Arizona Rangers The original Arizona Rangers was a law enforcement agency in Arizona, modeled after the Texas Rangers. Division, created by the Arizona Territorial Legislature in 1901 and disbanded in 1909 (Reformed 1957).Created to deal with infestations of outlaws, especially rustlers, in the sparsely populated Territory of Arizona, especially along the Mexican border, the Rangers were an elite, well-trained, and secretive agency mounted on the best horses money could buy and well equipped with modern weapons at State expense. They were very effective in apprehending members of outlaw bands, often surprising them by descending on them without warning. History Originally, one company was authorized, to consist of a captain, a sergeant and not more than 12 privates. In 1903, the authorized force was increased to 26. The Rangers, many of whom in the early years were veterans of Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders, were skilled horsemen, trackers and marksmen. They were widely publicized and conspicuous, sported their badges boldly, and were well armed and distinctive. In addition to dealing with rustlers and other outlaws, the Rangers were called on to deal with several large strikes by Mexican workers at mines in Arizona and at a mine at Cananea, in Mexico. Contemporary news reports in the New York Times on June 3, 1906 reported that on June 1, 1906 strikers destroyed a lumber mill and killed two brothers who were defending the mine. Eleven casualties were reported among the Mexican "rioters". Responding to a telegraphed plea from Colonel William Cornell Greene of the Greene Consolidated Copper Company, a posse of 275 volunteers from Bisbee, Douglas and Naco Arizona, commanded by Captain Thomas H. Rynning of the Arizona Rangers, entered Mexico against the orders of Joseph Henry Kibbey Governor of Arizona Territory, and at the invitation of Rafael Yzabel, the Governor of Sonora, reinforced the Sonoran rurales. Mexican troops were reported en route to the city. Four troops of the Fifth Cavalry en route from Fort Huachuca were held at Naco, Arizona on the border on the orders of President Taft. According to Colonel Green the "trouble was incited by a Socialistic organization that has been formed (in Cananea) by malcontents opposed to the Diaz government. On February 15, 1909 the act establishing the Arizona Rangers was repealed. During the seven and a half years of its existence, 107 men served in the Rangers. The vote to disband was vetoed by Republican Territorial Governor Joseph Henry Kibbey, but the Democratic-dominated assembly overrode the veto, backed by political pressure from county sheriffs and district attorneys in northern Arizona. The Officr Down Memorial website lists one member of the Arizona Rangers killed in the line of duty October 7, 1901. Leadership Burton C. Mossman The first Captain of the Arizona Rangers was Burton C. Mossman of Bisbee, Arizona. Mossman.Born in 1867 in Illinois, Mossman became a farmer, rancher, cattleman and Rough Rider. In 1898, he was hired by the Aztec Company to manage it's Hashknife Outfit and try to stop the rampant cattle rustling that was taking place on their huge ranch in Arizona. When the Arizona Rangers were formed in 1901, Mossman became their first captain on August 30th. Speaking fluent Spanish, he was also known as a great story teller. He had previously been manager of the 2 million acre Aztec Land and Cattle Co, also called the "Hash Knife outfit", in northern Arizona near Holbrook and Winslow, had some success in controlling rustling of his company's cattle. A friend of Arizona Territorial Governor Murphy, Mossman had agreed to hold the post for only one year. He selected his headquarters in Bisbee, Arizona and began the task of establishing a group of tough lawmen. Burt's last capture was that of Augustine Chacon, a vicious killer who claimed to have killed some 52 people. Enlisting the help of outlaws, Burt Alvord and Billy Stiles, Mossman was able to trap the killer who was eventually hanged in Solomonville, Arizona. In July, 1902 after successfully recruiting and organizing the original Rangers, Mossman resigned, returning to the cattle business. Thomas H. Rynning The second, Captain of the Arizona Rangers was Thomas H. Rynning. Born in Norway in 1866, Rynning arrived in the United States when he was just two years old. Joining the military, Rynning served under General Phillip Sheridan during the campaigns against the Southern Cheyenne and the Chiricahua Apaches in 1885 and 1886. He was present at the capture of Geronimo, and helped in the chase of Sitting Bull and his band as they escaped to British Columbia following the Battle of the Little Bighorn. 