Now, Runyon unlimbered his heavy camera and took numerous photos, including the Norias ranch head- quarters and the six uninjured troopers standing on the front porch. This photograph is part of the collection entitled: Where the West Begins: Capturing Fort Worth's Historic Treasures and was provided by the Cattle Raisers Museum to The Portal to Texas History , a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries . The repression, however, was not just directed at the bandits, but at the Texas-Mexican population as a whole. But February 20 came and went without any uprising, and for the next several months Anglos in the Rio Grande Valley breathed easy. Outlaw Sam Bass was loved by the poor, and newspapers fueled his fame. For some, this week's horrific El Paso shooting that left 22 dead and 26 injured was too similar to La Matanza, a violent chapter in the Lone Star state's history where Texas Rangers launched a series of hate-filled bloody attacks on Mexican American people a century ago and were hailed as heroes for it. But she also uncovered information that blamed her ancestors for the attack. The history of the Texas Rangers spans nearly 200 years. The Dallas Cowboys Used to Sell NFL Dynasties. [4], The "most daring" raid during the Seditionistas' campaign occurred at the Norias Ranch, the headquarters for the southernmost division of the King Ranch. On board was Robert Runyon, an energetic and enterprising photographer from Brownsville who had created a cottage industry photographing scenes from the Mexican Revolutionmany of them morbid images of dead bodies and selling them as real-photo postcards, which were distributed widely in the United States and Mexico. SF Mahtook, Beltre. The complex dynamics between newcomers and longtime residents often led to retaliatory attacksthen everything came to a head. Six other states were to be given to blacks as an independent nation, a buffer region between Mexico and the United States. Prior to 1914, the Carrancistas had been responsible for most attacks along the border, but in January 1915, rebels known as Seditionistas drafted the Plan of San Diego and began launching their own raids. For the next few weeks, West Texas was plagued by "almost daily killings," the most notable of which occurred on October 19. One South Texan wrote, "I have never been satisfied with the Alamo and Goliad events, and always have felt that there was something yet due the Mexicans from us, and if there is a second call and for a war, the Mexicans will certainly get what is due them from the Texans." That year, Luis de la Rosca recruited his Villista cousin Jose Morin to capture San Antonio, but a baker in Kingsville, known as Victoriano Ponce, informed the Texas Rangers, who arrested both men in May. Lawmen and cowboys took up positions along the tracks, while the six- foot-four, three-hundred-pound Tiny Hines, armed with a ten-gauge Winchester Model 1887 lever-action shotgun, squeezed behind a large water barrel. The rebels loaded their wounded onto horses and rode off in the blackness, shouting, Gringos cabrones! Portus Gay later said that they had wounded half the raiders, some of whom had to be tied to their saddles. On August 6, Luis de la Rosca led a raid on the town of Sebastian, killing A. L. Austin and his son Charles. And when they went to his ranch, they asked to talk to him, to question him in private. And apparently word got back to the Rangers that this had occurred. One important document on display is the complete transcript of the 1919 Texas Legislative Investigation that looked into the Texas Rangers actions, and found them guilty. , the late director Andrew Shapter examines the dynamics that led up to the tragedy, along with the scars it left behind, and reconsiders something thats long been deemed historical truth. Texas has had its share of lawlessness. 'I'm at a loss!' The biggest battle of the Bandit War was under way. He had long served as a deputy sheriff and constable in Austin, where in 1902 he shot and killed a black prisoner attempting to escape. Then Hutchings boarded a train for Brownsville, arriving on August 6. Also not unlike Trump, Hudspeth concocted a phony immigration crisis based on xenophobic fear. The Texas Rangers (above) were largely responsible for the deaths of 5,000 Mexican Americans during La Matanza, This landmark now stands to commemorate La Matanza. The headquarters, a two- story wood frame house, was fifty feet west of the railroad tracks. Cameron County Deputy Sheriff Frank Carr and the Texas Ranger Daniel Hinojosa arrested Munoz but according to the officers, when they were leaving San Benito, a party of eight armed men wearing masks forced them to give up Munoz. The comments below have been moderated in advance. Martinez is appropriately unsparing in her detailing of Hobbys consistently anti-Hispanic, anti-NAACP agenda: In short, he used the Rangers as his own personal goon squad in instigating intimidation tactics against minorities. Years later, Warrens account served as confirmation of what transpired that day. A hundred feet north of the ranch headquarters were two bunkhouses. Since learning the truth about her familys involvement in the massacre, Valencia, a teacher of 32 years, has dedicated her time to. In its 55-minute run time, the documentary sets up the conflicts that led to the massacre, before portraying a powerful reenactment of what happened in the early hours of January 28. Image is in the public domain via Wikimedia.com. Their deaths made the Rangers into the group that we know today, but they need to acknowledge what they did and apologize, so that my great-grandfather did not die in vain., Christina Fernandez Shapter, who produced the film alongside her husband Andrew, says that while they started on the documentary three years ago, the themes of injustice and racial discrimination that emerge through this story have since become even more relevant. A U.S. mounted immigration inspector, D. Portus Gay, lounging on the front porch of the Immigration Service office near the depot, was surprised to see the special train with a large posse aboard. Territory lost in the Mexican WarTexas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Californiawould be freed and annexed to Mexico. They cant be so very far away, as they have not been gone very long. But General Hutchings and Captains Fox and Ransom, concerned about an ambush in the dark, prudently elected to delay pursuit until morning. Ten Notable Performances From Texan Actors in 2022, The Best Texas Art, Movies, Music, and TV of 2022, The Best Books, Film, TV, Art & More Coming to Texas This Winter, Inside Friscos Lavish, Enormous New Golf Resort, Welcome to Palo Pinto, Texass Next State