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>Date: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 21:50:07 -0700
>To: [log in to unmask]
>From: "Brian W. Kenny" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Arizona Ranger museum at old courthouse in Nogales
>
>Rangers were 'muy hombre'
>Deep inside the 337-page Arizona state budget, among the numbing lists of
>figures, is an item straight out of the rough-and-tumble of the Wild West:
>the Arizona Rangers' Pension. It's one of the few remnants of a
>little-known part of Arizona's territorial days, when a hard-riding band of
>men tracked down murderers, snared cattle rustlers and helped tame the
>place for statehood.
>
>http://www.azcentral.com/news/0322rangers.shtml
>
>Through heat, rain and snow, they rode the hard trails and cleaned up the
>territory
>
>Historic photos from the Arizona Department of Library, Archives and Public
>Records
>
>Being "muy hombre," a real man who could ride for miles a day and live in
>the open for weeks, was the first qualification for the Arizona Rangers.
>
>By Kathleen Ingley The Arizona Republic March 22, 1998
>
>Deep inside the 337-page Arizona state budget, among the numbing lists of
>figures, is an item straight out of the rough-and-tumble of the Wild West:
>the Arizona Rangers' Pension.
>
>It's one of the few remnants of a little-known part of Arizona's
>territorial days, when a hard-riding band of men tracked down murderers,
>snared cattle rustlers and helped tame the place for statehood.
>
>Museums have just a few pieces of memorabilia from the Arizona Rangers.
>Members of historical societies sometimes play the parts of Rangers. A
>volunteer group has taken their name.
>
>But the closest link these days is Rita Beaty, 84, the sole surviving widow
>of an Arizona Ranger and the last person who will ever collect the $11,000
>annual pension.
>
>Her husband, "Chapo" Beaty, never forgot the harsh conditions of the trail.
>
>"Honey," he'd tell Rita, "I don't think you could take it. Your hubby was
>"muy hombre.' "
>
>Being "muy hombre," a real man who could ride for miles a day and live in
>the open for weeks, was the first qualification when the Arizona Rangers
>were established in 1901.
>
>Arizona was angling for statehood back then, and the Territorial Assembly
>wanted to clean up the rustling and robbery that plagued much of the area.
>So they set up Arizona's version of the famed Texas Rangers.
>
>The force started out with 14 men, later increased to 26. Privates made
>$100 a month, a comfortable sum when dinner in a restaurant went for a
>quarter.
>
>The money appealed to Clarence Beaty, whose family was facing tough times
>on its ranch in southeast Arizona. He joined the Rangers in 1902, when he
>was 27, and remained until 1907.
>
>Beaty liked to go by his nickname, "Chapo," or "Shorty." His exploits
>included capturing a notorious horse thief in southern Arizona.
>
>Official records are sketchy, and his family never wrote down his tales.
>
>"We just took them for granted," said Chapo's son, Marshall, who lives in
>Tucson.
>
>He recalls his father telling about one bloody incident that shows how
>dangerous the territory was.
>
>Chapo and a partner were riding into Naco just as a fight broke out between
>two men over paying a bill. Townspeople begged the Rangers to help, but
>shots rang out before they could intervene. One man died in the telegraph
>office, and the other staggered out into Chapo's arms. "Did I get him? Did
>I get him?" was all the man said before dying.
>
>Rita and Chapo Beaty were married years later, in 1932, when he was 58 and
>she was just 18. He was a handsome man, Rita recalled, with gray-blue eyes,
>full brown hair and a straight, military posture.
>
>The pair settled in Patagonia, and Chapo ended up working as a mine
>watchman. Their May-December marriage lasted three decades, producing five
>children. Chapo was still riding horseback until three months before his
>death in 1963.
>
>As a Ranger, Chapo spent most of his time in the saddle. The Rangers
>covered the whole territory, although they concentrated on the rough border
>towns. August 1907 was typical, when each Ranger rode an average of 11
>miles a day. The company also logged 1,500 miles on the railroad that month.
>
>Through heat, rain and snow, "they had to camp and sleep out in the open,"
>Rita said. "It was very tough."
>
>The hard life was one reason for high turnover among the Rangers. In eight
>years, 107 men were recorded on the Ranger rolls. 'Beaty' still roams
>
>Ranger Beaty still roams Arizona, thanks to Gary Lehmann. The Phoenix
>resident belongs to the Old West Historical Society, a group that portrays
>various Arizona figures, including the Rangers, at historical fairs and
>other events.
>
>"Chapo was instrumental in capturing two of Mexico's worst bandits,"
>Lehmann said.
