The Texas Rangers: Wearing the Cinco Peso, 1821-1900
Mike Cox, author
New York: A Forge Book (2008)
$25.95
Getting to know author Mike Cox has proven to be a dynamic experience. Cox, a fifth-generation Texan and third-generation writer, grew up in the Lone Star State and, like most such twentieth-century males, he was weaned on Ranger lore. His lengthy resume, rounded off by the authorship of thirteen books and his election to the Texas Institute of Letters as well as a having been a staff writer for various newspapers such as the Austin-American Statesman, makes Cox seem an almost household guest.
In 1985 Mike became public information officer for the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), a post he would hold for fifteen years. He later went to work for the Texas Department of Transportation as communications manager, retiring in the fall of 2007. His years of contact with DPS officers turned into friendships with many of the men, and later the women, who wore replicas of the Mexican silver five-peso as an emblem, that being the five-pointed asterisk of a Texas Ranger. Across the years his work opened not only doors, yet filing cabinets across Austin and at the Texas Ranger Museum in Waco. Cox’s years as an investigative reporter also proved their worth as various other archives unearthed their treasures before a trusted name, and an honest face.
In 1999 Cox was given “the go-ahead to write this book for Forge Books.” The Texas Rangers: Wearing the Cinco Peso, 1821-1900, is the result.
Nonetheless, upon hearing of yet another Texas Ranger history in the works I thought, Egads! Isn’t the market flooded already? But that was before I met Mike Cox at the West Texas Historical Association Conference in Canyon last spring. Being a firm believer in the concept that no governmental agency or entity can be bright and shiny all over, a manner in which the Texas Rangers and their parental bureaucracy, the DPS, have often been portrayed -- I have played devil’s advocate in my writings. For that role I make no apology. There is no democracy without a viable opposition.
At any rate, the affable Cox, over dinner at an Amarillo steak house, first mentioned his book and a review. His most convincing line was, “I know people will think [Cinco Peso] is a puff job because of my past connection with the DPS.” Cox then went on to assure me that he was taking great pains to avoid any validation of that untoward presumption. At that point I agreed to both the read and to the review, and am glad of it.
Cox, in the Preface to Cinco Peso says: “[T]he reality and mythology of the Rangers in our popular culture are as closely interwoven as a fine horse-hair quirt. It is hard to separate the two strands, though I have tried with as much objectivity as possible to document both. . . . [T]here is no question that men riding in the name of frontier protection or law and order killed some people who probably did not ‘need killin’[.]”
Granted, that is a praiseworthy admission. Cox, however, then adds one of the few questionable remarks found in the essay: “[T]hose instances [of murder] were rare and often exaggerated.” Now wait a sec, Mike. The bodies of hundreds of Mexican-American and/or Mexican-origin individuals killed by Rangers in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas during the nineteen-teens, evidence supported by a Texas Legislature-sponsored investigation and often by photographs, do not lie. Furthermore, the long-festering story of the “Porvenir Massacre” along the Rio Grande in Presidio County, only recently proven true beyond a reasonable doubt by historian Glenn Justice and an aged eyewitness, did take place shortly after frigid midnight on January 24, 1918. Fifteen defenseless men and boys were mercilessly shot down by a group of ranchmen and a US Army soldier led by five Texas Rangers under the command of Ranger Captain J. M. Fox (who was stationed at Marfa, Texas). These two examples are indicative of other probable abuses of murderous power and, hopefully, cannot simply be written off as “rare and often exaggerated.” Due to Porvenir and other outrages dating to the “Cortinas War” in the lower Rio Grande Valley during the 1850s, border Mexicans began referring to Rangers as los rinches, a rather less than complimentary by-name. Nevertheless. . . .
Wearing the Cinco Peso, 1821-1900, true to its title, begins with the birth of a Negro slaveholding culture; that is, the Anglo-American colonization of a province in northern Mexico called Tejas. Organized by Moses Austin and led by his son, the empresario Stephen F. Austin, success soon opened the floodgates to land-hungry Whites and their dreams. In almost no time other Southerners, and even Germans led by various empresarios, joined the game. Indians soon became a real problem for the settlers. Karankawa peoples of the Gulf Coast, reputed to be cannibals, proved especially intimidating. The occidental frontier, which ambit was then marked by San Antonio de Bexar and environs, also fell under attack by Plains tribesmen. “All” was not “Quiet on the Western Front.” Therefore, it wasn’t long before “Ten men [were enlisted] to act as rangers.” While Tejanos did not invent “rangering” the appointment of such a body during the epoch while Texas remained part of Mexico began a lasting tradition.
Cox’s Cinco Peso is a chronology of facts running threadlike through almost eighty years of Texas history. From the Anglo-American/Negro-slave settlement colonies through the Texas Revolution (1835-6) and subsequent Independence, followed a mere decade later by the “War of Intervention” between the United States and Mexico, Texas Rangers played a hand. Their primary role throughout most of the nineteenth century was the protection of the western frontier. Boiled down, that meant preventing Indian depredations.
The Karankawas, probably due more to pandemics of European-originated diseases than any concerted military action by “raingers,” or anyone else for that matter, soon faded from the stage. Those natives who remained, and became predominate, had adopted a horse-centered culture by about 1660. They hailed from the Western High Plains region of the present-day Texas Panhandle, notably a higher, drier, cooler, and therefore more salubrious climate. “Hostile” is too kind a word for those bands of Kiowas, Wichitas, and other predominately Shoshone-speaking peoples who came to be known collectively as Comanches. These raiders were the causative factor for the later Republic-cum-State of Texas having raised a ranging militia for protection. Men and officers so appointed were soldiers, not peace officers. The efficiency of those early-day Comanche-fighting rangers has never been adequately detailed, although Cox takes aim at so doing.
No doubt, with the invention of the “Paterson” Colt .34 caliber revolver and its 1844 acceptance by Captain John C. “Jack” Hays as the ranger weapon of choice, the Comanches came to respect, even fear, contact with the Texas militia. Savages they were; stupid they were not. The frontier extended hundreds of miles north and south; los Comanches soon learned to avoid the far-flung rangers; they continued to raid, pillage, and plunder so far east as San Antonio (Texas) and Nuevo Leon (Mexico) while thrusting ever deeper into the Mexican Central Plateau.
The American Civil War (1861-5), fought mainly in the eastern states, bled the Texas frontier of manpower and resulted in renewed Comanches incursions. The frontier line was pushed back 100 miles in places with some counties losing one-half to two-thirds their population due to out-migration. Cox, keeping his word in Cinco Peso, bursts open several long-standing Texas Ranger myths. Concerning the Comanches the author concedes: “the Army [under Gen. Ranald Mackenzie] dealt with the last of the hostile Plains Indians in Texas.” Rangers had provided merely a buffer to Comanche incursions east of the frontier line; contrary to legend, neither they nor any “cowboys” had anything to do with the Plains Indians removal from the state.
Another overblown Ranger story concerns the 1877 capture of Texas outlaw John Wesley Hardin in Florida, an effort supposedly accomplished by Ranger Lieutenant John B. Armstrong. Mike Cox, an ardent researcher, found that Hardin was actually arrested by “twenty-seven-year-old [Florida] Sheriff William H. Hutchinson” and “one of his deputies.” Armstrong, who had failed and been humiliated in previous attempts at capturing the outlaw watched from an adjoining express car while his informer, an undercover Dallas deputy city marshal named Duncan, remained outside. As the Floridians wrestled Hardin, whose sidekick Jim Mann had just been shot and killed by a Florida deputy sheriff, Armstrong reportedly joined in the affray “hammer[ing] Hardin’s head with the barrel of his Colt.” It was undoubtedly Armstrong’s wire to Austin that engendered this particular “one riot, one ranger” folktale: “Arrested John Wesley Hardin, Pensacola, Florida this P.M.” the telegraphed message related. “[S]ome lively shooting. One of their number killed. . . . Hardin fought desperately. Closed in and took him by main strength.”
Our precise author summarizes: “In the strictest legal sense, the rangers and other officers had kidnapped Hardin. A Florida grand jury later indicted the sheriff [Hutchinson] for that offense, but the case never went anywhere.” Hardin, the prototype for many a pulp novel’s “gunslinger” role, was tried for murder in Texas. He went to Huntsville prison to serve a fourteen-year sentence, did so, and was released after which time the gunman removed to El Paso. He was later shot and killed by “old” John Selman, an elected constable.
Cox, having proven himself not just another Texas Ranger apologist, refuses to dwell at length on these vagaries of Ranger lore. That is as it should be. The fact that he, despite his connection to the DPS, mentions these questionable tales at all mark the author as a reputable, and far more than just regional historian.
With the final removal of the Comanches and, by the mid-1880s, the Apaches from Texas soil Ranger work slowed down. Counties had been formed and, in the best tradition of Anglo-Saxon-American democratic ideals, elected local law enforcement began filling the needs of constituents. Ever budget-wary, the Texas Legislature had reservations about extending funding for a militia no longer needful. All that changed in the Lower Rio Grande Valley when, in a trial by fire that had been presaged by the Cortinas War, all hell broke out near Brownsville. The resultant death and destruction took place in the early twentieth century and, as assistant editors love to chide, are “outside the subject area” of Cox’s volume one. Be that as it may, the author will hold forth in volume two, I’m sure. Regardless, the factors leading up to the tragic events had begun to take place in the last decade of the nineteenth century when a railroad from up the coast laid tracks to Brownsville and the Anglo invasion of an isolated pastoral Spanish culture, situated within a more dominant milieu, started taking place. The process of acculturation had begun in the “Magic Valley,” and the first stage of the process, that time when two cultures clash, would provide a new impetus for maintaining a state paramilitary force. Culture shock hit the Hispanic community situated at the mouth of the Rio Grande like a brick to the face. A decade later violence coincidental to the Mexican Revolution ensued. And the results would insure that state Rangers kept their jobs.
The Texas Rangers: Wearing the Cinco Peso, 1821-1900 has been as pleasurable a read within the genre as ever I’ve experienced. Almost regrettably, the 375-page narrative concluded in only three long sittings. Like many historians, I begin reading a book near the end, which is to say I first took a look at the bibliography. Must say, Cox’s end leaves are first class, taking up twenty-five pages. Those include government documents (38 entries); unpublished material (16); books (16 pages); articles (7 pages), as well as theses and dissertations. He includes an index and uses unobtrusive, chapter-by-chapter endnotes for references. The author says he is an “independent historian, not an academic.” However, one wouldn’t guess that by examining the 114-pages of end material.
Counterpoint: the narrative evades any hint of la academe. In like tradition of Texas authors T. R. Fehrenbach (Comanches: The Destruction of a People) and Thad Sitton (The Texas Sheriff: Lord of the County Line), Cox molds images with words and phrases, and with sentences and paragraphs and chapters that draw the reader “in” the way an early riser focuses the front-page banner of his daily. A master at quality prose, his transitions glide like fresh-churned butter slathered over sourdough while the oft-utilized similes execute fulfilling images, as of one’s apron-strung mother, kitchen grinning, her long finger a-shake with “I-told-you-so.”
A clear advantage for the independent historian is freedom. Cox’s lack of concern for the chains that bind others, the academician particularly, come across as refreshing as a cold-beaded bottle of root beer in August. Cox is unafraid to call an Indian an “Indian,” a gore-drenched Comanche a “hostile,” or a Mexican a “Mexican” (which is, by the way, what they wish to be called). Huzzah and hurrah! Politically inspired censorship, with Cox, is out the window. It’s about time.
