The Texas History Collection

A Texas Ranger, Six Years With the Texas Rangers, Life and Adventures of Billy Dixon of Adobe Walls Texas Panhandle, & Rangers and Pioneers of Texas

By: N.A. Jennings, James Gillett, Billy Dixon, A.J. Sowell

Narrated by: Museum Audiobooks Cast

The Texas Rangers were created by Stephen F. Austin in 1823. The Rangers have taken part in many of the most important events of Texas history, such as preventing the assassination of presidents William Howard Taft and Porfirio Díaz in El Paso, and in some of the best-known criminal cases in the history of the Old West, like those of gunfighter John Wesley Hardin, bank robber Sam Bass, and the outlaws Bonnie and Clyde.

Book One: Napoleon Augustus Jennings was a prominent member of the Texas Rangers responsible for border patrol under the command of L.H. McNelly when South Texas was overrun by outlaws. Jennings’ account includes many incidents of clashes with Mexican guerrillas and confrontations with John Wesley Hardin and others.

Book Two: James Gillett joined the rangers in 1875 and for the next six years, he would be combatting thieves and murderers, fighting in the Mason County War, capturing vigilantes, and providing law and order for the towns. First published in 1921, Gillett's account of his six years of service relates how the Rangers maintained law and order on the frontier. Gillett witnessed the kind of action that established the Rangers' enduring reputation.

Book Three: The life story of Billy Dixon, a buffalo hunter and scout from the Texas Panhandle who was active as far as Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma, offers a genuine depiction of life on the old western frontier. Billy helped found the town of Adobe Walls, ended a siege during the Second Battle of Adobe Walls with a long-distance shot, and received the US Medal of Honora for his bravery at the Buffalo Wallow Fight. Billy later served as postmaster at Adobe Walls, sheriff of Hutchinson County, Texas and state land commissioner.

Book Four: AJ Sowell’s riveting account of the early days of the State of Texas has a sense of immediacy based on the fact that he lived through many of these events. The narrative covers memories of the War of Independence from Mexico and expeditions against the native tribes to prevent the massacre of homesteaders. Highlights include the passages on the naming of the Bowie knife, the Battle of the Alamo, and the scouting expedition into the Wichita Mountains.

Public Domain (P)2021 Museum Audiobooks