Welcome to a great Detectives of Old Time Radio special from Boise, Ottaho.
This is your host Adam Graham, and with me is Andrew Rynes of the
Old Time Radio Westerns podcast. Good afternoon, Adam. Well, it's good
to have you here. And this is a special occasion. It's actually one
that I a listener emailed me a few months ago and told me it was
the two hundredth anniversary of the Texas Rangers, and I had not heard of
that heard it that it was, but a double checked. We didn't hit
the exact date, but there are festivities going on in the state of Texas,
the official ones, so I don't feel bad about not hitting the date
because you know they're going to be doing celebration still August out there. Yeah,
it's definitely gonna be a year to remember as being two hundred years for
sure. So I found something this is actually this program is probably something more
typical and we'll talk about it afterwards of a feature that Andrew has on his
podcast. But this is actually an episode of Inheritance. It's called the Texas
Rangers. The original air date is June thirteenth, nineteen fifty four, and
let go ahead, and take a lesson inheritance. The National Broadcasting Company,
in cooperation with the American Legion, presents a story out of that great composite
of visions, struggles, and victories of the American past, our inheritance.
Yes, we Americans are heirs to a vast fortune, a fortune compounded of
many things. Of the great Sea, victories of old ironsides, a tattered
army shivering through the winter at Valley Forge, the voice of a great bell
proclaiming liberty, the brave and fighting hopeless odds at the Alamo. Let us
now go back to a significant chapter in America's history, one which we all
share in our inheritance. This is a tribute to the Texas Rangers, whose
role in American history began when Texas was still a part of Mexico. Through
the years and after Texas became one of the United States, the Rangers won
enduring fame for their skill in handling Indian disturbances, in capturing outlaws, and
in bringing cattle rustlers to justice. Tonight we tell of the special force of
Texas Rangers. The story is typical of the exceptional bravery and cool courage which
these Rangers have given us as a part of our inheritance. In eighteen seventy
four, in his office of Austin, Texas, Governor Davis is interrupted by
his private secretary. Excuse me, Governor, there's a mister L. H.
McNelly to see you. Something about the Special Force of Ranges. Oh,
yes, Hutchins. I'm hoping he'll head it, head the forsa.
But whoever heard of this McNelly? I have, mister Hutchins. And during
the late War, so did several thousand Union soldiers. To their regret,
this McNelly was on the Confederate side. He was and a braver man or
a finer soldier. You will never find a Governor the Texas Rangers are different
from regular soldiers. You're right, Hutchins, And this McNelly is no ordinary
soldier. He's an expert in guerrilla warfare, a brave and a resourceful man.
Please show him in. Yes, we'll see you, mister McNelly.
Thank you the boarding, mis McNelly, please sit on, Thank you,
Governor. I'll come right to the point, mister mcnelli. As you undoubtedly
have heard, along the Rio Grande, there's a lot of cattle rustling going
on the outlaws cross the river, steal a herd of cattle and escape across
the Rio Grande into Mexico. This must be stopped, sir. Can't the
US troops do the job? Unfortunately, known negotiations are under way between the
American and Mexican governments to permit the US soldiers to follow rustlers into Mexico.
But in the meantime, our ranchers are losing thousands of head of cattle each
year. The State of Texas must take action. Now, I propose to
create a special Force of Texas Rangers. A special force. Why not use
the Frontier Battalion of the Rangers. The Frontier Battalion has too much to do
now. I have a full time job maintaining law and order throughout the state
of the main job, and at the start, the sole job of this
special force will be to stop those cattle rustlers from across the Rio Grande.
I see, mister mc nealay, I want you to head that special force.
But I'm a Democrat governor, while you're a republic I'm not looking for
a politician, but a soldier and a brave man. My experience on the
other side of the lines from you convinces me that you were the man for
the job. Thank you, sir. Will you take the assignment? But
Governor, I've just been married. Well your wife can accompany you, I
know, and you can pick your own men. Well, very well,
sir, I accept. Thank you, Captain McNelly. I'm sure your Special
Force will be a credit to the Texas Rangers. Captain McNelly carefully selected the
thirty men who were to be in his command. Some were former Rangers.
All were chosen for their courage, resourcefulness, an expert handling of carbine,
and revolver. Sent to its station on the river not far from Rio Grand
City, the Special Force settled down, alert and ready for action, but
the cattle Russell lay low. Captain mcnelly's bride, soon adopted herself to the
hardships of the Frontier. Readfast, spout Ready here, Lucy, and I
was in the Frontier Bride. I'm just fine. I'm getting to like it
here. You don't mind this adobe house? Well, it's a little different
from our home in Austin, But I don't mind. Ah, that coffee
smells good. Oh, next time any of the men go into be a
Grand City, have them bring back some eggs. These are the last three
in the house. Your wish is our command, Lucy. I've only to
mention we need eggs, and the whole Special Force will be glad to gallop
in the town and back again. It would give them something to do.