An over-the-shoulder glance: Walter Prescott Webb, dean of Texas historians, published The Texas Rangers: A Century of Frontier Defense in 1935. According to Dr. Gerald G. Raun, Webb lamented having “written [the Ranger book] the way that he did and [indicated] that it desperately needed to be re-done.” Raun, a graduate student at the University of Texas from 1956 to 1961, was present in Webb’s home and heard the declaration. Raun adds: “And I think he was planning to do that when he was killed [in a 1963 automobile accident].” If Webb were able to reach out from the grave today and hand us a message I’ll bet it would say, “Hail the responsible revisionist historian. May facts and logic rule the day.”
It is past the day when a modern, “definitive” history of the Texas Rangers should have been made available. Two historians I’m aware of are attempting to do just that. Mike Cox is one. The Texas Rangers: Wearing the Cinco Peso comes in two volumes; as I have yet to see the second, I can only suggest that his offering may rank high on the list of candidates. Mr. Robert M. Utley’s Ranger tome has yet to cross my desk. I hear good things. A fine historian is Utley. His offering may be the other nominee. Only time will tell.
Glenn Willeford
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Its official, William A. (Andy) Cloud is the new director of the Center For Big Bend Studies http://www.sulross.edu/cbbs/ at Sul Ross in Alpine. The center could not have found a more qualified and experienced new leader; Andy knows his Big Bend archaeology. He holds a B.A. in Archaeological Studies and an M.A. in Anthropology with focus in Archaeology from the University of Texas in Austin. A native Texan, Cloud has more than thirty years experience in Texas Archaeology serving, since 1995 as Senior Project Archaeologist, for CBBS. He has written extensively researching, writing and co-authoring more than forty archaeological reports as well as teaching anthropology at Sul Ross. In addition, he worked for the Office of the State Archaeologist at the Texas Historical Commission, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Big Bend National Park, and the Texas Archaeological Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin. Andy is also the lead author for the La Junta exhibit on the website.
www.texasbeyondhistory.net. Lots of good stuff on the site, check it out.
Also take a look at Andy’s exceptional work at the La Junta sites in Presidio County:
http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/junta/sites.html
For some of Andy’s other articles see:
http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/local ... p;exclude=
I have known Andy for many years and am so pleased, as are quite a few of us historians that he has been chosen to lead the CBBS. We look forward to the continued growth and success of CBBS in the future with Andy and know he will make it happen.
Congratulations Andy!
Gj
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I came to Mexico in 1994 to accept a job teaching English literature, History, and Composition in English (the latter, basically a course in writing the so-called “college essay,”) at the Facultad de Filosofia Y Letras, a discipline within the Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua at Chihuahua City. As with most colleges, so often wrongly nominated “universities,” most of the students were less than enthused about the curriculum. That notwithstanding, there were exceptions. Srta. Blanca Estela Moreno A., a Spanish-speaking native of Mexico, was one. This essay, now four-years-written, while not perfect, remains a stirring example of a young woman’s attempt to express her love of country. Perhaps we norteamericanos should ponder over Blanca’s words and reflect upon our own endangered heritage.
Glenn Willeford, M. A.
25/08/2008
Someone has to do something
Blanca Estela Moreno Arias
One single person could never imagine how normal summer vacations could change his perspective of life. That happened to me last summer, when I met, in a literal way, this great woman. She was a woman just like me, or also any of my classmates or friends. The only difference was that real love she always felt for her native country.
The story of this woman captivated me since the first moment I heard it. Since the first moment I knew that was a special story, a story that taught us something very valuable that must of us have forgotten, and that valuable thing is the love we must have to their country. This noble woman is the perfect example we must have. But it is time to finish with the pending ... let´s introduce her.
María Elisa Martiniana Griensen Zambrano was the hero who Parral never will forget. Elisa Griensen was the model of person who the country was looking for, and she´s also the model of person who I´m very proud of. The important fact Elisa Griensen did would make that not only Parral, but also Mexico was cover with pride of her.
But actually...who is Elisa Griensen and what was her heroic act? That´s a very common question that most of you have in your mind in this precise moment. That is because unfairly, only a few people outside Parral have heard about Elisa Griensen and her historic fact. Therefore, I invite you to know the story of this woman who really loved her motherland.
Elisa Griensen was born in Parral from a noble, but big family, that´s where our story begins. Don Juan Griensen and Dońa María Lucía Zambrano were the parents of nine children: Elisa was one of that 9; actually, she was almost the youngest. That was happy times for the Griensen family; unfortunately, the happiness is not for always.
The hardest times for the Griensen family began earlier than ever. When Elisa was four years old both of her parents die, and then is responsability of Virginia, the elder of all the nine children, take care of her little brothers and sisters since that moment. It was a hard work for Virginia.
In that precise moment one man appears to help and to stay with the Griensen family forever. In the year of 1894, Virginia got married with Pedro Alvarado Torres, a man who, with hard work, is trying to obtain the rich silver lodes of his famous mine “La Palmilla”. The love he had for his woman Virginia, made that he took care of all the Griensen family side by side with his dear wife.
An amazing fact takes by surprise to all the family in 1900. “La Palmilla” started to give incredible economic outputs that would the end of the austerity and sacrifice life of the Griensen family forever, and also would give to Parral a worldwide fame.
Don Pedro Alvarado was now the owner of the biggest fortune ever. His fortune was so big, that he built the famous Palacio Alvarado, and sometimes his friend Francisco Villa asked him for some money to buy weapons for his army. The fortune of Don Pedro was so big, that also he wrote a letter to the president Porfirio Díaz where he wrote that he wanted to help to his country paying the external debt of Mexico.
Despite the fact that Don Pedro was the richest man ever, he always was an extremely noble person. He fought with energy to the end to be the sucessful man now he was. In spite that his business made of him an always-busy man, he never stopped helping people who needed him. He never forgot what kind of man he was; Parral was pride of him.
In the year of 1905, Pedro´s happiness began to fall down. On May fifth, his dear wife Virginia dies, and this fact finished with him in an unknown way. Another May fifth, four years later, Don Pedro had to sold “La Palmilla” to pay a lot of debts he had. His economic power came to an end. Elisa, who was then 21 years old, had lived happiness and sadness with Don Pedro, like one of the members of his family.
The pass of seven years was still necessary in Parral to know the heroic act of Elisa Griensen. Now that we know how were the circumstances of the life of Elisa Griensen and the childhood she lived, it is also extremely important to you to know the most important antecedent for Elisa´s historical fact. What´s this important antecedent? Francisco Villa´s Columbus attack.
What were the reasons of Villa to attack Columbus? There are many theories. This is one of them: Villa was defeated in Celaya by Carranza forces represented by Obregón, so Villa decided to go to the North and attack Agua Prieta, Sonora, that had the defense of Plutarco Elías Calles. Villa attacked Agua Prieta; however, Carranza´s forces passed the frontier and defended Agua Prieta by the North American side.
Villa took this attack like treason, so he decided to look for revenge. Villa was extremely upset because the president of the USA, Woodrow Wilson, had admitted the Carranza´s government, and he decided to attack the nearest town to show his desire of revenge: that was Columbus.
But also exist another interesting theory about why Villa attacked Columbus. He had made a business with the Ravel Brothers; they gave to them 265, 000. 00 dollars to buy weapons. The Ravel Brothers accepted the money, but they never sent the weapons. Of course, Villa never would accept that, so he decided to attack Columbus to punish to the Ravel Brothers. This is the most accepted theory about why Villa attacked Columbus.
Villa didn´t find to the Ravel Brothers, but the attack continued. Villa asked to the people where the Ravel Brothers could stay, but the people didn´t want to talk, so he decided to set fire to the Ravel´s house and hotels, but the fire got bigger and affected all the town. A lot of people die that day, and the injured were uncountable. Villa and all his people left the town at dawn.
North American people never would forget Villa´s attack. North American soldiers started to cross the frontier looking for Francisco Villa to punish him for the attack to Columbus. They didn´t worried about to ask for permission to cross the frontier, they only wanted to punish Villa.
The soldiers began to make camps inside the Mexican territory to find Villa as soon as possible and wherever he was. They started to advance inside all the North territory, and after that they started to advance to the South. Finally, they arrived to Hidalgo del Parral on April 12th, 1916. The most important mistake the soldiers made is that they didn´t follow the only order they had: not to cross inside the town.
The soldiers installed their camps in the Plaza Porfirio Díaz, in front of the Escuela 99, without suspect the things would happen later. People were very upset because the soldiers were there. Everybody talked, and also gave his or her opinion; however, nobody did anything about it. Nobody could know that this entire situation would change very soon.
A young woman who was 28 years old would change the complete situation. Elisa Griensen Zambrano was among that entire people watching that horrible landscape where all the persons were talking without do one single thing. Then she went, looking for some help, to talk with the municipal president. He heard all the things that young woman said, but he didn´t do one single thing either. In that precise moment, Elisa knew it was time to act by her own.
Elisa never would stay with the arms folded. She returned to the Plaza Porfirio Díaz and organized the people who were there in that right moment. Then she went to the Escuela 99; she entered to the principal´s office and took the national flag. After she went to the fifth grade classroom and invited to 24 students to help her to take off that foreign force that was invading their country. Elisa returned one more time to Plaza Porfirio Díaz, now with the brave fifth grade students follow her and the national flag on her hands. She told to the people: “I asked for help but no one heard me, however... someone has to do something”.
Elisa invited to the people to help her and they did it. It was a great sucess. Elisa invited to the people to sing the Mexican National Anthem and to expulse the enemy. People and also children began to throw stones to the North American soldiers, and some of them made some shoots to the air. Only a few injured and two die American soldiers were the result of this confrontation, but finally, the foreign forces had gone to the north. Elisa and the people from Parral had got the victory.
Since that special day, Elisa Griensen was considered not only in Parral but also in Mexico a national hero. People never would forget the historic fact Elisa Griensen was made on April 12th. It was a day to remember.
However, what were the reasons Elisa had to act like she acted that April 12th? Only a few people know that beautiful answer. A few months later of the historical fact, Elisa and Villa finally found face to face. Elisa boarded Villa´s car without permission. When the General saw her, he got angry and quickly told her: “nobody is brave enough to front General Villa, and less to board his car... who are you little girl?” She quickly said: “I´m Elisa Griensen” Villa spoke again: “you´re the woman who confronted the “gringos”. Elisa answered: “Yes, my General, I´m that woman”. Villa´s last question was: “why did you do that? are you Villista or Carrancista?”. Elisa´s answer was always the same: “Neither Villista nor Carrancista, I did it for Mexico”.
The beautiful example Elisa Griensen gave us never must be forgotten. We must have the same love she had for her country. This story about Elisa Griensen changed my life. I wrote this essay hoping that more people know her story and become an admirator of her and the things she did, because, like she used to say: somebody has to do something.
