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The historical roots of today's Texas Ranger Division trace back to the first days of Anglo-American settlement of what is today the State of Texas, when it was part of the Province of Coahuila y Tejas belonging to the newly independent country of Mexico. The unique characteristics that the Rangers adopted during the force's formative years and that give the division its heritage today—characteristics for which the Texas Rangers would become world-renowned—have been accounted for by the nature of the Rangers' duties. Which was to protect a thinly populated frontier against protracted hostilities, first with Plains Indian tribes, and after the Texas Revolution, hostilities with Mexico.〔Fehrenbach, T.R., ''Lone Star'', Wing Books, (1991 Edition), pp. 472-477.〕 Texas historian T.R. Fehrenbach has written regarding the Rangers' uniqueness: :''The Rangers were to be described many times, at first as state troops, later as a police force or constabulary. During most of the 19th century they were neither. They were apart from the regular army, the militia or national guard, and were never a true police force. They were instead one of the most colorful, efficient, and deadly band of irregular partisans on the side of law and order the world has seen. They were called into being by the needs of a war frontier, by a society that could not afford a regular army. Texans passed in and out of the Rangers regularly; in the early years a very high proportion of all west Texans served from time to time. If they bore certain similarities to Mamelukes and Cossacks, they were never quite the same.'' 〔Fehrenbach, T.R., ibid, p. 473.〕 ==Creation and early days== By the early 1820s, the Mexican War of Independence had subsided, and some 600 to 700 families had settled in Texas—most of them from the United States. Because there was no regular army to protect the citizens against attacks by native tribes and bandits, in 1823, Stephen F. Austin organized small, informal armed groups whose duties required them to range over the countryside, and who thus came to be known as "rangers". Around August 4, 1823, Austin wrote that he would "''... employ ten men ... to act as rangers for the common defense ... the wages I will give said ten men is fifteen dollars a month payable in property ...''"〔Robinson, Charles, ''The Men Who Wear the Star: The Story of the Texas Rangers''.〕 John Jackson Tumlinson Sr., the first alcalde of the Colorado district, is considered by many historians of the Texas Rangers to be the first killed in the line of duty.〔(Texas Lodge of Research, Captain Peter F. Tumlinson: Texian Ranger and Mason. Doyle, Brett Laird XXXIX (2004- 2005) 83-91. )〕 While there is some discussion as to when Austin actually employed men as "rangers", Texas Ranger lore dates the anniversary year of their organization to this event.〔Cox, Mike, ''The Texas Rangers''.〕 However, the Texas Rangers were not formally constituted until 1835. Austin returned to Texas after having been imprisoned in Mexico City and helped organize a council to govern the group. On October 17, at a consultation of the Provisional Government of Texas, Daniel Parker proposed a resolution to establish the Texas Rangers. He proposed creating three companies that would total some 60 men and would be known by "uniforms" consisting of a light duster (clothing) and an identification badge made from a Mexican Peso. They were instituted by Texan lawmakers on November 24. On November 28, 1835 Robert McAlpin Williamson was chosen to be the first Major of the Texas Rangers. Within two years the Rangers grew to more than 300 men. In their early days, Rangers performed tasks of protecting the Texas Frontier against Indian attacks on the settlers. During the Texas Revolution, they served mainly as scouts, spies, couriers, and guides for the settlers fleeing before the Mexican Army and performed rear guard during the Runaway Scrape and general support duties. These minor roles continued after independence, when the region became the Republic of Texas under President Sam Houston. Houston, who had lived with the Cherokee for many years (and who had taken a Cherokee wife), favored peaceful coexistence with Indians, a policy that left little space for a force with the Rangers' characteristics. This situation changed radically when Mirabeau B. Lamar became president of the Republic of Texas in December 1838. Lamar had participated in skirmishes with the Cherokee in his home state of Georgia; like most Texians, he had not forgotten the support the Cherokee had given the Mexicans at the Cordova Rebellion against the Republic. He favored the eradication of Indians in Texas—a view that he shared with Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Thomas Rusk. Lamar saw in the Rangers the perfect tool for the task, and he obtained permission from the Texas Legislature to raise a force of 56 Rangers, along with other volunteer companies. During the following three years, he engaged the Rangers in a war against the Cherokee and the Comanche and succeeded in weakening their territorial control.〔Webb, Walter Prescott, ''The Texas Rangers: A Century of Frontier Defense''.〕 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「History of the Texas Ranger Division」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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