All the men restless very much so. In the months we've been down here,
there's been almost nothing for them to do. Patrolls and camp routine can
get very monotonous for men who won't action. I know you hear something.
Yes, there's a rider coming down the road. He's turning in here.
Sounds like that horse has been run hard. Hello out there you Captain mcnilly.
That's right, Major Morland, Fort Ringold got this message for you.
Thank you raiders. Last night, cross Rio Grand we've heard of stolen cattle
at point near Las Quevez ranch of notorious rustler Juan Flores. He will take
appropriate action promptly. He's signed by his excellency the governor. Last quevis Well,
that's about across the river from Fort Ringold. That's right, Captain,
Sergeant Sergeant Duncan, Yes, come here at once, Yes, captain,
how many men in camp? Sergeant Levin served the others They add on patrol.
We'll need all the men for this job. Send corporate brand after the
patrol, haven't bring them back as fast as possible. Yes, sir,
you'll take charge and move with all possible speed through Rio grand City and on
the port Ringold I shall wait for you. There issue every man ten days
rations and plenty of ammunition. Yes, sir. Kind of sounds like there's
some excitement, dude, here is sergeant very definitely there is I ginger saddle
right away. Yes, sir, you will be careful, of course,
my dear. Now don't worry. We will get these cattle back, and
old wrestler is going to stop us. Please take care, don't worry.
Lucy, Come on, man, let's get over to the stable. I'll
ride back to Rio Grande City. Yes, sir, all that Captain mcnallick
Facial Force of Texas Rangers. Oh we Capta mc neilli is nature Marlin on
the post. Yes, sir, just saw him going over the headquarters.
Thanks Andre, you're welcome. Kevin, come in, Aja Malin, come
in. Captain McNally's want to see you have a chair, Thank you,
Major. What can I do for you? Captain? I'd like your support
sir, support and that telegram you relate to me. The Governor's ordered me
to take appropriate action against cattle thieves who drove a herd of longhorns across the
Rio Grand last night. The squadron officers and I have been discussing that problem.
You've been debating whether to uphold law and order. We have been discussing
the wisdom of crossing the Rio Grand. Major. If you want someone to
take the lead, I'll be glad to do so. As soon as my
rangers get here. And how many men do you have? Key thirty thirty?
Me, Well, that's you're a handful. These are Texas Rangers,
Sir. They can give an excellent account of themselves. I don't doubt it,
not in me, true, not the best odds. Major, you're
right now? No, Well will you join me for dinner? Would you
wish to wait for your men? Well, they can't reach here before nightfall.
I'll be glad to have dinner with you. Major, Good captain,
I think you'll find our miss quite excellent. Whoa boy? Who? Sergeant
Duncan is a name sent me in charge of Special Force Texas Rangers? Should
this man be recognized? All right? Sudden Chapmantalie is a headquarters that weekly.
Thanks call me, Sergeant Duncan reporting, Captain. Good evening, Sergeant,
Major Mallin. This is my orderly sergeant. How do you do.
I'm glad to know you, Major, Captain. The men haven't had no
chance to eat since morning. It's all right if we take time for chow
by all means, Sergeant, how are the men fine? Sir? Tired
but ready for anything any orders, Sir. Governor wants us to get back
some stolen cattle. Where are the cattle, Captain, on the other side
of the Rio Grand in Mexico. As seem as we've had chow, we'll
be ready. Sorry, well it's at nine o'clock now. If the man
want to go ahead tonight, Helen will start across the river at one am.
Yes. With a few hours rest and some food, I recommen mending
horses will be as good as new. I think your expedition into Mexico is
dangerous. Captain. How do you know how many men you'll be facing?
Oh, we don't, and we won't know until we face them. It's
a chance we have to take. Rangers seldom worry about the number of the
enemy. Sure you won't join us, Major Morland, I can't. I
must have explicit orders. We can only offer to cover your return and to
try to rescue you if you're the sea. Thank you, Major. Come
on, Dugan, let's see that the man get some food. It's one
o'clock, Captain. Shall we move out? Yes, Sergeant, tell the
men to move quietly. There's no moon tonight, but the wrestless Nay,
a post of guards. All right, men mount at keep quiet, look
too good, Captain rivers off the buggy man here. I think we can
make it, Sergeant. I'll just take it easy and quiet as possible.
Yes, sir, we're across all right, Sergeant. Yes, Captain,
look at that bank there. It's not on the impossible to get the horses
at the third Yeah, you're right, and we can't afford the time to
find an easier slope. We leave the horses here and go ahead on foot
one foot, Captain. It's a mighty long walk to the one flories range.