Name: Blanca Estela Moreno Arias
Grade: 2nd semester
Teacher: Glenn Willeford
Group: A
Date: 10/02/04
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On Sunday, August 24, 2008, 02:32 AM, Domingo Garcia Cano wrote:
Chico Cano was my great grandfather and he was who the Rangers were looking for when they got to Porvenir,Texas. I visited the masscare site during a family reunion in Van Horn, and all the bodies of the victims were buried in one big pit. Their should be a Texas historical memorial marker at this site. Su Familia, Su Tierra, Su Hogar: Chico Cano fought for family, land, home
Publish Date: February 1, 2006 | Permanent Link
by Sam Richardson
You won’t see many people wearing Chico Cano T-Shirts. The Mexican revolutionary figure is not as well known as Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, two of his early 20th century contemporaries. Villa and Zapata have become not only icons but big business as well. Their likenesses are sold and seen on T-Shirts, post cards, calendars, and in many other applications. Even street gangs use them as emblems of power.
But Chico Cano, in his own way, lived up to the revolutionary image of fighter, hero _ even bandit _ as much or mores than other more celebrated figures. And because he occasionally redistributed the wealth of the more fortunate, Cano has also been described as a Mexican Robin Hood.
Chico Cano was not perfect but he was an honorable man, according to authors Tony Cano and Janet Sochat. In their book, Bandido. The True Story of Chico Cano, the Last Western Bandit (Canutillo: Reata Press, 1997), the writers portray him as a man who was driven by the motto: Su familia, su tierra, su hogar. He used the remote reaches of the Rio Grande border as his own Sherwood Forest and its argued that his rustling, gun battles, and banditry, regardless of how others perceived them, were done in the name of family, land, home.
Chico very obviously wore a black hat in his actions against the Americans and some Mexicans but was known to wear a white hat as well in the aid and protection he brought to many people in the areas he controlled,_ the authors write. And they make an important distinction between Cano and other leaders of the revolutionary period. Whereas many revolutionary groups indulged themselves in the spoils of war, Cano drew the line at abusing innocent people, especially women.
Chico admonished those, Anglo or Mexican, who would not respect and care for the Mexican people, but rather raped, pillaged, and intimidated them,_ according to his biographers. And in contrast to Pancho Villa, who had 25 wives, Cano was devoted to one woman all his life. His beloved Teresa.
During the Mexican Revolution, Chico Cano was as enigmatic as the political situation in Mexico. Even though he is portrayed by the authors as a man loyal to his wife and family, and a man who had his own loyal following of armed men, his political loyalties shifted frequently.
He was first allied with Orozco, then with Carranza, both of whom were rivals of Villa. Then he lined up with Villa, then with Carranza again. Eventually he became totally independent. To use an old cowboy expression, He changed horses in midstream a lot. And he wound up being hunted not only by all of his former associates in Mexico but by the U.S. government as well.
None, it should be noted, ever put him out of business.
Authors Cano and Sochat portray Chico Cano on the one hand as a survivor, on the other as a victim. Since his loyalties were negotiable, and since he was constantly changing sides, all his former associates were eager to blame him for whatever banditry and violence occurred anywhere he might have been. Some tried to blame him for the Brite Ranch raid where a ranch south of Marfa was attacked in 1917. Others tacked his name onto every stolen horse or cow that crossed the Rio Grande during those turbulent times.
With one exception, the authors never admit Cano ever killed anybody or was directly responsible for any killing. In a drunken accident, Cano killed a young boy while trying to shoot a bottle off his head. In other instances, including the killing of Ranger Joe Sitter in a famous border gun battle, all possible alibis are entertained by the authors as to why Chico Cano was more than likely innocent.
When he was elderly and on his deathbed, Cano was asked if he was afraid to meet his maker. He said, My Father was my maker. Poverty was my maker. Distrust was my maker. I have met them all my life.
Cano died in 1943 of natural causes, still a hero to his people.
For further consideration is the question how many of the problems between the U.S. and Mexico in the early 20th century were created by the United States? Some would argue that one of the leading causes of the Mexican Revolution was U.S. investment in Mexico which helped create the one-sided economy of the Dictator Porfirio Diaz. His thirty-year reign created abject poverty and great suffering for most of the country while his small ruling elite and foreign investors made millions.
It was into that world that Chico Cano was born. The events resulting from the Diaz dictatorship and the revolution it caused shaped his life and the lives of thousands of others along the U.S./Mexico border defined by the Rio Grande.
Bandido is a must read for students and aficionados of Big Bend history.
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Having posted my review of the new Casas book I invite open discussion of the work here on the blog. I did not see the manuscript and based my analysis of the book after it went to press. A recent review of the manuscript by Jim Glendinning says that Casas overstates racial prejudice in South Brewster County and that some of the “stated facts are just plain wrong”. Do begin this discussion I pose the following two questions. Do you feel Casas or any other writers have overstated racism in the Texas Big Bend? Also, what in the book do any of you consider to be not to be factual?
If anyone has any difficulty posting comments on the blog please email me. Also, the book is available and in stock at Front Street Books in Alpine and Marathon. Telephone 800-597-3360. Let the discussion begin!
Gj
Friday, August 22, 2008, 08:41 AM
The Casas book can only be classified as a novel, complete with descriptions of its characters' mannerisms, emotions, and dialog. Had a New York publisher taken it on, I'm certain they would have put "hisstorical fiction" on the spine and published it as a mass market paperback -- but they didn't take it on.
A few family letters are offered as "historical documentation." And the only thing that might be considered factual is the use of real people's names. The author confesses to fictionalizing the Jorge Villalba trial [p.301]. And [p.XI] he tells us he "recreated" events as they might have happened from his family's perspective. But, even the author has to admit he injects his own biased "perspective." For instance[p.219]: The author -- in his own voice -- describes the prosecution witnesses as "lying sonsofabitches" and hostile -- and this without the benefit of a trial transcript which he tells us no longer exists [p.301].
Another instance[p.151]: In a fictinal setting -- again, complete with mannerisms, emotions, and dialog [and even snifters of Cardinal Mendoza brandy (!) which defense attorney Mead fusses over so eloquently]-- Frederico Villalba asks Mead, "How hard could it be to prove self-defense?"
" 'If it was the other way around and your boys were Anglo and the deceased were Mexican...not too hard," Mead said with a shrug of the shoulders." [Rimply read the inference behind the words the author has put into the mouth of the character Mead. To be fair, the author might have contacted Mead's descendants and got their take on what he might or could have said and felt. They might even tell us Mead didn't like Cardinal Mendoza brandy.] But this was obviously not meant to be an objective story with two sides.
There are other examples...
For the sake of argument, let me play on the author's own previous comment, and call it "anecdotal fiction." If that is accepted, then some might consider it a "good read." But don't call it fact-based "history" because it is not.
Felton Cochran
Thursday, August 21, 2008, 11:34 AM
I know that Mr. Ruan is a student of the Big Bend. Although I have never met him, I have learned to respect him and his knowledge by way of his friend and colleague, Mr. Glenn Willeford. His pointing out that I used the term “Villa interloper” is a bit pickyuny. Villa and his men were, by then, notorious cattle rustlers along the border. His activities, though not yet politically motivated, were very well-known and highly unappreciated by my great-grandfather and others. If the reader will recall, my great-grandfather called Villa the “accidental hero”. Per my great-grandfather’s assessment, Villa was a criminal who, by fortuitous circumstances, transformed himself into a “man of the people”. In deference to Mr. Ruan, perhaps I should have called the cattle rustlers just that. Now, had I used the term Villista, Mr. Ruan would certainly have had a bigger bone to chew on.
As for the comment that the “racial issue is overblown”. I submit to the reader that the racial climate is unfortunately, well-portrayed by events that took place in that era, and not by my invention. I did not concoct Porvenir, the transgressions of the Texas Rangers and the Army, the trial of my great-uncle Jorge for murder when it was clearly self-defense, or the murder of my great-uncle Jacobo.
To Mr. Ruan, I feel privileged that you chose to read my work. Aside from your points of disagreement, I hope that you enjoyed meeting the Villalbas. And, by the way, my book is an anecdotal history, not a novel.
Juan Manuel Casas
Wednesday, August 20, 2008, 11:08 AM
In my opinion Casas' book reads well as a family history or as a novel. Unfortunately, I think that anyone who is familiar with the history of the Big Bend and the Mexican Revolution would have some problems with factual statements.
Case in point: on page 17..."In 1909, Federico was approached by tghe sheriff who encouraged him to accept a commission. [as a Texas Ranger]Federico did so for one big reason. He didn't much care for Pancho Villa. It offered the American government's protection if he or any of his vaqueros killed an interloping Villa sympathizer." In 1909 Villa was not even a minor player in Mexican politics and history. Probably nobody in the United States had even heard of him. What was the possibility that "an interloping Villa sympathizer" would appear in the Big Bend and need to be killed.
I would agree wholeheartedly with Glendenning that the racial predjudice issue is overblown.
There are a number of other obvious historical errors.
Well written, interesting novel.
Gerald Raun
Monday, August 18, 2008, 10:19 PM
GJ, I'm surprised! There was so much YAH! YAH! about Mr. Casas book before it hit the shelves, and now, it seems, nobody wants to argue with him. Could it be that Casas turned out a better product than the naysayers expected>
Glenn Willeford
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Iron Mountain Press has just published an attention-grabbing new book titled “Federico Villalba’s Texas: A Mexican Pioneer’s Life in the Big Bend” by Juan Manual Casas. Casas begins his absorbing account of the Villalba family with the arrival in present Mexico of a Spanish ancestor, Lt. General Juan de Villaba in 1767. Appointed by King Carlos III, General Villalba inspected northern Chihuahua and reported to the King his recommendations of how the new frontier might best be defended. Later the General settled in the Spanish Province of Nueva Vizcaya at San Geronimo putting down roots for later generations of the Villalba family. Casas proudly recounts the fact that his family has noble Spanish blood and by the time his great-grandfather was born in 1858 had become prosperous landowners and merchants at Aldama north of Chihuahua City.
In 1882, twenty-four year old Federico Villalba left his parents home to take up ranching initially at San Carlos, Chihuahua before moving north into the Texas Big Bend. Villalba’s Rancho Barras located near Burro Mesa did well with his cattle herds growing to over 2,000 head in a few years. His Rancho Barras brand became well known. Villaba also owned property west of the Chisos Mountains where quicksilver was discovered in 1899. In addition to his ranching and quicksilver operation Federico engaged in the manufacture of saddles and leather goods and opened a small store that stocked necessary supplies. By the time Villalba reached thirty years of age and married, Federico had established three successful business operations. His family grew to include three sons and three daughters. Early in the 1900’s, Villalba entered into a quicksilver mining partnership and opened a general merchandise store at Study Butte.
In 1907, a financial downturn signaled troubled times ahead for the Villalbas. Then after surviving the dangerous years of the Mexican Revolution in the Big Bend, tragedy struck the family. The Villalba boys loved to play cards and gamble and Jacabo took up bootleg liquor smuggling. Following a poker game that went bad, Jacabo shot and killed two men that resulted the murder trial of his brother Jorge. The case went to trial in the Brewster County Courthouse in February 1924 and ended with Jorge being found not guilty. But the verdict proved to be bittersweet because Federico lost Rancho Barras to pay legal expenses. In 1931, Jacabo lost his life after being shot while trying to collect a debt. Federico never got over the death of his son and died two years later bringing an end to the Villalba’s time in the Big Bend.
“Federico Villalba’s Texas” is an outstanding and well-told family story. It is an excellent read, one that Big Bend enthusiasts will greatly enjoy and want to have on their bookshelves. Casas has done a fine job of presenting the Mexican perspective in the frontier times of the Texas Big Bend. Although the author should have offered more detailed documentation, the research given appears to be sound for the most part. It is a story that simply needed to be told and begs discussion.
