural disasters, and during disputes such as the violent Labor Wars in Colorado's mining towns. Rangers were also utilized by Denver District Attorney Philip Van Cise to break up organized crime and corruption in Denver's City Hall in the early 1920s. In 1922 Van Cise set up an independent investigation of the Blonger gang, secretly funded by a group of wealthy Denver citizens. On August 24 of that year, Van Cise used a special force of Colorado Rangers to capture 33 suspects in a single day. Fearing that the Denver Police would tip off the gang once the first suspect was taken to jail, Van Cise detained the gang members in the basement of the First Universalist Church, where he was a member, until the sweep was complete. In Colorado's longest and most expensive trail to that time, 20 con men, including Lou Blonger, were convicted and sent to prison, effectively busting the "Million-Dollar Bunco Ring."〔(Van Cise )〕 As a result of a campaign promise to organized labor and other interests, Governor William E. Sweet signed an executive order on January 29, 1923, cutting off funding and effectively disbanding the Rangers. This left Colorado without statewide police protection until 1935 when the Colorado State Highway Courtesy Patrol (later becoming the Colorado State Patrol) was formed. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Colorado Mounted Rangers」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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