Texas Trivia

Texas Ranger Badges: Fact or Fiction?

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Kathleen Rice Adams header

Texas Ranger badges are a hot commodity in the collectibles market, but the caveat “buyer beware” applies in a big way. The vast majority of items marketed as genuine Texas Ranger badges are reproductions, facsimiles, or toys. Very few legitimate badges exist outside museums and family collections, and those that do hardly ever are sold. There’s a very good reason for that: Manufacturing, possessing, or selling Texas Ranger insignia, even fakes that are “deceptively similar” to the real thing, violates Texas law except in specific circumstances.

According to Byron A. Johnson, executive director of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum (the official historical center for the Texas Ranger law-enforcement agency), “Spurious badges and fraudulent representation or transactions connected with them date back to the 1950s and are increasing. We receive anywhere from 10 to 30 inquiries a month on badges, the majority connected with sales on eBay.”

If you had to, could you identify a legitimate Texas Ranger badge? Test your knowledge: Which of the alleged badges below are genuine? Pick one from each set. (All images are ©Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, Waco, Texas, and are used with permission. All Rights Reserved.)

Set 1

1889Badge_130
©TRHFM, Waco, TX

SpecialAgent130
©TRHFM, Waco, TX

Answer: The left-hand badge, dated 1889, is the earliest authenticated Texas Ranger insignia in the collection of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum. Badges weren’t standard issue for Rangers until 1935, although from 1874 onward, individual Rangers sometimes commissioned badges from jewelers or gunsmiths, who made them from Mexican coins. Relatively few Rangers wore a badge out in the open. As for the item on the right? There’s no such thing as a “Texas Ranger Special Agent.”

Set 2

FakeShield_130
©TRHFM, Waco, TX

1938Badge_130
©TRHFM, Waco, TX

Answer: On the right is an official shield-type badge issued between 1938 and 1957. Ranger captains received gold badges; the shields issued to lower ranks were silver. The badge on the left is a fake, though similar authentic badges exist.

Set 3

FrontierBattalionBadge_130
©TRHFM, Waco, TX

1957Badge_130
©TRHFM, Waco, TX

Answer: The badge on the right was the official badge of the Rangers from July 1957 to October 1962. Called the “blue bottle cap badge,” the solid, “modernized” design was universally reviled. The left-hand badge is a fake. According to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, “No genuine Texas Ranger badges are known to exist with ‘Frontier Battalion’ engraved on them.”

Set 4

1962Badge_130
©TRHFM, Waco, TX

COF_130
©TRHFM, Waco, TX

Answer: The left-hand badge, called the “wagon wheel badge,” has been the official Texas Ranger badge since October 1962. Each is made from a Mexican five-peso silver coin. The badge on the right is a “fantasy badge.” According to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, the most common designation on such badges is “Co. A.”

How did you do? If you answered correctly for more than one without benefiting from a lucky guess, you did better than most people, including Texans. Give yourself extra points if you knew Rangers proved their legitimacy with Warrants of Authority, not badges, prior to 1935.

For more information about the Texas Rangers—including the history of the organization, biographical sketches of individual Rangers, and all kinds of information about badges and other insignia—visit the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum online at TexasRanger.org. The museum and its staff have my utmost gratitude for their assistance with this post. They do the Rangers proud.

 

While we’re on the subject of Rangers…

TheSecond-BestRangerInTexas_200x300On June 1, Western Fictioneers, a professional organization for authors of western novels and short stories, announced the winners of the 2015 Peacemaker Awards. Presented annually, the Peacemakers recognize the best western historical fiction published during the previous calendar year.

I’m happy to say “The Second-Best Ranger in Texas” received the award for Best Western Short Fiction. “The Second-Best Ranger in Texas” tells the story of a washed-up Texas Ranger and a failed nun who find redemption in love.

The award marked the second time in two years a short story published by Prairie Rose Publications has been honored with a Peacemaker: Livia J. Washburn’s “Charlie’s Pie” received the Best Western Short Fiction award in 2014.