Gj
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Some still think of H. L. (Hod) Roberson as an exemplary Texas Ranger who met his death while quietly sitting in a chair in 1923. Even today, the Officer Down Memorial Page remembers Roberson as a law enforcement hero with no mention of his dubious past.
See:
http://www.odmp.org/officer/18000-field ... e-lorenzo-(hod)-roberson
But there is more to his story. “Hod” Roberson lived by the gun and died by the gun. He should be more accurately described as a cold-blooded killer whose gun was for hire. Between 1911 and 1923 H. L. Roberson killed more than a few men in Texas and in Mexico. One probably inflated story claims he killed 38 men in his lifetime. Robertson first put on a Texas Ranger badge in 1911 at the age of 38 years when he joined Captain John Hughes’ Ranger Company A in El Paso. Within months, the new ranger shot and killed a drunk Mexican at Calaro a village east of El Paso. Following the incident, Roberson spent some time exiled to the Texas Panhandle. Captain Hughes liked Robertson, however and appointed him to sergeant of A Company in 1913. In 1914, Roberson and Ranger Ira Cline tried to serve a search warrant on Carlos Morales Wood, editor of a Spanish language newspaper in Valentine. Although the Rangers shot Wood dead in very suspicious circumstances they were acquitted in a murder trial the claiming the editor had pulled a pistol on them.
Roberson resigned from the Rangers in 1914 and became the foreman of the infamous T.O. Ranch of Chihuahua. As foreman he led some dozen or so gun men that ran roughshod over the huge border ranch. The T.O. men controlled controlled a fair amount of the border north of Candelaria to El Paso on the Mexican side terrorizing anyone who got in their way. Pancho Villa and his agents did considerable business with the T.O. Ranch bringing many herds of stolen cattle and horses to the ranch to be brokered into Texas. About 1914, some said General Villa personally ran Hod Roberson and his men out of Mexico outside Ojinaga. Another account states that the Roberson gang were arrested and deported by Mexican soldiers for branding stolen Terrazas cattle. A short time later, Roberson and some twenty of his men shot and killed Febronio Calanche and Rodrogo Barragan as they slept on the Texas riverbank at the Los Fresnos Crossing north of Candelaria. Justice of the Peace J.J. Kilpatrick wrote of the incident, “I have always felt sure it was either Roberson who shot to death Barragan and Calanche or ordered it done”.
Nothing came of the killings but in 1915, Roberson found himself on trial for more murders in El Paso. Details of the fatal shooting of Henry Foote Boykin and Walter Sitters are in my previous blog article. Here I offer some information about the Roberson murder trial.
Many Hudsbeth County ranchers did not like Hod Roberson. It is likely they did not appreciate the fact that he and the T.O. Ranch illegally brought thousands of cattle stolen in Mexico to Sierra Blanca to sell at very cheap prices. The T.O. Ranch engaged in very lucrative arms for cattle trade during the Mexican Revolution. At one point after U.S. President Woodrow Wilson imposed an arms embargo on Pancho Villa, stolen Mexican cattle brought only $5 a head in exchange for rifle and pistol cartridges priced at $1 per round. Honest Texas ranchers simply could not compete with these prices.
Following the Boykin and Sitters murders, Roberson was charged with murder and surrendered to some of his Texas Ranger friends in El Paso. He posted a $7,500 bond and entered a plea of self-defense. The sensational trial made front-page news in the El Paso newspapers as some of the finest legal minds in Texas met head to head in the district court room. On December 4, 1915, the jury found Roberson guilty of murder and he received a 20-year prison sentence. His attorneys quickly moved for a mistrial after one of the jurors admitted being a convicted felon.
Two weeks later, Judge Dan M. Jackson set aside this verdict and granted a new trial. In November 1916 another jury found Roberson guilty of manslaughter and gave him another five-year sentence. Again his lawyers moved for a new trial. When the judge denied the motion, Roberson’s attorneys appealed the case to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin that upheld the verdict. Six months later, the court reversed itself for unclear reasons and sent the case back to Hudspeth County for trial. In a change of venue, the case went back to the El Paso District Court in November 1919 where another jury convicted Roberson of manslaughter with a two year sentence. Roberson’s lawyers moved for another trial and a change of venue. Finally in June 1920 a Travis County court let the gunman off the hook with an acquittal.
The curious part of all this is the fact that even during the midst of his considerable legal troubles, Hod Roberson retained various commissions as a Texas and Federal lawman. From 1916 until he was killed in 1923 he worked as a law officer as an inspector for the Texas Cattle Raisers Association while also holding an appointment as a Special Texas Ranger, Midland County Deputy and Deputy U.S. Marshall. Many Texas lawmen, including Texas Ranger Captain John Hughes, helped Robinson with money for his defense and posting his bonds. Looking back, this certainly does not speak well about the integrity of Texas lawmen of those days.
In April 1923, Hod Roberson and fellow brand inspector Dave Allison were sitting on the porch of the Gaines Hotel in Seminole, Texas. They were in town to testify at the trial of two rustlers. The evening before the trial, the rustlers attacked Roberson and Allison on the porch and killed both of them in a wild series of pistol shots and shotgun blasts. When she heard the shots, Robinson’s wife ran downstairs from her room in the hotel and shot both of her husband’s attackers with his small automatic back up pistol. Although wounded both rustlers escaped after bringing an end to the career of a gunman with a Texas Ranger badge.
Gj
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Hi Glenn,
While researching the burial location of my great-grandfather, Henry Foote Boykin, I came across your website listing his obituary in 1915. Since my grandfather, Henry Foote Boykin, Jr., was only three years old when his father was killed, he never could tell me a lot about his father. I wondered if you had any more information about H.F. Boykin that you could share with me. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thank you,
Tammy Labhart
Tammy, you are in luck as I have found a fair amount of information about the murder of your great grandfather, H. F. Boykin. H. F. Boykin was born May 3, 1875 and met a tragic death at the age of 40 years on January 16, 1915 in Sierra Blanca Texas. He and Walter Sitters, son of Texas Ranger Joe Sitters, were gunned down by Horace Lorenzo (Hod) Roberson, a Texas Ranger with a considerable reputation for the killing of many men. For more about Robertson be sure to search the blog archive for several articles including, “A Cold Blooded Killer With A Texas Ranger Badge”. I am working a chapter in my new book, “More Little Known History Of The Texas Big Bend” about Roberson. Below you will find some 1915 newspaper articles about the murders of Boykin and Sitters. Also, there is more information about Roberson’s murder trial in the El Paso Times/Herald. You can find copies of the newspaper microfilm files of the El Paso Public Library. Also, UTPB in Odessa has the Times on microfilm. Be sure to check out the excellent EPT index and vertical files at the El Paso library. Good luck with your research. If you have any family photos of your great grandfather, I would greatly appreciate a good copy to use in my new book.
Gj
SIERRA BLANCA MAN IS KILLED: ANOTHER IS WOUNDED BY CATTLEMAN FROM MEXICO WHO THEN LEAVES TOWN
Sierra Blanca, Texas, Jan. 16-17, 1915--H.F. Boykin, a prominent citizen of this place, was shot to death in the Texas & Pacific stock pens early this morning by H.L. Roberson, one of the foremen of the T.O. Ranch, in Mexico.
Roberson, also shot and seriously wounded Walter Sitters, of Valentine. It seems that Roberson had some cattle in the pens, which were placed in Mr. Boykin’s pasture, north of this place, and Mr. Boykin insisted upon counting them before before taking them out. A quarrel insued, with the above results.
It is said that Boykin and Sitters were unarmed.
Roberson immediately left town.
Mr. Boykin leaves a wife and five small children, a brother and a host of friends here, and three sisters in El Paso. The names of Boykin’s sisters are Miss Florence Boykin, at the Central telephone office, Mrs. T.C. Armstrong, and Mrs. B. Taylor.
EL PASO HERALD
JANUARY 16-17, 1915
WITNESSES TELL OF KILLING; HEARING HELD FOR ROBERSON SIERRA BLANCA TRAGEDY IN WHICH TWO MEN WERE SHOT TO DEATH IN DIFFICULTY OVER CATTLE IS AIRED BEFORE JUSTICE OF THE PEACE; BOYKIN HAD A SMALL KNIFE IN HIS HAND WHEN SHOT BY DEFENDANT
The hearing of H. L. Roberson on the charge of killing “Foot” Boykin and Walter Sitters at Sierra Blanca, this county, last Saturday, is in progress in the court of Justice of the Peace J. J. Murphy. Testimony was taken Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning and the hearing was then adjourned to the afternoon to await the arrival of more witnesses.
When the hearing was resumed at 10 o’clock Tuesday morning, the testimony of James Burns and William Bartzer, the two young men who were “beating their way” to San Antonio and saw the tragedy, was heard.
Burns stated that the men were quarreling when he and his friend got off the train. They went over to the stock pens, he stated, to see if they could get a job. When they came up, they saw Boykin on the fence, pointing his finger at Roberson. Roberson struck his hand with a rope, and when Boykin grabbed the rope, Roberson struck the hand with his pistol, he said, and then Boykin threw the rope into the lot. Roberson then rode around to the gate. In the meantime Boykin threw the rope over the fence. Roberson asked him to give him the rope, and Boykin refused, but another man climbed over and handed it to him.
Burns testified that he heard Boykin say: “Nobody but a ___ ___ ___ ___ or a coward would pull a gun”.
BOYKIN “CAME AT ROBERSON.”
He further testified that when Roberson came around the gate, Boykin came at Roberson and he started for him a second time before Roberson fired the first shot. He, Boykin, had something in his left hand-he did not know if it was a knife. Five shots were fired by Roberson, the last one as Boykin was falling.
To the state’s counsel he stated that he could not remember what Robertson had called Boykin. Words were passed between them but in the excitement he did not catch all that was said. State’s counsel reminded him that his memory had been pretty clear concerning the testimony he had given the counsel for the defendant.
Burns stated that he told the same story to the justice of the peace at Sierra Blanca and that at 2 p.m. on the same day had been told that he and his partner could go their way.
The testimony of William Bartzer was similar to that told by Burns. He declared he did not know whether Boykin had a knife.
The state was represented in the case, by Frank Fulle, assistant county attorney, and by R. E. Thomason, special counsel. The defendant was represented by Victor C. Moore.
THOMAS CROSS TESTIFIES
Thomas Cross, of Sierra Blanca, a witness to the tragedy, was the first witness. He stated that he and “Foot” Boykin and others went to the stock pens about 6 a.m. Saturday, January 16, to load some steers. While thus engaged some of the animals got mixed up with others in the pen and they were engaged in counting the animals when H. L. Roberson drove up.
“When Roberson, rode up he called out, ‘What in the hell are you doing here?’ He told Boykin to get out,” he testified, ‘Boykin told him he wouldn’t and then Roberson and then Roberson said, ‘You ___ ___ ___ ___ you will get out.” Boykin called him the same name and told him he wouldn’t get out.” Boykin climbed up on the fence and Roberson then struck him with a rope. Then he pulled out his pistol and struck Boykin on the hand.” The he asked for his rope and I handed it to him. Roberson rode around and into the corral and shot Boykin four times. Then he rode away.”
Cross admitted to counsel for the defense that Boykin had a knife in his hand before Roberson hit him with the rope. He also admitted that he did not feel friendly towards the defendant.
