Gregorio Cortez

The visit to 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.[15]

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.[15] Morris arrived accompanied by one of his deputies, Boone Choate, who could speak Spanish and would thus serve as an interpreter.[15]

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.[15]

The Sheriff shot Romaldo and he fell away from the door. Cortez then shot Morris with his pistol.[16] The killing occurred on June 14, 1901.[17]

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.[18]

As officers thought Cortez would be heading south to the border to escape, he decided to head north instead to confuse his pursuers.[14] 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.

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.[19]

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 Kennedy, 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.[17]

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 killed[20]

The actual story, according to the scholar Américo Paredes, was less heroic. Just hours after Cortez arrived at the ranch, Glover and his posse had surrounded the house and began to attack. Cortez fired at Glover, who fell dead, and Cortez ran into the brush behind the house to hide. Robledo, his eldest son, and Sandoval were involved in the shooting, while Robledo's wife, his two younger sons and Ramón Rodríguez stayed unarmed inside the house. Shots were exchanged and Ramón Rodríguez was wounded, as well as Robledo’s wife. Another member of the posse shot and killed accidentally his companion, Henry Schnabel. In the end, the posse captured five of the Mexicans, including the two wounded. Cortez, however, escaped.[19]

After narrowly escaping the standoff on the Robledo ranch, Cortez "walked directly south to the banks of the Guadalupe River [...] to another friend, Ceferino Flores."[21] Flores gave Cortez a horse and saddle to continue his journey. Cortez would frequently ride in circles and create paths in different directions to throw off the authorities. After days of travel, the mare grew weary and dropped dead. Soon saddling another small horse, Cortez continued south, just outside of Floresville, close to Cotulla. Though Cortez succeeded in creating disorientating routes for officers to follow, he traveled close to the Corpus Christi-to-Laredo railroad and made it evident that he was moving toward Laredo.[13] As the law was close behind him, Cortez took risks; having his newfound horse jump over sharp wire fences or pretending he was a cattle herder. But on June 20, as the mare could not continue, Cortez left the horse and snuck into Cotulla and received food and new clothes from locals. Cortez did not have a horse and was essentially surrounded by authorities. However, he went unnoticed, authorities believed he had acquired yet another horse, and that their only chance of catching Cortez would be by accident. Over his 10 day journey, Cortez had ridden three horses, traveled over 500 hundred miles, and had seemingly blended in with the townspeople of Cotulla.[22]

During those 10 days, Cortez was pursued by a posse that at times included up to 300 men. He traveled nearly 400 miles on horseback and more than 100 miles on foot. His story was symbolic of the struggles between the Anglo-Americans and Mexican Americans in South Texas.[23]

Gregorio managed to elude hundreds of men in parties of up to three hundred by riding four hundred miles on mares and walking at least 120 miles along the Mexico-Texas border before ultimately being captured on June 22.[15]

Suspecting Gregorio’s presence nearby, Glover and eight other Rangers approached the Martin Robledo home at dawn after drinking a bottle of whiskey together. He divided his posse to the east and west sides to surround the house. With the confusion from the alcohol and darkness of night, the shooting began as Glover reached the southeast corner of the home. Glover and Gregorio fired at each other until Glover fell dead from his horse. With two lawmen dead, an extensive manhunt began for Gregorio. The Texas Ranger Division became involved when the sheriff of Atascosa County and Ranger Robert M. Glover were shot on the Thulemeyer ranch.

From June 15 to June 25, 1901, the story was front-page news of the San Antonio Express. Through the newspaper, Cortez, a lone Mexican vaquero, was transformed into a dynamic leader of well-organized thieves. While the Euro-American public viewed Cortez as a guilty Mexican, Mexican-Americans transformed Cortez into a heroic figure that could outrun the renowned Texas Rangers, and stand up to his oppressors.[24]

After the capture of Cortez, before court proceedings would begin, Mexican-Americans across the country started a defense fund for Cortez, saying that without the support it would be impossible for him to get a fair trial.[25] The amount of money raised is unknown, however, the fund was largely advertised by a newspaper publisher, Pablo Cruz, and the Sociedad Trabajador Miguel Hidalgo in San Antonio and saw donations flood in from rich landowners and even local "rancheros".[13] Though Cortez's support was mainly from those of Mexican descent, some Anglo-Americans admired his "intellect, wisdom and ingenuity.[22] Some prominent Anglo-Texans aiding Cortez were then Texas Secretary of State, F.C. Weinert, and defense lawyer, R.B Abernathy, who Cortez remembered as one of his most vital attorneys, defending him for over four years.[26]

