Tomás "Tomasito" Romero, (assassinated February 8, 1848) was a Pueblo from Taos Pueblo, where he was referred to as "the alcalde."Garrard, Lewis H., Wah-To-Yah and the Taos Trail, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, 1957, reprint of 1850 book p. 157 He was a leader of the Taos Revolt against the American invasion of New Mexico during the Mexican–American War. At the beginning of the revolt, "Tomacito leaned over the governor's (Charles Bent) still living form and raked a bowstring over his scalp, pulling away his gray hair in a glistening sheath ... 'cut as cleanly with the tight cord as it would have with a knife' "Sides, Hampton, Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West, Random House Inc., New York, 2006 p. 176
After the failure of the revolt Romero was given up to the U.S. Army as part of the terms of surrender following the battle at the pueblo on February 5.
He was shot while in prison by Private John Fitzgerald on February 8, Lavander, David, Bent's Fort, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Gearden City, NY. 1954 p. 293 "before he had the opportunity to have a trial." Grant, Blanche C., When Old Trails Were New, The Rio Grande Press, Inc., Glorieta, NM, 1983, reprint of 1934 book p.98
See also List of assassinated American politicians
References
Durand, John, The Taos Massacres, Puzzlebox Press, Elkhorn, WI 2004