Texas Devils: 
Rangers and Regulars on the Lower Rio Grande, 1846-1861
Michael L. Collins

​Michael L. Collins in his book, Texas Devils: Rangers and Regulars on the Lower Rio Grande, 1846-1861, moves away from the Texas Ranger in “popular fiction” and attempts to provide the reader with a more balanced perception of this controversial character. From their involvement in the Mexican-American War up until the American Civil-War, Collins makes sure not to leave out the dark, seldom-mentioned past of the Texas Rangers. Collins asserts that “prejudice and even hatred towards Mexicans and Indians” was an asserted representation of the Texas Rangers, also known as Diablos Tejanos or Texas Devils.
 
Collins provides meticulous detail of the brutality of the Texas Rangers especially towards people of Mexican descent, “The Texans sweeping the town, killing every Mexican they saw…old women and girls were stripped of their clothing-and many suffered still greater outrages.” Texas Devils also describes the racial and political friction that existed in the Lower Rio Grande in the mid-19th century and the important role the Texas rangers played to the benefit of the white Anglo population.

Whether it is the Texas Ranger’s pursuit of Mexican folk hero Juan Cortina or their campaigns of terror across the Rio Grande River into Mexico, the reader can expect an engaging writing style from Collins, enriched with many primary sources that add descriptive detail to each account. “Were they heroic Rangers or riders from hell?” asks Collins. Most evidence suggests the latter, the author concludes.

Michael L. Collins, is retired as Regents Professor and Hardin Distinguished Professor of American History at Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, Texas. He is coauthor of Profiles in Power: Twentieth-Century Texans in Washington and author of That Damned Cowboy: Theodore Roosevelt and the American West, 1883–1898, and Texas Devils: Rangers and Regulars on the Lower Rio Grande, 1846-1861.

Texas Devils: Rangers and Regulars on the Lower Rio Grande, 1846–1861​ is a publication by the University of Oklahoma Press and can be purchased online. Click here to purchase. 
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Reviewed ​by
Alan Gerardo
​Padilla Aguilar
​8/19/2018

Alan has been honored with a State of Texas Joint Resolution on behalf of Texas State Representative Oscar Longoria and Texas State Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa for his work with the local community. He was chosen to participate in the Harvard Latino Leadership Initiative program at Harvard Kennedy School in 2013. He was also a research assistant for the PBS documentary, "The Head of Joaquin Murrieta."

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