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Revolution on the Rio Grande: Mexican Raids and Army Pursuits 1916-1919
Glenn Justice wrote this history of the Mexican Revolution on the Chihuahua-Texas border after a trip to
the area inspired him. At that time, almost all of the witnesses to events had died, but he relied upon newspaper accounts and US Army records. His description is relatively even handed which enhances the reader's genuine understanding of the terrors, injustices and tragedy of that era for Hispanics and non-Hispanics alike. Sadly, Justice tells us almost nothing of the "dreaded Rangers" who carried out the killings at Porvenir and Carrizo Springs.
The book begins with the Mexican Revolution, the fall of Porfirio Diaz, the presidency of the revolutionary Francisco Madera, his murder, General Huerta's rule and the return to the field of Madera's allies Zapata, Villa, Orozco and Carranza. Huerta was driven out in 1914, and Carranza became president. Villa and the Carranzista Pascual Orozco battled each other in Chihuahua during 1914. Villa had peasant support and Orozco the support of the wealthy Terrazas family. The Terrazas were driving peasants off the land, inadvertently creating support for Villa. Villa quickly occuppied Ojinaga and Ciudad Juarez so he could buy arms from Texas and finance his army selling stolen Terrazas cattle there.
Texas increased its Ranger force and the US placed Army troops along the Mexican border as a result of a large number of refugees that had been driven from Mexico by the battles between Villa and the Carranzistas. It was feared that the battles could spread north into Texas among the increasingly numerous Hispanic population. In 1915 Wilson recognized Carranza’s government, severely limiting Villas political options and making financing and arming his forces virtually impossible. Villa lost a battle and most of his 10-15 thousand man army to the Carranzistas at Agua Prieta, Sonora on 29 November 1915. He returned to banditry and raided the city of Columbus, New Mexico on 9 March 1916. After Columbus, US General Pershing went into Mexico with a contingent of US Army to capture or kill Villa.
Pershing captured some of the Columbus raiders but failed to eliminate Villa. Instead the expedition made Villa a folk hero, created bad feelings toward the US in Mexico and emboldened Mexican raids into Texas. During Pershing's expedition, there was a raid at Glenn Springs and Boquillas Texas. The pursuing US Army crossed to Mexico, killing several of the raiders and further inflaming anti-US feeling among Mexicans. In Texas, rumors spread that the raiders were from Texas Hispanic settlements. After Pershing left Mexico in 1917, Villa regained control over the Chihuahua Texas border, including Ojinaga, but he could not obtain the US based trade and assistance he had before, leaving his forces largely destitute.
On Christmas day 1917, Mexican raiders attacked the Brite Ranch in the Upper Big Bend region of Texas. They killed ranch foreman Van Neill and mailman Mickey Welch. Several visitors for Christmas dinner escaped and called for help. The Army responded but the raiders crossed the border and scattered. Their apparent objective was robbery of the Brite Store (a local trading post). They do not appear to have been part of any particular Mexican political faction.
In response to the Brite raid and rumors in Anglo communities, the US Army accompanied by Texas Rangers entered the Texas village of Porvenir. They rounded up the men of the village and the Texas Rangers took them a few hundred yards away and shot them. The army neither participated nor interfered with the killings. The survivors of Porvenir fled to Pilares, Mexico as soon as the Soldiers and Rangers had left. It became clear later that the Porvenir residents were not connected to the Brite raid.
A few months later, the Neville ranch was raided and Glen Neville was killed. His father Ed Neville hid from the raiders, but his Hispanic housekeeper was brutally mutilated and killed in front of her children. The Army and rangers again were called and went to Pilares, Mexico, where Neville’s vacqueros had gone after Porvenir. They met resistance, overcame it, burned Pilares (they spared the hut of one old woman) and returned to the US before Mexican General Murguia could arrive. Several of the dead Neville raiders were identified from the Brite raid and several others were relatives of Porvenir victims; however there is no evidence of a connection between the Brite raiders and Porvenir relatives prior to the Porvenir massacre. Ed Neville joined a special intelligence unit of Rangers and for years hunted those who participated in the Neville raid, killing many it is said.
The last Army intervention in that era was to rescue a couple of downed US fliers captured by a bandit named Rentaria in 1919. An expedition was then sent to capture or kill Rentaria. The soldiers found several raiders in Carrizo Springs whom they turned over to accompanying Rangers who again promptly shot them all. Commanding officer Major Yancey allowed this to happen, but due to the efforts of Texan J J Kilpatrick who frequently took the part of Hispanics in Texas, Yancey was court martialed and resigned his comission. Kilpatrick's nemeses in these efforts were Colonel Langhorne and Captain Matlack who accused him of disloyalty. The Rangers had carried out the killings in Mexico and so were never charged (Though Justice does not mention it, the Mexican government, though angry at the intervention, generally did not object to the summary execution of those considered bandits.)
Published: March 23, 2008
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