Vintage news - The wild West only lasted 30 years

[shrapnel]

I got his name and luckily avoided his temper...

[smokey04usa]

I wonder, if you could get 15-20 original "Rough Riders" [who fought in the SA War,circa 1898 or so] together at a "reunion" what would they say about when the Wild West Era actually ended. More interestingly, if they met once, and then again, 10 years later , how would their stories change ,if at all? Sadly, we will never know from their mouths, for sure.
I'm thinking the end of WW-I might be a close approximation, after the "boys" came home and started to" gentle down" .JM not so HO. Nick

[Rye Miles]

The Arizona Rangers were "Officially" started in 1902. The Arizona Cattleman's Assoc. needed protection from mexican rustlers. Arizona was still the "wild west" in 1902 till early 1930's

Arizona Rangers by Bill ONeal

[Rye Miles]

Anyone get the Tombstone Epitaph? I used to get it once a month. I can't remember why I stopped but I may get it again. It has a lot of reprints from the old days and some new stuff too! Good publication.

[Professor Marvel]

The Arizona Rangers were "Officially" started in 1902. The Arizona Cattleman's Assoc. needed protection from mexican rustlers. Arizona was still the "wild west" in 1902 till early 1930's

Arizona Rangers by Bill ONeal

Thank You Rye!
I only recently discovered that New Mexico had their own tiny group of Rangers (only 13 but hey)

Finally,  in  1899,  a  bill  was  introduced  in  the 
Territorial   Legislature   to   create   a   13-man   
company of mounted police. New Mexicans, still
not  real  cozy  with  their  neighbors  to  the  east, 
decided  not  to  model  the  police  force  after  the 
Texas  Rangers,  but  after  the  Royal  Canadian 
Mounted Police ? including a proposal to use the
bright red uniforms of the RCMP

http://socorro-history.org/HISTORY/PH_History/201105_nm_rangers.pdf

yhs
prf mvl

[Crow Choker]

Good, interesting article Professor. Ay of ya old enough remember the late 50's TV show about the Arizona Rangers (1957-59)--'26 Men'? Googled it and listened to and watched the show opening/theme song on a You Tube site. Hadn't heard that in years. As kids, we used to sing it along with the show and at other times. 

Theme Song:
"This the story of 26 men--Who rode the Arizona Territory---High is the glory of 26 men---Whose courage helped build the territory...?.
Ride On-Ride On-Ride On"!   I'd post the link, but my how to do capabilities for doing so are non-existent.   

[Delmonico]

And this classic song

[Crow Choker]

Wow! Haven't heard that in a while. Hearing that acoustic guitar and rhythm makes me want to google the lyrics and chords and pull out one of my git-tars'! Thanks for postin Delmonico. Maybe you could be a 'Gentleman and Scholar' and lookup and post that 26 Men theme song. My computer capabilities rival my ability as a brain surgeon. 

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Try these.  https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=song+26+men

[Crow Choker]

Thank you Sir Charles-That's the video I watched. Relistening to it, a thought came to me, I wonder if there is 26 riders in that video. Have to go back and try to count em when I have nothing else to do someday. Might have to add that intro on to a list of 'TV Bloopers', just in case there are only 25, could be 27. What happened to the 26th or where did the 27th come from? Maybe the US House of Representatives could have weeks of hearings and spend millions on that investigation like they have since January of 2017 in their latest ongoing folly. Could have gone back and counted em in the time I spent writing this . 

[Abilene]

...Could have gone back and counted em in the time I spent writing this . 

Or maybe the Russians got to you.

[Rye Miles]

Good, interesting article Professor. Ay of ya old enough remember the late 50's TV show about the Arizona Rangers (1957-59)--'26 Men'? Googled it and listened to and watched the show opening/theme song on a You Tube site. Hadn't heard that in years. As kids, we used to sing it along with the show and at other times. 

Theme Song:
"This the story of 26 men--Who rode the Arizona Territory---High is the glory of 26 men---Whose courage helped build the territory...?.
Ride On-Ride On-Ride On"!   I'd post the link, but my how to do capabilities for doing so are non-existent.   

