The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 57, July 1953 - April, 1954 Page: 310
585 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
of the river without endangering themselves, since any Mexican
appearing was apt to be the recipient of a rifle bullet from the
American side.187 These complaints were discounted as baseless
by both officials and citizens until a military patrol in the Browns-
ville area witnessed four Brownsville peace officers firing random
shots across the river, apparently attempting to draw a return fire
so that the military would be forced to intervene. Funston, in a
bitter complaint to Governor Ferguson, castigated state and local
officers for their failure to co-operate with the military; he was
not, he said, inclined "to tolerate such malicious deviltry and so
flagrant an attempt to make a bad matter worse," nor could the
army co-operate "with peace officers who are such scoundrels."1s
In spite of Funston's efforts, however, and in spite of his orders
that troops were to fire across the river only to return fire,69
there were frequent cases of Americans initiating inter-boundary
firing.
One of the gravest problems which Funston, as the officer re-
sponsible for re-establishing order, had to face was that of proper
co-operation among the various segments interested in bringing
the raids to an end. He stressed the importance of co-operation
among local, state, and federal agencies and warned the state and
local officials to stay away from the river itself unless pursuing
raiders,170 but his exhortations went unheeded. He asked that the
civilian population remain calm and desist from inciting ill
feelings, but newspapers persisted in publishing inflammatory edi-
torials.'7' He urged actions within the law, but his troops still
found it necessary to guard their captives to prevent lynchings.72
The attitude of the Texas population, both civil and official, was
so deleterious to a re-establishment of peace that Secretary of
I67San Antonio Express, September 7, 1915.
lxsCommanding General, Southern Department, to Governor of Texas, September
15, 1915, AGO 2324748.
169Secretary of War to Senator Morris Sheppard, November 9, 1915, AGO 2333457.
170Commanding General, Southern Department, to Adjutant General, September
o10, 1915, AGO 2311838, Add. A36. Funston felt that the presence of rangers and
sheriffs merely complicated the issue and that his troops could patrol the river
properly.
171Colonel Blocksom in Brownsville was convinced that some of the Anglo-Amer-
icans had ulterior motives and wished to see the raids continued.
172For example, see Commanding General, Southern Department, to Adjutant
General, August 3, 1915, AGO 2311838, Add. A.3o
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 57, July 1953 - April, 1954, periodical, 1954; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101152/m1/389/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.