The Handguns of the Texas Rangers
Founded with ten brave men in the year 1823, the Texas Rangers are now celebrating their 200th Anniversary. Their first leap forward came with the very first Colt revolver, the five-shot Paterson. Historian Tom Clavin writes, “…back in 1839, the Republic of Texas had purchased almost two hundred handguns for the Texas Navy. When Samuel Houston disbanded the navy four years later, Captain Jack Hays armed his company of Texas Rangers with surplus stocks of the pistols.” The Rangers became one of the first law enforcement agencies, perhaps the first, to issue service revolvers.
Source: americanhandgunner.com