Colonel Jack Hays Texas Ranger

John Coffee Hays was a soldier, surveyor, Ranger, officer in the Mexican War, and explorer, Tennessee and Mississppi were already part of him. He was one of the keymen who maintained the Republic of Texas and then helped make it into a state. Yet he left San Antopnio for the Gila River country to head an Indian agency, and went on to California, where he was a sheriff, Federal surveyor general, and town developer before he entered his long period as gentleman ranchman and capitalist, to say nothing of his influence in politics and his exemplary life.

"Centennial series of the Association Former Students, Texas A & M Univ. ; no. 50." Hay's colorful reputation and a host of nicknames earned during battles.

Sixteen-year-old Caleb McAdams and his family sell their prosperous farm in Tennessee and head for Texas to escape a deadly feud, but danger also lurks on the Texas frontier. While Caleb is out rounding up longhorns, his family is massacred by Comanches during the great raid of 1840. Seeking revenge, Caleb volunteers to fight with Captain Jack Hays and the Texas Rangers at the battle of Plum Creek. In Star over Texas Caleb McAdams volunteers for service in The Mexican-American War.

Color illustration on front cover of color photograph of a western saddle, rifle, rattlesnake and steer skull lying in the sand.

Joining the legendary Texas Rangers at the tender age of twenty-two, Captain Jack becomes the captain of his own company within a year and transforms the Rangers into the most effective cavalry force in history

For the Texas Rangers, the Mexican-American War was an opportunity for vengeance. When the United States declared war on Mexico in 1846, the Texas Rangers were eager to settle scores with their familiar foe and quickly became the eyes and ears of the US army. Commanded by established legends like Samuel H. Walker, Benjamin McCulloch, and John "Jack" Coffee Hays, Texas Rangers led the American charge at Monterrey and saved General Taylor's army at Buena Vista. However, their depredations on Mexican citizenry were often excessive, and their behavior, along with other volunteers, sparked Mexican resistance. However crucial they were to US victory, it is also indisputable that they earned a reputation for brutality even in a vicious war.. Author William Nelson Fox follows these larger than life figures into stories of heroism and villainy at the heart of the Mexican-American War.