USA > Texas > A Twentieth century history of southwest Texas, Volume I > Part 31
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Thus it is that after three years' drought. so great a number of cattle per- ished this last winter (72-73) that some entire herds were swept away, and all are more or less diminished.
(Then follow extracts from various newspapers of Texas which confirm the commission's contention that the droughts have had a serious effect in de- creasing the cattle.)
The droughts have entailed a double injury, not only causing the death of cattle, but impeding their reproduction, by reason of their meagreness and debility, caused by lack of sufficient sustenance. Thus the constant removal of cattle to Kansas and other places for consumption, the mortality among them, and the dearth of reproduction will serve to explain the decrease perceived in the cattle in Texas, if such has really occurred, without recurring to so extraordinary a cause as that of robberies, committed by gangs of thieves organized in Mexico.
Thieves Harbored by Mexico.
The (American) commissioners feel fully warranted in expressing the opinion that for years past, especially since 1866, and even before. armed bands of Mexicans have continually employed the safe refuge of
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an adjoining territory and the unfavorable river frontier to cross from Mexico into Texas in strong parties, collect and drive away into Mexico unnumbered herds of cattle from this region. These thieves have, with astonishing boldness, penetrated at times 100 miles and even farther into Texas, and by day and night have carried on this wholesale plunder- ing, employing force and intimidation in all cases where resistance or remonstrance was met with. Confederates living along the banks of the river have been used in this nefarious trade, while honest residents have been forced to keep silence or fly.
The Mexican bank of the Rio Grande (Bravo) is occupied by num- bers of ranches, furnishing a convenient rendezvous for these marauders, from whence they carry on openly their operations, often leading to conflicts. Pursuit to the river bank in many cases has been mocked at : the ineffectual efforts of the customs officers and inspectors have been jecred at, and this region made to suffer from the continual scourge of these thieves, The butchers of the frontier Mexican towns, the stock- dealers, and in many cases, the heads of the various ranches on the Mexican side, have participated in the profits, encouraged the work, and protected the offenders. The Mexican local authorities, as a rule, civil and military, have been cognizant of these outrages, and have (with one or two honorable exceptions) protected the offenders, defeated with technical objections attempts at recovery of the stolen property, as- sisted in maintaining bands of thieves, or directly and openly have dealt in the plunder or appropriated it to their personal uses. In all cases coming before these corrupt officials, thoroughly acquainted by personal and official notification and public notoriety of this serious and con- tinual breach of international rights, they have either protected the crimi- nal and shared with him the property stolen, or else have confessed an inability to check the outrages and punish the offenders.
Similar Raids Also Originate On the Texas Side.
The Mexican commission opposed these assertions with apparently equally well supported claims that many well known raiders had their headquarters on the north side of the Rio Grande and that Mexico had to suffer from their depredations and the loose policing of the border just as much as Texas.
In former years, there had also been transitory organizations, some com- posed of notorious criminals, whose advent on the Mexican shore was always marked by pillage. although they pretended to have political principles to defend, and who always returned after a short time to the United States with the prod- ticts of their depredations. To this class belonged the bands organized three times by Jose Maria Sanchez Uresti, in Texas, in the last three years, and whom he led into Mexico. These gangs were composed of thieves famous in the his- tory of plunder and distinguished for kidnapping and other crimes.
They entered Mexico as regularly organized bands, their coming was ex- pected and announced, and was known by every one on the Texan shore. They selected a point on the Bravo river from whence they could most easily and suddenly attack the inoffensive proprietors or secure horses. Some of the stolen animals were recognized in Brownsville. Amongst the companions of Uresti in these expeditions, the witnesses recollect Santiago Nunez, Julian Rocha, Zef- erino Garcia, Marcario Trevino, Santiago Sanchez, Pedro Cortes, Geronimo Perez. and the two Lugos, Pedro and Longinos, as criminals and accomplices in the robberies of cattle and horses on either shore.
