(S. Omar Barker)
Verse 1:
In the cedar hills of Texas
Where the longhorns used to roam
Stands a friendly western college
That we love to call our home
Its full of Texas spirit
And its rich in cowboy lore
The happy days we’ve spent here
We’ll remember evermore!
Verse 2:
You will find a lot of colleges
From the Pecos to the Brazos
From the Red down to the coast
But none to match our boast:
That we’re the worthy namesakes
Of the Texas Ranger Crew
Those tall men in the saddle
Whose faith brought the Lone Star through.
Verse3:
In the pleasant halls of Ranger
Every boy’s a cowboy bold!
All the girls are pretty cowgals
And they will be ‘til they’re old!
There are mav’ricks in our herd
We wear the Ranger Brand!
We are the sons and daughters
Of a rawhide Ranger Land!
Chorus:
Raise a cheer for dear old Ranger
In the dear old lone star state
Where there’s lots of room for friendship
And no room at all for hate
When the years have wrought their changes,
When our days fade into night,
We will still remember Ranger
and the purple and the white.
Note: In 1947, having no prior school song, then
Ranger Junior College requested famed Western
poet S. Omar Barker to write an "alma mater"
song for the school and in 1948 he sent the
above song in reply to that request. He wrote
the words to go with the melody of a previously
[patented] written song. That melody is still
used today but the original title is not known.
He requested, because of rhyming pattern, that
no changes to the words be made or if made, that
he be notified. No changes have been made except
that “junior” was removed from between western and
college in the third line of the first verse and
“friendly” was added to keep the rhythm as close
as possible. This was done when Ranger Junior
College became Ranger College.
(Song & information courtesy of Polly Alexander)