John Coffee Hays helped to forge the legend of what a Texas Ranger was. Arriving in Texas in 1836 but just missing the famous battles of the Texas Revolution, nineteen-year-old Hays soon had Sam Houston urging him to join a new group of Rangers. Once out on the frontier, Hays's careful planning and bold-indeed, sensational-forays against the Comanches soon earned him a colorful reputation and a host of nicknames. At twenty-three Hays was commissioned a captain, and between skirmishes and battles his survey party marked out much of the area around San Antonio. Hays was pivotal in the ultimate...