HIT BOYKIN WITH ROPE
Elmer Norton, aged 14 years, another witness to the shooting, stated that when he came up, Roberson was telling Boykin to take back what he called him and Boykin refused. He stated that he saw Roberson hit Boykin with a rope and saw the latter pull the rope from his hand. He stated that he saw Roberson hit Boykin on the hand with his pistol, and then he saw Boykin step back into the corral. Roberson, he stated, rode around and came through the gate into the corral. Boykin moved towards him. Roberson’s animal wheeled around and Roberson fired over his shoulder, he declared, the shot hitting Walter Sitters. Then he fired four more shots at Boykin, he stated, the last one being fired after Boykin hit the ground.
He admitted to counsel for the defense that there was considerable bad feeling in Sierra Blanca against Roberson. He also admitted that some indirect efforts had been made to influence his testimony. He stated that his father told him to tell the truth.
TOLD ROBERSON HE WAS UNARMED
To the attorney for the state he stated that Boykin had told Roberson he was unarmed. When Roberson fired the second shot Boykin kept moving from side to side as though attempting to dodge further shots, he declared.
William Norton, aged 17, a brother of Elmer Norton, corroborated his brother’s testimony in its essential details. He was questioned concerning the feeling in Sierra Blanca against, “the T.O. people.” Asked by the defendant’s counsel if he had not been urged not to tell some things about the tragedy, he stated that two or three men had asked when the case was coming up. Later, he admitted that he had told them he was going to tell the truth.
FEELING AGAINST T.O.
“I, Norton, father of the two Norton boys, was the last witness examined during the afternoon. He was examined by the counsel for the defendant as to the feeling in Sierra Blanca and the “T.O. People”. He stated that there was considerable feeling against them.
“Is it not a fact, Mr. Norton, that when I attempted to ask you earlier in the day about the affair in Sierra Blanca, you said you did not have time to talk to me?” asked attorney Victor Moore.
“Yes, I was summoned to the grand jury and testified.”
Norton’s testimony concerning the tragedy, which he witnessed, was similar to that of the witnesses who had d him. Concerning the knife, which Boykin is alleged to have held in his hand, the witness stated that it was a pocket knife with a blade perhaps two and five-eighths inches in length. He stated he had assisted in removing the clothes from the body of he dead man and said that the man was shot once in the back, once in the left side, once in the arm and once in the chest just below the neck.
ROBERSON HELD ON BOND
Judge J.J. Murphy announced Tuesday afternoon, following the conclusion of the preliminary hearing, the he would hold Roberson on a bond of $5,000 on the charge of having shot Boykin and $2,500 on the charge of having shot Sitters.
It is probable that Roberson will give the combined bonds of $7,500 pending the grand jury hearing and will be released.
EL PASO HERALD
JANUARY 19, 1915
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Check out the future of Texas history at the Texas State Historical Association on line portal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qap4uIOWUA
Gj
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlDx9n4wFb0
There are more and more excellent Texas history sites on line. I will be posting some of the best as I locate them. Note: These videos may require a high speed connection. If they won't load, sorry. Take a minute and look at University of North Texas fine site at:
http://texashistory.unt.edu/
Gj
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Here is an article about the Candelaria bridge by Ross McSwain published in the San Angelo Standard-Times:
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/ju ... -a-memory/
Gj
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Borderstories.org has posted an article about the Border Patrol removal of the Candelaria footbridge. See it at:
http://www.borderstories.org/blog/?p=41
Gj
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Check out the article from Texas Civil Rights Review about the Border Patrol removal of the Candelaria bridge. Gj
http://texascivilrightsreview.org/phpnu ... p;sid=1264
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VILLA TURNS ATTENTION TO OJINAGA AND CAPTURES THE BORDER TOWN: A 1966 PEN FROM THE PAST BY ROSS MCSWAIN
Pancho Villa, well supplied after taking Juarez in mid-November 1913, sent three brigades of about 3,000 men to attack Ojinaga and entrap a long time foe, Gen. Luis Terrazas, who was trying to escape to the United States with gold bullion believed to be valued at $2 million.
The tree brigades, moving from separate areas of Chihuahua, traveled on horseback and on foot. Villa assigned 500 of his own brigade to the battle. The Gonzales Ortega Brigade, commanded by Torbino Ortega, had more than 550 soldiers. Fresh from the brief skirmish at Chihuahua City, the brigade also had two batteries of 75-millimeter cannon and some heavy machine guns.
A member of the Ortega brigade, Pedro Cabrajal, lives in Ojinaga. The 71-year-old veteran of Villa’s army was a foot soldier. Until recently, he served as night watchman at the Ojinaga mayor’s home.
Cabrajal and a childhood friend, Ignacio Rodriquez, 72, fought nearly a month at Ojinaga during that cold January in 1914. Although the two men grew up together in the Ojinaga area, they battled each other. Rodriguez was sergeant with the federal forces.
Recently, the two veterans recalled the battle during an all-day interview which started in the Ojinaga mayor’s office and ended when a hard thunderstorm fell over the battleground as the two men pointed out positions from which each fought.
Cabrajal said the brigade he was in left Chihuahua City a few days before Christmas. According to records, it was on Dec. 22, 1913.
First contact between the Villa forces and the federal troops in Ojinaga came on New Year’s Day, 1914.
Rodriquez said a cavalry patrol saw the first Villa troops moving on the city from the south. The patrol attacked the Villa soldiers and blew up an artillery piece. In the ensuing fight, the federal soldiers caused many causalities and caused the first contingent of Villa soldiers to retreat.
Cabrajal was not in the first fight with the federals, nor was Rodriguez involved. Rodriquez was in the federal troop encampment in the center of town.
On New Year’s night, Cabrajal and other Villa infantry moved closer to the town.
“It was very cold,” Cabrajal recalled, “Many had blankets and some of the soldiers had no shoes. Many hundreds of fires could be seen over the countryside as the men tried to warm themselves.”
On the third day, federal troops, mostly on horseback charged the Villa lines. Rodriquez was one of them. Federal artillery supported the attack.
“We rode right into the first of them, hollering and shooting,” Rodriquez said. “Many ran and were shot. Some were trampled under the horses.”
Cabrajal said he lay in his shallow rifle pit and just fired his rifle at the first horseman he could see. Asked if he saw any federal troops fall, he could only shrug his shoulders. The fight ended in less than an hour. Villa artillery slammed into the federals and forced them to retreat to the town. Only minor casualties were inflicted on the cavalry troops, but Villa lost more than 100 men. An additional 130 were taken prisoner.
According to Mexican official records, Villa lost more than 300 men the first three days of the Ojinaga attack. About 200 were killed in the first skirmish. Another 100 died died in the federal attack on Jan. 3.
The prisoners were herded into Ojinaga and held overnight. They were shot the next day. Although Rodriquez knew of the Villa men being shot, he said he did not take part in the executions.
Cabrajal said the Villa forces retreated a second time from the battle to the base of a mountain just south of Ojinaga. During the withdrawal, federal forces ambushed a Villa column in a draw not far from the present site of the new Ojinaga railroad station.
“Hundreds were slaughtered there like cattle,” Cabrajal said.
The draw, now called Arroyo del Muerte is filled in some. Many Ojinaga residents say more than 1,000 bodies were counted there after the battle was over. Most of the bodies were buried there, they say.
Rodriquez said federal troops were ordered to dig entrenchments about the town during a lull in the fight.
“We were heavily outnumbered, but we were ordered to make a stand,” he said.
Rodriquez said many of the soldiers in the town sympathized with the Villa movement, including himself, but they had to fight or be shot. “Life wasn’t worth much,” he said.
The two men said they knew of many instances in which brother fought against brother and father fought against sons during the revolution.
Cabrajal, a teenager during the battle, joined Villa in 1911.
The old Villa soldier said he was recruited along with a number of relatives to fight by his brigade leader, Ortega.
“It was for a cause,” he said. “My family was poor. We had no land. Ortega said when the fighting was over, everyone would be given land to farm.”
Rodriquez, the federal trooper, joined the army because he couldn’t find work. He said he liked the army because he was given clothes, food, a good place to sleep and he had a fine horse. He said he was given a peso a day (21 cents).
Commander of Rodriquez’s troop was Capt. Marcus Cano. Cano, also an Ojinaga resident, died several years ago. The federal troops stationed at Ojinaga numbered about 350 regulars and about 60 reserves. Federal soldiers with Terrazas boosted the total to about 600.
Villa advised of discontent among brigade leaders, sent an additional 2,000 men into the Ojinaga battle on Jan. 6. he directed Martiniano Servin, an artillery commander to take command of the Villa forces until he could arrive on the scene.
On Jan. 10, it was announced that Villa was with his troops. A stream of refugees, ignoring sniper fire, fled Ojinaga to Presidio. Now more than 2,000 refugees were interred there.
On Jan. 11, Villa mounted the final attack on Ojinaga. He sent a column of 800 men to attack the town from the south, led by his generals Hernandez and Jose Rodriquez. Just west of the town, Villa placed his artillery in an area between the Conchos and Rio Bravo (Rio Grande). Villa with 900 men under his direct command, and Toribio Ortega’s brigade reinforced to 700 men, started advancing from the north just at daybreak.
Salvador Mercado and Pascual Orozco, federal forces leaders, directed the defense of the city from the old customs house.
Pedro Cabrajal, the Villa foot soldier who still lives in Ojinaga, said the rifle fire was intense from the town as the Ortega men advanced across the chaparral area, immediately across from where the international bridge is now located.
“We ran and hollered ‘Viva Villa’,” Cabrajal sid with a gleam in his eyes.
Ignacio Rodriquez, a federal soldier during the night now a retired railroad worker living in Ojinaga, said the Villa forces moved out of the draws and arroyos surrounding the town and started swarming toward them.
“Hundreds and hundreds came yelling and shooting,” he said. “We were frightened but our officers would not let us leave the trenches. They told us to shoot.”
Villa’s artillery pounded the city and the trench fortifications. Some of the shells screamed over the Rio Grande and exploded within several hundred yards of Presidio.
Carlos Spencer, a storekeeper in Presidio, said he remembers his father telling of the shells falling near the first Spencer store. Small arms punctured the store’s kerosene storage tank.
“Presidio was much closer to the river then,” Spencer explained. “The town site was moved back from the river after a bad flood in the ‘20’s.”
Americans sent a note to Villa’s artillery commander asking that the gun’s elevation be lowered. It was done so immediately.
But when the artillery was adjusted, some of the shells then fell among Villa’s own men, Cabrajal recalled.
“Several men near me were blown to bits when a shell landed close by,” he said.
The final battle, fought during the late morning hours and early afternoon, lasted only a few hours.
The federals, outnumbered 5 to 1, retreated to the river and crossed over, only to be rounded up by U.S. cavalrymen from Marfa, sent to protect Presidio.
Villa lost an estimated 100 soldiers in the final assault. Some historians have put the Villa dead at a much higher figure. But Cabrajal said losses were light on the final day.
“The Federalists lost heavily in the last attack,” Cabrajal said.
Rodriquez, one of the federal soldiers to escape to Presidio, was put into a camp with other soldiers. Their arms, munitions and other supplies were taken over by the U.S. Army.
Cabrajal said the chaparral area was littered with destroyed, dead horses, bodies of dead and wounded.
“The wounded were cared for by several doctors in the Villa army,” he said. “Many of the wounded, both Villa and army men were carried to Presidio for treatment.”
