New Voices
ALLIE TOWNSEND:
Texas Ranger
by Mary Baird
U
nder a case of glass in
the Houston Museum
of Natural Science sits
a holster and Lady Smith .22
gun belonging to the first
woman to ever enter the ranks
of the Texas Rangers – Alice
Townsend. In 1931 Alice, wife
of early Texas Ranger Everett
Ewing Townsend, was hon-
ored for her extraordinary
service to the state of Texas
and inducted into the organi-
zation under the title of
“Honorary Ranger.” Every
day prior to this celebrated
moment had been a life spent
pioneering and keeping vigil
over the very area we today call
home. And that life began with
a chance meeting in Marathon.
In 1895 E. E. Townsend
was riding down a road after a
devastating blizzard when he
noticed a buggy down the way
abruptly come to a stop. When
he approached the buggy, he
found two women and an
unruly horse terrified out of its
wits. Obstructing the buggy’s
path were two dead burros,
casualties claimed by the bitter
cold of the recently departed
blizzard.
Townsend assisted one Ms.
Alice “Allie” Jones and her
companion in calming the
horse and proceeded to
remove the burros so that the
ladies might continue their
journey. In speaking of Allie
during this first encounter
Townsend said, “Allie manifest-
ed the same cool courage man-
aging that unruly horse that
she has ever since shown when
called to the test, and I guess I
fell for her right then.”
After
their
meeting,
Townsend, a Ranger who was
12
Cenizo
First Quarter 2012
Allie Townsend as a girl.
then stationed at Presidio,
made sure his ranging expedi-
tions frequented the Marathon
area where Allie resided.
Before long the duo became
Mr. and Mrs. Townsend and,
from then on, was perpetually
on the move with E.E.
Townsend’s rangering duties.
During their first year of mar-
riage, Allie went on horseback
scouts with her husband that cov-
ered a thousand miles. During
their scouting expeditions they
encountered every type of
weather – dust storms, blizzards,
rain and bone-chilling winds.
Hardly any modern woman’s
ideal honeymoon, to be sure. But
Allie, having been orphaned at
age 12, was no stranger to adver-
sity. She ran a clean camp and
kept stomachs full. She always
made the best of it.
“She was a royal pal and
ever strove to do more than her
share of the labor,” her hus-
band said. Having the hard
times made the good times
they had that much more
memorable. E.E. Townsend
describes Allie looking at the
work of “ole Sol” creating
magnificent sunrises as if