Tales of the Texas Rangers

Harry Lauter used to turn up in so many shows during the 1950s and 1960s that my dad and I used to keep track of them so we could catch repeats. Yes, Harry was that good; an actor who came across as someone who could carry off any character with aplomb.

This series had probably the best theme outside of 'The Adventures of Superman'. Though I've not seen 'Texas Rangers' for decades, I can replay that theme, words and picture, in my mind without any trouble at all.

A series I'd love to find one day on DVD.

If anyone has the following episodes I would like to hear from you. Double Edge, Buckaroo from Powder River, Last Days of Boot Hill, Bandits of El Dorado, Panhandle, Key Witness, Quarter Horse, Whirlwind Raiders, Both Barrels Blazing, Traitor's Gold, Warpath, Midway Kewpie, Fifth Plague, Ambush. I have the remaining stories. Willard Parker was a good actor who played on Broadway and various B westerns in the fifties. I suspect his obvious resemblance to Randolph Scott hurt him. The show had three excellent supporting players. Moonlighting from his role as the Old Ranger on Death Valley Days, Stanley Andrews was in the Shooting of Sam Bass, The Hobo, Shorty Sees the Light, and The Black Eyes of Texas. Morris Ankram played Colonel Bryson in Trail Herd. Ken Christy was Windy Norton in Singing on the Trail.

Every Saturday morning I loved the lineup of live action and animated shows on the air. "The Tales of Texas Rangers" started just before I entered kintergarten and continued until about the third grade. Many times my friends and I played cowboys and sometimes used story lines from these shows. When I was in the early grades I wanted to be a cowboy, which would be a big move for a city slicker from Pittsburgh. Cowboy, fireman, and pilot were the top three career goals of the boys in my classes. Westerns and Science Fiction were big both in the movies and TV.

"Tales of Texas Rangers" was one of the better Westerns I remember. One week they would be in the Old West and the other week they would be in modern times. We loved the deserts, the mountains, and the praries of the West, and of course the horses. It was encouraging to see even that in the age of Satellites, they still had big ranches in Texas and were still troubled by cattle rustlers and mine claim-jumpers. The good guys always won, and we admired their bravery and quick-thinking. One encouraging sign for our future employment was that at least the original Texas Rangers only hired men who were not from Texas, on the theory that Texans would sooner or later would be forced to arrest an old friend.

One of the details that strikes you at that age is that in the modern episodes they always got brand new Fords every September. Seeing the new crop of cars every years was very exciting and every year the auto stores on Homestead's "Auto Row" would hold big open houses to show off the latest models.

When my own children grew up in the 1980s I watched many wonderful new kids' shows, but they just didn't match up to the classics like "Texas Rangers." Ah, the memories!

My father retired from the Texas Rangers in 1951, when I was about four years old. He and I watched this program every Saturday. Its tech adviser was Captain Clint Peoples, for whom my dad worked in his last years with the Rangers. I KNEW that Capt. Peoples played up his own role in all the episodes (???), but I also recognized my father's contributions (as he revealed them). In sum, when I look back, I think that there was a lot more realism than my fellow eight year old viewers knew. I am incredibly gratified, though, that kids from New Hampshire felt exactly as I did about the show. Small world. Thanks to you all "Yankees" for sharing your memories. If you're curious, my father's favorite TV crime show in the years before he died was Hawaii Five-O.

Like some other reviewers, I too have been influenced greatly in my life by watching Willard Parker play Jace Pearson in this series between ages 4-8 and after. Things ranging from my career choice to my respect for courtesy and civility and friendliness were shaped by the way this actor fleshed out this character for young people to watch. His introductions of each episode provided my earliest and most vivid image of the concept of authority--the crisp uniform appearance, his athletic build, his somewhat older age, and especially his voice. For me, his were the voice and words of an authoritative, trusted guy. Like others whose reviews I am just now appreciating for the first time, I played "Jace and Clay" with my brother. I am older, so I got to be Jace. Tons of memories in that, and I still think of the character of Jace Pearson, as portrayed by the actor I agree is woefully underrated, Willard Parker. For that matter, Harry Lauter is way underrated as well, and did a great job of being a Texas Ranger and Jace's partner and friend.

I liked many, many westerns in the 50's and 60's, but this one has a uniquely special place in my mind to this minute. Whatever factors cause people to develop very strong affinities for particular others sure worked hard on me with respect to Willard Parker. I wish I had been smart enough to track him down and thank him for his gifts to my life, although I suppose it might have seemed odd to him that a stranger could be so influenced. Such is the power of the acting profession in combination with the human imagination. Anyway, I thank the 10 people who preceded me in reviewing this show respectfully and appreciatively.