Made by J.J. Little & Ives Co.
New York, 1909
Copyright, 1909, by
WILLIAM J. McDONALD
To
EDWARD M. HOUSE
WITHOUT WHOSE ENDURING
FRIENDSHIP, WISE COUNSEL
AND ACTIVE INTEREST THIS
BOOK WOULD NEVER HAVE
BEEN WRITTEN
CONTENTS
| Page | ||
| [Foreword]: | A letter from Theodore Roosevelt | [11] |
| I.— | [Introducing "Captain Bill"] | [13] |
| II.— | [An Old-Time Mississippi Childhood] | |
| The kind of education for a young Ranger. Presence ofmind early manifested | [16] | |
| III.— | [Emigration and Adventure] | |
| A boy at the head of a household. Meeting the "Deviland his wife." An early reform | [21] | |
| IV.— | [The Making of a Texan] | |
| Reconstruction and "treason." "Dave" Culberson to therescue. Education, marriage and politics | [26] | |
| V.— | [The Beginning of Reform] | |
| Subduing a bad man. First official appointment. Adeputy who did things. "Bill" McDonald and "Jim" Hogg | [33] | |
| VI.— | [Into the Wilderness] | |
| A New Business in a New Land. A "Sand-lapper" showshis "sand" | [43] | |
| VII.— | [Commercial Ventures and Adventures] | |
| Bill McDonald's method of collecting a bill; and his methodof handling bad men | [48] | |
| VIII.— | [Reforming the Wilderness] | |
| The kind of men to be reformed. Early reforms in Quanah.Bad men meet their match | [55] | |
| IX.— | [Getting Even with the Brooken Gang] | |
| The Brooken Gang don't wait for callers. One hundredand twenty-seven years' sentence for an outlaw | [65] | |
| X.— | [New Tactics in No-Man's Land] | |
| A man with a buck-board. Holding up a bad gang single-handed | [69] | |
| XI.— | [Redeeming No-Man's Land] | |
| Bill McDonald and Lon Burson gather in the bad men."No man in the wrong can stand up against a fellow that'sin the right and keeps on a-comin'" | [78] | |
| XII.— | [Some of the Difficulties of Reform] | |
| "Frontier" law and practice. Caught in a Norther inNo-Man's Land | [87] | |
| XIII.— | [Captain Bill as a Tree-Man] | |
| The lost drove of Lazarus. A pilgrim on a "paint-hoss."A new way of getting information in the "Strip" | [95] | |
| XIV.— | [The Day for "Deliveries"] | |
| The tree-man turns officer, and single-handed wipes out abad gang | [106] | |
| XV.— | [Cleaning Up the Strip] | |
| Deputy Bill gets "stood off," but makes good. Bill Cookand "Skeeter," "A hell of a court to plead guilty in!" | [115] | |
| XVI.— | [Texas Ranger Service and Its Origin] | |
| The massacre of Fort Parker; Cynthia Ann Parker's capture.Rangers and what they are for. Their characteristicsand their requirements | [126] | |
| XVII.— | [Captain of Company B, Ranger Force] | |
| Capture of Dan and Bob Campbell. Recommendations fora Ranger Captain. Governor "Jim" Hogg appoints his oldfriend on the strength of them | [136] | |
| XVIII.— | [An Exciting Indian Campaign] | |
| First service as Ranger Captain. Biggest Indian scare onrecord | [145] | |
| XIX.— | [A Bit of Farming and Politics] | |
| Captain Bill and his goats. The "car-shed" convention | [149] | |
| XX.— | [Taming the Pan-handle] | |
| The difference between cowboys and "bad men." HowCaptain Bill made cow-stealing unpopular | [154] | |
| XXI.— | [The Battle with Matthews] | |
| What happened to a man who had decided to kill BillMcDonald | [165] | |
| XXII.— | [What Happened to Beckham] | |
| An outlaw raid and a Ranger battle. Joe Beckham endshis career | [176] | |
| XXIII.— | [A Medal for Speed] | |
| Captain Bill outruns a criminal and wins a gold medal | [179] | |
| XXIV.— | [Captain Bill in Mexico] | |
| Mexican thieves try to hold up Captain Bill and get a surprise.Mexican police make the same attempt with thesame result. President Diaz tries to enlist him | [182] | |
| XXV.— | [A New Style in the Pan-handle] | |
| Charles A. Culberson pays a tribute to Ranger marksmanship.Captain Bill in a "plug" hat | [189] | |
| XXVI.— | [Preventing a Prize-Fight] | |
| The Fitzsimmons-Maher fight that didn't come off at ElPaso, and why. Captain Bill "takes up" for a Chinaman | [194] | |
| XXVII.— | [The Wichita Falls Bank Robbery and Murder] | |
| Kid Lewis and his gang take advantage of the absence ofthe Rangers. They make a bad calculation and cometo grief. Good examples of Bill McDonald's single-handedwork, and nerve | [199] | |
| XXVIII.— | [Captain Bill as a Peace-maker] | |
| He attends certain strikes and riots alone with satisfactoryresults. Goes to Thurber and disperses a mob | [214] | |
| XXIX.— | [The Buzzard's Water-Hole Gang] | |
| The Murder Society of San Saba and what happened to itafter the Rangers arrived | [221] | |
| XXX.— | [Quieting a Texas Feud] | |
| The Reece-Townsend trouble, and how the factions wereonce dismissed by Captain Bill McDonald | [243] | |
| XXXI.— | [The Trans-Cedar Mystery] | |
| The lynching of the Humphreys and what happened to thelynchers | [250] | |
| XXXII.— | [Other Mobs and Riots] | |
| Rangers at Orange and at Port Arthur. Five against fourhundred | [260] | |
| XXXIII.— | [Other Work in East Texas] | |
| Districts which even a Ranger finds hopeless. The Touchstonemurder. The confession of Ab Angle | [265] | |
| XXXIV.— | [A Wolf-Hunt with the President] | |
| Captain Bill sees the President through Texas and accompanieshim on the "best time of his life." Quanah Parkertells stories to the hunters | [273] | |
| XXXV.— | [The Conditt Murder Mystery] | |
| A terrible crime at Edna, Texas. Monk Gibson's arrestand escape. The greatest man-hunt in history. | [290] | |
| XXXVI.— | [The Death of Rhoda McDonald] | |
| The end of a noble woman's life. Her letter of good-by | [304] | |
| XXXVII.— | [The Conditt Mystery Solved] | |
| Captain Bill as a "sleuth." The tell-tale handprint. ARanger captain's theories established | [308] | |
| XXXVIII.— | [The Brownsville Episode: An Event of National Importance] | |
| The Twenty-fifth Infantry's midnight raid | [315] | |
| XXXIX.— | [Captain Bill on the Scene] | |
| The situation at Brownsville. Rangers McDonald andMcCauley defy the U.S. army. Captain Bill holds acourt of inquiry | [323] | |
| XL.— | [What Finally Happened at Brownsville] | |
| How State officials failed to support the men who quieteddisorder and located crime | [341] | |
| XLI.— | [The Battle on the Rio Grande] | |
| Assassination of Judge Stanley Welch. A Rio Grandeelection. Captain Bill ordered to the scene. An ambush;a surprise, and an inquest. Captain Bill's last battle. | [357] | |
| XLII.— | [The End of Rangering and a New Appointment] | |
| State Revenue Agent of Texas. The "Full Rendition"Bill enforced. A great battle for Tax Reform, and a bloodlesstriumph | [373] | |
| XLIII.— | [Conclusion] | |
| Captain Bill McDonald of Texas—what he has been andwhat he is to-day | [388] |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS