Porvenir Movie

HISTORICAL MARKER

                                                          PRESIDIO  COUNTY  MASSACRE

                                               EL  PORVENIR  RANCH  MASSACRE - Jan. 1918

                                               MASSACRE  OF  15  INNOCENT  MEN & BOYS, 
                                                                 GUILTY  OF  NO  CRIME
                              
                                  1.  MANUEL  MORALES 47             9.  ANTONIO  CASTANEDA 72
                                  2.  ROMAN  NIEVES 48                   10.  PEDRO  JIMENEZ 27
                                  3.  LONGINO  FLOREZ 47               11.  SERAPIO  JIMENEZ 25
                                  4.  TIBURCIO  JAQUEZ 50              12.  JUAN  JIMENEZ 16
                                  5.  ALBERTO  GARCIA 35               13.  PEDRO  HERRERA 25
                                  6.  EUTIMIO  GONZALES 37           14.  VIVIANO  HERRERA 23
                                  7.  AMBROSIO  HERNANDEZ 21   15.  SEVERIANO  HERRERA 18
                                  8.  MACEDONIO  HUERTA 30

                        " EVEN  IN  WAR  THE  KILLING  OF  INNOCENT  CIVILIANS  IS  A  CRIME "

J. J. Kilpatrick Poem

                             El  Porvenir  Massacre  Poem

         The   waters  in  the  Rio Grande  in  the  upper  Big  Bend,
       as  they  flows  to  the sea, are  ever  murmuring  the  funeral
      dirge   of   innocent   human   beings   cruelly   slain;  and  in
      the  soughing  of   the  night   winds  among   the  rock  hills,
      or   in  the   lonely  valleys ,  their   sepulchral   voices    are
      heard   pleading   for  common   justice. . . These   poor
      creatures  were  taken  unresisting   from   their  homes  and
      murdered.  Some  were  shot  in  the  back,  one  in  the  belly,
      one  in  the  head  and  one  riddled  with   lead.  Some  were
      killed  pleading  for  their  lives;  others  shot  down , begging
      for  time  to  pray , trying  to  kiss , with  their   blood  stained
      lips , the  feet  of  their  executioners . Oh  God  of  mercy, how
      they   groaned  and   writhed  while   dying ,  their  staring eyes
      fixed  on  those  who  were  killing  them.
 

El Porvenir Ranch Massacre

                                                    El Porvenir  Ranch  Massacre - 1918

                                                14 January 1918,  Presidio  County  Texas

   Massacre  of  fifteen  innocent  Men (old's 72)  and  Boys (16yrs) By U. S. 8th. Cavalry,  Troop "G", Capt.  Henry  Anderson, Lt. Christierson, Robert  (Bobby) Keil, Charlie  Beal, Jim  Evett, Arthur Drouin, Charles Beall,   Drake, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, Texas  Rangers Company "B", Capt. James Monroe Fox, Bud Weaver,  Andy C.  Baker,  Max  Herman, Allen Cole,  James  Boone  Oliphant,  Clint Henry Holden, W. K. Duncan,  J. Howell  McCampbell, Jim Beard, Samuel(Sam)  Niel,  Ben L. Pennington,  Albert  Henry  Woelber,  Charles Lucas  Brite,  Ira  Cline,  Jefferson Eagle  Vaughan,  Allen  Boone,  Buck  Poole,  John  Poole,  Tom  Snyder,  Raymond  Fitzgerald,  Syvanell E.  Evetts (Van Evetts),  Eddie  Evetts,  Alfred  Evans  Means (Evan Means),  Harry (Hawkeye) Townsend,  Ben  Frazier,  Pat  Frazier,  Den  T. Knight,  Jim Bean,  George  Jones,  I.W. Roberts,  Charlie  Corning,  John  Daniels, ?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?.

                                              List  of  Men  &  Boy's Murdered

1.  Manuel Morales, El Porvenir Ranch owner, 47 left wife Francisca  Hernandez  Morales,                                                    Sons -  Leandro H. Morales 13
                                               Eustascio H. Morales 10,
                                               Jesus H. Morales,                
                            Daughters  - Jovita H. Morales  12
                                                 Manuela H. Morales  3
                                                 Juanita H. Morales  2    Julia H.Morales born night of massacre.

2. Roman Nieves, ranch owner, 48, left wife  Alejandra  Lares  Nieves 46 years old.
                                      Sons - Ventura   Nieves  14
                                                 Margarito  Nieves 13
                                                  Casimiro  Nieves  5
                                                   Iner  Nieves   - 3
                                                   Baby born three  months  after  massacre

3.  Longino Flores 47,  Ranch  administrator, left wife  Juanita Bonilla  Flores 42
                                                 Daughter,   Benita Flores  Mesa 17
                                                Grand-Son,  Rosendo F. Mesa 2 years old
                                              Grand-Daughter,  Rosa F. Mesa  1 year old
                                               Sons - Narciso Bonilla  Flores  13
                                                            Juan  Bonilla  Flores  11

4. Alberto  Garcia  35 , left wife Victoria  Jimenez  Garcia  33
                                              Sons  -  Jorge J. Garcia 6
                                                          Ceredonio J. Garcia  3
                                         Daughter - Florencia J. Garcia, less then year old

5. Tiburcio Jaquez  50, left  wife, Librada  Montoya  Jaquez  48
                                        Daughters - Mrs Julia Jaquez  Warren 
                                                            Maria  Montoya  Jaquez  17
                                                            Cecilia  Montoya  Jaquez  15
                                                 Sons - Ezequiel  Montoya  Jaquez  6
                                                              Jose Montoya  Jaquez  14
                                                              Marcelo  Montoya  Jaquez  12
                                                              Alberto  Montoya  Jaquez   10

6. Eutimio  Gonzales  37, left wife,  Concepcion  Carrasco  Gonzales  35
                                         Daughters - Santos C. Gonzales  12
                                                             Refugia C. Gonzales  11
                                                              Luisina C. Gonzales  6
                                                              Blasa C. Gonzales  5 
                                                              Geronima C. Gonzales  4    Baby  less then year old.

