The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 45, July 1941 - April, 1942 Page: 9
409 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Laredo City Election and Riot of 1886
Then on the night of Sunday, March 28, 1886, after a pool
game in the old Commercial Saloon on the corner of Grant
Street and Flores Avenue, Alexander Meuly, a ranchman living
near Corpus Christi, shot and killed H. Douglas, a city alderman
of the Bota party. The killing of Douglas aroused considerable
excitement, and was the cause of Sheriff Dario Sanchez ap-
pointing a number of special deputies, as mob violence was
threatened against Meuly and the special deputies were needed
to avoid trouble. The appointment of these deputies brought
a strong protest from the Guarache element, who saw in it a
move to intimidate the voters at the polls on election day."
While everything was at fever heat, the morning of April 6
dawned bright and clear, a fine day for an election. The election
moved along peacefully, with practically no disturbance at all,
only an occasional arrest being made, mostly for drunkenness
and a few for illegal voting.1" The polls closed with no undue
excitement, and when the ballots were counted the Botas had
carried every office with the exception of two aldermen, Louis J.
Christen carrying his ward by thirty-one votes, and J. L. Bart-
lett defeating his opponent by seventeen. The vote was a close
one for every office, Higinio Garcia defeating Stephen Boyard
for city marshal by only thirteen votes, and in Ward No. 2
J. Garcia triumphed over his opponent Treviiio by a majority
of only eleven.13
On election night the Guarache party celebrated its partial
victory by serenading its two winning candidates and firing
off the cannon. The Bota party did not hold a procession that
night, the leaders prevailing on them to wait until the next
day in hopes the hot feeling of resentment might cool down.
The morning of April 7 dawned bright and clear, and the
reporter of the San Antonio Express wired his paper "it was
manifest relief that law-abiding citizens saw night come yes-
terday with no casualties to report. The first day being over,
they naturally expected a surcease from war talk and tarAntula
juice. The election was rather close, charges of fraud were
"Alexander Meuly vs. State, 26 Criminal Appeals, 274; pleadings in
cause No. 566, The State of Texas ex rel. Daniel Milmo et al. vs. Dario
Sanchez, District Clerk's Office, Webb County.
12Cause No. 566, The State of Texas ex rel. Daniel Milmo et al. vs. Dario
SAnchez, Transcript of Testimony (hereafter referred to as Transcript),
testimony of A. Brune, a Guarache, p. 106, S. Boyard, a Guarache, p. 128,
and C. M. Macdonnell, a Bota, p. 189; Galveston News, April 15, 1886.
13Laredo Times, April 7, 1886.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 45, July 1941 - April, 1942, periodical, 1942; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146053/m1/13/?rotate=90: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.