I have 26 Men on DVD, good show!! 

[Crow Choker]

Or maybe the Russians got to you.

Comrade Abilene-Iz sink yous might be vite!   I tired counting and only got frustrated as it was hard to get a full count. All I know was that 'names were changed to protect the innocent'! 

[Delmonico]

Moose and Squirrel did it.

[Jeremiah Jones]

The December issue of Wild West magazine has an article on a gunfight in 1912. A rancher on a horse caught a rustler with a running iron, changing brands.  The shootout left the rustler dead.  Sounds "wild westy" to me.

[Trailrider]

You really think the "Wild West" ended in  the 20th Century?  Just check the "knife and gun club" sections of most daily newspapers, or the evening news!    On average, you were safer on the streets of Dodge City or Tombstone or Deadwood than in certain areas of most modern cities...especially Chicago's South Side!    Put not thy trust in princes or in men, but in God and Colt and Smith & Wesson and Glock and Sig! 

[Professor Marvel]

Any of ya old enough remember the late 50's TV show about the Arizona Rangers (1957-59)--'26 Men'?

nope I missed that one... we did not have a TV until ~ 1959 or 1960. I watched Howdy Doody at the granparents house on a set that had folding doors and
looked like a miniature cathedral.

yhs
prof marvel

[PJ Hardtack]

The NWMP went west (The Great March) in 1873 to quell the Indian problem. In 1870 the Dominion of Canada acquired sovereignty over what would become the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

"In the minds of most eastern Canadians the territory was perceived as a lawless frontier where drunken and savage Indians murdered and scalped settlers. Their suspicions were confirmed by a British Officer, Lt. William Butler, who was commissioned by the government to survey the country in 1871. Butler dubbed it "The Great Lone Land" and reported that "The institutions of Law and Order, as understood in civilized communities, are wholly unknown."

"Sir John A. Macdonald's answer to the problem of disorder and the threat of Indian violence in the North-West Territories was to organize a force of "Mounted Riflemen, trained to act as cavalry, but also instructed in the Rifle exercise." This body, Canada's first Prime Minister conceived, "should not be expressly Military but should be styled Police, and have the military bearing of the Irish Constabulary".
"It would proceed to the western plains, establish law and order and reach a peaceful understanding with the Indian nations about their future and that of their traditional hunting grounds in advance of settlement. In this manner Canada would avoid the armed conflict associated with expansion on the American frontier, the prairies would be peacefully opened up to white settlers and the railway could be built that would link Canada with British Columbia."

Recruiting for the 300-man force began in the fall of 1873. The following year, under command of Commissioner George A. French, the NWMP made it's epic march from Manitoba to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. They put an end to the whisky trade that was decimating the Indians and the wolfers that were poisoning other game, but with the decline of the buffalo herds and the increase of settlement, relations with the NWMP deteriorated rapidly.

In 1876, after the Custer debacle, Sitting Bull was allowed into Canada with his Sioux as long as they didn't stir up trouble with Canadian Indians. Eventually they were returned to the US to face US justice. Relations between the RCMP and the Indians haven't improved much since.

Sorry for the rant. It's a rainy day and I'm bored out of my skull. Spent most of it cleaning guns.

The difference between the U.S. old west and the Canadian old west is that in the U.S. the settlers went west first, then came law enforcement, such as it was at the time.  In Canada the law (North West Mounted Police) went west first, established law and order, had the Indian treaties signed, and then the settlers came.

[PJ Hardtack]

We've had a few incidents over the last couple of years where trespassers (usually Indians) have entered private property with intent to do harm, steal, whatever. It has resulted in gun play and charges being laid.
Surprisingly, the courts have exonerated the shooters. People are demanding the right to protect life and property, especially in rural areas where police response is slow to non-existent.

The December issue of Wild West magazine has an article on a gunfight in 1912. A rancher on a horse caught a rustler with a running iron, changing brands.  The shootout left the rustler dead.  Sounds "wild westy" to me.

[shrapnel]

Don't forget the Texas Rangers and Frank Hamer killed Bonnie and Clyde in 1934...