Yes, there is a real life Texas Ranger connection to our favorite fictional Lone Ranger. In 1915 Western author Zane Grey published his great book THE LONE STAR RANGER and dedicated it to Texas Ranger John Hughes with this moving tribute to Captain Hughes and his Rangers.
The Lone Star Ranger is a Western novel published by Zane Grey in 1915. The book takes place in Texas, the Lone Star State, and several main characters are Texan outlaws.
To
CAPTAIN JOHN HUGHES
and his Texas Rangers
It may seem strange to you that out of all the stories I heard on the Rio Grande I should choose as first that of Buck Duane—outlaw and gunman.
But, indeed, Ranger Coffee’s story of the last of the Duanes has haunted me, and I have given full rein to imagination and have retold it in my own way. It deals with the old law—the old border days—therefore it is better first. Soon, perchance, I shall have the pleasure of writing of the border of to-day, which in Joe Sitter’s laconic speech, “Shore is ‘most as bad an’ wild as ever!”
In the North and East there is a popular idea that the frontier of the West is a thing long past, and remembered now only in stories. As I think of this I remember Ranger Sitter when he made that remark, while he grimly stroked an unhealed bullet wound. And I remember the giant Vaughn, that typical son of stalwart Texas, sitting there quietly with bandaged head, his thoughtful eye boding ill to the outlaw who had ambushed him. Only a few months have passed since then—when I had my memorable sojourn with you—and yet, in that short time, Russell and Moore have crossed the Divide, like Rangers.
Gentlemen,—I have the honor to dedicate this book to you, and the hope that it shall fall to my lot to tell the world the truth about a strange, unique, and misunderstood body of men—the Texas Rangers—who made the great Lone Star State habitable, who never know peaceful rest and sleep, who are passing, who surely will not be forgotten and will some day come into their own.
Hughes was born John Reynolds Hughes, in Cambridge, Illinois. In 1865 his family moved to Dixon, Illinois, then later to Mound City, Kansas. Hughes left home at the age of 14 to work on a ranch as a cowboy. He later made his way west into Indian Territory, where he became closely associated with the Choctaw and Osage Indians, and later with the Comanche, learning much about their cultures and traditions. Following this, Hughes worked as a trail driver on the Chisholm Trail, then purchased a farm in Liberty Hill, Texas.
In May 1886, his neighbor lost several horses to thieves, and Hughes pursued the band, killing two of the men in the process, and capturing the remaining thieves in New Mexico Territory, returning the horses to his neighbor. The pursuit lasted for several months, and brought him to the attention of local Texas Ranger Ira Aten. In July, 1887, Hughes accompanied Ranger Aten in the pursuit of murderer Judd Roberts, with Hughes and Aten killing Roberts in a gunfight. Recruited by the Rangers, prompted by Aten’s recommendation, Hughes signed on in 1887 beginning a career that would last until his retirement on January 31, 1915.
He served mainly in what was referred to as the “Frontier Battalion”, on the Mexico–American border. During that time he gained a reputation as a relentless pursuer of outlaws, and in 1890, while in Shafter, Texas, Hughes posed with fellow Rangers Bob Speaks, Alonzo “Lon” Oden, and Jim Putnam in one of the most widely circulated Texas Ranger photos in history.
L-R: Robert Speaks,
Alonzo Van Oden, James Putman, and Capt. John R. Hughes
Following Hughes’ retirement, western novelist Zane Grey authored The Lone Star Ranger, dedicated to Hughes and his company of Rangers. A close friend of Hughes named Jack Martin went on to author The Border Boss, in 1942 telling of his exploits while with the Rangers. Author W. W. Sterling made Hughes the subject of his book, Trails and Trials of a Texas Ranger, and in addition to those Hughes was included in the books Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters by Bill O’Neal, and The Law Comes to Texas by Frederick Wilkins. Hughes spent the next several years traveling, ranching and prospecting, before settling in Austin, Texas, where he became the chairman of the board and largest stockholder for Citizens Industrial Bank.
In 1940 he was selected for the Certificate of Valor, a national award that recognized law enforcement officers.
Hughes had never married, and by the 1940s Hughes was in poor health, and most of those closest to him had long since died. Depressed and alone, he moved in with a niece in Austin. On June 3, 1947, he died by suicide at the age of 92. He was the oldest living Ranger Captain at the time of his death, and the last of the so called “Four Great Captains ” a reference to the Captains of the four Companies that emerged from the reorganization of the Texas Rangers in 1901. He is buried in the State Cemetery. Hughes is a member of the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame.
“For several years I did not expect to live to the age l am now. I expected to be killed by criminals. An officer who hunts desperate criminals has no business having a wife and family and I have remained single. I have an interesting scrap book, and many of my friends have insisted that I should write a book of my life as a Ranger. I do not expect to do so, however as I have accumulated enough of this world’s goods to keep the wolf away from my door and do not crave notoriety.”
cAPTAIN jOHN r hUGHES