No, not more than five miles or so, but we must be
there but daybreak. We've got to have surprise in our favor yesterday. All
right, man, leave your mounts. We go the rest of the way.
One foot corp Bland. Yes, sergeant, take charge of the horses.
Have them ready for our return. Okay, Sergeant. If it's any
excitement, I do want to be left out. You're gonna stay with the
horses. Bland. Okay for now, you get us in. The man
who'll leave me if things get exciting? All right? See what can be
done, Sergeant Duncan. Taking the man its detail of ten men. Have
them spread out as skirmishes about a dozen yards between men. Have them move
forward with utmost caution. How would they encounter any pickets? Try to take
them prisoners. But if they attempt an outcry, yes, I get you.
We place the couture arranged. Captain las Cuevas is used to hear.
Good, it's starting to get light. Get the men together, use hand
signals. We've got to keep quiet. Yes, everyone here, Sergeant good.
Then we have two jobs to do. Capture the wrestlers and return the
stolen cattle. I hope we can do this without bloodshed. But the job
is going to be done. It's getting lighter every minute. We will wait
me longer. Capt Blood. Look across the clearing. It's a long line
of Mexican soldiers about one hundred cavalry, a couple of hundred foot soldiers.
I see them. Oh, let's calls for a change of strategy. Can't
retreat now we do? None of us will ever get back across the river
alive. What are your orders, sir? Form the men into two ranks
of fifteen men each. We shall march straightforward, straightforward, right at the
enemy, right at the enemy. Sergeant, who will try a great bluff?
I hope it works, yes, sir, all right, Form two
lines man fifteen men to a line, ready forward. Watch. The Mexicans
are puzzled, can't you. I'd expected they would be, Sergeant. We're
about a hundred jobs from them now, lariat Mad's crazy America Almost they beg
us to follow them, shall we not? I don't like the looks of
this. It may be a trapped They would appear small in number to lure
us into an ambush of many soldiers. They but thirty of them, and
we are three correc Major, we see but thirty of them. Well,
how can we wait? It is better that we see take couplemen. Hold
your fire unless you're fired upon. If you work, Captain, you've loved
work even made a move in our direction. When you're a hot numbered it's
better to puzzle and enemy than to attack him. Those Mexicans, they don't
know what to make of it. What do we do now, Captain?
We sit tight. We can't retreat. If they find out how few we
are, we're done for. We must send for reinforcements. Reinforcements shall ask
Major Morland for a detachment of cavalry. He said he could send aid if
we were besieged. Detailer Man to take a message back to Fort Ringold find
someone who won't get caught. Yes, sir, how's about Private Meeks?
Why he could wiggle through a miss a barbed wire and never get himself script?
Very good, sergeant, and aid is imperative for the Rangers are outnumbered
ten to one. Sign McNelly, commanding Capa's Private Meets, I told him
about the detail. Good Meeks. Give this note to the commanding officer of
the fort. Yes, I think you can make it back, all right,
Meeks. Captain Sir, there's nothing alive can stop good luck makes so
they've started shooting. Sergeant Duncan warned them in the fire only when they have
a good target in their sights. We can't afford the waste ammunition. Yes,
bought me, Canner. We have not yet attacking force. I have
ordered four charges. Each one has been reposed because American or shoot with two
great accuracy. If we bought ordered all the men in one big and have
no soldiers left in support. Major you talk, but you do not make
sense. See me, Hannah, what are our losses? Twenty men dead
thirty four? I do not know. I have seen none. Four.
Perhaps we should consider flag of truce. Perhaps we can persuade the Americanos to
go back across the Rio Grande. What's the meaning of this? Lieutenant Jones
made Jamorland send you to help us. Now you're preparing to leave. Captain
mcnelley, your position here is untenable, sir. Sometime tonight those Mexican troops
will make an attack, and such a night attack can't be repulsed by so
small a force. You think not all, sir, Even the thirty cavernman
in my command merely double your force. That's sixty men against maybe six hundred.
No, Captain, I must take my troops back to Fort Ringold.
Your position's hopeless If they attack tonight. You and your men will be wiped
out. We shall give a good account of ourselves. Goodbye and good luck,
Captain, goodbye, luten it. Captain, there's a flag of truce
over on a Mexican say I see it, Sergeant good Order the men to
hold their fire. Send ten men to me. Order the others concealed.
Yes, Sir can then report and Captain very well, Psycho. Men lying
up behind me, have your guns ready. I think this flag of truce
is genuine, but we take no chances. Very cattle, he's a flag
of truth. We recognize it. What do you want, saya? Formit?
