Lone Star Justice: The First Century of the Texas Rangers

I thought this was an excellent telling of the Rangers early history. It is not an especially beefy volume so it is somewhat condensed, but if you are looking for a more modern account than Prescot Webb's excellent Texas Rangers written around 1935, Utley is a great choice. Some reviews claim that he was unfair in how he presented the Rangers but I hold the opposite view. I think Utley went out of his way to be as fair and objective as he personally could. After reading Lone Star Justice I feel I have a balanced understanding of how things went down. Also, it was a fun read. Being accurate doesn't mean the telling was dry or dull. He managed to get in some whooping and gunsmoke along with some entertaining anecdotes. Another important part of this book that hasn't been mentioned is the very excellent collection of photos and drawings and art work of the early Rangers. Glossy pictures of Rangers out in the bush in camp with their horses, Winchesters and Colt revolvers, or posing with their fellow Rangers so you can see plainly what they wore and how they looked. There is this one photo of Rip Ford that is just priceless. He is facing the camera with his hat in hand. He is wearing a buckskin coat and on a narrow belt, each stuffed into their massive holsters, are a pair of Walker revolvers. You would not want to mess with this guy! If you are looking for an historical overview of the Texas Rangers during their infancy and coming of age, I think Lone Star Justice will fill the bill nicely.

The book is not only quite detailed in the description of the exploits of the early Texas Ranges, it maintains the air of education without the normally associated dullness or boredom found in many textbooks. Mr. Utley paints a straight-forward, no-holds approach to telling the facts as he has found them. Gone are the visions that our hero's of old are without fault, quite the opposite, you find that our hero's from this era are simply common men with some interesting virtues and a belief that right is right. It would be rather refreshing to find some of this level or morals in today's society. The book is an excellent read. One any Texican-file will find quite interesting.

For those who know little of the rangers but are western enthusiasts or simply interested in the American West, this is a wonderful action packed rip roaring account of the Texas rangers. The volume spands the time frame from Texas independence in 1836 through to the 1900s. The Mexican war is covered as are conflcits with Mexican bandits, and the Comanches, as well as the norms of frontier justice. This reads like a novel, but brought to you by famed historian Utley its all true and what more the writing is fantastic. This makes a wonderful present. Seth J. Frantzman

I really and truely enjoyed this book. I actually got it before from my nephew and he said it was a solid histroy of the Texas rangers. Not many people really know exactly how much these brave men influenced Texas and then our country. Everyone hears about how they went after outlaws but in fact these men also pusued the Commanchees and some terrible terrible gangsters. Some say they were too brutal and maybe they were but these were brutal taimes after all. The world we live in is not black and white so when you look at the circimstances they faced my opinion is they were heroes. Read Mr Utley's book - you wont be disappointed.I am Harold McInnes ,maybe your favorite reviewer? Let me know!