The Texas Rangers developed a reputation as highly competent gunfighters. One such was Manuel Gonzaullas, who soon earned the nickname Lone Wolf during his service from the early 1920s to the early ‘50s. Gonzaullas was very much a “gun guy,” finishing his career with a collection of some 580 firearms, many of them souvenirs confiscated from felons he arrested…or otherwise brought to justice. Such were the values of the first half of the 20th Century. Another famed Ranger, Frank Hamer, got stiffed on his expenses after he led the team that killed Bonnie and Clyde in Louisiana in 1934, but at least he got to keep the guns the violent couple had in the car with them when they died. So it was for Gonzaullas.
Ironically, one of those Clyde Barrow guns was a Colt .38 Special that had been stolen from Gonzaullas’ car when he was stationed in East Texas.
Some said he had killed 75 men in gunfights, but the Lone Wolf himself said that was an extreme exaggeration. Others said 22. When the topic came up, Gonzaullas consistently changed the subject.
A devout Christian, the Lone Wolf credited God with his survival. Gonzaullas kept Bibles in his patrol car, gave them to the men he arrested, and lectured them on Christian principles all the way to jail. I’d like to think this kindness by the famed man-killer turned at least some of those criminals’ lives around. The irredeemable ones probably got to jail grateful for two things: the impromptu sermon was over, and the famously deadly Ranger hadn’t killed them.
One lesson: compassion and the willingness to use deadly force against the evil are not mutually exclusive things.
Two messages come across loud & clear in the Bible: God is a loving & merciful God, but at the same time Hes a just & righteous God. In the end, we decide which side of Him we want to deal with. This story is a perfect example.