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Cult Of Glory

by Doug J. Swanson, 2020

Published: 2021.05.05

Home > Book Reviews > Doug J. Swanson > Cult Of Glory

 

Photo by Wil C. Fry

★★★★ (of 5)

(* not including acknowledgements, notes, bibliography, and index)

 

Summary

Cult Of Glory tells the history of the Texas Rangers, a well storied and long-honored law enforcement organization with statewide jurisdiction in Texas. Not only is the state’s pro baseball team named after the Rangers, but the organization was the inspiration for numerous motion pictures, radio programs, and television shows throughout the 20th Century — most famously, I think, with Walker, Texas Ranger, but also Lonesome Dove, The Lone Ranger, and dozens of others.

I already knew a little about the Texas Rangers, having been to their officially sanctioned museum in Waco, not to mention learning a bit about them in Texas history in 7th grade. (I did not see this book among the other books on sale at the museum’s gift shop; I bought it at a store called Whole Earth Provision Co. in San Antonio.) Unlike most other histories of the Rangers in existence, this one isn’t meant to promote the organization, but to examine it — its reasons for existence, its flawed and often startlingly criminal employees, and how it has changed over the years.

Tracing their history to 1823 — when Texas was still a subdivision of Mexico — the Rangers were unofficially created by Stephen F. Austin, then more formally begun in 1835. They played an integral part in Texas history through its nine years as an independent Republic and throughout its statehood (1845-1861 and 1865-present) and even during its membership in the Confederate States Of America. They protected settlers against the attacks of the land’s original inhabitants, assisted the U.S. in fighting Mexico — before, during, and after the Mexican-American War — and spent much of the 20th Century trying to catch up with modern law enforcement methods and ethics. (There wasn’t a Black ranger until the late 1980s.)

(There’s an NPR interview with the author here.)

 

The Good

The book was well-researched, though the Rangers organization refused to allow Swanson to interview senior Rangers. For the most part, the writing was clear and easy to follow (for an exception, see below).

One point Swanson makes repeatedly is how well the Rangers have, over many years, managed the image of the organization. Even in the aftermath of bloody embarrassments, amateurish mishandling of particular situations, and outright racial oppression, they found friendly journalists and correspondents to whom to relate their tales and willing writers and producers to whitewash many incidents via film and television. Even in decades when other law enforcement agencies around the country struggled with image problems and public confidence, the Rangers managed to hold the public’s (the white public’s) trust.

Because a volume of this size can’t possibly relate every crime the Rangers investigated (or perpetrated), Swanson judiciously chose some of the most interesting — and, I assume, some of the most damning. I did find it curious that Swanson left out the Bonnie & Clyde tale, which ended with famed Texas Ranger Frank Hamer leading a posse to kill the renowned criminals. (He did mention Hamer in relation to other incidents in the book.) Perhaps the Bonnie & Clyde incident did nothing to tarnish the image of the Rangers, so Swanson left it out? (Kevin Costner played Hamer in 2019’s The Highwaymen.)

Though I mentioned above that I was already somewhat familiar with the Rangers, there were huge chunks left out of my education, and this book filled those gaps. For example, neither my Texas History class in public school nor the official museum in Waco make much mention of how the Rangers were fully on the side of white supremacy at almost every turn. Yes, there were incidents in which Rangers protected Black suspects from lynch mobs (in one case, two Rangers hid with the suspects in a barn to keep them safe until trial), but in many other cases the Rangers were not on the right side of history, as the saying goes. Especially early in their history, they were open about supporting “the American race”, by which they meant white people, over all others. Years after the Civil War ended, several Rangers plotted to build a slaveholder republic in Central America. They supported big business over labor movements (especially when the laborers were of Mexican descent), guarded schools so Black students couldn’t attend, and harassed and built files on NAACP lawyers, calling them “subversives” and “communists”. The organization was exclusively white and male long after most law enforcement agencies in the country had reckoned with the changing times.

If there’s a better history of the Texas Rangers out there, I haven’t heard of it.

 

The Disappointing

Really, only two things disappointed me in this book. One was the aforementioned skipping of certain Very Famous events, like the Bonnie & Clyde case. The other was the particular order in which Swanson chose to organize his chapters. Each chapter begins with a photo, a quotation, and a few introductory paragraphs — usually about characters we haven’t been introduced to yet. Then the author goes back to give histories on those people or events, so we’ll know why they’re interesting. Generally, this format is sound, but only if the introductory paragraphs are very brief, written as a “hook”. Swanson did not keep them brief or hook-ish, but sometimes went on for several pages before backing up to explain just what the hell is going on.

 

Conclusion

For anyone interested in history, especially U.S. history, I highly recommend this book.

 





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