Arizona Rangers

The first Territorial Rangers were organized to police the new gold boom towns and mining camps in the western half of the New Mexico Territory that arose after the first gold strike in 1858 in Gila City. In his history of the Territorial Rangers, stretching back to 1861, Arizona State Historian Marshall Trimble revealed "Arizona’s first Ranger may have been one of the founders of Phoenix, Jack Swilling."

After the establishment of the Confederate Arizona Territory, Territorial Governor John Robert Baylor decided he needed to supplement existing militia companies with a regiment of militarized Rangers modeled after the war-time Texas Rangers. He intended this regiment to consist of several companies of cavalry. On January 25, 1862, the first Confederate ranger company, Company A Baylor's Regiment of Arizona Rangers commanded by Captain Sherod Hunter, was mustered into service at the town of Dona Ana located just north of present-day Las Cruces, New Mexico. Hunter's Company consisted of about 75 men for the most part residents of the newly created Confederate Territory of Arizona.

The Confederate Territorial Rangers were armed with revolvers and Springfield Model 1847 smoothbore musketoons, probably taken from the Union Fort Fillmore after it surrendered in August 1861. The companies were enlisted for three years, or the duration of the war. They were picked for their skills and experience with the hardships of frontier life.

On February 10, 1862 Company A was ordered to occupy Tucson, the largest town in the western Confederate Territory of Arizona. Tucson was located along the Butterfield Overland Mail route, the only one between California and the Rio Grande and Mesilla valleys, and an ideal location for an advanced post to observe and delay the advance of Union forces gathering under Colonel James Henry Carleton at Fort Yuma. By taking possession of Tucson, Baylor would also protect the citizens and secure the Confederate claim to possession of western Arizona, which had been abandoned by Union troops in 1861. Company A arrived in Tucson on February 28, with the loss of only one life; Corporal Benjamin Mayo who had died of exposure at San Simon stage station on the 25th.

The invasion of Arizona by the Union "California Column" would have come much sooner but for the tactics of Captain Hunter and Company A. After Hunter's Company A retreated from Tucson and arrived in Mesilla on May 27, 1862, it was organized with two Arizona militia companies, the Arizona Guards of Pinos Altos and the Arizona Rangers of Mesilla, under Herbert's Battalion of Arizona Cavalry under the command of Lt. Colonel Philemon T. Herbert. It served as the rearguard to the remnants of the Confederate Army of New Mexico as it withdrew from El Paso to San Antonio, in July 1862. By the end of May 1863 the Arizona Battalion had been reduced by losses and it was disbanded. Company A still had enough men to continue as a viable company, and was kept in being but renamed as the independent Arizona Scout Company, attached to Green's Brigade. The other two companies of the Battalion were disbanded and the men consolidated with those of Company A to form the Arizona Scout Company.

After the Red River Campaign, from March–May 1864, the Texas Cavalry Division, under Major General John A. Wharton, was among the units ordered northward into Arkansas. The Arizona Scouts, went with them and for the rest of 1864 fought minor skirmishes and conducted routine picket duty and scouting. In November 1864, Captain James Henry Tevis (who by that time had recovered from his wounds) returned to command of the Arizona Scouts until General Edmund Kirby Smith, surrendered all Confederate forces west of the Mississippi River on May 26, 1865.

Marshall Trimble goes on to discuss the militia groups formed before Gov. Frederick Tritle authorized the first company of Rangers in Tombstone in 1882.[2]

Originally, only one company was authorized, consisting of a captain, a sergeant and not more than twelve privates, but, in 1903, the force was increased to twenty-six men. The Rangers, many of whom in the early years were veterans of Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders, were skilled horsemen, trackers and marksmen. Though originally intended to be covert, the group became widely publicized and conspicuous, sported their badges boldly, and were distinctively well-armed.

In addition to dealing with rustlers, and other outlaws, the Rangers were called on to deal with several large strikes by Mexican workers at mines in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. During the Cananea Riot in 1906, managers of the mine stampeded horses and fired shots into a crowd of striking Mexican miners, killing two. The Mexican's retaliated, burning a building with four Americans trapped inside. In response, and against the Governor's orders, Captain Thomas H. Rynning joined a civilian posse of 275 men and rode to Cananea to assist Mexican Federal Troops and state mounted police. Tensions flared and shots were fired. When the smoke cleared, more than twenty-five men, both Mexican and American lay dead.

