Five 1920 Photographs of Texas Rangers, Including Frank Hamer

[Texas Rangers History of Policing] Unknown Photographer

Published by Underwood & Underwood, El Paso, Texas, 1920

About this Item

The Texas Rangers, now a statewide investigative law enforcement agency, was formed in 1823 to protect Euro-American settlers in Mexican Texas, and officially established in 1835. Throughout the 19th century, the Rangers, as an irregular military, defended Texians from attacks by Indigenous people as they expelled the Indigenous populations from their homelands, and engaged in conflicts including the Mexican-American and Texas-Indian wars. During this time they also became known for their harsh tactics, including extrajudicial killings. The force became more organized into the 20th century, though the tactics were slow to become more humane, particularly during the Mexican Revolution. Offered here are five press photographs of Texas Rangers from 1920. The Rangers are shown posing with their horses or on horseback in one, a Ranger shakes hands with a "Mexican Fiscale Captain", also on horseback and posing with an infant and its family. Two of the Rangers are identified in the captions as Captain Charles Stephens and Sergeant Hamer, likely Charles F. Stevens and Frank Hamer. Stevens (1868 1929) became captain of Ranger Company B in 1910; in 1929 he was killed in an ambush while working as a Federal Prohibition Agent. Hamer (1884 1955) was an on-again, off-again Ranger best known for his role in the posse that killed Bonnie and Clyde in 1934. Of interest to historians of the Rangers and their public perception early in the 20th century. One photo with large tear at corner, else excellent. Five photographs measuring 7 ¼ x 9 ½ inches. Typed captions affixed and Underwood & Underwood stamps verso.

Seller Inventory # List3151

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Five 1920 Photographs of Texas Rangers, Including Frank Hamer
• Publisher: Underwood & Underwood, El Paso, Texas
• Publication Date: 1920
• Seller catalogs:
  • Law and Legal History
  • Americana - General
  • Photographs