The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 105, July 2001 - April, 2002 Page: 59
741 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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"An Enemy Closer to Us Than Any European Power"
Even before the war in Europe began, Texas Gov. Oscar Colquitt
declared that American casualties and property losses in the Mexican
Revolution were being seriously neglected by Washington. Colquitt, a
newspaperman turned politician, capitalized on his ability to generate
headlines on this issue at the expense of President Wilson. During
Colquitt's first term, he preached armed intervention in Mexico as an
appropriate response to Wilson's policy of "watchful waiting." In
February 1914 Governor Colquitt received extensive press coverage
with his claim that Mexican troops threatened Americans in Brownsville
and in Matamoras. When Washington did not respond to his pleas, the
Texas governor sent four National Guard companies to "defend and
protect the people of this state, whom I considered the national govern-
ment to be neglecting." Colquitt denied any plan to send troops across
the Rio Grande, although the Dallas Morning News believed that he
wanted "to send some rangers across the river" in response to a story of
one Texan's execution by Huerta's soldiers. During his speech in Fort
Worth to the Cattle Raiser's Association of Texas, Colquitt described
Wilson's handling of Mexican affairs as "namby-pamby." As he neared
the end of his second term as governor, Colquitt saw the Mexican
Revolution as his ticket to the U.S. Senate. Colquitt challenged incum-
bent Sen. Morris Sheppard, a Democrat and Wilson supporter, to
resign his seat and debate "the Mexican situation" as the central cam-
paign issue.29
News stories of the violence against noncombatants increased. After
Mexican troops allegedly kidnapped and murdered Texas rancher
Clemente Vergara in March 1914, reports circulated that Texas
Rangers crossed the river to retrieve his body. Texas newspapers
released Colquitt's letter to Secretary of State Bryan, which openly
challenged the Wilson administration's Mexican policies. When
Colquitt requested Bryan's permission to allow Texas Rangers across
the border to apprehend Vergara's alleged killers, the Wilson adminis-
tration feared an international confrontation over the "Vergara
Affair." Colquitt complained that "bandits and marauders" from
Mexico destroyed millions of dollars in property that belonged to
Texans. In addition, Colquitt charged that for the previous two years
Mexicans had crossed the Rio Grande, kidnapped Texas ranchers, and
"butchered defenseless citizens." Because the federal government
refused to act, Colquitt insisted the state had the right to cross the
" Chppings, 2E205, May 1913-December, 1915, Colquitt Papers; Dallas Morning News, Feb
28, Mar. 11, 1914; Fort Worth Star Telegram, Mar. to, 1914, Gould, Progressives and Prohabstionzsts,
116-119. Based on numerous out-of-state clippings, Governor Colquitt received coverage in
many newspapers around the state and nation when he attacked the Wilson administration's
position on Mexico.2001
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 105, July 2001 - April, 2002, periodical, 2002; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101222/m1/67/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.