Captain Bill McDonald, Texas Ranger: A Story of Frontier Reform

"Some have named McDonald as the premier Ranger captain." -Captain John R. Hughes, Lone Star Ranger (2011)
"McDonald coined the Texas Ranger motto: 'One riot, One Ranger!'" - Texas: Land of Legend and Lore (2004)
"McDonald...traveled by train...to Sam Fordyce...to help end the 'reign of terror'...McDonald's rifle jammed after the first shot." - Firearms of the Texas Rangers (2020)
"We can indorse all Mr. Paine says about our own Captain Bill, except ...inference Captain Bill is part wildman." -Fort Worth Telegram, Aug. 26, 1908

Why do many historians consider Captain Bill McDonald the greatest captain of the Texas Rangers? How did he earn the reputation of being so brave that he'd "charge hell with a bucket of water"?

In 1909, Pulitzer Prize Committee member and biographer Albert Bigelow Paine (1861 1937) published McDonald's biography as a captain in the Texas Rangers, in a book titled "Captain Bill McDonald, Texas Ranger: A Story of Frontier Reform."

In introducing the subject of this book, Paine writes:

"During his 25 years or more of service in the field, he reduced those once lawless districts known as the Pan-handle, No-man's Land, and, incidentally, Texas at large to a condition of such proper...it is the story of a man who...faced death almost daily, often under those supreme conditions when the slightest hesitancy...would have been fatal; it is the story of a man who time and again charged into the last retreat of armed and desperate murderers...it is the story of a man who...would "Charge hell with a bucket of water." In a word, it is the story of a man...whose kind is passing away forever."

About the author:

Albert Bigelow Paine was born July 10, 1861, and died April 9, 1937. He was an American author and biographer best known for his work with Mark Twain. Paine was a member of the Pulitzer Prize Committee and wrote in several genres, including fiction, humor, and verse. At the age of twenty, he moved to St. Louis, where he trained as a photographer, and became a dealer in photographic supplies in Fort Scott, Kansas. Paine sold out in 1895 to become a full-time writer, moving to New York. He spent most of his life in Europe, including France, where he wrote two books about Joan of Arc. The works were so well received in France that he was awarded the title of Chevalier in the Légion d'honneur by the French government.

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