I believe that every now and then a man needs to hear true stories of men...men doing what's right...men taking evil by the mustachios and bringing it to its knees...humiliating it...in front of its friends...and any girls that might be present. One such account comes to us from the annals of the Texas Rangers penned by great native Texan writer Walter Prescott Webb. In the mid 1870's, a well-organized band of cattle rustlers out of Mexico would cross the Rio Grande into what was called the Nueces Strip of Texas and steal cattle from ranches, then slither back across the border, where American authorities had no jurisdiction.  A young preacher and Texas Ranger captain, Leander McNelly, had tangled with the outlaws on a few occasions, but due to their system of scouts, he could never quite stop them.

Now, relations between the U.S. and Mexico were still delicate due to the Mexican-American War.  The governments of both nations were aware of the raids, but neither did much to curtail them, save for the Texas Rangers.  In November of 1875, McNelly took thirty young rangers down to the Rio Grande at Las Cuevas crossing, and awaited their chance.  Before going over, McNelly notified the nearest camp of U.S. troops of his intentions of crossing the river and returning with 200 head that had recently been taken.  On November 19th at 1:00 in the morning the rangers began to cross the river into Mexico.

After a day in Mexico the rangers had nothing to show for their efforts.  They had made a raid on a ranch and inflicted some casualties, but the bandits were able to slip away one more time.  In response, Mexico sent around 400 troops and backed the small ranger force up against the river.  McNelly wrote that the Mexicans made several attempts to "dislodge" them, but all failed.  As if that weren't enough, McNelly was notified that no U.S. troops would be coming to help.  At 5:00 that evening, the Mexicans sent a message to McNelly, offering to consider the Texans' grievances if the rangers would return to the U.S. immediately.  At 6:00 McNelly responded with his own message, the crux of which ran something like this:  You have one hour to return the 200 head of cattle, or we will charge.  (I like it.)

The Mexican government accepted McNelly's terms and hastily sent a message saying that it would take longer than an hour to get the cattle to them, but that they would be returned, and that the charge would not be necessary.  The next morning found Capt. McNelly and thirty Texas Rangers playing cowboy, pushing not 200 but 400 head of cattle home to Texas.

The Texas Rangers had a reputation for getting stuff done.  They had made a name that struck terror into the reprobate hearts of those who smirked at the law and justice.  They refused to live as slaves to evil, and they refused to stand by while it happened to other people.  Good people looked to these lawmen for justice, and they delivered.