Cabrajal said after the town was taken, the Villa troops sacked homes for food, clothing and gold.
“We just stayed around the town for about a week before leaving,” he said.
During the week after the battle, townspeople were told to bury the dead. Some of the federal troops, watched carefully by Americans ordered to protect them from the Villistas, also helped bury the dead.
Cabrajal said most of the Villa men just rested, drank and ate while the townsmen cared for the dead and wounded. Equipment left behind was quickly collected for Villa’s rag-tag army.
Rodriquez walked to Marfa with the thousands of refugees, where all were put aboard trains and sent to Fort Bliss. He stayed in the United States and worked on the Southern Pacific Railroad after the revolution until 1926. he returned to Ojinaga and worked as a laborer.
Cabrajal fought two more years with Villa. He was seriously wounded in a battle on the Durango-Chihuahua border in early 1916. He finally returned to the Ojinaga area about 1920. He lives with his sons. Rodriquez lives with his daughters.
The men said there were several Ojinaga residents who fought in the battle, but most are now gone. Occasionally, Cabrajal and Rodriquez talk over the fight with these few surviving friends.
Both said they wouldn’t fight again if they had their lives to live over.
“We did not get anything out of the battle, except to nearly get killed,” Cabrajal said.
Rodriquez said the fight came about over politics.
“There was no other way except to do battle,” explaining why the political fight ended in bloodshed.
“There were no speeches…just fighting,” he continued. Cabrajal said he has no interest in politics.
“We don’t dedicate ourselves to parties anymore,” he explained.
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Check out this Candelaria bridge video just posted on utube from Drlabash:
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SENORA VILLA SAYS OF PANCHO: POOR PEOPLE ARE THE ONES WHO LOVE HIM. A PEN FROM THE PAST BY ROSS MCSWAIN
In mid-October 1965, a new mayor took office in Ojinaga, just across the river from Presidio. A gala fiesta was planned for the change in municipal officials. Dignitaries from all over the state of Chihuahua were on hand for the event.
But probably the most important person there was Luz Corral Villa, a spry 72-year-old matron with shining eyes, steel gray hair and a broad smile. Luz Villa is the widow of Pancho Villa, on of the most famous men in Mexico. Although more than 50 years ago Villa’s army of peasant soldiers sacked Ojinaga after a bloody battle in which mort than 1,000 persons died violently, Senora Villa was given one the biggest welcomes any VIP could receive from Ojinaga citizens.
What was the secret of Senora Villa’s acceptance, not only in Ojinaga but in cities though out the United States, including Columbus, N.M., where Americans died before Villas guns?
“The older people remember what Pancho Villa did for the poor.” Senora Villa said, “Even though there was much bloodshed many years ago, the poor classes still remember him as their hero, their Robin Hood.”
Senora Villa, a resident of Chihuahua City, was the revolutionary’s only legal wife. (Note: According to the New York Times of July 13, 1966 Soledad Seanez Holguin also legally married Villa on May 1, 1919)
She readily admits that Villa had many mistresses and sired some 15 children by different women by several women, her eyes sparkle as she speaks of the bandit-general’s exploits and their brief and hectic married life.
Senora Villa maintains a Pancho Villa museum in Chihuahua City. She lives in the same house Villa bought in 1906 from the money taken in bandit raids.
The 50-room house has been rebuilt twice since it was purchased. It was destroyed during the Mexican Revolution in 1913 and during the war between Villa and Carranza in 1917.
“Pancho didn’t especially like politics,” Senior Villa said during an interview in Ojinaga. “He had a strong sense of loyalty to the poor. He was pushed or forced to take part in the revolution,” she said.
During the height of Villa’s successes when he was undisputed dictator of all the northern provinces of Mexico, Senora Villa lived in seclusion in El Paso.
“I saw my husband for several days each month during the revolution when he would sneak into El Paso,” she said. When he and Carranza fought, Pancho sent me to Havana, Cuba for safety.”
Senor Villa was in Havana during the last revolutionary struggle. Her home in Chihuahua City was destroyed a second time.
When the Columbus, N.M. raid was staged in 1916, Villa had just sent his wife to Havana.
“I knew he was planning to attack an American town, but I did not know where or when,” she said recently. “Pancho was furious with President Wilson for stopping the shipment of arms to him. He felt that the American president was in agreement with his actions. The raid was a retaliation for President Wilson’s arms emabargo.”
Senora Villa said stories saying Pancho Villa was not at Columbus during the raid are not true.
“He planned and led the raid,” she said, “even though he was advised by his generals not to do so. They told him the American soldiers would follow and destroy him…but he would not listen.”
Senora Villa said her husband was very hot-tempered but was not cruel.
“He despised cowards and incompetent offices.”
Villa hanged hundreds of persons in Durango and Chihuahua accused of desertion from his peasant army. Historians note, too, he had numerous officers in his band shot for failing to carry out his orders.”
“The poor people are the ones who truly love him and his memory,” she said. “Others hate and despise his name.”
Senora Villa said her husband never drank to excess.
“He enjoyed parties…and found many beautiful women at the gatherings. He was famous. Women threw themselves at him,” she added, explaining his many love affairs and many children.”
The bandit’s wife reared five of the reported 15 children born to various Villa mistresses. Three of his daughters and two sons are still living. A son, Samuel Villa, still resides in Chihuahua City. Octavio Villa, a minor government official, was killed at an ambush at Matamoros about two years ago. Another son, Agustin Villa, is in a mental hospital in Los Angeles. A nephew of Villa’s, his namesake, fought in World War II with the U.S. Army. He was a paratrooper, Senora Villa said. The nephew now lives in Los Angeles.
Villa and Luz were married in 1911 when she was l8 years old. They met in 1910 when he took over her hometown of San Andres. He was a bandit chieftain, she said.
Senora Villa was living in Chihuahua City when Villa was gunned down in an ambush near Parral, Chihuahua, a mining center. His ranch, called Canutillo Hacienda, was near Parral but in the state of Durango.
“The ranch was taken by the government”, she said, “because Villa was accused of owing the government more than $80,000 in taxes.”
The revolutionary’s widow said tales of Villa treasure being buried in the Sierra Madre Mountains is false.
“If there had been a lot of treasure he would not have had to ask for so many loans.”
“The money taken from banks during the revolution went for and ammunition, uniforms and other equipment,” Senora Villa said, “He was always in need of money for ammunition. During the last days of fighting, he had to ay two and three times for it (munitions) than its actual price since most of it had to be smuggled into Mexico.”
In 1922, a year before he was killed, Villa was approached by an American film company about appearing in a motion picture about his life.
“Pancho refused to take part in the picture unless the company could promote the construction of a school in corporation with the Mexican government,” Senora Villa said.
The school, to be used by orphans, was rejected by the Mexican government. No reason was given for the refusal, even though the school was badly needed.
The famous bandit loved children, his wife said.
“Pancho used to pick up children off the streets and take them to school. He took 300 children and fed them and bought them clothes at one time in Juarez.”
Pancho and Luz Villa had a baby girl about a year after their marriage, but the infant died.
“I would have been proud to have had her live,” Senora Villa said.
In 1950, Mexican president Aleman made an offer to rebuild the Villa home in its original state but nothing ever came of the offer. Senora Villa, however, has restored the home out of her funds, raised though donations to her Villa museum.
She lives alone in Chihuahua City, except for several servants who also help maintain the museum.
Last August and September, more than 3,000 persons visited her home to see the large collection of Villa papers, uniforms and other personal items of the late revolutionary.
On display is the Dodge touring car in which Villa was riding when shot to death, battle flags, weapons of all kinds, uniforms, his desk, letters and other numerous items.
Senora Villa said she had ten volumes of registration books containing more than of visitors to the museum.
“Guests have come from all over the world,” she said.
Senora Villa is also a traveler. She has been all over the United States and has made several jet flights.
Early in 1965, she toured the U.S. appearing in person at premier showings of a documentary film on Villa made during the revolution. The film, put together from silent newsreels, but narrated, was produced by Columbia Pictures, Inc. The film company paid Senora Villa’s expenses on the journey.
She said she tries to make several trips a year to Juarez. Her recent trip to Ojinaga was the first such trip in years. She was a houseguest of Mr. and Mrs. Pete Valenzula who she met in Chihuahua City about 12 years ago. Valenzula is a clerk in the Spencer Store at Presidio and has lived in the immediate area since birth.
Senora Villa’s best friend and traveling companion is Senora Margaret H. Campos, a Chihuahua City music teacher. They have been friends for more than 40 years.
Villa’s wife’s greatest wish is that Pancho could have lived out his life more peacefully.
She said he was a happy man, although he was virtually in exile on his Durango ranch.
He was a big man, standing about six feet tall and weighing more than 200 pounds. He was graceful in his movements, and had a commanding voice. His very being expressed confidence.
“He had a strong sense of loyalty to the poor,” she said. “He knew the hardship of being a field-hand, a laborer. He only wanted the poor to have more to eat, better living conditions and better education. These things he and his family had done without.”
In April, a highlight of Senora Villa’s life came when Governor Campbell of New Mexico visited her in Chihuahua City to discuss plans for the extension of U.S. Highway 180 from Columbus, N.M. into Mexico and into the state of Durango. The scenic highway Federal Road 45 in Mexico, would be called the Pancho Villa Trail. The highway should be an international effort.
Mexican peasants still call Pancho Villa, “mucho hombre”. He will always be “a big man” to Luz Villa, his wife. Pancho Villa died on a hot July afternoon in 1923 as he and four bodyguards traveled a dusty road outside Parral.
More than a dozen heavily armed men blasted the Villa car as it started over a bridge crossing a shallow ravine. The gunmen, believed hired by Mexico City politicians, had hidden in ambush in a deserted adobe house.
Senora Villa said she did not know who killed her famous husband. She suspects he was assassinated by political foes.
“He was being mentioned too much in the news,” she said. “He didn’t like the way the government under Obregon was being run and said so on a number of occasions. He was killed because the politicians suspected he was being urged to lead another revolt.”
Luz Villa’s husband died as he had lived…violently and with a pistol in his hand.
“He trusted the government when he was granted the pardon. But they (the politicians) apparently didn’t trust him,” she said.
Thanks Ross for the fine article, a chance for us all to look back and ponder. Gj
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UPPER WALKER CREEK
UPPER WALKER CREEK
UPPER WALKER CREEK
UPPER WALKER CREEK
CAPOTE CREEK
CAPOTE CREEK
In the last 24 hours some 2 inches of rain has fallen in Candelaria and the ranches to the north in the Sierra Vieja. Walker Creek and Capote Creeks are running fast and according to reports, the Rio Grande is out of its banks at Candelaria. Candelaria lies in a natural flood plain and is subject to severe flooding when rain falls in the Sierra Vieja.The first two crossings of Capote above Candelaria are impassible. We are marooned.
