Tales of the Texas Rangers – The Open Range. ep8, 500826

Assorted law enforcement badges and photographs on a textured background, representing government and police officials.
"Used with permission from Microsoft."

Stories based on fact, only the names, dates and places have been changed. On the range, a rancher and his son find signs that rustlers could be at work. How old fashioned. They don’t do that any more… do they? A confrontation. Gunshots. and the rancher falls dead. The sheriff immediately calls on the skills of the Texas Rangers.

Clues are found at the crime scene. Though unregistered, the alert goes out to watch for the Butler brand. The search takes a few days, and suspicious cow hands are spotted. What will questioning them find? A paper trail where a check was written for the stolen cattle, but it leads to a forger.

Evidence is thin, and circumstantial, but Jase goes out on that thin ice. Rival rancher, Vic Mauran is the target of the rangers, based on a left handed clue. The hunch pays off, and the clues snowball.

Taking to horseback, and doing some old fashioned tracking, the rangers close in. It turns into a car chase on the road, complete with the blast of machine gun fire.