Gregorio Cortez Lira (June 22, 1875 – February 28, 1916) was born in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico on June 22, 1875 and became a folk hero to the border communities of the United States and Mexico. After an altercation in which he killed Sheriff W. T. (Brack) Morris, Cortez went on the run from the Texas Rangers for thirteen days. He became the target of the largest manhunt in U.S. history from June 14, 1901 to June 22, 1901. He was accused of murdering two sheriffs and finally convicted of horse theft. Later it was discovered there had been miscommunication. When asked, “if he had sold a horse” Gregorio’s brother responded with “No, I sold a Mare” in Spanish. Gregorio shot the sheriff in self defense after his brother was shot due to miscommunication then went on the run.
Celebrated by fellow Mexican-Americans for his ability to evade the authorities, as well as his impassioned words in court, Cortez's life was converted into a legend by people on the Rio Grande border. This legend, which took shape in a popular song, the "Corrido de Gregorio Cortez," dramatized Cortez's fight against the authorities and transformed him into an inspiration for the Mexican-American border communities. This corrido (or border ballad), sung at local cantinas, resonated with its listeners, and ignited pride in the way of life on the border. The conversion of Cortez into myth was analyzed by Américo Paredes in his book With His Pistol in His Hand, which examines the many versions of this corrido as well as the story's historical basis in order to understand how an average man such as Gregorio Cortez was canonized into a folkloric hero inspiring border residents. Cortez's story was also depicted in the movie The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, starring Edward James Olmos.
Background
Texas was part of newly independent Mexico from 1821 until 1836 when it declared its independence. The annexation by the United States was approved by the congresses of Texas and the United States in 1845, and the transfer of authority from the republic to the state of Texas took place in 1846. However, Mexico's rejection of this annexation and a disagreement over the location of the new border, namely, a dispute over the area between the Rio Grande and the Nueces River, led to the Mexican-American War. In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848, Mexico gave up its claim to Texas and the new border between Mexico and the United States was settled along the Rio Grande.
The U.S. annexation brought land loss and limitations to political access for Tejanos. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo promised American citizenship to residents who wanted to stay in Texas, but Tejanos in the lower Rio Grande Valley were relegated to second-class status. Also, while it provided that the property rights of Mexican subjects would be inviolable, these rights were later challenged by the United States authorities.Valerio-Jiménez, Omar S., and e-Duke Books Scholarly Collection 2012. River of Hope: Forging Identity and Nation in the Rio Grande Borderlands. Duke University Press, Durham, NC, 2013;2012;. The vast majority of Mexican-Americans also suffered racial discrimination, and cultural, ethnic, and religious differences between Anglos and Hispanics persisted in the decades after the Mexican War. Although the episodes of ethnic violence were episodic, the historian Alonzo argues that "Anglo superiority also served to rationalize the very common idea in Texas that it is no wrong to kill a Mexican and, worse still, that killing an ethnic Mexican was an act to be proud of."
In his book about Gregorio Cortez's life, Américo Paredes highlights the role of the Texas Rangers division in exacerbating the cultural conflicts on the border due to their alleged violent methods. An antagonistic relationship between Anglo-Americans and Mexican-Americans has developed in Texas due to a cycle of revenge involving Bandit Gang, Texas Rangers and innocent Mexican-American collateral victims. However, the role of the Texas Rangers in discrimination is a subject of historical controversy. On the one hand, the Texas Rangers were portrayed as heroic figures protecting settlers from Indian raids and Mexican banditry. On the other hand, they have been described as the main tool of Anglo expansion on lands formerly occupied by Mexicans and Native Americans. To move beyond this dichotomy, historian Robert M. Utley exposes the complex nature of the relationship between the Mexican Americans and the Texas Rangers. While some rangers may have been "ruthless, brutal and more lawless than the criminals they were prosecuting," he argues that there is no systematic evidence of persecution of Mexican-Americans by this police force.Utley, page xii
Early life
Gregorio Cortez Lira was born in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico, near the U.S.-Mexico border, the son of Roman Cortez Garza, a rancher, and Rosalia Lira Cortinas. In 1887, the Cortez family moved to Manor, Texas near Austin. Two years later, Cortez joined his older brother, Romaldo Cortez, in finding seasonal employment on the farms and ranches of South Texas. Eventually, Cortez married Leonor Díaz; they had four children. After eleven years as vaqueros, or cowboys, and farmhands, Cortez and his brother settled on a farm in Karnes County, renting land from a local rancher. It is known that he spoke English and owned horses. Gregorio Cortez and his first wife divorced in 1903, and in 1905 he married Estefana Garza. They had no children and later separated.
At the time that Cortez and his family had immigrated to South Texas, Anglos had also begun to penetrate the region in increasing numbers, particularly with the arrival of the railroad. As political and economic power shifted to the newcomers, most Mexican Americans, like Cortez, lived as hired agricultural workers or as tenant farmers. Class and ethnicity relegated them to the bottom of a discriminatory Anglo-dominated Texas society.
