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Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum

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gclink
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5 out of 5
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The Texas Ranger Museum

  • February 28, 2007
  • Rated 5 of 5 by Vanilla Sugar from Livingston, Texas
The Texas Ranger Museum gave a collective history of these highly regarded law enforcement officers. From the time of the settlers to modern day, the museum offers a glimpse of what it was like to be a Ranger. I was surprised to learn that one of my childhood TV heroes was a Texas Ranger. My husband enjoyed the hundreds of guns on display since he is a collector. The crime lab display surprised me when I learned that insects on a body can be used to determine the time of death. Morbid but interesting. The highlight of the museum was the PBS documentary on the Texas Rangers. Long in length (nearly an hour) but the documentary told the entire story of the Rangers. Your other option is to read all the signs in the museum display cases. I preferred the movie over all that reading.

From journal Weekend in Waco Texas

Editor Pick

Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum

  • February 21, 2007
  • Rated 5 of 5 by zabelle from Portland, Connecticut
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum

At some point in our vacation I knew that I owed it to Al to take him somewhere that he would really enjoy. The Texas Ranger Museum in Waco was that place. Al is a really big Chuck Norris fan and he has seen every Walker, Texas Ranger show at least five times.

We began our visit by watching a half hour video about the Texas Rangers called "The Texas Ranger from Print to the Silver Screen". We learned that the Rangers began as a force to protect the settlers from the Comanche. In the early days the Indians had the advantage because they could get off 6-12 arrows to one shot from a rifle. With the inventions of the colt 5 shot the advantage went to the Ranger. The Comanche were decimated at the Battle of Walker Creek and the Rangers went from the defensive to the offensive.

With the onset of the Mexican American War many of the Rangers went into the regular army. They swung the balance of the war in favor of the US with their reputation of being fast and fearless. During the Civil War again the Rangers joined the army, this time of the Confederacy. While they were gone the Comanche went on the offensive and the frontier border was moved back east by 100 miles. With the end of the war the Rangers were back to being the guardians of the frontier.

At times in the next 50 years it was hard to tell who were the good guys and who were the bad guys as some really shady characters became irregular Rangers and where there is power it will tend to corrupt. The Rangers cleaned up their act and became professional and were encouraged to present a gentler image.

There is a lot more to the movie but I don’t want to spoil all the fun. After we were finished we went around and started looking at some of the displays. It is fascinating stuff. There are lots of personal and family information about the many men who have been Texas Rangers over the years. But it isn’t all about the men, there is lot of information and pictures about the women behind the men.

You can spend an hour just in this area. There are several other areas beyond this. There are cases of all sorts of weapons; Al loves the buntline special especially. Another case that really got our attention contained some of the weapons used by Bonnie and Clyde in their shoot out with the authorities and also the weapons used by the authorities. Actually it was a former Ranger, Frank Hamer, who tracked them down.

The Rangers today are composed of both men and women, and have officers of all races. They have had a history of ups and downs and yet have been able to earn the respect of law enforcement officials around the world. Finish at the very interesting gift shop.

From journal The Best Place I never Planned to Visit-Georgetown Tx

Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum

  • July 25, 2001
  • Rated 4 of 5 by gclink from Grand Prairie, Texas
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum

The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum is situated in what use to be Ranger Headquarters during the 1800's. The Rangers would use this place to stay when checking in, turning over prisoners, and for home when they were not on the range.

The Museum tells the Ranger story and history. You can see pictures of Rangers from the past, those being honored today, famous cases, and more details about the Rangers themselves.

While visiting here, you can research Ranger geneology and do research on the Rangers. In order to preserve the Rangers, they encourage researching the past to learn for the future.

The museum opened to public in 1968. Today it is open everyday of the year except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. The hours are 9-5 daily. It is easy to locate as it is on the Southeast side of the Brazos River that crosses Interstate 35.

From journal Home of the Baylor Bears

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