Me to introduce myself. I am Major Garcia, I'm Captain mcnalay.
My henneral has ordered that you and your men shall leave Mehican territory. We
came to get a herd of stolen cattle and the men who stole them.
Tell your general, we're not leaving until you've delivered the rustlers and the cattle,
Capitan, I assure you that will be done through regular channels. Through
regular channels, that means never. I assure you, Major Garcia, that
we shall take both the cattle and the thieves back with us, as you
wish. Capitan, Hey, how many men have you in your force?
Enough enough? That's a strange answer. That is the correct answer, Senor
Capitan. Maybe we have a truce for the night. Why should we grant
a truce just for the night? Our men they need the rest on one
condition, Major, and that is that you return two horses and the gun
we lost during the fighting. He's agreva very well. And in return,
Capitan, may we remove the body of a lieutenant he was killing a charge
this morning? Yeah, yeah, you may. The truce remains in effect
until you deliver the horses and gun tomorrow morning when Stamanian, Major Garcian,
you have delivered the horses and the gun to the Americans, see me,
haneral, Now we can start the battle. We can, but we do
not no why not? Hand we are nearly nine hundred now true, But
how many are the americanos? I saw but a handful last night, and
how many were concealed nearby? You do not know either the why I do
not care to risk the man needlessly. A soldier's life is of great value
to himself, to his country. It must never be wasted, Sargeant dunk
and I I just let stand this inactivity. It is kind of tryan,
sir. I intend to do something about it. Yes, Sir, I'm
sending word to the enemy that unless the stolen cattle and rustlers are delivered within
one hour, I shall resume hostilities. That's biting off quite a lot,
ain't it, Captain? Not too much, Sergeant. It'll be dark within
an hour, and our friends over there don't like to fight at night.
If we have to fight our way out, it might as well be to
night when we have some advantage. Yes, sir, have this message delivered
under a flag of truce right away, Sir, Captain Captain mcnilly, Yes,
hopeal plan reporting to Peel hope. I haven't missed any excitement, Not
too much, plan. We've done little but glare at each other for nearly
two days. They've lost about thirty men and the rangers. Not one's even
been nixed so far. The message has been delivered. We'll look, thirs.
Two Mexican soldiers are coming back with our man, so they are well.
This eating will tell the tale either they deliver or we fight. Yes,
Major Gassim and the Rada says that he will meet your demands. You
shall have the cattle and the outlaws. Oh when whenever you say a daybreak
tomorrow, you will deliver the cattle. And the rustler is across the Rio
Grand near Fort Ringles. See it shall be done, and you and your
men will now leave me go in due time. But two hours, I
should say, why did you tell him two hours? Captain? In two
hours it'll be quite dark. I didn't want him embarrassed by seeing how few
men blood so many? There's the sunrise gun in Fort Ringo, will,
Captain. Yeah, well, the cattle should be all soon, that is,
if they returned, Captain. Twise, sergeants, you sound as if
they might not be. I'm not saying one way or t'other. I I
just don't trust certain folks. It appears Major Garcia. We'll keep his word.
Yes right, yes, that's wrong. So that's see him crossing the
river? Now, ain't he? I believe it is he? Here are
the a stolen cattle? Yeah? I see him. Where the rustlers?
I'm a sorry, Capitain. We called but one and here, yeah,
well he tried to escape. We'll have to shoot him. The others we
are chasing them soon, we shall capture them. We shall then turn them
over to you. Good, good, And are these all the cattle over
there? Aren't more than seventy already here the role we have found so far,
but the swords continues. They shall all be written. That's good.
Major Garcia, thanks, thanks for up in your words so promptly nice.
You don't mention it. There is one little question before I go, yes,
tell me how many men did you have copied in McNelly? As I
said before, Major Garcia, I had enough. After all, they were
Texas Rangers and for the first time in history, cattle stolen and driven into
Mexico had been returned to their rightful owners. Captain McNelly turned the trick with
a mere handful of men against hundreds of soldiers, an example of courage,
resourcefulness, and bravery characteristic of the Texas Rangers that has come down through the
years. As part of our inheritance. You have been listening to inheritance presented
by the National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with the American Legion. We are privileged
this evening to hear from the past National Commander of the American Legion, Department
of Ohio, Mister Milo J. Warner. Tomorrow is June fourteenth. On
this Day in seventeen seventy seven, the American flag was first authorized by Congress.
Since a presidential proclamation in nineteen fifteen, we have celebrated this day as
National Flag Day. The American Legion believes that today, perhaps more than at
any time in our history, it is important that the American people examine the
blessings of our heritage and reaffirm the principles and ideals which form this heritage.