The first of Cortez's trials began on July 24, 1901, in Gonzales, Texas.[13] Though many Mexicans were vocal about and attended the trial in Gonzales, the jury consisted of eleven Anglo-Americans and one African-American. At Gonzales, "a gallery full of lawmen filled the courtroom"[14] and wanted to see Cortez sentenced. The prosecution tried Cortez for the murder of Constable Schnabel, one of the men killed at the Battle of Belmont (see above).[14] The prosecution had originally claimed the murder to have been done by Mrs. Robledo during the fight, but they shifted the blame to Cortez and told Robledo to testify that she had seen Cortez shoot and kill both Schnabel and Glover.[27] Another witness, Manuel Tom, strengthened the claim, saying that Cortez had confessed to him about killing the two men near a barn where Robledo described. However, when asked what was the Spanish word for barn (granero) the best Tom could do was say casa, the word for house.[28] The trial swayed all jurors, besides an A.L Sanders who believed Cortez to be innocent. However, as a family member of Sanders's soon developed a serious illness and the juror needed to return home. Sanders succumbed to the jury's pressure and agreed with the others that Cortez was guilty; ultimately sentencing Cortez to 50 years in prison for second-degree murder.[26][29] Though Sanders later told the defense he voted "guilty" to be there for his sick family member and the attorneys motioned for a new trial, however, their plea was struck down and Sanders was fined $100 for contempt of court.[30]

Many local officers were enraged about the verdict as they wanted to see Cortez face the death penalty. A few months later, as Cortez was in a Gonzales jail, over 300 men arranged a lynching of the recently sentenced prisoner.[26][31] The attempts were unsuccessful, but tensions grew further as soon thereafter, on January 15, 1902, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed Cortez's sentence.[14] The appeal was upheld as the court doubted that Cortez could have murdered both officers within quick succession, as he would have been in two places at the same time, and denied Manuel Tom's crude translation of the word barn.[28] The Gonzales trial was ultimately a win for Cortez and his defense team, as he would not be tried for the murder of Schnabel again. However, the prosecution backed by the rage of local police forces continued working to see Cortez serve life behind bars or be sentenced to death.[29]

Though Cortez's sentence for the killing of Schnabel was reversed in early 1902,[25] Cortez had faced a previous trial from Oct 7-11, 1901 in Karnes City, Texas and was sentenced to death for the murder of Sherrif Morris.[26] At this trial, "the families of both Morris and Glover were sat in the front row, where the prosecution could point them out to the jury."[32] However, eight months after the Karnes verdict, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the sentence on the grounds of prejudice.[28] Legal proceedings transferred to Pleasanton, Texas where a ruling imprisoned Cortez for two years for horse theft. The court ruling was soon reversed.[33]

Cortez's hearings continued to Goliad, Texas where the jury could not agree on a sentence for Cortez with "seven for first-degree murder, four for second-degree murder, and one for acquittal."[34] The trials soon went to Wharton County, where it was dismissed almost immediately, and then to Corpus Christi where Cortez was tried April 25–30, 1904. The jury, consisting of twelve white farmers, found Cortez not guilty for the killing of Morris, saying he acted in self-defense.[28]

However, there was no celebration of the acquittal, as soon thereafter, a court in Columbus, Texas found Cortez guilty for the murder of Sheriff Glover and sentenced him to life in prison.[26] Though the defense was optimistic about their appeal being upheld, Cortez's lawyers had built a case saying that Cortez had not fired shots anywhere near Glover in the Battle of Belmont which many witnesses denied.[35] The Court of Criminal Appeals soon upheld the conviction, and on Jan 1, 1905, Gregorio Cortez began his life sentence in the Huntsville Penitentiary for the murder of Sheriff Glover.[17]

Cortez was sentenced not for the death of Morris (which sparked the entire escapade), but for his alleged murder of Sheriff Robert M. Glover, who was killed during the pursuit. Efforts to have Cortez pardoned began with his incarceration and finally succeeded in 1913 when Governor Oscar Colquitt issued him a conditional pardon.[13] He was freed on July 14 of that year.

