The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 74, July 1970 - April, 1971 Page: 298
616 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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298 Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Texas Rangers, and for the first time an editor paid me the compliment
of writing a check in my favor. This was a landmark, the beginning of a
long and happy relationship between me and editors."
That particular happy and continuing relationship was with the
Dallas News, whose editor, E. B. Doran, wrote Webb that the News
would be interested in a series of illustrated articles for which they
would pay five dollars per column.15 The magazine section of the News
on March 2o, 1921, carried a long Webb article called "Unique Char-
acter of Original Ranger Force: History of Organization Whose Be-
ginnings Are Shrouded in Obscurity of Early Texas Legends." On
April 19, 1921, the magazine's article was titled "Exploits of Texas
Rangers; Ben McCulloch, Fighting Man; When the Little Band of
Heroes Fought with the Forces of the United States."
Innately shy despite his seemingly crusty surface, Webb was selective
in his friendships, but with close friends he shared his hopes and his
publications, exchanging information and advice. Copies of the Dallas
News story went to Emil Saverio, an Austrian graduate student with
whom Webb had studied German in 1914-1915. In 1921 Saverio was
teaching at Southwest Missouri State Teachers' College. He thanked
Webb for the copy of the McCulloch article (commenting that there
were only three printing mistakes), complimented him on two par-
ticularly clever sentences, and prophesied:
Aside from the interesting and historical viewpoint, your self-expression
is far better in this article than the last one. All I can and must say is
keep your hobby, "The Texas Rangers," for it will make you popular and
if you do keep on I am sure to see you in the future [as] Head of the
History Department of the University of Texas. Congratulations!'"
Webb was keeping his hobby and riding it hard. He had appealed
to Ottawa for information on the Northwest Mounted Police and re-
ceived various books from the superintendent of printing and litera-
ture from the office of the comptroller of the Northwest Mounted
Police, including the annual reports back to 1874. His correspondence
with Ranger William Callicott, so productive of many anecdotes, was
beginning; he solicited pictures and photographs showing any facet of
Ranger activity. He worked out a form letter to go to editors of a
long list of magazines as widely separated geographically as Sunset in
"Webb, An Honest Preface, Roo.
"Doran to Webb, January 1, 1921, Webb Collection.
1"Saverio to Webb, April 23, 1921, ibid.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 74, July 1970 - April, 1971, periodical, 1971; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101200/m1/310/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.