Tomorrow, on Flag Day, June fourteenth, nineteen fifty four, let us
accord new honor to the symbol of our freedom, the flag of the United
States of American. The American Legion has invited all liberty loving Americans to join
in a patriotic movement pledging new glory for old glory. This Legion sponsored program
calls for one a proud display of the stars and strikes, particularly on national
holidays. Two observance of proper flag etiquette. Three knowledge and remembrance of our
flag's dramatic history, and for a new recognition of the Star spangled banner as
a symbol of freedom in today's world. Let us, as Americans, never
be so complacent, so sophistic that the sight of our flag leaves us unmoved.
We need not be ashamed if we feel a tug at the heart strings
and we see the broad stripes and bite stars of our land, for we
know that it signifies liberty, equality, and a government of the people under
God. Probably we hail the flag which flies for one hundred and fifty million
Americans of every religious, national and racial origin in the world. Humbly we
remember those who have secured the rights which it represents. Thank you, mister
Molow J. Warner. Next week, Inheritance will take you one another journey
to the pages of history, to a time when Americans dreaming of the future
towards that which He possessed today. Today's story, The Texas Rangers, was
written by Ted Weir and featured Lyle Talbot as Captain McNelly. Included in the
cast, in order of their appearance, were Charles Smith, Howard Culver Bibby,
Janis, Clarence Strait, Robert Easton, Jack Carroll, Leroy Leonard,
and Tony Barrett. The original music was composed and conducted by Robert Armbrewster.
Inheritance is produced and directed for the National Broadcasting Company and the American Legion by
Albert McCleary. This is John Walls. Senator Ralphie Flanders will meet the press
tonight on the NBC Radio Network. Welcome back. Well, that was an
interesting story, to say the least with Yeah, it's like, you know,
bluffing the entire you know, this much larger group of Mexican of Mexican
militia and just holding them off for that long. That's incredible. It really
shows that if you don't really know what the other side's doing, you have
no idea what you're up against. I had to appreciate, you know,
the audacity of that major asking and how many troops do you have? I
mean, doesn't her desk I guess, yeah, yeah, you know,
they might tell. And then of course the answer of enough is a good
one. And really, you know, really the epitome of the Texas Rangers
and their reputation, Yeah, that's for sure. They do. They do
have that reputation doing more with less, that's for sure. Yeah. I
mean when you look at like even the size of modern companies, they are
much smaller force than you would think given the territory that they cover. And
certainly that was true in the golden age of radio. Lyle Talbot was an
interesting choice to play McNally. He's probably best known as like a B movie
villain. In fact, he was the first person ever to play Lex Luthor
on screen in the Kirk Allen Superman serials, the second one in the nineteen
fifty which really shows you could be a lead in a radio show but then
not the biggest name on the movie or TVSS or. I do think this
is also kind of like Golden Age, particularly for NBC, and with Inheritance
you got to hear some actors as lead actors who you wouldn't have heard earlier,
earlier in the Golden Age or radio. Yeah, very true. Now.
Of course, when it comes to the Rangers over radio, the big
series when you're talking about real life exploits of the Texas Rangers is Tales of
the Texas Rangers, which we've been doing for on The Great Detectives for nearly
two years, and I think you've been through several times over on the Old
Time Radio Western's podcast. Yeah. We release every couple of years, we
record and get the series back out there so it's never forgotten. Yeah,
and that those of course are incredible, you know, incredible tales like uh,
you know, some things that stand out is the one where I think
the title it was like cactus pair and this outlaw just got the you know,
got a big head start on jas Pearson and nearly made it across for
the Mexican border, but he stopped for like a minute to get like a
cactus pair for energy, and that was really the difference, and he got
caught in that situation. And of course, you know, we're talking mass
distances and dealing with a lot less support than you have in an urban environment.
Yeah, and it's crazy if you'd think about how big Texas is,
being one of the largest states that we've got, and if you compare how
far they were traveling and being on horseback or in some cases on foot,
you kind of go, how is that even possible? But you know,
stories are true to life at times, and distances are not easily shown in
audio, that's for sure. Yeah, it's definitely got a scope and just
so much that you know, you you know, rangers can get called into
and I think that like in the there were two seasons of the Tales of
the Texas Rangers. I think the first state really strongly on the more violent,
more sensational stories. And then you kind of get a little more variety
in the second season and see them having to handle things, you know,
help out with like small amounts of cattle rustling where there's like some sort of
bullying going on. So there really can be this variety in their work that
you you know, in between like all of these sort of epic adventures that
they end up having. Yeah, that's very true, and that you know,
you hear the someone'st like because sheriffs were really the only law enforcement of
the era during that time, you had maybe one extra deputy. They would
call in almost instantly, the Texas Rangers just to help them do the across
borders and multi jurisdictional needs that had to happen that you just couldn't have with
one sheriff or one local town officer. And they were kind of the detective
of the era to be able to get in there and figure out actually what's
going on because it was too big for small town you know, police office
police officers. Yeah, and they're just not familiar with the major crimes.
