IN THE EARLY 1850S, JOHN COFFEE “JACK” HAYS was elected sheriff of San Francisco County and appointed United States Surveyor General for California, became one of the founders of the city of Oakland, and ran successful enterprises in real estate and ranching. But before all of that, he led the Texas Rangers into the history books. Usually outnumbered and against overwhelming odds, Hays triumphed in so many battles against bandits, Indians, and the Mexican army that he is what historian Darren Ivey called “the ideal Texas Ranger.”
Hays was born on January 28, 1817, in Cedar Lick in Wilson County, Tennessee. After his parents died, when he was 15 years old, he moved to Mississippi where he learned surveying. By mid-1836, he had migrated to Texas and joined a Ranger…