As Cortez's story spread to Mexican-American settlements across the United States and Mexico, it was transformed into a ballad where he was often revered as a hero of the border Mexican community whose resilience against persecutory law enforcement inspired many. In Américo Paredes's book, With His Pistol in His Hand, he recites eleven versions of El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez each sung by numerous guitarreros (guitarists) near the Mexican-American border.[39] Though each corrido had their own style, flair, or message wanting to be relayed, they all exaggerated the life of Cortez to transform him into a Mexican folk hero.

The life and legend of Gregorio Cortez were studied by the scholar Américo Paredes in a doctoral thesis on corridos that was later published in a revised version by the University of Texas Press in 1958 under the title With His Pistol in His Hand.[40] Paredes's work is about the life of Cortez, his legend, the formal aspects and variants of the corrido, and the cultural significance reflected in these products.

The book is one of the most influential books in Chicano cultural studies and has received wide recognition and outstanding success in the academic world.[41][42] The first chapter and the third chapters are historical. In the first one, he retraces the social and political background of the former Spanish province of Nuevo Santander to explain the origin of ethnic tensions. In the third chapter, through extensive corpus sources (judicial reports, newspapers, and testimonies) he reconstructs in detail the whole life of Cortez. The second chapter could be classified as a study of regional folklore because he describes "an idealized and formalized version of the legend."[43] In the second part of the book "El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez, a Ballad of Border Conflict,” Paredes provides a study of the narrative form of the corrido. This part integrates elements of sociolinguistics, through an analysis of the choice of words and the mixing of English and Spanish, anthropology, through an ethnographic description of the border culture, ethnomusicology with a study of the different variants of Gregorio Cortez's Ballad and their meanings[44][19]

The legend was turned into the film The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, starring Edward James Olmos, in 1983. It was directed by Robert Young, and based on Paredes's With His Pistol in His Hand.[45] The film deals with the creation of the myth as well as the reconstruction of the historical reality of the life and adventure of Gregorio Cortez.[46]

The film is classified as a Western, but it is different from other films of the genre due to its historical realism. While classic elements of a western are present in the film such as horse racing, a lynch mob, a heroic sheriff and the vast desert space of Texas, the film's authenticity is a profound departure from this genre.[47][48] The magazine Cinéaste described the film as "the true history of the West".[48] and the movie has been considered the most authentic Westerns in the history of American cinema by the United States Historical Society.[49] This sense of authenticity is due in part to the documentary style used by the director to tell the life of Gregorio Cortez, but also to the choice made by Villasenor to develop the point of view of the people involved in the story, regardless of their ethnicity, thus presenting real historical characters and not the stereotypes of a myth. This process makes it possible to represent the hostility between communities in South Texas and the violation of the land rights of Mexican Americans by Texas Rangers or lynch mobs.[50] On the other hand, through this process, the scriptwriters were able to highlight the origins of the myth as well as the stages of its construction. The myth is presented as an episode in the history of the conflict between the Anglo-Americans and The Mexican-Americans.[48]

In an interview, the film's director, Robert Young, suggested that he wanted to represent the different interpretations surrounding life and legend. He declared "I thought the important thing was, first, to tell a story that wasn't linear- I don't believe in those kinds of stories, things are always more complicated - and then to deal with the differing interpretations."[51] Young wanted to represent the fantasies created by the two ethnic groups, namely the exaggeration of Cortez's exploits for the Mexicans and the belief that Cortez was at the head of an entire gang for the Anglos. He declared to Cinéaste that he "tried to take the audience into the story so they would make the same mistakes as the Anglos and, later, when they find out what happened, they wouldn't feel superior to the Anglo characters but realize that they'd made the same error".[51]

If racism is portrayed throughout the film, the director downplays it. It was a deliberate choice to keep the humanity of the characters and to denounce it more vigorously. According to Young, "The people who perpetuate the racism are people, too, they're human. If you go too heavy on the racism, it makes it difficult to see them as people."[51]

Cortez's story was adapted into a concept EP by metal band Maquahuitl, titled Con Su Pistola en La Mano. The EP was released to streaming service Bandcamp on January 1st, 2021, and was described as "a concept release going through the journey of Mexican outlaw Gregorio Cortez who evaded 300 Texas Rangers after killing 2 Sheriffs in self-defense. Becoming a local folk hero and legend in the Tejano/ Mexico boarder area."[52]