The nation-state of Texas was forged in the crucible of frontier warfare. From 1822 to 1836, the embattled Anglo-American settlers of Colonial Tejas and the Texas Revolution formed an adaptive mounted arms tradition to facilitate territorial defense and aggression. This evolution incorporated martial influences from the United States, Mexico, and Amerindians, as the colonists first adapted tactically as mounted militia in Anglo-Indian warfare, and then adapted organizationally as nationalized corps of rangers and cavalry during the Texan War for Independence. While the colonial conflicts centered exclusively on counterguerrilla interdiction and expeditions against Native opponents, the revolutionary contest included simultaneous engagement in unconventional and conventional campaigns against tribal warriors and the Mexican Army. These combat experiences resulted in a versatile frontier cavalry tradition based in mobility, firepower, and tactical adaptation, which subsequently served Texas throughout a century of border and wartime conflicts. / text