Founded in 1823 by Stephen F. Austin, the Texas Rangers have had a role in every part of Texas history. From the early frontier years, to the lawless oil boomtowns and motorized bandits of the 1920s, to the cutting-edge technology and techniques of the modern investigators, the Rangers have many stories to tell.
Audrey Ladd, Education Programs Manager of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, will be presenting on the transition of the Texas Rangers from frontier fighters into the well-respected law enforcement officers they are today. The presentation will be a combination of the cases, legends, and evolving technology that shaped the Rangers over two centuries.
Meet Audrey Ladd
Audrey Ladd has been the Education Programs Manager at the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum since August 2018. She has a B.A. in History from the University of North Texas and a M.A. in Museum Studies from Indiana University — Purdue University Indianapolis. Before coming to the Texas Ranger Museum, Audrey worked at institutions such as the San Jacinto Museum of History, La Porte, TX; the Indianapolis Zoo, Indianapolis, IN; and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Indianapolis, IN.
Texas Ranger Capt. William L. Wright of Company A was sent in 1927 to keep the peace in Wink, Texas, an oil boom town near the New Mexico border. There he learned about Jal, where "Two-Gun Dick" Herwig had taken charge after being chased out of Texas. Wright led a raid on Herwig's empire that included federal, state, and county lawmen, successfully using the tactic of having the latter "deputized" by a federal judge to operate across the line. The incident, just one of many connected with Prohibition and keeping the peace in Texas oil towns, is particularly interesting because of the interagency cooperation involved, and the ultimately peaceful outcome.
NOTE: This is a repeat of the program originally scheduled for March. We experienced technical difficulties in March.
Meet Richard B. McCaslin, PhD
Richard B. McCaslin, TSHA Professor of Texas History at the University of North Texas, is the author or editor of nineteen books. These include Tainted Breeze: The Great Hanging at Gainesville, Texas, October 1862, which earned a Tullis Prize and AASLH commendation; Lee in the Shadow of Washington, which won a Laney Prize and Slatten Award and was nominated for a Pulitzer; Fighting Stock: John S. "Rip" Ford of Texas, which got a Pate Award and Bates Award; At the Heart of Texas: One Hundred Years of the Texas State Historical Association, 1897-1997, which won an Award of Merit from the Texas Philosophical Society; and Saratoga on the Cibolo: Sutherland Springs, Texas, which received a Publication Award from the San Antonio Conservation Society. His Tennessee volume for the Portraits of Conflict series earned the Douglas Southall Freeman Award, and the series received an AASLH commendation. A Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association and Admiral in the Texas Navy, he also has commendations from the Civil War Round Tables in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Shreveport for his academic work on the Civil War era.