Available in paperback and e-book

In addition, Prodigal Gun, also published by Prairie Rose, was named a finalist in the Best Western First Novel category. Prodigal Gun is the first novel-length romance ever nominated for a Peacemaker.

I don’t say any of that to brag…

Oh, heck. Who am I trying to kid? I’m bragging. (Sorry, Mom!)

There really is a larger point, though: I think the award and nomination are important, but not because the books are mine. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right stories. There’s a hint at something much broader here: At long last, it seems, romances of all lengths are being recognized as “respectable literature” outside the romance category. That’s good news for all of us who enjoy a genre too often scoffed at and snubbed by the larger community of authors and readers.

Over the past eighteen months, a number of books published by Prairie Rose Publications have been nominated for or received awards of all kinds. If that’s any indication, PRP is off to a great start. Founded in August 2013 by Livia Washburn Reasoner and Cheryl Pierson, the company is and always will be dedicated to publishing traditional westerns and western romance written by women. Nevertheless, in less than two years, PRP has expanded to include young adult, inspirational, paranormal, and medieval lines. The “little publishing company” releases some darn fine fiction. I’m proud it publishes mine.

 

To celebrate good fortune in so many areas of my life, I’ll gift a copy of “The Second-Best Ranger in Texas” to two folks who are brave enough to tell us how many of the badges above they identified correctly. To the comments with you!

 

 

Those Crazy Texas Town Names

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MargaretBrownley-header

As I told you last month, I’m writing a new series based in Texas and I’ve been studying maps. Texas sure does have some odd, charming and altogether weird or funny town names. Here’re just a couple that caught my eye.

City_HallCut and Shoot, Texas
Believe it or not, this town name was the result of a church fight. No one really knows what the dispute was about. Some say it was over the new steeple; others say there was a disagreement as to who should preach there. Still others insist that church member land claims was to blame.

Whatever the reason, the altercation was about to turn violent. A small boy at the scene declared he was going to take up a tactical position and “cut around the corner and shoot through the bushes.”

Later, after the matter was taken to court, the judge asked a witness where the confrontation had taken place. Since the town didn‘t have a name the witness described the location the best way he knew how. “I suppose you could call it the place where they had the cutting and shooting scrape,” he said, and the name stuck.

Ding Dong, Texas (which just happens to be in Bell County)DingDong

As the saying goes, if you find yourself in Ding Dong, you had to be looking for it. Two early residents Zulis Bell and his nephew Berth ran a general store and hired a local painter named C.C. Hoover to make a sign for their business.

Hoover illustrated the sign with two bells inscribed with the owners’ names, and then wrote “Ding Dong” on the bells. No one remembered the Bells but they sure did remember Ding Dong and the name stuck.

jotemdowntexasJot-Em-Down, Texas
This is a small unincorporated community in Delta County, Texas, United States.

The town’s name comes from the name of a fictional store in the Lum and Abner radio show, which aired in the 30s and 40s.

Dime Box, Texas
The name originated from the practice of leaving a dime in the box at Brown’s Mill to have a letter delivered. The practice stopped when a post office was opened in 1877.

The following town isn’t in Texas but I just love the name—and of course the love story.

Total Wreck, ArizonaTotal_Wreck
Total Wreck was discovered by John L. Dillon in 1879.  He named it such because he thought the ledge the mine was on looked like a total wreck. A man once got into a shooting at Total Wreck and survived because the bullet lodged in a stack of love letters he had in his jacket. He later married the girl who wrote the letters!

 

What is the strangest named town you ever visited?

For me it would have to be Monkey Eyebrow, Arizona.

 

“How come no one ever told me that kissin’

is even more fun that fighting a bear?”-A Lady Like Sarah

Want to know more about Sarah?  The eBook is now only $1.99

sarahTo order click cover

On a Wheel and a Prayer

by

MargaretBrownley-header

“What was it about yesterday that made you think

I was a gentleman, Miss Blackwell?” 

