William Hanson And The Texas Mexico Border

"In his introduction to this manuscript, John Weber describes how, throughout his years of research on his earlier book on South Texas, he kept coming across the figure of William Hanson (1866-1931). Hanson appeared in reports of efforts to eliminate Mexican American voting in South Texas, in accusations of wrongdoing by Texas Rangers, and elsewhere. It wasn't until Weber completed his first book that he was able to go back into the archives, start pulling on threads, and begin to piece together a fuller picture of Hanson's life and activities. This project contains the fruits of his investigation. This is not a full biography of Hanson (the existing records do not really allow that), but rather a study of his activities in the 1920s and how they help us better understand the history and politics of the Texas-Mexico border. As Weber explains, Hanson was a close witness to history during these years, as well as an active agent of it. He was a captain in the Texas Rangers, an associate of Albert Bacon Fall, and the top official in the Immigration Service at the time of the creation of the Border Patrol. From these various positions and with the help of his powerful patrons, Hanson helped shape the ways that U.S. policymakers understood the border, its residents, and the movement of goods and people across the international boundary"--