1898 found him serving as a second Lieutenant with the Rough Riders and was with Roosevelt during the many military engagements that led up to the surrender of the opposition forces at Santiago, Cuba. He was working for the railroad when he was recruited to the Arizona Rangers and was appointed captain the following year when Burton Mossman resigned in 1902. In 1906 he lead a force of volunteers assisting the Mexican Rurales to put down the rioting and bloodshed that were taking place in the copper mines of Cananea. During his tenure, he expanded the Arizona Rangers and began a thorough training program before he resigned on March 20, 1907. Click here to see the Captain Rynning's grave. Harry C. Wheeler The third and last commander of the Arizona Rangers was Harry C. Wheeler. The son of an army officer, Wheeler was born in Florida and grew up on a series of army posts. After serving in the Spanish American War as a Rough Rider he was transferred to the Arizona Territory. He worked briefly as a miner in Tombstone before joining the Arizona Rangers in 1903. An expert marksman, he soon obtained the rank of captain and replaced Thomas Rynning who resigned in March, 1907. Wheeler, who had served the rangers at every rank, brought discipline and idealism to the group which he continued to command until the Arizona Rangers were disbanded in 1909. Later, he was elected sheriff of Cochise County, and during a 1917 labor dispute at the Bisbee copper mines he led the group responsible for the "Bisbee Deportation," where nearly twelve hundred strikers and sympathizers were forcibly removed from the area. During the First World War Wheeler reached the rank of captain in the U.S. Army. After the war he was defeated for the Cochise County sheriff's office in 1922, and he drifted from job to job until his death in 1925 from pneumonia. He is buried in Bisbee, Arizona. In all 107 men were recorded on the Ranger rolls, with only nine of them being natives of Arizona itself, the youngest were 22 and the oldest was 55, the average age being 33. One Tom Gadberry served the shortest time, enlisting as he did only 15 days before they were disbanded, and the longest enlistment was served by James T. Holmes who signed up on September 2 1902; Frank Wheeler joined 8 days later and both of these men were still serving Rangers when the company was abolished. Only one Ranger, Carlos Tafolla who was shot during the second month of the companies existence, is recorded as being killed in action. Ranger Jeff Kidder was also killed during a gunfight in Naco in 1908, technically though his enlistment was up, having expired three days earlier, and although he had applied to re enlist, the papers had not been approved by the Captain as he was out on a patrol at the time. Uniforms and insignia Arizona Rangers were not issued standardized uniforms, as they were originally intended to operate undercover. Badges of the Arizona Rangers, which were first issued in 1903 were solid silver five-pointed ball-tipped stars, lettered in blue enamel with engravings etched in blue, and are a valuable collectable. An officer's badge was engraved with the Ranger's name, while badges for enlisted men were numbered. Upon resignation, a Ranger returned his badge, which was then available to be assigned to a new Ranger. Similar agencies The Arizona Rangers had been preceded by ephemeral organization of the Arizona Territorial Rangers in 1860 (disbanded when its members joined the Confederate Army) and in 1882 (never funded by Congress). The analogous agency in the Territory of New Mexico, organized in 1905 was called the New Mexico Mounted Police. Across the Mexican border in northern Sonora a similar band of men, the rurales, also known as the Cordada, was commanded by a Russian, Colonel Emilio Kosterlitsky who cooperated closely with the Rangers. The California State Rangers who were broadly similar and became the California State Police. Arizona Rangers after 1909 After the Arizona Rangers disbanded, many of the former Rangers stayed in law enforcement. Harry Wheeler became the sheriff of Cochise County. Tom Rynning was a prison warden in Florence, Arizona. Seven former Rangers reunited in 1940 to ride together in the Prescott Rodeo Parade. Arizona Ranger, a low-budget black-and-white film produced by RKO, was released in 1948, starring Jack Holt and his son Tim Holt. In 1955, Arizona authorized a $100 monthly pension for former Rangers who had served at least six months and who still lived in Arizona. Five men qualified for this pension. 26 Men, an ABC television Western, was created in 1958 based on the adventures of the Arizona Rangers. It starred Tris Coffin as Captain Tom Rynning, and was cancelled after one season. The Arizona Rangers were featured in the song, "Big Iron", in Western singer Marty Robbins' album Gunfighter Ballads & Trail Songs. They are also used in the 1971 John Wayne movie, Big Jake. To hear the song, click "" play button below The last surviving Arizona Ranger, John R. Clarke, died in 1982 at the age of 97. Ranger Grave Sites Click Here for a list of 107 original Territorial Arizona Rangers, when each served, their Burial Location (if known), the state of the marking of the grave and the rank of the individual at the time of service. Modern-day organization In 1957, a voluntary service organization called the Arizona Rangers was organized. Founded with the assistance of four former members of the 1901-1909 Arizona Rangers, the modern Arizona Rangers were officially recognized by the state of Arizona in 2002, when Arizona Governor Jane Hull signed Legislative Act 41. The purpose of this act was "to recognize the Arizona rangers, who formed in 1901, disbanded in 1909 and reestablished in 1957 by original Arizona rangers". The present day Arizona Rangers are an unpaid, all volunteer, law enforcement support and assistance civilian auxiliary police in this State who work co-operatively at the request of and under the direction, control, and supervision of established law enforcement officials and officers. They also provide youth support and community service and work to preserve the tradition, honor, and history of the 1901-1909 Arizona Rangers.