The Texas History Written in Blood

For generations, the killings of Mexicans, Tejanos and Mexican Americans were largely left out of traditional accounts of Texas history. Students learned about famous battles, cattle drives, political leaders and the growth of the Texas Rangers, but rarely heard about the families whose loved ones were lynched, shot or taken from their homes without a trial. Today, historians, descendants and preservation organizations are working to recover this missing history and restore the names and experiences of those who were lost.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, Mexican nationals and American citizens of Mexican descent were killed by mobs, vigilantes, law-enforcement officers and Texas Rangers. Many victims were never formally charged with a crime or given an opportunity to defend themselves in court. In some cases, their deaths were never investigated or officially recorded. The most violent period occurred along the Texas-Mexico border between 1910 and 1920, during the Mexican Revolution and a time of intense political and social unrest throughout the borderlands.

Mexican communities remembered this era as La Matanza, meaning “The Massacre,” and La Hora de Sangre, or “The Hour of Blood.” Because so many deaths went undocumented, historians may never know the exact number of victims. Estimates range from approximately 500 to several thousand Mexican nationals, Tejanos and Mexican Americans. Researchers with Refusing to Forget believe the likely number was in the low thousands. The victims included fathers, sons, ranch workers, farmers, laborers and young boys.

Some were accused of helping bandits or revolutionaries. Others appear to have been targeted because they were Mexican, spoke Spanish, owned valuable land or were simply present during military and law-enforcement operations. Historical records show that Texas Rangers, local officers, former Rangers and civilian vigilantes participated in killings and campaigns of intimidation. During the summer and fall of 1915, Rangers killed dozens of Mexican men in the Rio Grande Valley.

In many cases, little or no evidence was presented showing that the victims had committed a crime. Among the documented victims were Jesús Bazán and his son-in-law, Antonio Longoria. The two men were traveling near their homes when they were shot and left beside the road. Their relatives found their bodies two days later. One of the most widely known incidents occurred in Porvenir, Texas, in January 1918. Fifteen Mexican American men and boys were removed from their homes and killed by a group that included Texas Rangers, local ranchers and United States Army soldiers.

The victims were accused of being connected to a nearby raid, but later investigations found no evidence linking them to the crime. The Porvenir Massacre was not an isolated tragedy. It was part of a larger pattern of violence that affected Mexican American communities throughout South Texas. Families often buried their relatives without receiving justice or even a proper investigation. Many survivors remained silent because they feared retaliation from the same authorities who were supposed to protect them.

In 1919, State Representative José Tomás Canales of Brownsville demanded that the Texas Legislature investigate allegations of violence and misconduct involving the Texas Rangers. Canales filed 19 charges involving beatings, threats, unlawful shootings and killings. The hearings became known as the Canales Investigation. Witnesses came forward and described abuses committed against Mexican and Mexican American residents.

The investigating committee eventually acknowledged that Rangers had violated Texas civil and criminal laws. The hearings resulted in several reforms. The Ranger force was reduced, recruiting standards were strengthened and procedures were established for filing complaints of misconduct. However, many of the stronger protections proposed by Canales were weakened or removed before the final legislation was approved. Canales also reported receiving threats because he challenged the Rangers and demanded accountability.

Another reminder of this violent period still stands beside the Goliad County Courthouse. Known as the Hanging Tree, the large live oak was used for executions during the 1800s. According to its official historical marker, some people sentenced to death were hanged from its branches immediately after court proceedings. The marker also connects the tree to the Cart War of 1857, a violent conflict involving Anglo freight operators and Mexican and Tejano cart drivers who transported goods between Indianola, Goliad and San Antonio.

Mexican and Tejano drivers faced attacks because their successful businesses competed with Anglo operators. Approximately 70 men were killed during the conflict, and some were reportedly hanged from the Goliad tree. For much of the 20th century, the lynching of Mexican Americans received little attention in public discussions of racial violence in the United States. Lynching was often presented primarily as a crime committed against Black Americans in the Deep South.

That history is essential and must never be minimized. However, violence against Mexican, Indigenous, Chinese and other communities in the West and Southwest must also be recognized and remembered. Organizations such as Refusing to Forget and Lynching in Texas, along with historians, universities and descendants, have worked to identify victims, preserve family testimony, establish historical markers and bring this history into classrooms and public spaces.

For many Mexican American families, these stories were never completely forgotten. They were passed down quietly through generations; stories of relatives who disappeared, families who fled their homes and communities that learned to remain silent in order to survive. Recovering this history is not an attempt to create division or blame people living today for crimes committed generations ago. It is an effort to tell the complete story of Texas, honor those whose lives were taken and recognize the lasting effect this violence had on families and communities.

History does not become less true because it is painful. The victims of La Matanza, the Porvenir Massacre and other acts of racial violence deserve more than a footnote. Their names, their families and their experiences belong in the history of Texas.