RLAT to host Texas Ranger on May 22

Contributed

Members of the Ranchers & Landowners Association of Texas will host Texas Ranger Wayne Matthews during a regular meeting, beginning at 5:30 pm, Tuesday, May 22, at the Bandera United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, 406 11th Street.

Matthews, who is assigned to San Antonio, will discuss the history of the famed Texas law enforcement agency, which was officially established on Nov. 24, 1835.

However, on November 24, 1835, Stephen F. Austin had sought to "... employ ten men ... to act as rangers for the common defense" of his nascent colony. These men literally "ranged" the area of Austin's colony, protecting settlers from Native Americans when the need arose. Otherwise, the rangers returned to their families and land.

Texas Rangers form the oldest law-enforcement agency in North America with statewide jurisdiction.

In keeping with RLAT's Texas Ranger theme, the evening's door prize will be a copy of the book "One Ranger, A Memoir" by retired Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson.

A former Uvalde resident, Jackson relocated to Alpine when he retired from the Texas Rangers in 1993.

Jackson became an icon for the Texas Rangers after appearing on the February 1994 cover of Texas Monthly magazine.

The author of "One Ranger, A Memoir" with David Marion Wilkinson and "One Ranger Returns" with James L. Haley, Jackson currently owns and operates in private investigations firm in Alpine.

For more information on RLAT, contact secretary Evelyn Snyder at evelynsnyder@indian-creek.net. Non-members are always welcome and encouraged to attend this informational meeting.