tcujsauce
Active Member
For those of y’all interested in Texas History, my mom just got me turned onto a podcast called “Wise About Texas” by a Texas judge named Ken Wise.
I just listened to episode 50 where he talks about the beginning of the Texas Rangers. I’ve always heard that my ancestors were involved with the genesis of the Texas Rangers, but never knew the specifics. Turns out that in 1823 Stephen F Austin wrote a letter stating that he was going to fund a private military/police force to help keep the colony safe from Indians, etc... they started off with 10 members and 3 of them were part of my family, Abner Kuykendall (my five-great grandfather) and his sons Gibson and Robert (I’m descended through Gibson). This group didn’t have a name at this point, but it is what ended up becoming the Texas Rangers.
Then starting in 1827, Abner apparently was the leader (captain I believe?) of this group for 5 or so years. Then if I remember correctly, they finally started becoming official and became called the Rangers sometime in the 1830’s.
Pretty cool stuff.
Anyway, I’ve only listened to the one episode so far, but it was pretty entertaining and I think a lot of y’all would enjoy it.
Just looked it up, mostly half hour-ish episodes, so perfect for a commute listen. Starting it this evening.