Arizona Rangers — William L. Casselman

Based in 1860's Arizona, this is a tale of the Old West and the creation of the Arizona Rangers. Captain Blake leads the only band of Rangers, where pay rarely comes on time or if at all, and the men are responsible for the procurement of their own horses, needed tack and the bullets for their pre-Civil War weaponry. Former Indian Fighters, hunting guides, desert miners and U.S. Army Scouts, these are the courageous men who join the ranks of the Arizona Rangers. Captain Blake needed men who shared in his vision to bring law enforcement to the Arizona Territory and to stop the Apache, Comanche and Ute Indians from their continuous war against the wagon trains and the settlers. In this first book of a planned series, the Territorial Government of Arizona feels it can no longer afford to provide their limited funding to the Rangers and disband them. Blake and his family live on their horse and cattle ranch outside Globe, Arizona, and when the Civil War breaks out, he and his former Rangers join up with General Hook's Army of Texas. Blake is given the rank of Captain, and his comrades become part of his mounted company. In fighting the Civil War, Blake and his men are captured by a superior force of Union Soldiers and taken by open cattle cars to the El Mira Yankee Prisoner of War Camp, New York City. Here, where conditions are wretched, with prisoners starving, and the icy weather is freezing prisoners to death, Blake and his men stage an escape, only to discover the war would be ending in only a week. Now, no longer fearful of being caught and returned to El Mira, the men have an adventurous and rewarding journey back to their homes. When Blake arrives, he finds the Apache have raided his Ranch, killing his wife and son, and his daughter was missing. His only family now is his foster-son, the only survivor of an Apache attack. A lot of the men have similar tales to tell, families gone and their property seized for owed back taxes. But, Blake finds out the Arizona Rangers are once more needed, as Arizona is hit with cattle and horse rustlers, fraudsters, and gunmen, who work for dishonest lawyers, in the pockets of East Coast land speculators. Such criminals are coming to Arizona by the hundreds. There is also the rise of the Indians, who watch in alarm as the tracks are laid for the horrifying Iron Horse. Captain Blake also learns his young daughter was not killed or living with Indians, but she has fallen victim to Comancheros, who have passed her on to white slavers. Captain Blake now begins a lengthy search to find her. While this is a work of fiction, this story is based on the history of the Arizona Rangers, and the gallant men who patrolled the Territory of Arizona.