Captain Bill McDonald, Texas Ranger: A Story of Frontier Reform

by Albert Bigelow Paine

Much of the views sent over the wires were all colored in the interest of the managers of the prize fight. In fact, two reporters informed me that Stuart exercised a kind of censorship over all dispatches; that he demanded they be colored in his favor, with the threat that unless it was so worded they could not see the fight. The dispatches contained the denunciatory proceedings of a city council against the Governor's order in sending the rangers, and by my action there, in having close watch kept over all that was done so far as it pertained to the bringing off of the fight, but failed, with one exception, to contain the resolutions of the Ministers' Union, who represented a large class among the best citizens approving the Governor's action and upholding my methods. I talked with many of the best citizens, among whom were district officials, who stated they believed the fight would have been pulled off on some adjacent disputed territory about El Paso. Of course, Mr. Stuart assured me that he would not bring the fight off in Texas, but the Governor of Chihuahua also informed me that Mr. Stuart assured him that he would not pull off the fight in Old Mexico, and at the same time he had the dispatches to quote him as saying he would never violate the laws of Texas. If he does not do so every day in some of his gambling establishments, then common report has woefully misrepresented him.

I had a close and constant espionage placed, not only on the principals, but also on the passenger depot and the cars loaded with paraphernalia of the ring, with instructions to follow the latter to wherever hauled. Not only did I do this, up to the 14th, but kept it up to the 21st, notwithstanding Mr. Albers' outburst of virtuous (?) indignation, because I kept a surveillance over Maher when taken to Albers' room, over the latter's place of business, on the night of the 13th, the day before the fight was to occur. I did this on the night of the 20th, when Maher was domiciled in the same room. By the way, from the report of Captains Hughes and Brooks, I find it hard to reconcile Mr. Albers' high sounding document with his action in going on the bond of some bunco men whom Captain Hughes arrested for swindling and placed in jail. They were let out of jail, and Captains Hughes and Brooks investigated the facts, and found Mr. Albers and a man by the name of Burns, a keeper of a "red light" joint, were the bondsmen. Now, the surveillance over men who were advertised to commit a crime which was a felony in Texas, made these people very mad, and much was said about the liberty of the citizen, martial law, etc. The drippings from such sanctuaries should come very seldom, and then in very broken doses. I usurped no authority, nor interfered with local officers in any duty they saw fit to perform. I was ordered there to see that no such crime as was widely advertised to come off near El Paso should be perpetrated upon any isolated Texas soil, nor even on any so-called neutral strip between Texas and Mexico. The presence of the ranger force was evidently very much appreciated by a certain business element there, when these people called on me for protection and to leave a detachment in El Paso to protect the banks, while most of my force would be out of the city on the day of the fight. The city was full of desperate characters looking for spoils from whatever source.

From the utterance of Mr. Stuart, and most of his friends, as expressed in press dispatches, it would appear that the rangers and he were there for the same purpose—to prevent the fight in Texas. Nevertheless, Mr. Stuart's side kept up their misrepresentations until it became a foregone conclusion that no fight could occur on any disputed or neutral ground convenient to El Paso, notwithstanding the press dispatches reported him as having Mr. Bat Masterson and 100 men to protect his ring. I never heard of one cat squalling because another cat's tail got mashed. They began looking for another place, and Maher's eyes became very sore, and apparently remained in that condition until a secure place was found in Old Mexico, some 400 miles from El Paso. Then his eyes began to improve every day. Still, they may have been sore, but Dr. Yandell, who was reported in press dispatches as saying "Pete had acute ophthalmia," informed me that he never diagnosed his case, nor saw Maher at the time.

The prize fighters were merely dough in the hands of Mr. Stuart and the hundreds of others who were present for the money they hoped to win, and would have fought in the ring, wherever located, if unmolested by officers at that time. It is hard to believe that Mr. Stuart had so much respect for law he regarded as wrong, and which he believed was passed to affect his interests. To illustrate his great respect for laws generally, Mr. Brooks, manager of the Western Union Telegraph Company, came to me the night before the start was to be made for Langtry, and demanded protection. He stated that a representative of Mr. Stuart had come to him and informed him that unless his company paid $10,000 to Mr. Stuart, that he (Mr. B.) could not use his own office and his own wires to send off the report of the fight at Langtry. This same representative of Mr. Stuart's informed Mr. Brooks that said Mr. Stuart would place his (Mr. Stuart's) men in the office and keep him out by force. I readily granted him protection to do his legitimate business and had my rangers about the office, with the proper instructions, and no such high-handed measures were undertaken.

The statement wired, that I and the rangers crossed the river to see the fight, was palpably made to belittle the force. They knew it was false at the time.

I desire to express my approbation for the intelligent and efficient manner in which Captains Brooks, McDonald, Hughes, and Rogers executed every order and performed every duty. The rangers conducted themselves in such manner as to reflect additional credit upon the name of a ranger—always a synonym for courage and duty well performed. They were active in the execution of every order, quiet and orderly in manner, determined in mien, fearless and vigilant on duty; they thus naturally incur the displeasure of the law-breakers everywhere.

I have the honor to be your obedient servant,

W.H. Mabry, Adjutant-General.

Thanks are due Captains Orsay and Owen for the manner in which they have performed their respective duties.