Texas Ranger Museum

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Hi-yo, Silver! Away!!  These are the words that were used by the Lone Ranger whenever he would charge after the bad guys on his trusty horse Silver. 

Trivia – for the old folks!

• What was Tonto’s horse named?
• The music from the series was …??
• What is the Canadian connection to the Lone Ranger TV series?

The TV series was based on a fictional Texas Ranger from the old west.  The early Texas Rangers were the first organized lawmen in Texas.  They were formed to provide protection for the early settlers against cattle rustlers and marauding Indians who were fighting to retain their land and lifestyle.  The Texas Ranger Museum traces the history from those early days to the present time.  Most people are unaware that it was a Texas Ranger who tracked down and killed the outlaws Bonnie and Clyde.  The museum has on exhibit many of the pistols and rifles used by the Rangers.  One display allows you to lift an old Colt revolver – which weighed close to five pounds. 

We visited the cemetery across the street from the museum; where the earliest known burials were from 1852.  There is still a very strong Confederate sentiment in Texas as some of the graves of former Confederate soldiers are adorned with new Confederate flags.  Seems like some people want to continue the Civil War.

Afterwards we drove along the Brazos River through Cameron Park and visited the old Waco suspension bridge.  It was built around 1870, and was the longest suspension bridge west of the Mississippi River at that time.