Gj
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ABOVE IS THE BRIDGE ON 3-22-08
PHOTO BY GLENN JUSTICE
ABOVE IS FORMER BRIDGE SITE ON 3-24-08
PHOTO BY GLENN JUSTICE
PHOTO COURTESY CLARA LONG@BORDER STORIES.ORG
PHOTO BY GLENN JUSTICEYesterday after I posted the article and photos of the bridge, a large contingent of Border Patrol trucks and personnel removed the Candelaria footbridge. It no longer exists. As soon as we learned of the removal, we drove to Candelaria arriving there about 10:30 am. The last of the Border Patrol trucks were just leaving and the road blocked by heavily armed but courteous BP guards. I ask if the bridge was gone and if I might go take some photos at the crossing. They let us pass after the last truck drove out of the bosque. The bridge is gone. Not even a scrap or tiny piece of it left on either side of the river. Across the river on the Mexican side, a few amazed locals waved back to us. It was swift and efficient removal. Yesterday, it was there, today it is gone. They hauled every piece of the old bridge out on a flat bed trailer. As we drove by the school, the entire schoolyard was crammed full of Border Patrol vehicles. The remains of the bridge sat encircled on the trailer by U.S. government vehicles. We decided it was time to go home. It is a sad day on the river. For more than 50 years, the little bridge stood as a symbol of cooperation between two tiny Texas-Mexican border villages. Now it is history.
Gj
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PHOTO BY GLENN JUSTICE
PHOTO BY GLENN JUSTICE
PHOTO COURTESY CLARA LONG@BORDERSTORIES.ORG
The old Candelaria bridge is still here. It spans a muddy trickle some five-foot wide in an almost dry arroyo. It’s hot in the Presidio Valley. Few venture outside after the cool morning hours. The school kids are out for the summer so they are not using the bridge. Few do these days. Everyone waits to see if the bridge will survive. A squad of Border Patrol men and women stationed at the Candelaria school go about their duties patrolling this part of the border. It’s a thankless job and they are the only law we have here. Some Andrew Jackson art painted on an old car hood expresses a lot of feelings about the school being closed. Across the river at the medical clinic, Dr. Maribel Aquino waits and wonders if her link to the outside world will be cut by the removal of the bridge. Manuel Carrasco is doing well and just got his new work visa. Not long ago, Manual suffered a heart attack on the Texas side and thanks to Dr. Aquino’s clinic in San Antonio is alive and well today.
Gj
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Above are four Texas Confederate battle flags from the Texas State Archives.
When I see so many Confederate stars and bars the rednecks hoist and stick on their pickups in Texas, it disturbs me. I saw one bumper sticker with the stars and bars that said, “Its not about history, its about heritage”. Truth is, the fine, brave Texans who fought and died in the Civil War did not fly the red, white and blue stars and bars of the south into battle. They did not fight to keep their slaves because few owned slaves. Some 4,400 Texans joined the Confederate cause and fought and died in most of the major battles of the war. They fought and died because they felt threatened by the Federal Government and the election of Abraham Lincoln. At surrender, only 600 officers and men, survived to limp back to Texas, many missing limbs, the enduring mark of a Civil War veteran. So before you defiantly raise or stick on the stars and bars, know your history a little better.
For more see:
http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/treasures/fl ... flags.html
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/onli ... /qkh2.html
Gj
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Glenn Willeford and Gerald Raun have done an insightful study of Big Bend cemeteries. Their "Cemeteries and Funerary Practices in the Big Bend of Texas, 1850 to the Present" is 240 pages packed full of out of the ordinary tidbits of information that genealogists or anyone interested in finding the grave site of a long lost relative will want to read. While many parts of the country have readily available listings of local graveyards and their residents, final resting places in the Big Bend has been a long overlooked topic.
Willeford and Raun did not simply republish courthouse records but did extensive research of the some 63 graveyards in the Texas Big Bend and personally visited each of them. Many of these isolated family cemeteries have escaped official records in Brewster, Presidio and Jeff Davis counties and the book finally documents these historic gravesites. Included are 42 photographs of various cemeteries as well as detailed locations.
Glenn Willeford is an American writer and professor of history who lives in Chihuahua. In 2004, his first novel, "Red Sky In Mourning" became the first English language book published by Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua. A follow up to Red Sky titled "Passage to Lisbon" is now in the works. Gerald Raun, Ph.D, is the author of four books including the first "Snakes of Texas"ť offerings and over fifty journal articles on biology and history. "Cemeteries and Funerary Practices" is available at Front Street Books in Alpine. Email Front Street at findit@fsbooks.com or call 432-837-3360.
Also see: http://www.fsbooks.com/books/books.html#willeford
Gj
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John Casas
Five years ago I undertook a project that, like a time machine, catapulted me back to the Trojan War, then to our subsequent ancestral home in Italy, and, via Spain and Mexico, to the Big Bend of Texas.
Initially, my intention was to put together a primer for the immediate ancestors of my great-grandfather, don Federico Villalba, who moved from Aldama, Chihuahua, to the border in San Carlos. The “primer” ballooned into a three hundred-plus-page treatise filled with photographs chronicling the Villalba family legacy. The book was received so enthusiastically by our family that I was encouraged to have it published, not only for ancestral knowledge, but as historical record. I am happy and honored to add that my book, Federico Villalba’s Texas: A Mexican Pioneer’s Life in the Big Bend, is due on the shelves this July.
My mother, Herminia, was born on Rancho Barras on the banks of the Rio Grande, in 1926. She is the daughter of Regina Villalba, Federico’s pistol-packing daughter. He also had five sons: Felipe -- the eldest, Jorge, Federico Jr., Jacobo (“Jake”), and Santos.
Barras Ranch was situated in the present-day Big Bend National Park.
The sixteen hundred-odd acres Federico leased from A. J. Compton are designated as the Diablo Ranch on the Park Service map. El Diablo was the family’s second landholding. The initial ranch, a ten thousand-acre estate, was situated in Burro Mesa. Federico was obligated to enjoin ownership of that holding to the Alpine law firm of Mead and Metcalf in 1924 in return for legal services when his son Jorge was indicted and tried for homicide in the shooting deaths of the Coffman brothers. Jorge was acquitted of the charges by a Brewster County jury.
Federico, at one time, also owned another ten thousand acres on the west side of the Chisos Mountains. In addition to other ranchland Federico had several sections set back as a hunting preserve on the present-day Terlingua Ranch. In the early 1900s he discovered cinnabar on Cerro Villalba, property that had been named for the family. Federico accepted a partner named William Study and began development of the Study Butte Mine. Cerro Villalba was thereafter called Study Butte. My great-grandfather was also proprietor of the Study Butte Store through the 1920s. Not far away was his Bar La Fiesta, a local “waterin’ hole.” Across the Rio Grande Federico also owned five-thousand acres in the vicinity of old San Carlos, which today is known as Manuel Benavides; additionally he had a successful talabarteria, or leather goods shop, at Santa Elena on the Chihuahua side across from today’s Castolón (originally also called Santa Elena) in the national park.
For the two years I engaged in research hardly any contemporary documentation of Federico’s holdings and accomplishments in the Big Bend came to light. It seemed almost as those had been hidden away. Kenneth B. Ragsdale in his tome Quicksilver: Terlingua and the Chisos Mining Company (Texas A&M University Press, 1976), did, however, single out and devote an entire chapter to the shooting of the Coffman boys and of Jorge Villalba’s trial. Ragsdale also mentioned my great-uncle Jake’s murder in November, 1931, and the purloining of the family property in the Chisos.
By and large, the record of Villalba experiences in the Big Bend has been condensed to the tragedies that befell them and various other well-placed Hispano-American families. There is so much more to the historical record of occupation in the region that has as yet been told. I am grateful that Mike Hardy at Iron Mountain Press feels the same way. In this offering, and in my upcoming prequel, Of Cowboys and Kings, we invite the enthusiast to sense the Big Bend border country through the aspect of one of our earliest settlers, my visabuelo don Federico Villalba.
The book will be available through Front Street Books (fsbooks.com) in Alpine, TX, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com and Iron Mountain Press, Houston, TX.
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CANDELARIA BRIDGE ISSUE RESPONSE FROM MARTIN LUJAN-CHEIF OF STAFF FOR TEXAS REPRENSATIVE PETE GALLEGO
Mr. Justice:Thank you for the information. While I was not aware of this, Mr.
Gallego may be. Regardless, I will distribute this to everyone in our
office so that it is on our radar.
Thanks again.
Martin
-----Original Message-----
From: editor@rimrockpress.com [mailto:editor@rimrockpress.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 12:19 PM
To: Martin Lujan
Subject: Candelaria bridge closing issue
Martin,
Please take a few minutes to look at and consider the impact of U.S.
Border patrol ordered closing of the Candelaria brige. You will find
much information about this issue at Glenn's Texas History Blog:
www.rimrockpress.com/blog. Hope that you will make Pete also aware of
the problems if you and he are not already.
Sincerely,
Glenn Justice
Maybe Pete can help? Texas House Representative Pete Gallego may be contacted at:
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/di ... llego.htm.
No response from U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez despite repeated attempts. Guess he and his staff are too busy. Rep. Rodriguez may be contacted at:
http://www.rodriguez.house.gov/.
Gj
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Have just learned that you can now hear Big Bend radio live on the internet at bigbendradio.com during scheduled times. There you will find the voice of the last frontier broadcasting KVLF and KALP feeds from their studio at Kokernot Field in Alpine. They have Big Bend news, sports and weather and this is great for those of us on the river who cannot hear their signals over the airwaves. You must download Silverlight from Ray's website. It runs beautifully on my osx mac. In addition to the streams, you can download the Alpine La Entrada hearings, weather and local sports and find the streaming schedule. For more info, check out their website. Thanks Ray for this wonderful service!
Gj
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Above is James Judson Kilpatrick Sr. known in later years as the "King of Candelaria".
Above is Darwin Dawkins Kilpatrick, son of J.J. Sr. Dawkins or D.D. served as a scout for the last American punitive expedition into Mexico in August 1919. He operated the Candelaria store until his death in the late 1940's.
In the summer of 1919 Candelaria merchant and Justice of the Peace James Judson Kilpatrick Sr. and two of his sons, Jim and Dawkins found themselves caught up in a storm of controversy. Following the Brite ranch raid on Christmas Day 1916, fear ran high along the Rio Grande in the Big Bend. The civil war in Mexico spurred on by Pancho Villa had turned the village of Candelaria into an armed camp. Most of the population of Candelaria left to find a safer place to live. J.J. at first called for help from the U.S. government to fortify and defend his town. Not wanting to run, the Kilpatricks mounted a Colt .30 cal. machine gun above their store to guard their property. Two Candelaria schoolteachers, Pat Greene and his wife packed pistols and stayed ready to climb to the roof of their residence to fight off a an expected raid from across the river. When the new teacher first arrived in Candelaria, J.J. presented schoolmaster Greene a 7mm Mauser rifle and 1,500 rounds of ammunition. A troop of U.S. cavalry under the command of Captain Leonard F. Matlack worked feverously to move their tent camp from old man Engles cotton patch near the edge of the village to Annias Hill overlooking Candelaria, the river and San Antonio del Bravo.
J.J. and Jim wrote letters to congressmen and penned articles at first published by the San Antonio Express, the El Paso Times and the Marfa New Era. Even the New York Times picked up articles about Candelaria. When some of the press reflected badly on the cavalry, a military press blackout was imposed on reporters who were no longer permitted to go to Candelaria. Instead, the reporters could only write stories based on news releases given them from the army at Fort D.A. Russell in Marfa. But the Kilpatricks kept on with their letters and articles. Finally the El Paso Times refused to publish any more from J.J. Kilpatrick because it was too controversial and inflammatory. It didn’t help when J.J. got drunk and accidentally discharged his pistol in an El Paso bordello. The El Paso Times did not fail to report this incident. Following this J.J. started publishing his own newspaper circular printed by his brother H.H. Kilpatrick in Marfa. H.H. was Presidio County judge and publisher of the now lost Marfa New Era newspaper.