And it's also interesting because they would come in with perhaps US bias where you
know, there have been a crime committed locally where the sheriff just because of
like past relations and all sorts of views and prejudices, isn't able to see
the whole picture where the ranger sees a bigger picture. Yeah, and we've
gotten some stories and tales of the Texas Rangers where they weren't even coming in
because the sheriff asked for help, but because you know, the constituents are
the people who lived in that community was saying, Hey, we don't think
that this happened, Correcler, this wasn't investigated one hundred percent. Can you
come help us? And then they would go in and do exactly that,
which is very kin to current law enforcement standards of having you know, the
state police and the state agencies come in and go hey, local agency,
have you done what you're supposed to do? And one thing also with tales
of the Texas Rangers, they they kind of in a lot of their episodes
where they've got time, they do take some time to explore some of the
lore of the Texas Rangers. Yeah, and they not only during the episode,
but you know at the end they would give these stories that are probably
more extravagant than they actually are. But that's kind of how the Texas Rangers
have built themselves into the name that they are is because they've been doing it
for so long that, you know, Fear and Criminals was pushed this to
be, you know, grandiose and very extravagant agency as it were. And
didn't you didn't you have one of the clips, because there's a whole one
Riot, one Ranger thing which is like this thing that you know, it's
continued for decades down the line as the sort of legend of the Texas Rangers.
Yeah, I mean I remember being a kid, my dad telling me
about the one Riot one Ranger. And there is a clip I do have
from tales of the Texas Rangers. So let's get into that real quick,
and we're gonna play this clip and for everyone to hear. This is Joel
McCray. Many tales about the Texas Rangers have been repeated until they are legend.
And here's one of my favorites. Many years ago, rioting broke out
in a Texas town and the mayor appealed for aid from the Rangers. He
was at the railroad depot to meet the expected help when a stranger got off
the train and approached him. Are you the mayor. The stranger asked.
The mayor, looking anxiously for the ranger for us, said yeah, but
I have no time to talk to you now. I'm waiting for the Texas
Rangers to stop this rioting. The stranger said, I'm the ranger. I
was sent down to help you. The Mayor's mouth dropped open in dismay.
They only send one ranger. Puzzled by the question, ranger said, yeah,
you only got one riot, haven't you don't forget our dates? Same
time next week? Folks, see you're then so as you can hear in
that clip that you know you only have one riot and you only need one
ranger. And I was doing some research, I'm like, where did this
come from? Right, because you know, everything has some history in it.
And what I read was this actually came from one of the captains.
And there's a book by Albert Bigelow that he wrote in there that Captain Bill
McDonald this is kind of one of the stories from there. And Captain McDonald
has been claimed to have said when he was sent in to stop a prize
fight, the mayor had requested him to come in and stop it, or
the Texas Rangers to come in and stop it that he said, he gets
off the train and the mayor looks at him and says, where's the others?
And he has claimed to have said, hell, ain't I enough?
There's only one prize fight. So you can see how it kind of changed
from one riot, one fight to or one Ranger too being something completely different
than it is now. And it's lived. I said, for years my
dad was telling me about the one Ranger, one riot story. Yeah,
it's uh, you know, I think there's a definite reality to the Rangers,
but there's a you know, there's also you know, always a little
bit of growth and the telling when it comes to an agency that's become so
legendary, Yeah, for sure. And I mean they were depicted in so
much on TV, radio and movies, even during like think World War Two,
when you know, they stormed Normandy. They they believed it was the
Texas Rangers coming to save them and it was actually the Army Rangers. So
just how farm broad the Texas Rangers have gone with their name is just miraculous.
And I'm not surprised being two years old. Yeah, and of course
they continued in a lot of forms. You know, you know, we
of course talked about radio, but I've also seen you know, various pulp
books which uh, you know, they made their way overseas and they gave
folks a lot of ideas about what the American West was in Europe. So
that that probably um explained that. But that kind not just in things that
were true to life, but also into the realms of fiction. Um.
And of course probably one of your you know, headline shows is the U
for old time radio Westerns is The Lone Rangers, which Lone Ranger, which
ties into the Texas Rangers. Yeah, for sure. I mean The Lone
Ranger is based on I mean the backstory of how the Lone Ranger became the
Lone Ranger was he was a group of his Texas Ranger you know, compadres
and friends, and I mean one of them was his brother got ambushed and
everybody got killed except for the Lone Ranger himself, which Tanto helped healum.