                                                                                                                           -A Bicycle Built for Two

When you think of the old west, bicycles probably don’t come to mind. I mean can you honestly picture John Wayne chasing down bad guys on a tricycle  or boneshaker? Yet, the bicycle craze that hit the country in the 1890s was just as prevalent in the west as it was in the east.

 

bicyle

The new craze not only changed the way people got around, but also the economy. An editorial in the Fort Macleod Gazette in the early 1890s stated, “If this craze for bicycle riding continues much longer our livery stable men will have to close down.” The same lament could be heard from hatters, dressmakers and carriage workers.

Not only did cowboys, sheriffs and outlaws join the wheeling club, but so did women

One Texas newspaper in 1895 issued this warning regarding female bicycle riders: “We have been watching the course of events with breathless anxiety and Nebuchadnezzar himself never saw the handwriting on the wall more distinctly than we see it now. The bloomer is coming sure enough.”

 

One Kansas newspaper lamented that “Women wear their trowserettes even when their machines are left at home.”  While bikes1jpgsome were criticizing women’s attire others like Susan B. Anthony declared bicycles “Have done more than anything else in the world to emancipate women.”

Head over Handlebars

Bloomers aside, muddy dirt roads and wooden sidewalks made for a wild ride. Newspapers regularly reported people taking a “scorcher” and “being knocked senseless” or “carrying an arm in a sling.”

 

One Texas town responded by adopting the following regulations:

          1.Anyone riding a tricycle or relocopede must be supplied with a bell or horn that must be rung at all crossings.
          2.Any persons riding a tricycle at night must have a suitable lantern.
          3. It is especially prohibited for three or more riders to ride abreast
          4. No person or persons shall rest their bicycle, velocipede, or tricycle against a building (including saloons) where the vehicle will be on sidewalks

 

Some cities imposed a speed limit in town, usually four miles an hour. Fines could be as high as twenty-five dollars. The ordinances created as many problems as they prevented. Not only was there suddenly a shortage of cowbells but the noise created by them posed another problem.

 

It wasn’t just riders that gave sheriffs and marshals a headache, but a new kind of outlaw—a bicycle thief. Bicycles were also used as getaways and one thief led his pursuers on a merry chase through Sacramento.

 

Hold on to Your Stetsons

An Arizona Territory newspaper reported that cowboys in Three Rivers, Michigan “have discarded their horses for bicycles in herding cattle. Cowboys in Arizona would have a happy time herding cattle on bicycles.”

 

Cattle didn’t always take kindly to bicycles as one doctor found out when he unexpectedly ran into a herd of cattle. He ended up with a broken shoulder blade and his $100 bike in ruins. Things got so bad that some insurance companies announced they would charge double for bikers.

 

Some lawmen like Arizona Sheriff Donahue decided to fight fire with fire and announced that he was the proud owner of a “handsome nickel-plated bicycle” and was in negotiations to purchase a Ferris wheel bike for his under-sheriff.  John Wayne will never know what he missed.

 

I don’t know how it is where you live but the bicycle craze has hit my town big time and I recently caught my husband drooling over a $1000 bike. How are wheeling conditions in your town and have you joined the pack?

 New on Amazon today!

BicycleBuiltForTwo
To order click cover

A Bicycle Built for Two

Everything goes to hades in a handbasket when Damian Newcastle rides into Amanda’s life.

No one can pedal a bicycle around turn-of-the-century New York without a license, so Amanda Blackwell’s cycling school has become all the rage. The innovative establishment provides an income for the independent miss and her brother Donny, a special child. But in one afternoon, everything goes to hade in a handbasket. Amanda’s uncle is suing to put Donny into an institution and Damian Newcastle, the man she has every reason to hate, rides into her life to ruin everything.

