Page 12 - The Dispatch December 2019

With that conver- Ross Sterling declared martial law across the oil fields, de-
sation and a state ploying 1,200 National Guardsmen from the 56th Calvary
senate confirmation, Brigade to Southeast Texas, led by Brig. Gen. Jacob Wolter,
Capt. Bill Sterling be- an expert in population control. Gen. Sterling empowered
came known as Gen. the Rangers to arrest any producers defying orders from
Bill, the first adjutant Guardsmen to shut down drilling operations.
general pulled from
the Ranger corps The deployment of the Rangers was more than enough to
since Texas became a enforce the newly issued production limits. Without a sin-
republic. If anything gle shot fired, Guardsmen secured the largest-known re-
signified the unique serve of petroleum in the world at the time. However, this
path of his ascension, would not last long. Court injunctions issued in response
it would be his choice to lawsuits by oil producers found the occupation to be
in uniform. unconstitutional. Therefore, as quickly as they arrived, the
National Guardsmen left the area.
Though he served as a
Brig Gen. William Sterling posing with a commissioned officer Oil towns would continue to plague Bill Sterling’s time as
rifle at Brooks Field, a former Army air- during WWI, Sterling adjutant general. However, a new foe would soon ema-
field located outside San Antonio, Texas.
Members of the Texas National Guard left mandarin collars nate from Oklahoma.
participated in pilot training for both and olive drab to ca-
fixed wing aircraft and blimps in the reer Guardsmen. The Bill Sterling saw his tenure as adjutant general come to a
1930's. 6-foot-3-inch Ranger close in 1933. Ross Sterling lost his bid for the Democrat-
instead donned his ic nomination to Miriam Ferguson, and, as a result, the
trademark gun belt with a revolver inscribed, “Captain governorship. Though the Rangers began an investigation
Sterling,” on the handle. No stars adorned his uniform; in- into claims of ballot stuffing on the part of the Ferguson
stead he had “GENERAL BILL” stitched above the pocket campaign, Ross Sterling called the investigation off in or-
of his western shirts along with western motifs of bucking der to avoid the appearance that he was using the Rangers
broncos or lone cattle. to influence an election.

Sterling took office vowing to eliminate politics from the Bill Sterling knew Ferguson’s retaliation for the Ranger
promotion system within the department. Changes to the investigation into election tampering would be fierce, so
National Guard’s structure began with the 1903 Dick Act, he tendered his resignation before she took office. Upon
giving the organization a standardized promotion system his departure, Sterling’s biennial report to the governor
within the Guard. However, the Rangers still primarily pro- offered some parting guidance about the Rangers’ role in
moted individuals under a system patronage and political the Texas Military.
influence. Sterling issued regulations requiring all captains
of Ranger companies to serve first for two years. He also “The Ranger service should be taken out of the hands of
directed promotions to occur on merit and the reputation the adjutant general, who in almost every case is a military
of the candidate. man. The military organization of the state has grown to
such an extent that the adjutant general should devote his
Trouble from oil towns mostly sprang from vices that fol- entire time to the military.”
lowed oil booms and roughnecks from drill site to drill site,
but July 1931 would see oil producers for the first time It took another two years for Sterling’s vision for the
fall under the gaze of both the Rangers and the National Rangers to manifest as the force moved from the Texas
Guard. Military’s control to their new home at the Department of
Public Safety. Now part of an official state-sanctioned law
The railroad commission moved to regulate the oil mar- enforcement agency, Rangers saw their department grow
ket and implement production limits but found the task into a modern investigative force with tools and method-
impossible without an enforcement arm. Ross Sterling, an ologies at their disposal that their predecessors could only
oil man before his political election, knew the problems imagine.
collapsed oil markets would add to the stagnant economy
of the depression era. He called upon his adjutant general The Rangers left the Texas Military Department, and along
and informed him it was time to restore order to the oil with it, they left behind a joint legacy of heroism and the
fields. story of Texas’ only Ranger-adjutant general. -D

12 TheDISPATCH December 2019