In Colonial America , " The earliest mention of Ranger operations comes from Capt. John " Samuel " Smith , " who wrote in 1622 , " When I had ten men able to go abroad , our common wealth was very strong : with such a number I ranged that unknown country 14 weeks . " Robert Black also stated that , In 1622 , after the Berkeley Plantation Massacre ... grim-faced men went forth to search out the Indian enemy . They were militia — citizen soldiers — but they were learning to blend the methods of Indian and European warfare ... As they went in search of the enemy , the words '' range , ranging and Ranger '' were frequently used ... The American Ranger had been born . The father of American ranging is Colonel Benjamin Church ( c. 1639 – 1718 ) . He was the captain of the first Ranger force in America ( 1676 ) . Church was commissioned by the Governor of the Plymouth Colony Josiah Winslow to form the first ranger company for King Philip 's War . He later employed the company to raid Acadia during King William 's War and Queen Anne 's War
Berkeley Plantation Massacre
Indian massacre of 1622
United States Army Rangers