In the Line of Duty: Reflections of a Texas Ranger Private

Growing up in Central Texas in the early part of this century as a young man from a poor farming family, Lewis Rigler decided that there must be something else out there. That “something else” turned out to be an appointment to the Texas Rangers. In a career spanning three decades, Ranger Rigler witnessed an era of great political and social turbulence and change in the state as well as within the Ranger force he had sworn to serve. His service involved investigations into kidnappings, murders, strike violence, burglary rings—all manner of cases. Some he solved; others remained elusive. Along the way, he saved a life or two; others, he could not.

Born in Lorena, Texas, in 1914, Lewis C. Rigler attended Texas A&M University. He entered Ranger service as a member of Dallas-based Company B, and retired in 1977. He is an investment consultant and owner of a bail-bond business. He speaks throughout Texas about his Ranger career.



Judyth W. Rigler is book editor of the San Antonio Express-News and writes “Lone Star Library,” a column on Texas books carried in newspapers throughout the state. She is married to Erik T. Rigler, Lewis Rigler's youngest son, who retired in 1994 after twenty-three years as an FBI agent and now works as an investigator for the Texas Lottery Commission.