Kevin Arkin, age 13, of Beaumont, Texas, for his question:

WHEN WERE THE TEXAS RANGERS ORGANIZED?

There's a special law enforcement corps in the state of Texas called the Texas Rangers. The group was first organized in 1835 and since 1935 it has been a division of the state's Department of Public Safety.

The Texas Rangers serve with the state highway patrol essentially as an emergency force for situations beyond the control of local police or a sheriff. Although today they are organized into companies comprising up to 30 men, they have no formal drills or uniforms and are authorized to travel throughout the state in pursuing their duties. The state provides vehicles and weapons, but horses used by the Rangers are their own.

The Texas Rangers were first organized, on the eve of the Texas Revolution, b y the American pioneer and colonizer Stephen Austin to protect Americans from attacks by Comanche and Apache Indians. Austin's first mounted force comprised 10 Rangers.

After the Civil War the Rangers played an important role as frontier fighters, combating lawlessness among Indians, Mexicans, feuding cattlemen and desperadoes.