Texas Ranger Museum in Waco

The wife and I were in Waco yesterday and I have been wanting to visit the museum for a long time, so we did.
They show about a 45 minute documentary video of the history of the Rangers which is a great watch unless you have a bored 4 year old girl and a newborn baby sitting right behind you


The display of artifacts were pretty amazing, especially the saddles and guns.



My wifes favorite.





The dog looked so fricking real.

We were there a number of times when the kids were young. Some real cool history and displays. Real handy location along IH35 if you want to breakup a road trip. May have to stop in again ourselves as it has been a long time.

Neat pistol with a detachable rifle butt.

A good buddy’s grandfather is enshrined there. Going to his house was just a neat microcosm of what all is housed in that museum.

Yes sir. Really worth a day trip. Intresting and educational.

I've been in Waco for 10 years and still haven't gone. Have a 4 year old and one that's close to 3. "Sorry Honey, I have a "class" next weekend. You're on your own with the kids."

Great museum. Spent several hours there a few years ago.

We’ve gone a few times. Looks like they have some new displays.

I really like that place

Yep.....

Me too!

Thanks for posting it up!

Thanks for posting.

I passed that place for years before I finally stopped and checked it out. It's well worth the trip. There is a lot of very interesting history there.

I have stopped there a couple times when traveling through Waco. Being a gun nut, I always enjoy it. I highly recommend it. I have a 2nd Great Grandfather that was a Frontier Texas Ranger stationed in Young County in 1874. He surely would have rode on patrols that included the military road that passed somewhere through my Young County hunting lease. One of these days I am going to see what the research department at the museum can tell me about him.

Im down the highway and havent been in over 20 years. Been to the hall they rent out several times recently. Guess its time to make another trip. Thanks for the reminder Stub.

That is a neat museum. There is a lot of interesting history there. Worth the stop

Manos arriba you sons of bitc...

The Rangers were the only line of defense for many years, long before they became a law enforcement agency. I highly recommend the Savage Frontier book series by Stephen Moore. We owe a great debt to these men.

I was taken aback by all of the different ways the Texas Rangers were used not only in Texas but across the nation, the Rangers offered their services to King George of England to help fight Nazi Germany.

They have added interesting new stuff like Ranger Rock dated 1878 that was found in a cave by two young boys in 1910 while out playing and its journey to Arizona.
It was donated to the museum last year.

This is a great timeline link about the history.

https://www.texasranger.org/texas-ranger-museum/history/timeline/

You should listen to the duck season somewhere podcast 2 episodes about Holt Colier. (His statue is there in Waco) one of the best untold American stories. Just awesome dude lived 3 lives in one.


He was born a slave in Mississippi.

His statue is there at the rangers museum.

He killed a yankee soldier carpetbagger in Mississippi post civil war and walked.

Helped Nickname a great American president. The name by which he’s known.

That place is cool. When I first moved here was working for a glass shop and we had the job of replacing glass in some display cases that job took a lot longer than it should of we spent a lot of time looking around..

You find out who Bigfoot Wallace was?

They used to only charge $25 for research, and they are pretty quick.

"Side note". Meant to stop at the Little Czech Bakery in West on the way back, did not remember until we were in Waxahachie dang it




It is really amazing the hard lives most of the old time Rangers and regular folks lived back then. Makes the characters and lifestyle in Lonesome Dove look like a cake walk.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_A._A._Wallace

William Alexander Anderson "Bigfoot" Wallace (April 3, 1817 – January 7, 1899) was a famous Texas Ranger who took part in many of the military conflicts of the Republic of Texas and the United States in the 1840s, including the Mexican–American War.

Wallace was born in Lexington, Virginia, to parents of Scots-Irish descent. When he learned that a brother and a cousin had been killed in the Goliad Massacre, he set out for Texas to "take pay out of the Mexicans"; years later, he confessed that he believed the account had been squared. Wallace was a large man at 6'2" and 240 pounds in his prime.

Wallace fought at the battles of Salado Creek, Battle of Hondo River, and Mier. Some of his most graphic memories were of his experiences in Perote Prison after having survived the Black Bean Incident. Wallace participated in the Battle of Monterrey during the Mexican–American War. As a member of the John Coffee Hays's Rangers, Wallace killed "as many inoffensive Mexicans as he could to avenge his imprisonment after the Mier Expedition".[1] Wallace later participated in the Comanche Wars.

In the 1850s, Wallace commanded a ranger company of his own, fighting border bandits as well as Native Americans. He was so expert at trailing that he was frequently called upon to track down runaway slaves trying to get to Mexico. He drove a mail hack from San Antonio to El Paso and on one occasion, after losing his mules to Comanches, walked to El Paso and ate twenty-seven eggs at the first Mexican house he came to before going on to town for a full meal.

During the Civil War, he helped guard the frontier against Comanches. At one time, Wallace had a small ranch on the Medina River on land granted to him by the state of Texas.

The later years of his life were spent in South Texas in the vicinity of a small village named Bigfoot. He never married. He was a mellow and convivial soul who liked to sit in a roomy rawhide-bottomed chair in the shade of his shanty and tell the stories of his career. Wallace was personally honest but liked to "stretch the blanket" and embellish his stories.

Wallace died on January 7, 1899, and shortly thereafter the Texas legislature appropriated money for moving his body to the Texas State Cemetery.

"Bigfoot" Wallace is the namesake of the town of Bigfoot, Texas in Frio County and of Wallace Creek in Bandera County.[2][3]

The Big Foot Wallace museum is a local museum dedicated to Wallace and houses artifacts related to Wallace, as well as those of the community.[4]

Changed hand A couple of years ago, It's just not the same anymore. You was in my backyard we could of done, Lunch

Next time I am in your neck of the woods I will holler at ya, lunch sounds good

Been several times but it's been a while since the last visit.

Heard a few years ago that they were catching flack and had to change a few things because they weren't politically correct enough.

Went about 20 years ago. Cool place. I’m sure it’s changed significantly.