And he became the Lone Ranger because he didn't want them to know that he
survived, possibly bringing backlash on his family, and again fought to all the
injustices that could happen everywhere from Texas to Oklahoma to Kansas all the way into
California. I mean, the stories on The Lone Ranger went far abroad and
helped stop the smuggling that happened in San Francisco. I mean just crazy how
you know, the way the radio had picked multiple stories, but again tells
I mean the Lone Ranger had been on for twenty years. I mean there's
multiple episodes, three days a week. So yeah, the Lone Ranger was
probably one of the first ones out there, started in their early nineteen twenties
I believe, if not nineteen thirties, and was just huge among not only
children, but adults and you know, elderly people as it were. Yeah,
I think that it definitely, you know, and of course The Lone
Ranger continued on into live action and then like you know, there's even like
a cartoon series I think was it from the seventies or eighties something like that.
So he remains just really culturally iconic, and I've been remembered there was
an episode of Greatest American Hero where they paid tribute to The Lone Ranger and
actually had the had one of the actors who played them as a guest on
that. So that's that continued on for many years. Another character UH that
I've discovered like more recently is Chick Bojery UM. He was created by Louie
Lemore, and funny enough, in terms of this episode, the backstory that
Lemore, Louie Lemore gave him is that Chick Boudery was recruited to become a
Texas ranger by um By McNally by he took the real McNally made him a
character in UH in this story who recruited Chickbodrey. And the stories were interesting
because Lamore was someone who knew the West, researched the West, and put
a lot of detail in and most of the time with Chick Boudery, he
was riding into towns that were either without law, you know, there was
no sheriff, or it was a situation where the sheriff was a little bit
dodgy and he would have to go in. You know, half of them
really feel like they're just you know, detective stories, but with him as
the ranger having to figure all this stuff out with authority and skill, but
in a really lawless area where he's constantly in danger, so that you know,
and that's you know, phenomenal series It's all on was all put on
audio in the nineteen nineties, but had been in a book form for many,
many years before that. And then, of course we have the greatest,
h most legendary Ranger of them all, Walker Texas Ranger. Yeah,
that is very true. And you think about the comedy that goes behind,
not just the shows, but just the actor who played you know, a
Texas Ranger as it were, has his own you know, storyline, and
how crazy Chuck Norris is on all that is just crazy who they picked and
how well he picked it. You know, he's like a mcgiver. He's
able to kick anybody's button no matter what. And yeah, I mean I
did like the series. I remember watching it, you know when it first
came out, and it was a pretty good series and it still runs and
reruns to this day. Yeah, it's one of the series that you know,
some people have fun making fun of, but you know, it's was
It was a good time. It was something that like the Rangers at first,
uh, they it took them a while, you know, they kind
of were like, well, we uh, we're not entirely sure, but
they warmed to it because of the way he represented the Rangers, despite some
inaccuracies like they didn't like the black hat because that's not really something that the
Texas Rangers do. They don't wear black hats. But the show, I
think, you know, kind of goes away towards building and continuing that legend.
And actually the title of the first episode of Walker Texas Ranger was one
Riot, one Ranger, so which I guess goes to show how deeply that
has been embedded in our culture. Yeah, and you know, I think
part of the issue too with the whole black hat white hat. I mean
it's even used in technological terms. Now, you know, black hat is
the bad guys. You know, they're the ones who are nefarious and trying
to get into stuff, while you have the white hats, which are the
good guys trying to fix things. And you get some gray hats which are
kind of a little bit of both. But having a black hat as your
lead character who's supposed to be on the lawn justice side throws that stereotype out
because you know, you should be white. Everybody has white hats when they're
good. I mean Lone Ranger himself in the in all the radio shows,
he had a white hat, So it's just kind of you know, I
could see them like I don't know about the whole black hat situation, but
it is kind of funny that he made that you know, fit him and
now you look at it and you don't think anything nefarious when you when you
look at you know, all the artwork from you know, Chuck Norris,
you don't go, oh, he's a bad guy. You can tell he's
the good guy and he's going to kick button take some names. Yeah,
and it definitely it's probably one of the things that he's best known for.
And you know, and with all the martial arts works, martial arts work
he did in various films, it's probably the one that's most accessible, say
to you know, younger viewers, because a lot of the films he did
before that were like R rated, So this one was much more of a
family show that people could follow and really, uh it you know, captured
that sort of values of the Texas Rangers. Absolutely. Now I mentioned at
the start of the podcast that this that this sort of episode of inheritance,
it's not something typical of great Detectives, but you actually have like a feed
on your site, which you do you do somehow, I believe it's called
Western Stories. Would you like to tell us a little bit about that.
