"At the very heart of Texas mythology are the Texas Rangers. Until now most histories have justified their actions and vilified their opponents. But Anderson tells how the Texas government encouraged the rangers to annihilate Indian villages, including women and children, spreading terror so that the survivors and neighboring Native groups would want to leave. The policy succeeded: by the 1870s, Indians had been driven from central and western Texas. Anderson offers a new paradigm for understanding the violence dominating Texas history. By confronting head-on the romanticized version of Texas history that made heroes of Houston, Lamar, and Baylor, this account helps us understand that the history of the Lone Star state is darker and more complex than the mythmakers allowed."--Book jacket.