On February 15, 1909, the Arizona legislature repealed the act establishing the Arizona Rangers. During the seven years of its operations, 107 men served with the Rangers. The vote to disband was vetoed by Republican Governor Joseph Henry Kibbey, but the Democratic-dominated assembly overrode the veto, backed by political pressure from county sheriffs and district attorneys in northern Arizona.

After the Arizona Rangers disbanded, many of the former Rangers stayed in law enforcement. Harry C. Wheeler was elected sheriff of Cochise County and Thomas Rynning became the prison warden in Yuma, Arizona.

Seven former Rangers reunited in 1940 to ride together in the Prescott Rodeo Parade. In 1955, the Arizona legislature authorized a $100 monthly pension for former Rangers who had served at least six months and who still lived in Arizona. Five men qualified for this pension.

William MacLeod Raine wrote the following about crime in Arizona Territory and the effectiveness of the Arizona Rangers in a 1905 edition of Pearson's Magazine:

The work assigned to these Rangers was arduous and dangerous one. For many years sheriff's officers and vigilantes had found themselves entirely unable to cope with the lawless bands which made their headquarters in the bad lands. But the condition of affairs had grown unendurable. The temerity of the outlaws was not only a scourge to the community, but a menace to the good name of the Territory. No man's sheep or cattle were safe from the raids of the organized bands of outlaws, who would sweep down on a range, drive away the cattle, reach the mountain fastnesses long before the posse could be organized for pursuit. Raids and murders had become so common that they were scarcely noted. There were a dozen bands of the horse and cattle thieves, at the head of which were such man as 'Bill' Smith, the notorious Augustine Chacon, commonly called 'Pelelo', and the train robber, Burt Alvord. Yet within a year of the time of its organization, this little band of rangers, consisting of a captain, a sergeant and twelve privates, had practically cleared the territory of hundreds of bad characters. Many of them had paid for their lawlessness with their lives and the rest had been driven across the line into Mexico... The Rangers are recruited from old cow-boys and from the ranks of Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders. They have to be able to rope and ride anything on four legs, as their horses may be killed and remounts are at times absolutely necessary. Especially quick work is required in heading fugitives from the border. A crime is reported, the ranger slaps on the saddle and is away. To the credit of the ranger it may be said that nine times out of ten he brings back his man, dead or alive.[3]

In 1957 a nonprofit organization called the Arizona Rangers was organized, founded with the assistance of four former members of the agency. The modern Arizona Rangers were officially recognized by the state of Arizona in 2002, when Arizona Governor Jane Hull signed Legislative Act 41. The purpose of this act was "to recognize the Arizona Rangers, who formed in 1901, disbanded in 1909 and reestablished in 1957 by original Arizona Rangers." The recognition by the State of Arizona gives no law enforcement authority to the organization. Members of the organization receive 24 hours of initial training and then ongoing monthly training. Rangers are required to qualify to Arizona Peace Officers Standard of Training (AZPOST) with their firearms, batons, handcuffs, and OC spray.

The present-day Arizona Rangers are an unpaid, all-volunteer, law enforcement support and assistance civilian nonprofit organization in the state of Arizona. They fulfill a three-point mission: 1. Law Enforcement support, by working co-operatively at the request of and under the direction, control, and supervision of established law enforcement officials and officers; 2. Government and non-profit security services; and 3. Youth support and community services. All aspects of their mission preserves the tradition, honor, and history of the original Arizona Rangers.[4]

The Rangers operate throughout the State of Arizona, but use about 20 Companies that operated semi-independently as local geography and community needs dictate while operating within the operating guidelines of a statewide organization. Each Company has a Captain who is a member of the Board of Governors and operationally reports to an Area Commander. So while there is only one Arizona Rangers organization, the Company Captains have latitude to make adjustments as to how their Company fulfills the mission in their local area.

When an applicant applies to become a Ranger, a full background check and a physical check are performed to ensure qualified candidates are processed. When an applicant is accepted, they are placed on probation until they complete all requirements, which includes Arizona Ranger Training Academy, a minimum of 24 hours of supervised duty with a Field Training Officer, a minimum of 90 days of probation, and meet other requirements placed upon them by the Company.