>
>To dress the part, Lehmann doesn't need a uniform. The Rangers wore range
>clothes - denim pants, long-sleeved cotton shirts, wool vests, stovepipe
>boots and hats - which they furnished themselves.
>
>They carried their own pistols, and the territory furnished Model 1895
>Winchester rifles, although the price had to be reimbursed.
>
>Chapo Beaty also packed a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun. At one point,
>Lehmann said, Chapo had a blacksmith weld the hammers together with a piece
>of iron and then remove the trigger.
>
>When a saloon brawl broke out, Lehmann relates, all Chapo had to do was
>walk into the place cradling that gun. Everyone knew that he had to hold
>the hammer back to keep the gun cocked, and it would go off at the slip of
>a thumb. The bar emptied out.
>
>'Cleaned up territory'
>
>The Rangers "were pretty ruthless," Lehmann said. "But they really cleaned
>up the territory. They really cleaned house."
>
>In 1905, the captain of the company reported that "law and order prevail"
>in the territory.
>
>The gangs of rustlers and smugglers had been broken up. The territory
>hadn't seen a train robbery, bank robbery or lynching in two years.
>
>In 1903-04, the Rangers arrested 297 people for felonies, with horse and
>cattle theft high on the list. They picked up 762 on misdemeanor charges,
>mostly for drunk and disorderly conduct.
>
>While nabbing crooks was fine, the Rangers weren't so popular when they
>helped employers put down strikes. The force was brought in when miners
>walked off the job in Morenci because the company cut their pay when
>Arizona adopted an eight-hour day for mining. The Rangers captured the
>leader of the strike and the strike fizzled out.
>
>Burr under saddle
>>From the beginning, Arizona Democrats considered the Rangers a political
>burr under the saddle. They were suspicious of a group set up by a
>Republican governor and complained that too many Ranger recruits were
>Republicans.
>
>In 1909, the heavily Democratic Territorial Assembly voted to abolish the
>Rangers.
>
>Television briefly brought the Rangers back to life in 1958, in a western
>called 26 Men. The stars, Tris Coffin and Kelo Henderson, Even came to
>Patagonia to meet Chapo and three other Rangers.
>
>They brought along a quick-draw artist, Chapo's son recalls.
>
>"It's a good thing he doesn't have a real gun," Chapo sniffed. "He'd shoot
>himself in the leg."
>
>Like the real Rangers, the actors wore a silver badge, a star with balls on
>the tips of each point.
>
>Most of the real badges, though, have disappeared. A few are in Private
>hands. The state archives had one, but it was stolen in the 1960s.
>
>The Arizona Historical Society Museum in Tucson has one of the Replicas
>made for the TV series. The museum also has Chapo's pistol, shotgun and
>holster.
>
>Such Ranger artifacts are rare, said Mark Santiago, collections Manager. He
>doesn't know of any others in Arizona museums.
>
>The state archives contain many of the enlistment papers and a Smattering
>of other reports, as well as some photos of the Rangers.
>
>A volunteer group called the Arizona Rangers was established in 1957.
>
>They help out at rodeos, parades, festivals and other events, as well as
>assisting with drunk-driving task forces and other law enforcement
>activities. There are more than 200 members statewide, and last year they
>put in 25,000 hours of volunteer work and raised $10,000 for charity, said
>Rich Schloss, acting state commander.
>
>The group is creating an Arizona Ranger museum at the old courthouse in
>Nogales, with historic photos of the originals and information about the
>volunteers.
>
>But they'd like to be official.
>
>"We want to come home," Schloss said. "We want to be attached to the state
>once again."
>
>Sen. George Cunningham, D-Tucson, sponsored a bill to establish the Arizona
>Rangers as a voluntary unpaid auxiliary to the Department of Emergency and
>Military Affairs, with $10,000 a year to help cover expenses.
>
>The bill was held because of last-minute concerns about liability, but
>Cunningham expects to resolve those concerns.
>
>If he has his way, some form of the Arizona Rangers will officially ride
>again.
>
>-----
>Archaeology, Anthropology and History of the American Southwest
>Southwestern Archaeology (SWA)  -- got caliche??
>http://www.swanet.org/
>telnet://aztec2.asu.edu
>
>Brian W. Kenny; P.O. Box 61203 Phoenix AZ 85082-1203; [log in to unmask];
>(602) 227-3154 voice msg pager
>
>
Anita Cohen-Williams
Listowner of HISTARCH, SUB-ARCH, SPANBORD
Co-listowner/Manager of ANTHRO-L
Contributing Editor, Anthropology
http://www.suite101.com
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