XII Our First Fight With Apaches 212 XIII Scouting in Mexico 225 XIV Treacherous Braves, a Faithful Dog, and a Murder 237 XV Victorio Becomes a Good Indian 251 XVI Some Undesirable Recruits 264 XVII Last Fight Between Rangers and Apaches 278 XVIII An International Episode 293 XIX Last Scoutings 309 XX Fruits of Ranger Service 322 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Sergeant J.B. Gillett Frontispiece General Jno. B. Jones 29 Captain D.W. Roberts 41 Captain Neal Coldwell 102 Lieutenant N.O. Reynolds 118 Captain Geo. W. Baylor 192 Dallas Stoudenmire 322 James B. Gillett 332 SIX YEARS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS CHAPTER I THE MAKING OF A RANGER The greatest shaping force in human life is heredity, and from my father I inherited my love of the open frontier and its life of danger and excitement. This inheritance was further strengthened by environment and training, and finally led me to embrace the life of the Texas Ranger. My father, James S. Gillett, was himself a frontiersman, though born in the quieter, more settled east. At a very early age his parents emigrated from his birthplace in Kentucky and moved to Missouri. Here, after a short time, they died and the young orphan lived with a brother-in-law. When still quite a youth my father, with three other adventurous Missourians, set out on an expedition to Santa Fe, New Mexico. While passing through Indian Territory, now the State of Oklahoma, the little party was captured by the Osage Indians. Fortunately for the youngsters, their captors did them no harm, but turned them loose after two weeks' imprisonment in the redskin camp. Despite this first setback my father persevered and reached Santa Fe. Here he lived several years and mastered the Spanish language. Not long afterward the emigrating fever again caught him up and he journeyed to Van Buren, Arkansas. While living there he studied law and was admitted to the bar. Shortly thereafter he removed to Paris, Texas, from which he was elected to the Texas Legislature as representative for Lamar and adjoining counties. When Texas entered the Union and brought on the Mexican War with the United States, my father enlisted in 1846 and rose to the rank of major. In 1854 he was Adjutant-General of Texas. Between 1859 and 1860, during the governorship of Sam Houston, my father was quartermaster of a battalion of rangers, thus making it natural that I should also feel drawn toward this famous organization.