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These temporary confederations of thieves on the Texan shore were doubt- less great evils, but although serious enough, they were but fleeting. The crime once committed for which the band had been organized, or a certain period having passed, they disbanded. The gravest question of all, however, and the state of things which has been ruining the Mexican frontier, is not the existence of these fleeting bands, but the organized system developed since 1848, for the protection of horse stealing in Mexico.
At certain periods of the year, traders from the interior of Texas come to the river to collect droves of horses stolen from Mexico, and up to the pres- ent, they have continued their illegal traffic without molestation. The coming of the traders, their arrival and their manner of dealing, as well as the places. where the horses are congregated, are facts well known, carrying with them a certain phase of notoriety; so it is not possible to attribute to the ignorance of the authorities their neglect to enforce the laws and put a bar to these crimes, by restraining the robberies committed on the Texan line, under this guise, to the prejudice of Mexico.
An equally well known and notorious fact is the organization of robbers, who have existed, and still remain, on the left bank of the Bravo, engaging in robberies in Mexico, without any measures having been employed to restrain them. The only case to the contrary of which the commission has cognizance, is the arrest of Thadeus Rhodes, in 1858, and from information given at the trial, it is manifest that the prosecution of Rhodes by the authorities of the county of Hidalgo was not so much for the depredations of which he was con- victed, but on account of the threats made by the band against Judge George. After all, these proceedings amounted to nothing in the end; for soon after his arrest, Rhodes managed to escape, and since then he has not been disturbed.
In fact there never has been a single voluntary prosecution on the part of authorities against the originators of robberies committed in Mexico and planned in United States Territory, nor of those who had fled thither with the products of their rapacity, much less against those who shamelessly trade in stolen goods. On the contrary, the instigators and their tools can dedicate themselves with all impunity to their criminal traffic, fearless of any practical intervention on the part of the authorities, unless, indeed, some complainant asks for redress and support, which support, if extended, is generally accompanied by circumstances of unusual difficulty for any action in individual cases.
Since 1848 to the present, for the space of twenty-five years, there has ex- isted in Texas the trade in goods stolen in Mexico, without the attempt at in- terference on the part of the authorities to punish the offenders of the law in this illicit traffic. During this same period, the collection of droves of animals at certain periods of each year along the whole American line has been permitted, with the knowledge that these animals were stolen from Mexican territory. Finally, there had been tolerated the public organization of bands of robbers, who under the patronage of influential persons, have gone to Mexico to steal for the benefit of their patrons.
The neglect of the public authorities is shown by the lack of a police force and other preventive measures to impede the combinations of the robbers in Texas and the conspiracies entered into for the perpetration of crime in Mexico, and that out of two laws, the upright spirit of which is recognized by the com- mission, they have been unable or unwilling to apply them effectually, or have used some active means for rescuing the property after the committal of the crime.
Cortina.
The local authorities of Matamoras, continues the report of the American commission. Mier, Bagdad, Camargo, and other frontier Mexi- can towns have been repeatedly notified of these complications; the United States and Mexican military authorities have corresponded thereon; the supreme government of Mexico has been duly apprised of the state of the border by earnest correspondence of United States civil and military authorities, transmitted through the American minister, to which attention is specially called; and in the opinion of the commis-
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sioners, with the exception of the tardy recall of General Juan N. Cor- tina (in March, 1872), no step tending toward an amicable and honest vindication of the Mexican people has been taken; while to evince her good faith and earnest desire for the enforcement of the laws, the state of Texas has lately organized and maintained a system of cattle and hide inspections, in which undertaking she is ably seconded by the Stock Raisers' Association of Western Texas. Private parties have appointed local agents to protect their interests, the local press has appealed inef- fectually to the reason of the Mexicans, and called in vain for the execu- tion of the laws.
