The first instance of violence to be considered took place six miles away from Brownsville between the years of 1861 and 1866. During this time both sides of the border were facing turmoil and Fr. Parisot would consistently visit the port town of Bagdad, a town he describes as a:
Whirlpool of business, pleasure, and sin. A common laborer could easily gain from five to six dollars per day, while a man who owned a skiff or a lighter could make from twenty to forty dollars. The saloon and hotel keepers were reaping an abundant harvest. The gulf, for three or four miles out, was a forest of masts. Ten stages were running daily from Matamoros to Bagdad. (56)
This population center was very much alive and, as a result, would be an attractive though challenging place for the Oblates’ to minister.82 It also represented a microcosm for the Texas-Mexico border experience in regards to violence and insecurity. Here, robberies would be a common occurrence as the priest reports first with an experience he
82 This port town does not exist nowadays but was located in the southern bank of the Rio Grande. See,
had on his way to Bagdad when his stage would be held up and shortly after the thief would be caught and punished swiftly. Violence was not only located on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande as Parisot writes in his reminiscences.
Six months after the violent experience of the capture and execution of a stage robber in Bagdad, which he witnessed, Parisot’s stopped at the Resaca de la Guerra near Brownsville after a regular visit to the port town, and he was held at gunpoint along with seven other passengers (56-57). Three men had approached the stage by horse and with revolvers and had asked for their money. The experience would be terrifying for some of the passengers who would plea for their life only to be reassured by the robbers that all they wanted was their valuables, which at the end would amount to “eight hundred dollars in money, three gold and four silver watches” (58). Parisot, however, would be spared from the theft as he would plea that he did not have money for them because he was a poor priest. The robbers would ask him for his watch pointing to the string of his old missionary cross, but ultimately they would believe that he had no possessions and left him alone and retreated saying, “Good bye gentlemen, if you want your money back, come to Mexico” (57). This robbery was reported to the authorities but it ends up as a victory for the outlaws, as they were able to escape to Mexico before soldiers could capture them.
Though these accounts of stage robberies along the routes to Bagdad differ in their details and ultimate results, it is clear the danger of violence was part of the daily lives of the inhabitants of the Texas-Mexico border. Whether it was because of war, revolutions, or the presence or memory of indigenous people and lawless men,
instability and precariousness reigned in the Rio Grande Valley.83 This constant threat of danger would prove to be a struggle to assimilate through the work of the Oblate
missioners.84 Nevertheless, this reality became the key feature of the religious
experience of Mexicans in the Texas-Mexico frontier and the anchor that grounded the work of the Oblates in the southern United States. After all, the vocation of the Oblates of Immaculate Mary Missionaries was, and is, particularly geared to the poorest and most marginalized communities. In the case of the precariousness of the Rio Grande Valley, this marginalization would involve both the Spanish and English-speaking Catholic communities as Parisot’s account of the Juan Nepomuceno Cortina raids of Brownsville will show.85 This is the final historical account to be explored in this chapter and will be linked to the study of Carmen Boullosa’s work.
Fr. Pierre Parisot’s account of the Cortina revolt revolves around the use and abuse of violence by the Mexican-American ranchero beginning in September, 1859, when Juan Nepomuceno Cortina, along with fifty men, took possession of the city of Brownsville with the objective of taking revenge from twelve citizens by killing them. Parisot does not elaborate on the names of the targets, but he explains that Nepomuceno Cortina’s vengeance originated on the belief that these men were unfriendly towards
83 It is important to notice however, that although the accounts of violence here explored only show the
activity of Mexican outlaws during the Cortina wars, Parisot’s accounts include instances where the oblate does not specify the nationality or race of the assailants. As a result, it is not possible to discard outlaw activity perpetrated by Americans. One example of this omission can be seen in an account of a stage coat robbery. In this case, which takes place in the American side of the Rio Grande, the Oblate does not specify if the crime was perpetrated by Mexicans or American outlaws. See, Reminiscences 58.
84 Among these dangers, it is possible to include as well the danger of Yellow fever which was a yearly
occurrence and took the lives of seven of the Oblates during the epidemics in less than nine years (1853- 1862). See, Doyon 156-163.
