BIBFRAME Work

Title

Tracking the Texas Ranger historians

Type

• Monograph
• Text

Contribution

• Glasrud, Bruce A. (editor)
• Weiss, Harold J., Jr., 1932- (editor)
• McCaslin, Richard B. (author of introduction, etc.)

Subject

• Texas--Historiography (LCSH)
• Texas Rangers--Historiography (LCSH)
• Law enforcement--Texas--Historiography (LCSH)
• HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Southwest (AZ, NM, OK, TX) (BISACSH)
• Historians--Texas (LCSH)
• HISTORY / Historiography (BISACSH)

Genre Form

• Biographies (LCGFT)

Language

• English

Classification

• HIS036130
• DDC: 363.209764072/2 (Assigner: dlc)
• HIS016000
• LCC: F385.2 .T73 2024 (Assigner: dlc) (Status: used by assigner)

Content

• text

Supplementary content

• bibliography
• index

Summary

"The first systematic inquiry into the Texas Rangers did not begin until 1935 with Walter Prescott Webb's publication The Texas Rangers. Since then numerous works have appeared on the Rangers, but no volume has been published before that covers the various historians of the Rangers and their approaches to the topic. Editors Bruce A. Glasrud and Harold J. Weiss Jr. gather essays that profile individual historians of the Texas Rangers, explore themes and issues in Ranger history, and comprise archival research, biographies, and autobiographies. Several approaches in Texas historiography have influenced the writings on the Texas Rangers and serve to organize the chapters in the volume. Traditionalists (Chuck Parsons, Stephen L. Moore, and Bob Alexander) stress the revered happenings in the nineteenth century that brought about the Lone Star state and its empire-building Ranger force. To these historical writers the Texas Rangers were part of a golden age. Revisionists (Robert M. Utley, Louis R. Sadler, and Charles H. Harris) pull back from this adulation, emphasize the importance of overlooked ethnic and racial groups, and point out misbehavior on the part of Rangers. They also want to separate fact from fiction. Some Ranger historians (Frederick Wilkins and Mike Cox) straddle both traditional and revisionist approaches in their works. The final group, Cultural Constructionalists (Gary Clayton Anderson, Américo Paredes, and Monica Muñoz Martinez), continue the work of Revisionists and focus on an interconnected past that includes theoretical approaches and the study of memory and regional identities"-- Provided by publisher.

Table of Contents

Foreword / by Richard B. McCaslin -- Introduction. Historical Vistas: Texas Rangers and Their Interpreters / by Harold J. Weiss Jr. -- Understanding Ranger History: Two Cardinal Points -- Primary Sources of Ranger History in Public Depositories / by Donaly E. Brice -- From Austin to Hollywood: Walter Prescott Webb, King Vidor, and the Texas Rangers / by Light Townsend Cummins -- Patterns of Ranger Historical Writings -- General Histories: Themes and Issues / by Michael L. Collins -- Biographical Schools: From Popular to Scholarly / by William C. Yancey -- Historiography of the Texas Rangers in Selected Periodical Literature and Book Chapters / by Kenneth W. Howell -- In Their Own Words: The Autobiographical Way / by Mitchel P. Roth -- Interpreting the Rangers: Their Historians and Their Professional Writings -- Traditionalists -- Chuck Parsons: Updated Traditionalist / by Roy B. Young -- Stephen L. Moore: Factual Purveyor / by Matthew M. Babcock -- Bob Alexander: Popular Chronicler / by Paul N. Spellman -- Revisionists -- Robert M. Utley: New Standard Bearer / by Harold J. Weiss Jr. -- Louis R. Sadler and Charles H. Harris: Border Footprints / by Timothy P. Bowman -- Dual Format: Traditionalists/Revisionists -- Frederick Wilkins: Early Practitioner / by Leland K. Turner -- Mike Cox: Prolific Hybrid Author / by Rusty Williams -- Cultural Constructionalists: A New Vista -- Gary Clayton Anderson: Reframing Indian-Anglo-Ranger Relations / by Roger Tuller -- When Truth Is No Longer a Casualty of Myth: Américo Paredes and the Texas Rangers / by Manuel F. Medrano -- Reckoning with Ranger Terror: Monica Muñoz Martinez, State Violence, and Vernacular History / by Andrew J. Hazelton -- Other Notable Authors and Topics -- Historical Writings from A to Z: Other Ranger Historians / by Darren L. Ivey -- Bibliography / Bruce A. Glasrud and Harold J. Weiss Jr.

Authorized Access Point

Tracking the Texas Ranger historians

Geographic Coverage

• Texas

Admin Metadata

• Date: 2026-09-11T20:21:08.584596+00:00
• Agent: cbc
• Status: c
• Derived from: 23647901

Admin Metadata

• Date: 2026-09-11
• Cataloger id: Unknown
• Description level: http://id.loc.gov/ontologies/bibframe-2-6-0/
• Description language: eng
• Description authentication: pcc