Yeah, the Western Stories feed that I have is more very kin to this,
where the series that you know did a Western episode Escape for an example,
or Studio One didn't do their entire series on Westerns. They may had
one or two spinoff shows that had or ninety spinoffs, but just episodes that
were about Western so that every show was slightly different. You had sci fi
built in there, you had a couple of different things built in and so
I've taken that all those individual shows that are kind of ones two Z shows
and put them into one feed. So we actually have a good amount of
shows that actually, you know, maybe only ran one episode or two episodes
and not enough to do its own you know, podcasting feed as it were,
like the Lone Ranger tells of the Texas Rangers. But I can actually
put those out there for people to hear that they may not have gotten it.
So this is one that was in my line to eventually get to and
put it out there for every to hear. But yeah, we Hollywood Star
Playhouse. There's just I'm looking at all the different shows that we've gotten.
There's just you know, a ton of them, even like sadly Rentintin is
one that you know, we'll have to be in there because there's only a
couple of surviving episodes of that. Even though it's huge, only a couple
of shows actually still live to this day. Yeah, and that is really
fun. It's always interesting to run into those sort of one offs where you
know, and it's a little can be you know, because you also have
like some things like Lucks in there where it can be a little different when
you're dealing with someone who like always does westerns and then someone who's kind of
approaching it is a one off thing. So it's a nice little contrast as
well. Yeah, and a lot of those shows two back in the day
were the proving grounds for future shows. So gun Smoke, as an example,
which had a very long run and even went into TV, actually started
as one of those spinoffs, and they did one or two episodes trying to
figure out like, how do we get the tempo to work right, does
the story little work right, does the characters that we want work correctly?
And so those one off shows, well I do include in the main feed
actually go inside of something like that where you would never have heard it normally
because it's part of Escape, or it's part of you know, Studio one
or Lux Radio. You know, there's so many other little testing grounds that
they had. But it gives the ability for those of us like myself who
love Western radio and love Western as it is, to actually experience shows that
just aren't Western in general, but actually have a good storyline based in it.
And of course you're you're also working your way through Tales of the Texas
Rangers, and I think currently you're into nineteen fifty one episodes, if I'm
not mistaken. Yeah, I think I'm right towards the tail in. I
think we ended up lining up somehow on our episodes or we're just behind.
But yeah, about every because there are two year runs, so I try
to go every two years. I try to rerelease it just so that way,
you know, it's been two years since you've heard of the very first
episode, so as it's fresh in your mind it really happened two years ago
that you've actually heard it again on this series or the show. So I'm
always rebroadcasting a lot of those shows, trying to keep them out there and
keeping them fresh, because some shows last longer Lone Ranger as an example,
twenty years, and I'm trying to pump out as many of those shows as
I can. So my main feed on that is nineteen forty five, but
I'm rebroadcasting the nineteen thirty eight episodes. So there's just so many episodes that
I'm just trying to keep them fresh for everybody because some of them you haven't
heard in ten years or so. So yeah, definitely check out OTR Westerns
dot com and we are pumping out over one hundred shows a month trying to
get Westerns alive, and we are you know, we're finishing up tales of
the Texas Rangers scaring great detectives. So we've got a few more Saturdays left
to finish, finish up our run through the series. And it's been it's
been fun doing this and taking some time to celebrate, uh, you know,
legends of law enforcement and detection with the Texas Rangers. And Andrew,
I appreciate you joining us for this celebration. Absolutely wouldn't miss it for the
world. Moment you asked me, I was replied, let's do this,
and then we scheduled as quickly as we could and we've got that all recorded,
and we're going to go ahead, and we've got something really special and
appropriate to wrap things up. But once again with Andrew Rymes, this is
Adam Graham sign it off. And now here again is the star of our
show, Joel mccraig. One of the pleasures afforded us here in this show
is the large number of letters we receive asking for special information about the Texas
Rangers. This week we received one an especially interesting letter in which the writer
said she had heard of an official ranger's prayer and inquired if such a prayer
actually existed. It does. The prayer was written by Captain Pierre Bernard Hill,
chaplain of the Texas Rangers, and I should like you to hear it.
Oh God, whose end is justice, whose strength is all our stay,
be near and bless my mission as I go forth today. Let wisdom
guide my actions, Let courage fill my heart, and help me Lord,
in every hour, to do a ranger's part. Protect when danger threatens,
sustain when trails are rough, Help me to keep my standard high, and
smile at each rebuff when night comes down upon me. I pray thee Lord
be nigh, whether on lonely Scout or camped under Texas sky, Keep me
o God in life. When my days shall end, Forgive my sins and
take me in for jesus sake. Amen. A good night, folks,
Good night,