85 These spurts of violence are also known as the Cortina Wars. See, Jerry Thompson "CORTINA, JUAN
Mexicans and that they had taken unjust possession of lands belonging to his countrymen. Cortina’s act of violence would last for three or four hours and would result in the murder of six Americans.86 This situation would escalate as Parisot explains in his narrative:
Organized resistance was out of the question. The Americans, terror- stricken, had only time to look for hiding places. At day-break the assassin and his accomplices withdrew to his ranch. There he did not remain inactive. His little army of fifty increased daily and soon numbered as many as 200 well-armed men. The prospect was gloomy. Many inhabitants had crossed the river to Matamoros to find a place of security. (97)
The stage was set for a second confrontation and preparations would begin from both sides. The Mexicans, who Parisot called the enemy, would fortify the area around Juan Nepomuceno Cortina’s ranch.87 The citizens of Brownsville on the other hand would prepare themselves for a second attack by barricading the central portion of the city with two cannons. Soon, they faced Nepomuceno Cortina’s men and forced them to cross the river by enlisting two hundred men volunteers. Their efforts would be
86 Although Doyon’s account of the may justify Parisot’s attitudes towards the violence of Nepomuceno
and his men, there are differences between the two accounts. Specifically, the number of deaths according to Doyon records amounted to five, three Americans and two Mexicans. This difference is addressed in brief by referring to the accounts of the events given by Fr. Gaudet and Fr. Parisot in their correspondence. However, the differences are not explained nor resolved. A possible explanation could be found by the distinct criticism to the political and social climate of the Rio Grande Valley. Mainly, where Parisot has issues with the use of irrational violence, the other seems to emphasize the racial tensions. See, Cavalry of
Christ 164-66.
87 According to Parisot, Juan Nepomuceno Cortina’s residence was situated on the left bank of the Rio
disastrous, however, as they would be ambushed after a three-day journey to the enemy camp and were forced to retreat losing one of the two cannons they had brought (98). This situation would continue through December when Captain W. G. Tobin came with reinforcements from San Antonio to join Colonel J.S. Ford, and Cortina was defeated and forced to cross the river.
Parisot’s account of the Cortina Wars brings into consideration many socio- cultural aspects regarding the use of violence in the Rio Grande Valley as it represents a testimony that directly addresses a critical historical event. These include the evident racial tensions that existed between the original settlers and the English-speaking newcomers to the Texas-Mexico border. Such relations would ignite conflicts and, if uncontested, would result in the spread of violence in the region. It is important to assert, however, the limits of Parisot’s reminiscences as a source of historical factual
information due to the priest’s lack of precision with regards to dates as well as with his omission of names of peoples and places. The Oblate does not follow the role of a historian in disentangling his work from the multiple interacting discourses, nor does he maintain a balance with regard to his own opinions. Far from being a disinterested reader of history that balances competing narratives, Parisot emphasizes his testimony by passing judgement on his subject. This is easily seen in Cortina’s episode in question as the Oblate has a proverbial “bone to pick” with regards to the actions the Mexican landowner took in 1859 when he attacked Brownsville. Here, he clearly expresses his rejection of the reigning violence that affects his Parish by describing the event as “unrestrained lawlessness of ignorant and unprincipled men” (98). This attitude is
manifested at several points in the text and, it creates the possibility to analyze Parisot’s work in a first-hand account of historical and anthropological information in need of analysis once his statements are contextualized with the socio-cultural setting in which they were written. Under this scope, it will be possible to reconsider the instances summarized up to this point to provide a rough picture of the Catholic experience in the Texas-Mexico Border.
As can be appreciated throughout the different events described by Fr. Pierre Parisot, along with the historical summary of the spread of Catholicism depicted earlier in this chapter, the socio-cultural context of the Texas-Mexico frontier has been
heterogeneous and conflictive. From its arrival to the new continent, the millenary religion had to compete with the contrasting influences, as exposed by Parisot’s account. Secularism, heresies, and violence have coexisted with the steady influx of the Catholic faith into former Native American territories along with shifting geopolitical and social realities. Competing discourses and religions have continually shaped the course of history in the Texas-Mexico frontier and, along with the influence of social, natural, and political pressures, have determined the experience of people in the Rio-Grande Valley. As a consequence, the creation of a working definition of Catholicism in the border needs to account for a multi-origin point of reference that traces the multiple threads that arise from the long-lasting processes of culture. In the case of the Spanish religious beliefs, every time an European Catholic would come into contact with a non-believer, the religion would undergo challenges, transformations and reconfigurations that, under normal circumstances, would continue indefinitely interacting with old and new cultural
threads. These facts are seen in Fr. Parisot’s experience with Tatita’s heresy where the new influx of the Catholic faith brought into the frontier by the Oblates would face the effect of competing faiths and cultures along with the pressure of violence embodied by the Hermanos. The last two factors would in turn have a major effect in the life and beliefs of the inhabitants of the Rio Grande Valley as they would be drawn to participate in the new practice and would be faced with physical or spiritual displacements by the threat of violence. Such powerful effects can be inferred from reactions of the priests to the lack of participation and often distrust that the Oblates faced at different points of their ministry. Mexicans were often left without a significant source of guidance in practicing their spirituality and very often would be slow to accept the changes which the different waves of evangelization would bring. This effect, would be seen in both English and Spanish-speaking communities during the first stages of evangelization as reported by the missioners and may prove to be the common link to understand the Catholic experience in the border as this study comes closer to the analysis of the narratives. Before closing this chapter however, it is imperative to return to the
discussion of the pro and anti-Catholic discourses in order to reach conclusions about the Catholic Experience portrayed in the historical record.