The Secret War in El Paso: Mexican Revolutionary Intrigue, 1906-1920 (review)

Charles Harris and Louis Sadler's The Secret War in El Paso examines the "revolutionary intrigues" of the US-Mexico border, providing an important perspective to "the first great revolution of the twentieth century" (ix). Intervening in the historiography of the U.S.-Mexico border, Mexican Revolution, and, most importantly, the rise of policing in the Southwest, they reveal how El Paso was "the base of operations for constant intrigue" for a variety of actors from all parts of the political spectrum. Political turmoil made El Paso a "veritable mecca for hustlers, swindlers, and confidence men of every stripe eager to cash in on the opportunities arising from the Mexican Revolution" (368). Their careful use of the underused archives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation exposes the "mechanics of rebellion" and substantiates their claim that the Mexican Revolution "could not have succeeded without the U.S." (xi). Moreover, according to Harris and Sadler the complications of rebellion transformed the pre-1935 Bureau and converted El Paso into a military town. We also learn about the critical role of detective agencies such as the Theil and Western Detective Agency, but at times the massive volume seems to be the history of the Bureau.

The volume opens predictably with the Taft-Díaz summit and ends with the rise of Álvaro Obregón and the Northern Dynasty not long after Prohibition marked a critical turning point in the fortunes of the border. A primer on the revolution, the text covers key events such as the Punitive Expedition, the Plan de San Diego, and the Fall Investigation as well as a variety of revolutionary groups such as red-flaggers, magonistas, orozquistas, maderistas, huertistas, villistas, and even the Mexican Liberal Alliance. All the major figures of the revolution who passed through Ciudad Juárez and El Paso are present in Harris and Sadler's narrative; unfortunately their views and motivations are not as fully covered, leaving much of the intrigue to be explained by "the complexity of factionalism" (378).

The authors carefully narrate how the revolution affected El Paso, including how many El Pasoans occasionally enjoyed revolutionary battles from rooftops. One such instance, as Villa's fortunes waned in June 1919, resulted in injury to "spectators" and provided the pretext for the little-known U.S. military intervention, underscoring the impact the United States had in selectively applying arms embargoes, diplomatic recognition, and neutrality laws. Despite the dangers, the intrigue centered in El Paso generated a robust trade in arms, ammunition, and other supplies, further revealing how shifting U.S. strategic interests affected various revolutionary factions and filibusters on both sides of the international divide. Although smuggling was already a critical economic activity for the border before and after the revolution, the movement of arms dramatically increased El Paso's economic fortunes, even fostering economic dynasties.

Some readers might be uncomfortable with an occasionally dismissive tone. At times the authors derisively refer to "the obligatory revolutionary manifesto" (250). More disappointing still, Harris and Sadler are not so deft in handling the question of race, declaring for example that "since racism is of such great concern these days," they feel obligated to briefly mention Carranza's and Villa's anti-Chinese violence (184). Unfortunately, their attitude also leads to an uncritical use of the term Hispanic when referring to the diverse Mexican origin community on the U.S. side of the border. In both instances, they leave racial hostility and its impact on the region largely unexamined. However, these are small quarrels hardly overshadowing the success of such a massive undertaking that introduces important new data on the political intrigues that plagued the border during the Mexican Revolution.