The Telegram:
Texas Ranger Paperwork in the 19th Century
In the old days Texas Rangers made some of the best witnesses for prosecutors, and they still do. But the patience of these frontiersmen for paperwork was limited.
Nat. B. "Kiowa" Kones, Texas Ranger, about 1900. Copyr. Texas Ranger Hall of Fame 2018
Nat B. "Kiowa" Jones was a crack shot and no nonsense. Arriving at the state prison with a wounded When filling out a report on a prisoner he transported he had to explain why the prisoner had been shot. His report was "He was ornery, and that’s why I shot him."
In 1875, Capt. Leander McNelly, cmooander of the Special Force, sent the following report from Matamoros, Mexico, after pursuing raiding cattle rustlers into Mexico.
Leander McNelly, Texas Ranger, circa 1875.