That the action of the local Mexican authorities has been charac- terized by duplicity, connivance at fraud, or a complete subserviency to a corrupt military rule, there seems to be but little room left for doubt ; while the records of the military authorities of Mexico, occupying the frontier (especially the regime of General Juan Nepomucene Cortina from 1870 to 1872), is one which calls for immediate action on the part of the Mexican government in disavowing the acts, disgracing the of- fenders, and effecting with the victims of these highhanded outrages such an adjustment of their claims as impartial justice requires.
Under the trying circumstances of being confronted on the opposite bank of the Rio Grande by a foreign army, which has given protection for a series of years to the invaders of American territory, the United States has through its officers kept peace, preserved neutrality, and acted with candor and justice, mindful for its long-established friendly feeling for a sister republic. The left bank of the Rio Grande has al- ways been sought as a base for insurrectionarv operations against the ephemeral governments of Mexico and the United States has in all cases acted with commendable promptness in maintaining strict neutrality.
While the United States has improved every opportunity to execute in good faith her treaty obligations and settle on an equitable and just basis all existing differences with the republic of Mexico, and the State of Texas has taxed her treasury to execute laws unnecessary save to ' repel the invasion of her territory by Mexican outlaws who have made life and property unsafe on her soil-the theatre of their cold-blooded and brutal murders, the evidence adduced before the commission war- rants the conclusion that the indifference on the part of the Mexican government touching her international obligations and the condition of affairs on her northern frontier, has been studied.
Description of Cattle-Stealing, by American Commission.
The testimony in the possession of the commission bearing on the operations of the cattle-thieves infesting the banks of the Lower Rio Grande, shows a total loss of $27,859,363.97. including stock stolen. personal outrages, and the destruction and spoliation of other property.
The character and extent of the territory on which these depre- dations have been committed for so many years past offer facilities for the commission of crime to an extent not to be found in any other part of this county. Expeditions for the purpose of cattle-stealing in Texas have generally been organized on the right bank of the Rio Grande, in the state of Tamaulipas, although not unfrequently, as a change of base,
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in the State of Coahuila. The men engaged in this work are Mexicans, well mounted, carrying fire-arms of the most approved pattern, and not unfrequently belong to the regular army of Mexico.
Thoroughly acclimated and accustomed to the hardships and ex- posure incident to a frontier life, these bands, mounted, armed, and provisioned for the expedition, have but the shallow waters of the Rio Grande and a journey of from one to three days before them, often without water for man or beast, ere they reach the grazing regions of the Nueces, and the numerous herds of cattle to be found in that valley. Systematic in all their movements, and thoroughly conversant with the routes of travel and the water-holes leading to the grass regions, these bands, when ready, lose no time in dividing. themselves into squads, averaging five or more, according to the circumstances surrounding them, and, crossing at different points on the Rio Grande, a stream whose sinuosities describe every point of the compass, they enter the dense mesquite fringing its bank, and emerge from it into the highways, or con- tinue on their journey under its cover, as may best suit their purpose, until they reach the place of rendezvous designated by scouts previously sent out.
Having made their selection of cattle from the herds not unfrequently to the number of sixteen hundred, according to their necessities and the circumstances of the case, no time is lost in pushing them without rest under the cover of night (or in open day if strong enough to resist attack) to the river, a point having been previously designated for this purpose, at which they are met by confederates coming from the Mexican bank, with every facility, including decoy cattle, boats, etc., for the rapid tran- sit of their booty to the Mexican soil, where it is used by the Mexican army, disposed of to the butchers of Matamoras, Mier, and Camargo, sold in open market for the benefit of the thieves, or, after being re- branded, used to stock the ranches of the Mexican frontier. The cross- ing of these bands of Mexicans in small squads into Texas attracts no attention there, for it is within the bounds of the probabilities of the case to estimate the Mexicans as composing at least 80 per cent of the entire population of the frontier of Western Texas.