Adventure of Cortez
Incident Court records show that the killings of Romaldo (also known as Román) Cortez, Gregorio's brother, and Sheriff W.T. (Brack) Morris were related to the subject of a horse trade. Morris arrived accompanied by one of his deputies, Boone Choate, who could speak Spanish and would thus serve as an interpreter.
Morris and Choate's questioning of Cortez followed their interrogation of Villareal in connection with a reported horse theft. Villareal had already acknowledged his recent trade of a horse for a mare belonging to Gregorio Cortez. And it was exactly this distinction made in Spanish, between a male horse (caballo) and a female horse or mare (yegua), that Choate misunderstood when questioning Gregorio. The latter answered negatively when asked on behalf of the Sheriff whether he had recently traded for a horse. For, in truth, he had traded a mare.
Interpreting the response as a lie, the Sheriff made clear his intention to arrest the Cortez brothers. More words were exchanged and a gun battle followed. The sheriff was the first to draw a pistol despite the suspicion on his part that both Cortezes were probably unarmed. Gregorio killed Sheriff Morris in self-defense after the Sheriff had fired repeatedly on his brother Romaldo who, thinking that Gregorio was unarmed, ran at the Sheriff trying to protect Gregorio.
The Sheriff shot Romaldo and he fell away from the door. Cortez then shot Morris with his pistol. The killing occurred on June 14, 1901.
Escape to the Robledo ranch
After the run-in with Sheriff Morris and Deputy Boone, Cortez wanted to take his injured brother to the closest town, Kenedy, Texas, for medical assistance about 10 miles away. Both on horseback, Cortez and his brother, Romaldo, struggled on their journey as Romaldo was severely hurt and kept falling off his horse. However, Gregorio eventually reached Kenedy, left Romaldo in town to be taken care of, and began his flight from the authorities.
As officers thought Cortez would be heading south to the border to escape, he decided to head north instead to confuse his pursuers. He traveled 55 miles from Kenedy to Belmont in hopes of hiding at the house of his friend, Martín Robledo. After spending a couple of days at the Robledo ranch, authorities discovered Cortez's whereabouts and thus begun the Battle of Belmont.
Battle of Belmont After escaping, Cortez went to the ranch of Martín and Refugia Robledo near Belmont, Texas. There were seven persons at the Robledo house. Martín and Refugia Robledo, their three sons, Ramón Rodríguez (a boy living with the Robledos) and a visitor, Martín Sandoval. Gonzales County Sheriff Robert M. Glover, a friend of Sheriff Morris, knew where Cortez was hiding, probably from information obtained under duress. This information would have been either provided by Cortez's mother, wife or sister-in-law as they were the only people who knew where Cortez was going.
According to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals report of facts, on June 15, 1904, at the time Sheriff Morris was killed, Sheriff Glover was in Cuero, DeWitt County, Texas. Glover proceeded with a deputy sheriff of De Witt County to Kenedy, in Karnes County, and there for the first time learned that Cortez was the man who had killed Sheriff Morris. Glover, knowing the rendezvous of Cortez, boarded a train in about twenty minutes after receiving the information that Cortez had done the killing and proceeded as expeditiously as he could to the town of Ottine, in Gonzales County; there secured horses, and accompanied by two deputy sheriffs of Gonzales County, including Deputy Swift, and other parties, went a few miles in the country to the Schnable ranch; and there learned that Cortez was at the home of Martin Roblero. He and his posse went to Roblero's. The posse divided as they approached the house from the north side; Glover and one or more companions going on the east side of the house around to the south side; and the other parties going on the west side around to the south side of the house. According to the Court, some of the testimony tends to show that the sheriff's posse shot first; but the preponderance of the evidence shows that Cortez and Bonafacio fired the first shot. Just before the time that the sheriff's posse arrived at the house, Cortez informed Bonafacio that the Sheriff's troop would be on his tail and asked him what he should do, whether to fight or surrender. Bonafacio would have said, "We will fight". Immediately upon Glover getting around to a point opposite the gallery on the south side of the house, Cortez and Bonafacio Roblero (the Roblero's eldest son), who were in the gallery, allegedly fired upon Glover and killed him. There was a general fusillade of shots on the part of the posse and Cortez and Bonafacio. On the other hand, in his testimony, Cortez asserts that the officers came up and immediately fired upon him; that he returned this fire.Cortez v. State, 83 S.W. 812 (Tex. Crim. App. 1904)
The San-Antonio Express called the Battle of Belmont, as it came to be known, “a tale of bravery unsurpassed on the part of the officers and of desperation on the part of the Mexicans.”. According to this version of the story, Cortez was waiting in ambush, and as Sheriff Glover and Posseman Schnabel approached, he opened fire. Sheriff Glover and Posseman Schnabel were killedSan Antonio Express, June 16, 1901