Militarizing the Border: When Mexicans Became the Enemy

2. ¡Muerte a los gringos!:

38 Chapter 2¡Muerte a los gringos! The Santa Ysabel Massacre and the El Paso Race Riot of 1916 Entonces estaba el Segundo Barrio lleno de pura mexicanada, se imagina. (Then there were the residents of the Second Ward, full of mexicanness, can you believe it?) —Hortencia Villegas, eyewitness and survivor of the El Paso riots of January 13, 1916 Their bodies were stripped nearly naked and strewn about the train like fallen leaves. Pools of blood marked their final resting place. This was the scene near the Cusihuiriáchic (Cusi) Mines in Santa Ysabel , Chihuahua. Nineteen engineers and staff of the Cusihuiriáchic Mining Company traveling on the Mexican Northwestern Railroad to their reopened mines under the protection of their passports and their salvo conductos furnished by de facto Chihuahua governor Ignacio Enriquez met this brutal demise .1 A band of soldiers led by villista officer Pablo López hijacked the train and demanded that all Anglos disembark. Their subsequent fate hung at the end of bayonets and rifle shots as they were mercilessly executed for simply being “gringo.”2 This event, the Santa Ysabel massacre, served as a catalyst for one of the largest race riots ever to occur in West Texas.3 The Mexican Revolution had a major impact on the social, cultural, and political landscape of Mexico and the United States. The horror and ideals of the revolution extended their reach into the United States, especially into the Southwest, as revolutionaries migrated across the international border during the early 1900s. For the United States, increased political activity associated with the fighting in Mexico required vigilance and expanded authority among its border patrolling organizations. People in places like Columbus, New Mexico; and Marfa, Presidio, and El Paso, Texas, were drawn into the conflict as Mexican insurgents claimed to embrace a broad transnational cause or redress local wrongs. Others participated in General Pershing’s Punitive Expedition or signed on to Mexico’s army of Dorados in Chihuahua headed by General Francisco “Pancho” Villa.4 The “border troubles” associated with the revolution gave shape to a disciplined society that reinforced racial segregation within El Paso and, to a certain extent, between El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. The troubles began in 1916, when members of Pancho Villa’s army killed approximately fourteen American engineers in cold blood in Santa Ysabel, Chihuahua.5 A critical review of the events of 1916 will explain how transnational circumstances reinforced long-standing characterizations of Mexican Americans as being “un-American” by examining the violence suffered by an innocent population . First, a reassessment of the 1916 events in West Texas will address latent racial tension that persisted in the region, one that paralleled the friction that prevailed in central and northeast Texas between whites and blacks.6 A brief ¡muerte a los gringos! 39 analysis of the region’s history of racially motivated violence and resistance will provide an understanding of the events leading up to 1916. Second, an evaluation of these events will demonstrate that international militarization during the Mexican Revolution, specifically in 1916, contributed to the definition of Mexicans as an “enemy other.” As a result, for most of the twentieth century in the southwest United States, “American” generally meant white, while “Mexican” referred to race and not citizenship.7 Last, an appraisal of the riot demonstrates in stark fashion that Mexicans, despite their citizenship or long residence in El Paso, could be easily identified as proxies for the Mexican revolutionaries responsible for taking American lives. The episode gave rise to ill feelings that had been brewing in El Paso since the dawn of the revolution. Many Anglos were increasingly fearful of an armed insurrection by the revolutionary-minded local Mexican community . The riot also raised security concerns among city and military officials and further polarized the city along racial lines. Various law enforcement officials, military personnel, and vigilante groups played a major role in de- fining a racial line of separation while Mexicans in El Paso and Ciudad Juárez simultaneously contributed to the separation with their own self-defining activities. Most observers became convinced that the revolution had reached home. In order to better appreciate the significance of the riot in Chihuahuita , it is necessary to first review the history of the border area of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. In the process, we will outline the development by which Mexicans became the “enemy other.” Economic, Social, and Demographic Transformation...