This is not to say the Kilpatricks were without fault in all of this. They engaged in a steady and highly profitable illegal arms for cattle trade with Villa agents and others. When Dawkins hauled cotton over the Sierra Vieja trails with large mule drawn wagons, he sometimes returned to Candelaria with the wagons loaded with rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition. But their writings to tell their version of the border troubles of that time should not be glossed over or ignored. The following is J.J. Kilpatrick’s attempt to counter the newspaper stories of what happened. These papers were given to me years ago by J.J.’s granddaughter, Marian Walker. These are J.J.’s words, exactly as written.
Gj
FALL REITERATES CHARGES THAT CARRANZA SOLDIERS ARE SLAIN BY PURSUING U.S. TROOPS (El Paso Times July 22, 1919.)
An examination into the truth of these charges and an account of the killing of two youthful sotol smugglers and of Gregorio Renteria.
Special to Morning Times. Washington, July 21.-“Senator Fall of New Mexico reiterated his charges on the floor of the Senate that Carranza officers and men have been shot by American soldiers when pursuing Mexican raiders across the Rio Grande.
Reads messenger from Marfa-Senator Fall read a telegram from Marfa, Texas giving the names and dates on Carranzista officers and soldiers had been killed by American troops in repelling raids. There were more than a dozen names of Mexicans given ranging from Captins (sic) to Lieutenants to provates (sic), and all were said to have been in Carranza’s army. He said that bugles and sabers had been found belonging to Carranza’s forces.”
The following is the message probably read by the Senator, or a similar one based on the same records or files at Colonel George T. Langhorne commanding the Big Bend District;
Ten Carranzistas killed in the Big Bend since Dec.1, 1917
(By Associated Press)
Marfa, Texas, July 21.-Records on file in the headquarters of the Big Bend military district here show that the Mexicans killed by Eighth cavalry (sic) troopers in the Big Bend and Ojinaga districts since December 1, 1917, ten were alleged to have been Carranza officers and soldiers, according to Col. George T. Langhorne, District commander.
Of the ten, five were killed on April 2, 1919, when Captain Matlack crossed the border between Ruidosa and Candelaria with troops K and M of the Eighth Cavalry in pursuit of a band of Mexicans who had driven off cattle from American ranches. The cattle were recovered and the bodies of the five alleged Carranza soldiers (were) identified according to Colonel Langhorne.
Names of the Victims. “The names, as shown on the headquarters records, were: Felicito Hernandez, Reyes Callanes, Pedro Fallesco, Andres Rodriguez, Blacida Zapata. The five others, also recorded as Carranza soldiers, who were killed prior that date, were, Lieut. Flores Haciendita, killed December 21, 1918; Captain Avila, killed December 25, 1917; Luis Momoz, Roman Hegura and Carlos Rivera, killed in raids on American ranches the records state. Avila was killed leading the attack on the Brite Ranch Christmas day, 1917, and photographs are on file in military headquarters here showing his body clad in the uniform of a Carranza officer.
“American cavalry troops in the Big Bend district crossed the border eight times during the same period in pursuit of Mexicans who had raided ranches on the American side of the border according to headquarters records.”
We as well as most Americans on or near the border been passive Villa sympathizers and in favor of sort of intervention. However, I am now rather lukewarm if not altogether cold, in my attitude towards armed interference in the affairs of Mexico. This change on my part is due to some extent to the conduct of the Eighth cavalry (sic) while on the border. Holding no brief for the Carranza government, yet I must say the truth of Rio Grande history in the Big Bend, demand’s that Senator Fall’s statements should be challenged and the flimsy and false evidence upon which they are founded exposed. It is inconceivable why the general public, making no effort to ascertain the truth, permitted itself to be hoaxed by the reports formerly sent out, it seems, from military headquarters at Marfa; for, an examination of the facts contained in the Senator’s message will reveal how the people have been deceived and certain officers gained notoriety under false pretenses. The files in the office of Colonel Langhorne at Marfa, July 21, 1918, showed that the Mexicans killed by the Eighth cavalry (sic) in the Big Bend and Ojinaga districts since December 21, 1917, ten were alleged to be Carranza officers and soldiers, five killed April 27, 1918, by Captain Matlock (sic) when he chaised into Mexico a band of Mexicans how had driven off cattle from American ranches; namely,Felicito Hernandes, Reyes Callanes (Pallanes), Pedro Fallasco (Zalas), Andrez Rodriguez and Placida (Plasido) Zapata, and five killed prior to the time; namely Lieut. Flores Haciendita, killed Dec. 21, 1918; Captain Avila, killed December 25, 1917; Louis Munoz, Roman Hegura (Segura) and Carlos Rivera.
Since Roman Segura and Carlos Rivera were killed at the same place, in which, and at the same time when Zalas, Rogriguez and Zapata were killed, the tow former should take the places of Feliceto Hernandez and Reyes Pallanes, killed nearly a year subsequently. Attention is called to the interchange of these names, in rely (sic) to indicate the bungling work formerly done in filing away border reports at Marfa.
Now, April 7, 1918, when Roman Segura, Carlos Rivera, Pedro Zales, Andres Rodriquez and Plasida Zapata were killed, Matlock (sic) did not cross the border in pursuit of these Mexicans; neither had theyor any other Mexicans driven cattle or anything else from American ranches. That there had been no raid of any sort is an incontrovertible fact, and the officer responsible for the report that had been should be dismissed from the army as a sensational prevaricator. Matlock (sic), did cross the Rio Grande at or about the time mentioned upone a manufactured hot trail; and learing in San Antonio that Chico Cano who he doubtless had long been planning to kill or capture, had that morning with nine of his men gone up the river, he, Matlack and his troops following after him in no great hurry. Coming upon the Mexicans with their shoes off and asleep by the side of the regular trail, after their noon meal, the Americans surrounded and shot to death five of them, Chico escaping in his stocking feet slightly wounded. Yet Senator Fall read on the floor of the senate a message from Marfa, saying these five Mexicans were alleged to be Carranza soldiers, who having driven off cattle from the American ranches, were pursued across the border by Captain Matlock (sic), and killed, an absolute untruth.
These five Mexicans wore no uniform and were not soldiers, but were locally known as Chico Cano’s men. While in the employment of the Carranza government, their exact status of function no one seemed to know. Some said they were border patrollers; others that they were secret scouts; that Chico himself held no commission as a Carranza captain, but was merely chief o the patrolers or scouts. That point, however, is immaterial, since they had not raided any American ranches, or as an organized band committed any depredation on this side of the river. As individuals some of them may have been guilty of the sporadic stealing of horses from ranches in Texas, but that the individual wrongdoing of soldiers is proof of connivance on the part of the government with the commission of crime is simply absurd.
The misleading and worthless character of the files from which Senator Fall’s telegram is yet to be told. And it is amazing how reports which are pure fabrication found their way into the former military records at Marfa, yet just listen; Felicito Hernandez and Reyes Pallanes, both of whom I knew, recorded in the army files of the Big Bend district as Carranza soldiers killed prior to April 7, 1918, while raiding American ranches, were only two youthful sotol smugglers, cruelly shot to death by two of Matlock’s (sic) soldiers the night of June 1, 1919. Being Justice of the Peace, I investigated the killing. The soldiers late in the evening made an engagement with the boys to bring over some sotol that night-and then shot them down in the shallow water about ten feet from the bank, then they returned with the liquor.
But I have not finished with the crooked files; Luis Munoz, also recorded as a Carranza soldier, etc., was no other that the worthless son of Pablo Munoz, and was hung in Mexico for hog stealing by the Mexicans themselves. I know what I am saying.
Captain Avila-the bandit killed by Sam Neill Christmas day 1917 had on a tight fitting coat fitted with brass buttons. Somebody in Marfa said the picture of the dead outlaw resembled a certain Captain Avila who fled with two thousand others to this side when Villa took Ojinaga. Hence, it seems brass buttons on a coat and the resemblance; somebody imagined he or she noted, was sufficient evidence to prove a Carranzista captain had been killed raiding an American ranch. Ever if the dead raider had once been an officer in the Mexican army the only logical conclusion that could be drawn from this fact is the he was a deserter, Villistas and Carranzistas raided the Brite ranch.
Lieut. Flores Haciendita killed December 21, 1918, was probably intended to read: Lieut. Flores, killed at Haciendita; however I have been unable to locate anyone who has ever heard of the lieutenant or of anyone’s being killed on the date above mentioned. Anyway if a Mexican was killed at that place on or about that date his lieutenancy was no doubt similar to the Captaincy of Sam Neil’s bandit, namely of American manufacture.
My criticism is not yet exhausted. These files tell of bugles and sabers belonging to he Carranza forces having been found. When and where the message read by the New Mexico senator did not say; and noting in the papers the bugle and saber statement I marveled at the Senator’s lack of information. In the homes of a number of Americans on both sides of the border, may be found bugles, sabers, swords, etc., exactly line those in the Eighth cavalry’s museum or war. Mr. Fall, no doubt, has a Carranza (Mexican) saber and may be that we gave it to him for we have given away several since the revolution in Mexico first began. My purpose in part for exposing the worthless character of the telegram read by Senator Fall on the floor of the Senate is this: Colonel Shaw was recently sent out by Washington by General March to ferret out the truth in regard to certain border reports. It will be remembered that Major Collins a little pussy footing whitewasher, exonerated Matlock (sic) of all charges I made against him or to any members of my family and among the other things recommended that no more money be spent investigating any charges we may make. But the flowers of truth though withered by time will, as long and justice and right will live, blossom and bloom again. The war department paid no attention it seems to this little swivel chair Major who is no other than the son in law of a life-time political enemy of ours and so disqualified to investigate anything which my family and I were interested.
In his two hour interview with me Colonel Shaw asked how I knew the reports sent out from the border were generally grossly exaggerated or fictitious. Because I explained such was their character as reflected in the newspapers. While admitting that, since I had not seen the reports on file in military headquarters, I could not say that the newspaper copies were correct, yet I called the Colonel’s attention to the fact that charges were made prior to this testimony and from the telegram read by the New Mexico Senator, the inescapable conclusion that my charges were true. Without going into detail, I will say of the 21 Mexicans killed on this side of the river since 1917, only one was a bandit, the other 19 being unarmed Mexicans or prisoners; and of the 96 so called outlaws killed by American troops on the other side of the river during the same time, only 16 had corporal bodies, only two of whom being bandits; five were Chico Cano’s men; seven were prisoners; one an old blind Mexican killed at Pilares; and one a lunatic killed at the Jacal settlement opposite Indio, by Matlock (sic), so a government scout informed me. Of the remaining 80, six were killed at San Jose on the telephone wires; seventeen killed by Matlock (sic) with spyglasses at the so-called second day’s fight opposite Indio. And fifty-seven on paper with hot air rifles.
Of the eight raids implied by the telegram from Marfa, July 21, 1918, only two were genuine bandit excursions-Brite and Nevill raids; two were simply cases of cattle thefts by border thieves-the Tigner and Nunez ranch incidents; one was a bogus thing-and the phantom raid of Chico Cano, and three, if they ever happened must have been trivial affairs, for I have been unable to find anyone who knows anything about them.
James Judson Kilpatrick, Sr.
Candelaria, Texas
Circular No. 3
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