The Governor's Hounds: The Texas State Police, 1870–1873 (Jack and Doris Smothers Series in Texas History, Life, and Culture) - Softcover

Crouch, Barry A.; Brice, Donaly E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0292747705 ISBN 13: 9780292747708

Publisher: University of Texas Press, 2011

Synopsis

In the tumultuous years following the Civil War, violence and lawlessness plagued the state of Texas, often overwhelming the ability of local law enforcement to maintain order. In response, Reconstruction-era governor Edmund J. Davis created a statewide police force that could be mobilized whenever and wherever local authorities were unable or unwilling to control lawlessness. During its three years (1870–1873) of existence, however, the Texas State Police was reviled as an arm of the Radical Republican party and widely condemned for being oppressive, arrogant, staffed with criminals and African Americans, and expensive to maintain, as well as for enforcing the new and unpopular laws that protected the rights of freed slaves.

Drawing extensively on the wealth of previously untouched records in the Texas State Archives, as well as other contemporary sources, Barry A. Crouch and Donaly E. Brice here offer the first major objective assessment of the Texas State Police and its role in maintaining law and order in Reconstruction Texas. Examining the activities of the force throughout its tenure and across the state, the authors find that the Texas State Police actually did much to solve the problem of violence in a largely lawless state. While acknowledging that much of the criticism the agency received was merited, the authors make a convincing case that the state police performed many of the same duties that the Texas Rangers later assumed and fulfilled the same need for a mobile, statewide law enforcement agency.

About this title

About the Author

The late Barry Crouch was Professor of History at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., for twenty-one years. His books include The Freedmen's Bureau and Black Texans and The Dance of Freedom: Texas African Americans during Reconstruction.

Review

"The book is blessed to have been in the hands of two historians known for the integrity of their research and for their respective gifts as storytellers. As a result, what might have been a dry treatise on militia systems and contrary politics is instead an intelligent read on a topic that fills an important niche in Texas history." (The Journal of Southern History 2013-05-01)

"In The Governor’s Hounds, Crouch and Brice offer another reasonable and informative monograph... The book offers readers “an even-handed history, neither ignoring the faults, peccadilloes, or even murderousways of individuals on the force, nor failing to point out those policeman who served honorably and carefully discharged their obligations."" (Southern Historian 2014-05-01)

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0292747705
• ISBN 13: 9780292747708
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 326