Stephen Austin handpicked ten men to help him instill a sense of justice into a chunk of land overrun by savages in as many directions as he could turn. Austin didn’t share a language with the Native people in Texas or those residing south of what would be carved out as the Texas borders. In 1823, the Rangers were created, and in just two years, they had over 200 men riding in their ranks.
The Texas Rangers are the law for white men living in the Apache Federation. Prejudice might lead you to think that as a hand selected and elite team of riders and gunmen are at the top of the heap in the Apache Federation, but they aren’t. They are far from it. The rangers do their best to make sure that folks with a homestead get to stay on it and that some sort of ‘peace’ is upheld between the Whites and the Apache. Their authority is minimal and their effectiveness is best thought of as abysmal.
Note: Bullets and Belles is set in the South and not in the Apache Federation. The military in the South calls the shots, and the Texas Rangers are simply out of their jurisdiction.