Pretty women and bad men were all part of the mix

While Duval County residents were abuzz with the rainmaking experiment in late 1891, a reporter for the New York Sun was more impressed with the women in Duval County. “At the risk of offending the fair and fashionable ladies of Gotham City, there crowded into a small barn-like theater or teatro of the town [San Diego] last night were more pretty women than any theater in New York ever held at one time,” wrote the Sun’s N. A. Jennings.

“Their hair,” Jennings continued, “was brushed smoothly back over their shapely heads, a la Mexicana, with here and there a Texas Lilly gleaning like a star. In their tresses the señoritas had the wonderful pure Madonna-like beauty which northern eyes never see save in pictures of Santa Maria painted by old masters. Murillo probably used their great great-grandmothers for his creations of the Holy Mother. . .”

That was quite a compliment coming from a northerner. New York was not the only city with a newspaper named the Sun. San Diego too had a newspaper in 1891 by that name. Editor W. L. Johnston’s motto for his Sun was, “Like the Creator’s Sun, Sparkling and Scintillating for All”. He asked for everyone’s support, which may not have been forthcoming since it did not appear to last for long.

Speaking of newspapers, El Correo de Laredo reprinted an article from San Diego’s El Eco Liberal, arguing that Catarino Garza’s efforts at fomenting revolution in Mexico was nuts. The idea, said the newspaper, “was a dream of madmen, of bums, and of people without jobs.” It added, “The true revolution is work. Long Live Work! Death to the Revolution.”

El Eco Liberal may not have taken a liking to Catarino Garza but others throughout the countryside had a different view. In March 1892, Miguel Martinez came to San Diego from Starr County with the body of Robert Doughty, the stepson of Frank C. Graves. Doughty had been party of seven Texas Rangers under the command of Capt. McNeil. Garza’s men reportedly shot him down.

Ten miles northwest of San Diego in the hills, Enhebio Martinez, James Ashworth, and a third unidentified man were making a run for it after robbing a store 10 days earlier. One of the men, brandishing a pistol and knife, was mounted on a horse taken from a scout named Glover.

Duval County Deputy Nichols Benavidez led a posse that included George Alanis, Augustine Cantu, and Jose Palacios in pursuit of the two. The posse caught up with the trio 28 miles north of San Diego and a gunfight ensued. Palacios shot the horse from under Ashworth but took a bullet in the thigh. Alanis and Cantu encircled Martinez, but the outlaw escaped. Benavidez, meanwhile, caught the third bandit. Sheriff John Buckley made a belated appearance when he arrived with a doctor to tend to the posse.

Alfredo E. Cardenas | August 10, 2014 at 10:14 pm | Reply (Edit) You are welcome. Thank you for your continued support. ML Grout | August 10, 2014 at 10:05 pm | Reply (Edit) Another informative and entertaining account of Duval County… I could picture the events you so vividly described. Thank you, Alfredo!