Arizona Rangers were originally created by the Arizona Territorial Legislature in 1901 to deal with the outlaws and banditos in the sparsely populated Arizona Territory, mostly along the Mexican border.
According to historical records, the Arizona Rangers were an elite group of well-trained law enforcement personnel; were originally a secretive agency mounted on quality horses and well equipped with modern weapons at the state’s expense.
The rangers rode their mighty steeds throughout the Wild West’s portion of the Arizona Territory and were widely known as being extremely successful in apprehending members of outlaw bands.
Arizona Rangers were disbanded in 1909; however, were resurrected in 1957 as an Arizona unpaid, non-commissioned civilian auxiliary agency that is available to assist and support law enforcement agencies. The companies include: Agua Fria, Benson, Bisbee, Casa Grande, Douglas, High Country, Lonesome Valley, Madera, Mohave, Peoria, Phoenix, Santa Cruz, Scottsdale, Show Low, Sierra Vista, Sonoita, Tombstone, Tucson and Verde Valley.
Arizona Rangers’ missions nowadays is as a law enforcement support and assistance civilian auxiliary, that renders assistance to any federal, state, county or local law enforcement authorities.
The Rangers’ support to the various law enforcement agencies include, but is not limited to, missing children, parades, accidents, DUI task forces and wildfires. They also provide community service support to civilian agencies when requested.
According to Mohave Company Second Lieutenant Paul Gorham, “Capt. Leeming had a meeting with Mohave County Sheriff Doug Shuster and he told him the Arizona Rangers stand ready to assist his department with whatever is needed in the future.”
Individuals interested in becoming an Arizona Ranger must:
• be at least 21 years of age with no criminal history;
• have resided in Arizona for at least six month during the calendar year of applying;
• subscribe to the aims and objectives of the Arizona Rangers;
• be cleared for voting eligibility by completing the prescribed screening process;
• satisfactory completion of the probationary period;
• satisfactory completion of Arizona Rangers’ Training Academy;
• be accepted by a majority vote of the eligible Arizona Rangers in the company being joined; and
• additional qualifications that may be required during the recruitment and/or probationary periods.
The Mohave Company meets at 5:30 p.m., the second Tuesday of each month, at the Beal calibration in Kingman.
All who are interested in the Arizona Rangers Mohave Company or would like additional information about the Arizona Rangers in general are encouraged to attend the aforementioned meeting.
For further information, call LT. P. Gorham at (928) 628-9277 or email him at pgorham@azrangers.gov
Butch Meriwether
