Tejano Talks #32 - Feature - (2017)

On a quiet and sunny Saturday morning on Oct. 14, 2017, a Texas Historical Marker was dedicated in San Benito memorializing one of the saddest chapters of Texas History – La Matanza, the Massacre, of 2015.
The plaque is located off southbound Exit 16 along I-69E near San Benito. It commemorates the killing of thousands of Mexicans and Tejanos in the early 20th century by Texas Rangers and vigilantes.
Tension filled the Rio Grande Valley and South Texas as Anglo settlers and frontier justice permeated that area. Texas Rangers would arrest anyone they felt was suspicions. Tejanos fought back as the lost land, cattle and their standing in society.
As hundreds of innocent Tejano Mexicanos were slaughtered ruthlessly throughout South Texas, State Representative Jose Tomas “J.T.” Canales asked for help from the federal government. Soon, U.S. Army troops would arrive in South Texas.
They were sent by President Woodrow Wilson. At first people thought they were here to subdue the Mexico-Tejanos, but they were here to stop the Texas Rangers from denying civil rights to American citizens – the Mexico-Tejanos.
Tejano ranchers Luis de la Rosa and Aniceto Pizaña were tired of being used and abused by the Anglo setters and especially the Texas Rangers. They decided to go to war against the gringos—a scheme that was part of the Plan de San Diego.
They formed a militia called “Ejercito Libertador de los Mexico-Tejanos (Liberating Army of the Mexican Texans)” and raided ranches, towns and railroads in an effort to send their message. Often, they would scurry back across the border for safety but they sent a message.
With the Army’s presences and the Tejano revolt, the indiscriminate killings of Tejanos, most of whom were American citizens stopped. Much credit goes to J.T. Canales which continued to pester the state legislature about the atrocities of the Texas Rangers on the border.
Historians estimate that 3 to 5 thousand Tejanos died at the hands of the Texas Rangers and vigilantes during that period. Mass murders occurred. At the site of the historical marker, 300 to 500 were killed in one day.
The marker also memorializes all victims of that period. One of those mass gravesites lies near Edinburg, just off the roadway on FM 1017 amid the tangled mesquite and cenizo. The grave site belongs to the Bazan and Longoria families.
With the marker now in place, the event has been memorialized. Many historians have investigated and all have come to the same conclusion – it happened. Historian Benjamin Heber Johnson detailed the event in a chilling book.
It has also been recognized at the Bob Bullock State History Museum in Austin in its Texas history exhibit.
With the dedication of the Texas Historical Commission marker, the bloodshed that marked that era is no longer relegated to the shadows of history. It serves as a sobering reminder of one of the darkest periods in Texas history.