 

Texisms

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phyliss_miranda.jpgLast year my daughter and I went to New York City on business.  We stayed at a hotel right off Times Square and on our walk back to the hotel every evening we stopped to goggle some larrupin’ good delicacies at a bakery.  We resisted until the night before we left when we stopped.  After a minute or two of discussing which item we wanted and realizing the owner had been watching us stop each night, we placed our order.  The gentlemen, while wrapping up our goodies, simply asked, “You don’t have these in your country?”  I was surprised but I think he was more surprised that we live in Texas and Texas is in the USA.

As a disclaimer, I was born and raised in the Texas Panhandle and I’ve never kicked my Texisms nor have I tried.

The second incident that made me wonder about the Texisms that I think are normal but may not seem so to other people was a review of The Tycoon and the Texan.  Now keep in mind that this contemporary romance begins out in California with my hero and heroine working together, but the last third to half wraps up their relationship in the panhandle of Texas on the Johnson-LeDoux Ranch.  If you followed my western historical anthologies with Linda Broday, DeWanna Pace and Jodi Thomas, you’ll recognize the LeDoux Ranch at Kasota Spring, Texas.

The first book of my new series “Kasota Springs Romance Series” The Troubled Texan hasThe Troubled Texan Good lots of 4th and 5th generation Kasotans.

A couple of reviews on The Tycoon and the Texan were particularly harsh about my Texisms.  One wrote that she or he had never heard half of the words I used and doubt they were real words that people in Texas use today.  After I got out of my poor pity party, I realized that there are many areas of the US who don’t understand our Texisms and certainly don’t realize that we still use words and phrases that were used in the mid-1800’s.  But then let’s not forget that this part of Texas wasn’t settled until around 1875 … that’s less than a century and a half ago.  As a matter of fact, many of our ranches are owned by the original families.  The bank we do business with is still owned and operated by the same family who founded it in the 1800’s.

Well, all of this put together gave me cause for thought.  Maybe you all might like the definitions of some of the words and phrases we use … so here goes.

Y’all or you all is both singular, plural or plural possessive.

Y’all come back, you hear. We don’t want an answer, but are inviting them individually and collectively to come back.

Now, all you all is definitely plural. Adding the all is self-explanatory.

We put y’all’s packages under the Christmas tree.

bull riderMosey is an interesting word, depending on how it’s used.  It can mean to move quickly or slowly.  A two thousand pound Brahma bull moseys pretty dern slow, while a cowboy moseying toward a honky-tonk for a cold beer would mosey that direction pretty quick.

I’ve written this before, but in case you missed it and plan a trip to the south please remember that you can’t just order a coke … you need to explain whether you want a Coca-Cola, Pepsi, 7Up, Dr Pepper or Root Beer.  We typically don’t use soda or pop, but I’ve heard a coke called a soda-pop.

Fixin’ can be a noun, verb or adverb depending on how it’s used:  I’m fixin’ to be in a fix because I’m missing some of the fixin’s for dinner, so I’m fixin’ to head for the grocery store.

For your wordsmith’s out there, here’s a regional note from the dictionary which I found interesting:  “Fixing to” ranks with y’all as one of the best known markers of Southern dialects, although it seems to be making its way into the informal speech and writing of non-Southerners.  “Fixing to” means “to be on the verge of or in preparation for doing a given thing,” but like a modal auxiliary (can, may, must, ought, shall, should, will and would, that are characteristically used with other verbs to express mood or tense), it has only a single invariant form and is not fully inflected like other verbs.  Its form is always the present participle followed by the infinitive marker to: They are “fixing to” leave without us.  Semantically, “fixing to” can refer only to events that immediately follow the speaker’s point of reference. Hell fire and brimstone, bring on the matches we all thought it was everyday language in Texas and are sure glad it’s made it’s way into the dictionary!”

Aren’t we glad someone went to all the trouble to explain fixing, except they obviously aren’t from Texas ‘cause we drop that useless “g” at the end?

