Did somebody mention "Texas Rangers' Cruelty?"
Posted on 01/09/2005 12:58:30 PM PST by Racehorse
For 90 years, most Mexican Americans in South Texas have known the truth behind the myth — that during a reign of terror in 1915, Texas Rangers randomly lynched, shot and killed Tejanos, whose farms, ranches and land were coveted by Anglo land speculators.
Kirby Warnock, an Anglo baby boomer and Dallas filmmaker who grew up in Texas watching "The Lone Ranger," also grew up on alternative stories about the Rangers from his grandfather, Roland Warnock, a cowboy who worked on Guadalupe Ranch near Edinburg in the mid-1900s.
On Sept. 30, 1915, Roland Warnok witnessed the murder of two unarmed Tejanos — 68-year-old Jesus Bazan and his son-in-law Antonio Longoria — by Rangers in a Model T Ford. Bazan and Longoria were shot in the back, off their horses, as the Rangers passed by. Warnock found their bodies two days later and buried them where they remain today, on a lonely stretch of road 18 miles north of Edinburg.
Kirby Warnock told his grandfather's story — and the larger untold story of South Texas — in a documentary called "Border Bandits," which returns Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. to the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Westlakes Shopping Center on Southwest Loop 410. The film was here in November, sold out two theaters at the Alamo Draft-house and is back for an encore. For more information, visit www.drafthouse.com .
(Excerpt) Read more at mysanantonio.com ...
I'm the producer of this film, and would like to point out two things:
1) It is really a bit unfair to comment on a film you have not seen. Watch it, then make up your own mind.
2) My grandfather did not "find" the bodies two days later. That is a mistake in Ms. Jarboe's editorial. He witnessed the killings. The Rangers would not allow the family members to bury the bodies. My grandfather and another cowboy buried the bodies because they were unable to sleep because of the stench of the corpses sitting in the south Texas sun for two days.
Again, this is all contained in my film. I would urge you to view it yourself, then make up your own mind. You can order a copy at www.borderbanditsmovie.com
"No one can study western history without being prepared to change his mind."
PS I am not a looney left BS. I am a southern Baptist, gun-toting, beer-drinking, Suburban driving redneck. My grandfather witnessed something rather disturbing and I decided to see if his story was true. I documented everything in my film judiciously to back up what he was saying, because it is a pretty ugly story.
The west wasn't like The Lone Ranger.
Again, I am the producer of this film.
MOST of the Rangers did a good job, but as my film points out, in the early part of the 20th century there wre a lot of Rangers appointed by the governor who had no business wearing that badge.
Are you aware of the "special Rangers"????
Again, it is all in the film. Watch it and then post. No one is saying you have to agree with it, but look at it before criticizing.
"Don't criticize what you don't understand."
Elvis Presley
That is not what my film shows. I'm just telling a story that my grandfather told me when he witnessed a group of Rangers shoot an unarmed, 67-year-old Mexican American in the back because they couldn't find the real "bandits" and figured he would do.
They Rangers refused to allow the family to bury the bodies. My grandpa and some other cowboys couldn't sleep for two days because of the stench, so they went out and buried the bodies so they could get some rest. It had nothing to do with "political correctness."
These "Rangers" were appointed to the force by Gov. Ferguson because they contributed to his campaign fund, a practice that wasn't halted until 1936.
They were some sorry SOBs who had no business wearing a badge.
If you watched my film, you would see all of this.
I would appreciate it if you would actually see something before you comment on it. Fair enough?????
I am not a "liberal loon" and if you will actually watch my film, you will see that these "Rangers" of that time (1915) were given their badges in exchange for making campaign contributions to "Pa" Ferguson. This resulted in some sorry folks getting to wear a Ranger badge. (What if every contributor to Hilary Clinton's campaign got an FBI badge? Would this be a good idea?)
I'm telling a part of history that REALLY HAPPENED, but has been swept under the rug because it is just too ugly and unromantic, and does not have a happy ending.
I invite you to get a copy of my film (www.borderbanditsmovie.com) and actually watch it, then tell me what I have in there that is incorrect, or wrong. And please provide some proof of your claims, not just opinion. I went through all the old Ranger files in Austin as well as South Texas and have hard, valid evidence for what I have in this film.
It's pretty sorry, but some people want to hold onto a romantic notion of the old west.
Did somebody mention "Texas Rangers' Cruelty?"
I don't believe you are a liberal loon. I do believe Jan Jarboe Russell is a liberal loon and has always been one, so much so she named a daughter after another liberal loon, Maury Maverick.
I find your Grandfather's story as told at Trouble On The Border to be, in context with the times, entirely credible. But I am still dismayed by the your Promo page and by the Movie Trailer.
But, you are also right. Without seeing the movie for myself I cannot know for certain how fairly you've treated the Rangers. Will there be a future showing in San Antonio?
If you will come to a screening we are hosting in San Antonio on Friday, September 14, at 7 pm at the Alamo Cinema Westlakes, I will buy you a ticket to prove to you that I am not a “liberal loon” and that you are jumping to conclusions.
I will send you a private reply with my contact info. I will be at the screening to take questions.
Once you see the film, and see the evidence I uncovered while researching my grandfather’s story, you will come to the same conclusion I did: There was a very ugly, tragic set of circumstances in place that permitted a single company of Rangers to do some pretty terrible things to innocent people. It has been covered up for 90 years because it involves wealthy and influential Texans who are somewhat embarrassed about the cause of it all: a prominent rancher’s affair with a 14-year-old girl.
Please come see the film, on my nickel, then come tell me what you think AFTER you see it.
This is NOT “an old cowboy’s recollection mixed with fiction” as another poster claims. It’s the hard, unvarnished truth. The question is, what do we do wiith it???
See you there.
I was living in Dallas at that time, and was watching that game. I dare to say that Robin Vetura realized that trying to tackle a 6’4” Texan that would rather punch your lights out just wasn’t a great idea... I must have laughed for an hour after that one, I think Ryan bolo punched him 3 times before it got broken up.
See the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nME7_e994x4, it’s number 1 on the list...
Obviously you don’t know squat about history, past or present.
Well, I hold a degree in history from Baylor University, the oldest university in Texas, founded by the Republic of Texas (not the State) in 1845.
Other than having a sheepskin to prove my historical knowledge, I have spent hours at the Lorenzo Zavala Library in Austin, the Texas Ranger Museum and Hall of Fame in Waco, and the Museum of South Texas in Edinburg poring over documents, Ranger reports, newspapers and court transcripts that prove everything my grandfather told me. This is all in my film and I invite you to come see it on my nickel. If you will email me at big_bend2@yahoo.com, and give me your real name, I’ll leave two tickets for you in Austin, San Antonio or Mission for our screenings this week.
My question to you is, “What do you do when you discover something terribly wrong, but after examining it thoroughly, you determine that is is the truth?”
What do you do when you discover an ugly truth?
Shut up and believe the myth?
As I always tell my audiences, this is an ugy story, but it really happened.
If you can provide me with any facts (not opinions) that refute what I am putting up on the screen, I’ll change the story.
You guys are confusing me with some liberal pussy. I am not one, and never have been. I say let’s tell the truth and see where it leads us.
Unfortunately some people can’t handle the truth.
But I’m man enough to put it out there, and stand up in front of an audience and take whatever you can sling at me, not hide behind a screen name on a computer.
No diss meant for you, I’m just saying that I put my butt on the line when I say something.
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