The expedients resorted to by these thieves to avoid detection, and more especially the dissemination of such information as would enable stock-raisers to organize and pursue them, varies according to the exi- gencies of their situation. Localities where cattle are being selected from herds have every approach, used for miles around, guarded with members of these bands, who in various ingenious ways succeed in warning off passers-by, not unusually taking life to accomplish their purpose.
Where the distance is so great as to make it necessary to occupy more than one day or night, as the case may be, in driving the stolen cattle to the river, they are corralled at some unfrequented point on the way. and pickets thrown out for miles around as additional safe- guards against surprise. Instances have occurred where private resi- dences, situated on the route traveled by these bands, have been placed under guard to prevent information of the movements of the thieves from
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being known until the stolen cattle had been driven a sufficient distance to make successful pursuit impossible.
With the posts occupied by the United States forces on this ex- tensive frontier, in some instances hundreds of miles apart, and generally garrisoned by infantry, with not more than one sheriff to every fifty miles of the territory exposed to these incursions, the facility with which these bands have carried on their operations for so many years, in defiance of all authority, should no longer be wondered at.
Resume by the American Commission.
In giving a resume of the evidence taken before the commission touching the disorders on the frontier, we trace their cause primarily to the effete and corrupt, and, in many instances, powerless local civil au- thorities of Northern Mexico, the almost universal demoralization of the inhabitants of the Mexican frontier, the supremacy of a corrupt and overbearing military influence, giving form and aid to the lawless ex- peditions that have been set on foot in Mexico for years past to invade and plunder the exposed frontier of Western Texas, the unfriendly leg- islation on the part of the law-making power of the republic of Mexico, which has made the Zona Libra, on the right bank of the Rio Grande, a depot on our immediate line for the reception of goods, duty free, to be smuggled over our borders, with the annual loss to us of millions of revenue, or the alternative of studding this portion of our western boun- dary with an expensive army of customs-inspectors. The establishment of this "free zone" per se militated against the commercial interests of the United States; and when followed up by the appointment of Briga- dier-General Juan N. Cortina to the command of the line of the Bravo, in 1870, where he remained in command until March, 1872, the terror of the residents of the Texan frontier, and the aider and participant in a series of lawless acts, the action of the Mexican authorities in this regard can only be interpreted as a direct blow at the commerce of our western frontier ; and the maintenance of a military force there, under the leadership of a commander whose career for murder, arson, and robbery finds no parallel in the annals of crime, and whose retention in the command of the northern frontier of Mexico puts in evidence the in- ability of the Mexican government to cope with this outlaw and his followers, or else his assignment to this position by his government for the performance of a work which had for its object the annihilation of the commercial and industrial interests of our southwestern frontier.
The Mexican Commission's View of Conditions.
In the examination of the relations between the frontiers since 1848, the first striking point is the system of cattle thieves. During the Texan war and afterwards, in fact up to 1848, horse and cattle stealing increased to so great an extent, in the district north of Rio Bravo to Nueces, as to almost depopulate the country by ridding the inhabitants of their stock.
Bands of Americans. Texans, Mexicans, and Indians, in a few years, ex- hausted the wealth of that region. The settlers were few in number, and lacked the vigilance of either the Mexican or Texan authorities, so that they not only lost their wealth, but gave scope to a degree of license and immorality of itself dangerous and degrading. The early emigrants to that part of Texas did noth- ยท ing towards correcting this state of things, but, on the contrary, aggravated the
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evil, for they were not themselves noted for rectitude or sobriety. It was the refuge of criminals flying from justice in Mexico; adventurers from the United States, who sought a fortune, unscrupulous of the means of procuring it; and vagrants from all parts of the State of Texas, hoping, in the shadow of exist- ing disorganization and lawlessness. to escape punishment for their crimes. Under this head the commission does not class all the early emigrants to Southwestern Texas since 1848. Far from this; it acknowledges in many of them the highest moral standard, but, compared with the mass, they constituted but a small pro- portion. too small to give tone to that class of people, and check the characteris- tic lawlessness of the district.