Park, The Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints: 2021 Edition, Please Do Not Touch the Toxic Toupee, a.k.a. One Porvenir descendant, Arlinda Valencia, lost her great-grandfather Longino Flores in the attack; her great uncle, Juan Flores, just twelve years old at the time, was the sole eyewitness. The Robert Runyon Photograph Collection, image 00097, courtesy of The Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin, The popular image of the elite law-enforcement organization known as the Texas Rangers has long been derived from television fantasies and historical myth. Beside her, clustered on the blood- drenched floor, cowered several terrified railroad hands and their wives. Also not unlike Trump, Hudspeth concocted a phony immigration crisis based on xenophobic fear. A service of the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin | Contact us, A service of the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin, Life and Death on the Border, 1910 to 1920, Sen. Cornyn Blames Democrats For Blocking Refugee Screening Bill, Ken Paxtons In the Spotlight For His Legal Opinions and Legal Woes, Nine Days and Counting: What Candidates Face at the Iowa Caucus, Why Women Over 50 Have a Harder Time Finding Jobs. In fact, Martinezs personal activist efforts expose a still-powerful contingent looking to quietly preserve the white-supremacist-fairytale version of Texas history. The 41-year-old, who becomes the first Black GM in franchise history, served as the San Francisco 49ers ' director of . When she began looking into it as she got older, she found her great-grandfathers name on the list of those killed, as well as her great-grandmothers account as told to Warren. The Texas Rangers became so notorious for their brutality against Mexicans and Mexican Americans they were dubbed 'los diablos tejanos' which means 'the Texan devils.'. On July 25 the band torched and destroyed a rail- road bridge near Sebastian. This time, a squad of eight army signalmen was besieged by the Mexicans at Ojo de Agua until it was relieved by 12 men from the 3rd Cavalry, under Captain W. J. Scott. Seeing that the raiders could not get past the fence, the rest of the defenders rushed inside the ranch house and returned the fire from doors and windows. Single Game Tickets Season Tickets Spring Training Tickets Group Tickets Suite Rentals and Season Suites Lone Star Member Handbook 20-Game Plans Digital Tickets My Rangers Tickets Seating Map. The massacre went unreported for weeks, and didnt come to light until Captain J.M. Martinezs academically rigorous but accessible book functions, in one sense, as an exemplary study of not only Texas-style historical mythmaking but also a chronicle of how unofficial, vernacular and oral historical narratives researched by families of the victims of state-sponsored racial violence challenged official Texas history. A posse led by the Texas adjudant general, Henry Hutchings, and Captain Ransom killed three people alone. Take, for instance, the long-running 1950s Lone Ranger TV series, in which Rangers are only portrayed as the victims of wrongdoing never its instigators. ", For nearly a century, Foxs account was widely accepted as fact. During the gunfight that followed, one soldier was killed, and three other people were wounded, including two deputy sheriffs and Pizana's son. The Rangers were largely responsible for the slaughter of thousands of Mexican Americans during their reign of terror, but they were able to get away with the violence as the Texas Legislature would hide accounts of the brutality and neglected to publish hearings for the public to see. He claimed, improbably, that he had been forced to join the attackers and admitted that their goal was to reclaim the Rio Grande Valley for Mexico. More information about this photograph . According to the plans exhortations, on February 20, 1915, all Mexicans were to rise up in arms against U.S. tyranny. Who could we tell?. Nevertheless, the Texas Rangers were called in to control the situation. a fact that essentially absolved the people of Porvenir of what had allegedly provoked the attack. Currently, its not part of the Texas public school curriculum. The first bloodshed did not occur until five days later, however, on July 9, when an employee of the King Ranch killed one of the raiders near the Norias Ranch. Morn Gonzlez says that between 1915 and 1919, hundreds - if not thousands - of Mexicans and Tejanos in South Texas were killed by the Rangers and other . The Rangers found Norias occupied by only a handful of people: foreman and Special Ranger Tom Tate; cowboys Frank Martin, Luke Snow, and Lauro Cavazos; the carpenter, George Forbes, and his wife; and the black cook, Albert Edmunds, and his wife. Pulling from transcripts that had been sealed for decades, the film puts these chilling testimonies on full display. But Texas lawmen took the Plan of San Diego very seriously, as did many impoverished, disaffected Hispanics in the Rio Grande Valley. The Rangers are often depicted as infallible noble guardians of public order. The young troopers, with only ninety rounds per man, carefully chose their targets. According to Lauro Cavazos, he and another King Ranch cowboy came up with the idea of dragging the bodies to a nearby sandbank, where they could easily be interred in a mass grave. McDonald was a skilled horseman, but the 'nag' he rode had a jackhammer gait. Itll showcase court documents, photographs and artifacts from the era, even one of Pancho Villas saddles. Frank Hamer and the Texas Bandit War of 1915, TEXAS RANGER: The Epic Life of Frank Hamer, the Man Who Killed Bonnie and Clyde. My whole family suffered. They both came from well-respected, land-owning families and Longoria was the elected Commissioner of Hidalgo County. The following day without a trial he was beaten, lynched and burned alive. By Bullock Texas State History Museum. Martinez organizes her book around the most egregious extrajudicial killings of Mexicans in Texas in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, incidents that Texas Rangers were either directly responsible for or carried out in cahoots with lynch mobs or local authorities. Home Before escaping, the raiders threatened to kill other prominent citizens. Reported The Dallas Morning News, Todays en- counter dissipated the idea that the bandits were from across the Rio Grande. He knew they were innocent. The Rio Grande Valley includes Starr, Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy Counties. Ultimately, the Rangers were found guilty of gross violations of civil and criminal laws, including the killing of up to 5,000 people, largely of Mexican descent, between 1914 and 1919. 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