I’ll leave you with a couple of Texisms you must know if you mosey into Texas and plan on stayin’ a spell.

Only a true Texan knows the difference between a hissie fit and a conniption fit.

A true Texan can point out the general direction of catawampus.

A true Texan grew up knowing the difference between “pert near” and “a right far piece. If all you all will keep these little ditties in mind when you are in Texas, it’ll likely keep you

Mobeetie Strap-Iron Jailfrom spending your vacation in the hoosegow.  An example, if you ask to buy some coke from the wrong party, you’ll definitely end up in the pokey.

Do you have a regional phrase, word, or saying you’d like to share with all of us?

To one lucky winner, I will give you an eBook of either The Tycoon and the Texan or The Troubled Texan.

TheTycoonAndTheTexaneBook

Texas Tidbits

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Phyliss Miranda sig line for P&P Bluebonnet

I love to share tidbits of Texas history with our readers.  There are so many that I would write a blog every day on them … but I’ll spare you all.  Here’s a few I recently came across.

Some ranchers in the Panhandle of Texas were friendly with the wild bands of American Indians. Though countless settlers were raided and killed in the territory, friends of the Apache were spared.  How could the Native Americans tell the friendly settlers?  Geronimo told the frontiersman to wear white hat bands on their hats, and they not be bothered.

For this going to RWA in San Antonio this year, here are some goodies to consider.

The Buckhorn Saloon and Museum is filled with Texas oddities and paraphernalia.

First opened in 1881, the saloon catered to a clientele that didn’t always have enough money to pay the check. So the owner started accepting horns and antlers. The owner’s wife took jars of rattlesnake rattles. A museum adjunct was inevitable.

Today, the collection includes a world-record whitetail deer called the 78-Point Buck, a 10,000 year old Irish elk skull and antlers, and longhorns that measure more than eight feet across.

Not too long ago, the saloon added a second museum honoring the lawmen of the Texas Rangers, including a re-creation of San Antonio at the turn of the century, and a Bonnie and Clyde exhibit.

And, I can testify they have one of the best hamburgers I’ve ever eaten!

Here’s another little Texas tidbit.  The Texas State nickname is “The Lone Star State” (and no it wasn’t named after Lone Star Beer, but the other way around) and the Texas flag has as a lone white star on a red, white, and blue flag.

So there can be no misinterpretation, the our Legislature spelled out the symbolism of each of those colors.

Red is for bravery.

White is for purity.

Blue is for loyalty.

My first book in the Kasota Springs Romance series from Kensington just came out.  The Troubled Texan is set in Kasota Springs, which, if you’ve read any of our six anthologies you’ll recognize the name, since two are set in that town.  In this series many fourth and fifth generation Kasotans will appear.  I wrote a blog/post for Kensington and it’s on their website, so I thought I’d give you a preview of it and the link.  So, if you have time, please go over to Kensington and read the full blog.  I’m thrilled to let everyone know that The Troubled Texan along with its predecessor The Tycoon and the Texan are available in your favorite format, eBook and trade back at Amazon and Barnes and Nobles.

The Birth of Kasota Springs
Phyliss Miranda

I got the story idea for The Troubled Texan from following a horrific mass murder trial in California. Given my experience in the legal field, I wondered how the plaintiff’s attorney handled months, even years, of being in the head of a murderer. And what if she settles in a small town under an alias without knowing that her long-lost classmate and former professional football player was the sheriff? It doesn’t take her long to recognize the sexy, hard-nosed, hunk when he stops her for a traffic violation. But a small town isn’t big enough for the both of them…or is it just right? They both have secrets and deep seeded ones they’re not ready to share…not yet!

To read all of my blog here’s the link: http://www.ekensingtonbooks.com/page.aspx/PhylissMiranda

 

TheTycoonAndTheTexaneBookFor two lucky winners,The Troubled Texan Good

I will give you a copy of the eBook

The Tycoon and the Texan

or

The Troubled Texan

Petticoats & Pistols