7.  Ambrosio  Hernandez  21,  left  wife  Eulalia  Gonzales  Hernandez  18
                                                         Son - Victorio G. Hernandez , less then year old.

8.  Marcedonio  Huerta , 30. left  wife Rita  Jaques  Huerta  27
                                                            Sons - Filomeno  J. Huerta  6
                                                                        Elijio  J.  Huerta  3
                                                                        Francisco  J. Huerta  1

9.  Antonio  Castanedo  72,  from  Pecos  area, 2 or 3  days  there.

10.  Pedro  Jimenez  27 ,  7 or 8  days  there.

11.  Serapio  Jimenez  25,  7 or 8  days  there.

12.  Juan  Jimenez  16,  7 or  8  days  there.

13.  Pedro  Herrera  25,   2  or  3  days  there.

14.  Severiano  Herrera  23,  2  or  3  days  there.

15.  Viviano  Herrera 18,  2  or  3  days  there.

Posted: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 12:00 am

Odessa At the blessed and tender age of 101, Juan Bonilla Flores passed from this life. He was born June 25, 1905. He was the last survivor of the Porvenir Massacre who died at his home in Odessa, Texas, on Sunday, March 25, 2007. Juan was the son of Juanita and Longino Flores. He had an older sister, Benita Flores Mesa and an older brother, Narcisco Flores.
Growing up on the banks of the Rio Grande, Juan always believed he belonged as much in Texas as he did in Mexico. He would herd the family stocks, such as goats, etc., in Presidio County and in Chihuahua where there was more grass in the dry seasons. In 1913, Manuel Morales, the owner of the Porvenir Ranch, offered his father, Longino Flores a job to administrate the extension irrigation ditch of the Rio Grande to the Porvenir Ranch. After the widening of the irrigation ditch, Mr. Longino decided to stay as a sharecropper and also to build a home in Porvenir, Texas. On the ranch the Mexican-Americans dreamed to plant cotton and to build a cotton gin, instead, their dream came to an end on January 14, 1918, in Porevnir when 15 farmer men were taken out of their homes at 2:00 a.m. and completely slaughtered to their deaths. Juan Flores has not shared this tragic story until the year of 2000, due to his family discovering documentation of the Porvenir Massacre. Juan had kept this tragic story to himself for such a long time and decided to share this unforgettable, yet sad, incident. At the age of 95, Juan decided to show his family the exact location of the Porvenir Massacre and the buried fifteen men. Due to his age, Juan was not able to climb the hill that marks the location of buried fifteen men, where he once stood upon a freeze in January 1918. On that day and on that hill, he remembered weeping as he saw his beloved father, Longino Flores, being buried with the other fourteen men. Even through such an experience, Juan loved to tell wonderful and exiting stories of his childhood day at the Big Bend.
In 1919, while living in Ruidosa, Texas, word got around that General John Pershing and his soldiers were in Mexico and heading toward Ruidosa. The towns people were excited of seeing this well talked about General, as the General crossed the Rio Grande with his men, he did not go around shaking hands like he was known to do. He only made a short speech saying that he would give five United States dollars for every mule that was returned to him and that they may keep whatever was on the mules, such as gun, ammunition, etc. Later on, one of his soldiers said the General was in a hurry to get to Marfa, and send a telegram to headquarters.
Juan is survived by his sons, Longino Flores of Odessa and Juan Flores Jr. of Midland; daughters, Paula Flores Smith of Arlington, Erlinda Flores Burgess of Roanoke, Alabama, Benita Flores Albarado of Uvalde and Vicki Belen of Odessa; including five generations of grandchildren and numerous nephews, nieces cousins and lot of friends of the Flores, Bonilla and Meza families.
A prayer service will be held at 7:00 p.m. today, Tuesday, March 27, 2007, at Odessa Funeral Home Chapel. Funeral services have been set for Wednesday, March 28, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. at Sunset Heights Baptist Church, 2401 W. 16th St. Juan will be buried following the service at 2:00 p.m. at Mt. Olive Cemetery in Big Spring next to his beloved wife who passed away July 6, 1971. Serving as pallbearers will be Jesus Flores, Jose Lupe Flores Juan Belen Jr., Jose Flores, Longino Flores Jr. and Juan Flores.
The family would like to express a special thank you to Star Care Hospice for the wonderful care of our beloved father and grandfather.
Services by Odessa Funeral Home.

Wikipedia Porvenir Massacre

Texas Ranger Division - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Rangers were responsible for several incidents, ending in the January 13, 1918 massacre of the male population [20](15 Mexican men and boys ranging in age
from 16 to 72 years) of the tiny community of Porvenir, Texas on the Mexican
border in western Presidio County. Before the decade was over,thousands of
lives were lost, Texans and Mexicans alike. In January 1919, an investigation by the Texas Legislature found that from 300 to 5,000 people, mostly of Hispanic descent,
had been killed by Rangers Legislature found that from 300 to 5,000 people, from 1910 to 1919, and that members of the Rangers had been involved in many acts
of brutality and injustice.[21] The Rangers were reformed by a resolution of the Legislature in 1919, which saw the special Ranger groups disbanded and a complaints system instituted.