Ranger Campsite Water Well
Crews, Runnels County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In an effort to protect area settlements, Governor Richard Coke established the Frontier Battalion in 1874. Comprised of six companies of volunteer Rangers, it was headed by Major John B. Jones. This campsite was part of a defensive line which reached from the Red River to the coastal area. Rangers of Co. E, under the leadership of Captain W. J. Maltby, were stationed here in 1874. The camp consisted of tents, a corral for horses, and this hand-dug well, which failed to provide water. Daily scouting duties included a sentry post on nearby Ranger Peak (0.5 mi. W). (1980)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1874 Governor Richard Coke raised the Frontier Battalion — six companies of Rangers under Major John B. Jones — to guard a line of settlements reaching from the Red River to the coast. Company E, led by Captain W. J. Maltby, camped here amid tents and a horse corral and kept a sentry post on nearby Ranger Peak; the hand-dug well beside them never struck water.
Why it matters
The Frontier Battalion's chain of camps marked the edge of Anglo-Texan settlement and the front line of its conflict with Native peoples.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In 1874 Texas was still recovering from the Civil War and Reconstruction, and its western settlements faced constant conflict along the frontier. Farming and ranching families had pushed into lands that Comanche and Kiowa peoples considered their own. Raids, counter-raids and fear shaped daily life on both sides. Settlers wanted protection, and Texans generally preferred their own mounted Rangers to distant federal troops.
That same year, the U.S. Army carried out the Red River War, a major campaign against the Southern Plains tribes. Texas acted at the same time. Governor Richard Coke established the Frontier Battalion, a force of volunteer Rangers meant to guard the settlements along the western edge of the state.
The battalion's camps formed a long defensive line from the Red River in the north toward the coastal region to the south. This campsite in present-day Runnels County was one link in that chain.
People & events
Governor Richard Coke created the Frontier Battalion in 1874 as six companies of volunteer Rangers, all under Major John B. Jones. Jones became one of the best-known Ranger commanders of the era. He oversaw a force spread over hundreds of miles of rough country, with each company responsible for its own stretch of the line.
Company E, led by Captain W. J. Maltby, was stationed here in 1874. Their camp was simple: tents, a corral for the horses, and a hand-dug well. The well is the reason for this marker, and it comes with a telling twist. The Rangers dug it, but it never produced water. Finding water was a basic challenge in this dry country, and on the frontier even hard work didn't always pay off.
Ranger life here meant daily scouting. The men kept a sentry post on Ranger Peak, about half a mile west, where a lookout could watch the surrounding land for riders or smoke. Most days were probably long, hot and uneventful, but constant watching was the whole point of the post.
Its place in the American story
The Frontier Battalion's line of camps marked the edge of Anglo-American settlement in Texas at a turning point. Within a few years the Southern Plains tribes had been forced onto reservations, the buffalo herds were nearly gone, and the country these Rangers patrolled was open to ranchers and farmers. This campsite belongs to that short, decisive period when the frontier moved west for good.
It's worth remembering what that meant from the other side of the line. The land the Rangers guarded had been Comanche and Kiowa homeland, and the victory of settlement was also the loss of a way of life for the Native peoples of the plains. Remembering both sides gives a fuller picture of westward expansion.
The Frontier Battalion also helped shape the Texas Rangers as a lasting institution. As the Native conflicts ended, the battalion increasingly turned to chasing outlaws and keeping order, and it became part of the Ranger legend that has lasted into modern times.
If you visit
The marker sits near Crews in Runnels County, in open country that still gives you a sense of what the Rangers saw. Look west for Ranger Peak, about half a mile away. It's easy to imagine a sentry up there, scanning the horizon each day.
The unsuccessful well is a small detail with a big story. Think about how much depended on water here, for the men, their horses and the settlers they protected. On a hot day, you'll feel it.
This is a good stop for travelers following the old frontier line across West Central Texas. Combine it with other Ranger camps, frontier forts and settlement sites in the region to trace how the edge of settled Texas moved westward in the 1870s.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Richard Coke
- · John B. Jones
- · W. J. Maltby
Themes & tags
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Ranger Campsite
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