The direct causes of the ruling demoralization on the American bank of the Rio Bravo are four, viz .: The practice of cattle stealing, dating as far back as 1848, on Mexican soil for Texas, under the protection and connivance of citi- zens and residents of the United States; the organizing of armed forces on both frontiers during the Confederate war by agents of the United States government to combat the Texan forces; the driving of large droves of stolen cattle, col- lected on the pastures, during the Confederate war, by Americans, who took into their service a large body of men with a view to commit those depreda- tions ; the appointing of commissions by the commanders of the United States forces, on both occasions of the occupation of Brownsville, in order that said commissions should go to the pastures on the Bravo and the Nueces to take the cattle which was said to be confiscated to the Confederates.
The first cause was anterior to the civil war in the United States, and gave rise to the existence of a mass of immoral people who would not lose the op- portunity to commit in Texas the crimes of which Mexico had been the victim up to that date. The other causes require greater explanation.
When the civil war broke out in the United States, efforts were inade to force the Mexicans living in Texas, whether or not they had American citizen- ship, to take a part in favor of the Confederates. Either on account of their dislike to the Confederate cause. or on account of their living amongst its de- fenders, those very persons from whom they had received so many vexations, the fact is the great majority of the Mexicans presented an absolute resistance, and it was only a small number who joined the Confederates. The rest found themselves persecuted and more oppressed than ordinary, the most remarkable event being the raid by the Confederates on Rancho Clareno, Zapata county, Texas, in April, 1861, in which raid several inoffensive inhabitants were assassinated.
By cause of these persecutions, the Mexican inhabitants of Texas took refuge on the Mexican frontier, abandoning their interests and property. The agents of the United States government conceived that a powerful ally could be found in those inhabitants, on account of the past oppressions and the hatred of the present, and they tried to utilize it. It was at this time that the organizing of bodies of men on Mexican soil took place, at the expense and in the service of the United States, for the purpose of crossing into Texas to give hostilities to the Confederates. It is easy to conceive the bitter discussions carried on for this reason, between the authorities of the Confederation and Mexico.
During the Confederate war, a large number of cattle were abandoned. The Mexicans left their property and took refuge on this side of the river, some enlisting in the army. Many persons availed themselves of this opportunity to brand all the young cattle they could secure, and at the close of the war found themselves in possession of great wealth in stock, when it was a notorious fact that they had not a single head of neat cattle or horse when the war began, or their stock was very reduced. But said circumstances were utilized besides in another manner. In the state of abandonment in which cattle were left, several individuals, some of whom are proprietors to-day, or were so at that time, took into their service great numbers of people. These entered the pastures, made large collections of cattle, separating all the heads that suited them, regardless of their brands, and formed droves which they transported to the Rio Bravo, where they sold them on both banks. Amongst others who acted in this manner were the Wrights. of Banquette Ranche, Texas, Billy Mann and Patrick Quinn.
At the conclusion of the Confederate war, the evil increased; during said war the Texas forces had committed many depredations: several of their offi- cers transported cattle to Matamoros for sale, amongst whom was William D.
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Thomas (known as Thomas Colorado). When the war was over and the forces were disbanded, a large number of people were left without any occupation, and the bands who used to bring stolen cattle to the banks of the river increased. The Wrights had the largest force under them. Sometimes William D. Thomas, Billy Mann, Patrick Quinn, and others, would combine with them, and others, each would act of his own account. The Wrights were dedicated to this trade up to 1866, this at least being the last year that one of them made sale of cattle in Matamoros, according to the knowledge of the commission.
The report of the Mexican commission contains a very complete dis- cussion of the relations between Mexicans and Americans in Texas since the Mexican war. There can be no question that race antipathies entered into the difficulties described in this chapter ; also that in some respects the history of these border difficulties is a continuance of the Cart and Cortina "wars" during the fifties. Referring to the Cart War troubles in their bearing upon the matters of more recent prevalence, the com- mission's language can thus be summarized.
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