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Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum

JJEH

JJEH

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We went to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco, TX yesterday and I can only recommend it, in fact, I think it's a MUST SEE for everyone interested in law enforcement.

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There is so much stuff to see it's incredible. The museum says to plan 1.5 to 2hrs for a visit but I'd even recommend 2-3 hours so you can see and read everything.

This S&W revolver stood out to me. It belongs to Ret. CPT H.R. "Lefty" Block and the engraving is so tasteful it's truly eye candy for me.

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Please excuse the low quality pictures, everything there is behind glass and heavy lighting coming from all directions.

Interesting thing I didn't know is that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is heavily involved in contributing to the museum. Thank you FCA for that!

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I agree, well worth the visit, the wife and I were there 3 years ago and it is just a cool place to learn about the Rangers.
 
They have a research room where you can look up individual Texas ranger's information. I had a reg. mag. that was owned by a ranger and I went there and researched him. Found some interesting background. Don't know if it's still true, but at that time you didn't have to pay admission to go to that area.
 
My wife are taking a little trip from OKC and she is wanting to do some things near Austin and Waco next week so I plan on going to the museum while we are in the area.
 
I have been there several times and if you are a Texas LEO, it is almost a shrine to those past and present Texas Peace Officers. If you plan to go, take a patient wife and allow least 4 hours, 8 would be better.
 
They even accepted my Kiwi police ID for the law enforcement discount. (They asked and I joked about being a NZ Cop. The lady asked to see my ID and let me through).

The stick on "bullet homes" in the Bonnie and Clyde Ford V8 are so well done I wondered how in heck the windscreen didn't shatter. Then I realised they were fake.

Definitely on my go back to list
 
I wonder if Texan Jim Riggs engraved that S&W. I haven’t read or heard about him in years. I’d love to go to this museum. Mainly to see Colt single actions both plain and fancy.
 
It’s definitely a must see. I was there several years ago, spent over 5 hours looking at everything, really enjoyed it. Definitely the highlight of my trip.
 
JJEH said:
This S&W revolver stood out to me. It belongs to Ret. CPT H.R. "Lefty" Block and the engraving is so tasteful it's truly eye candy for me.

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Here is Lefty in the green/turquoise shirt:

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What a life he has experienced. A true legend.
 
TX Rangers are an interesting institution. They are more or less the governor's personal police force, not accountable to anybody. Their confession rate is extremely high, approaching that of the NKVD (=100%).
 
I've been there once. Spent several hours there, but intend to go back sometime for a refresher. You have to hurry to see it all, before you get tired, and I skimmed through some of it.
Next time I will buy some of the books that they sell.
 
squidsix said:
Do they really hammer those badges out of Mexican gold coins?
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They were silver pesos'. If you compare an early badge with the coin you can see where some design comes from. Early TR badges did not have a pin or other method of attaching them to a shirt, etc.. I was told there were two reasons (besides being difficult) 1. The badge made a good target and 2. One didnt just go around pretending to be a Ranger.
 
leswad said:
Here is Lefty in the green/turquoise shirt:

5383-F3-D7-E6-B8-4-FB4-A6-CB-382-B922-A59-FA.jpg


What a life he has experienced. A true legend.
Click to expand...

Did you take that picture? If so that's pretty cool. Tell me more about him...



squidsix said:
Do they really hammer those badges out of Mexican gold coins?
Click to expand...

Check out Kevin Johnson, he makes them for the Rangers.

https://www.facebook.com/kevin.johnson.587268

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/A...UYUenRLJ_Ha3mRYBhCeAROm1yfkxbVyCFkuM35Tm_5Mpc

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpvugFUAtTI[/ame]

Great guy and his work is truly amazing!
 
JJEH said:
Did you take that picture? If so that's pretty cool. Tell me more about him...
Click to expand...

Yes, I did take this picture about four years ago. These Former Rangers (representing Texas Rangers Heritage Center, Fredericksburg) were documenting where former Rangers had lost their lives in the line of duty. Pictured is the spot where Joe Sitters was ambushed by Chico Cano's gang.

As far as Lefty goes, he was larger than life and told great stories from his career in Texas Law enforcement. I believe he was 86 at the time I took this picture, and even though he had recently had a stroke, he was still a mountain of a man that told great stories. Some of his best stories are documented here:

https://www.texasranger.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Oral-History-Block-Lefty.pdf
 
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