Manuel Trazazas Gonzaullas (July 4, 1891 – February 13, 1977) was a Texas Rangers captain and a staff member of the

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

government. Gonzaullas was born in

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. His parents were naturalized American citizens, visiting Spain at the time of his birth. In 1911, Gonzaullas was appointed a major in the

Mexican Army The Mexican Army ( es, Ejército Mexicano) is the combined land and air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National De ...

, and in 1915 he became a special agent in the

United States Treasury Department The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an United States federal executive departments, executive department. The departme ...

. In 1920, he enlisted in the Texas Rangers. For the next thirteen years, he served on the force and was actively involved in fighting the illegal activities that were common at the time, including gambling, liquor smuggling and production, prostitution, among others. When in January 1933, Miriam Amanda "Ma" Ferguson took office after being elected governor, she proceeded to discharge all serving Rangers, including Gonzaullas. In 1935, the

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...

reformed the public security system and created the

Texas Department of Public Safety The Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas, commonly known as the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), is a department of the state government of Texas. The DPS is responsible for statewide law enforcement and driver license adminis ...

, consisting of three divisions: the

Texas Highway Patrol The Texas Highway Patrol is a division of the Texas Department of Public Safety and is the largest state-level law enforcement agency in the U.S. state of Texas. The patrol's primary duties are enforcement of state traffic laws and commercial veh ...

, the Texas Rangers and the Bureau of Intelligence. Gonzaullas was appointed superintendent of the Bureau, and he played a major role in turning it into one of the best crime laboratories in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In 1940, Gonzaullas left his position at the Bureau upon his appointment as captain of Company B of the Texas Rangers, thus becoming the first American of Spanish descent to achieve the rank of captain in the force. His work was commended by his superiors and was instrumental in re-establishing the status of the agency after the instability it had gone through in the previous decades. One of his most notable assignments was to Texarkana in 1946, in order to investigate the murders committed by The Phantom Killer, a

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

. After his retirement in 1951, Gonzaullas moved to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

and became a technical consultant for radio, television, and motion pictures, in particular the long-running 1950s radio show ''

Tales of the Texas Rangers ''Tales of the Texas Rangers'' is a 20th century Western old-time radio and television police procedural drama which originally aired on NBC Radio from 1950 to 1952 and later on CBS Television from 1955 to 1958. Film star Joel McCrea voiced the ...

.'' He died of cancer at the age of 85 while living in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Texas, on February 13, 1977, and was buried in Sparkman/Hillcrest Memorial Park in the same city.

Firearms

The Colt Revolver in the American West—Manuel T. Gonzaullas' Single Action Army Pair

References

External links

* 1891 births 1977 deaths Members of the Texas Ranger Division Mexican soldiers American expatriates in Spain People from Cádiz American people of Spanish descent Deaths from cancer in Texas American expatriates in Mexico {{Texas-bio-stub