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La Matanza (1910–1920)

COLD1920South Texas / Texas–Mexico border region3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026

Documents violence · torture · ongoing investigation — written to inform, not to shock.

Illustrative

La Matanza ("The Massacre") and the Hora de Sangre ("Hour of Blood") refer to a period of anti-Mexican violence in Texas between 1910 and 1920, occurring against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution and cross-border raiding known as the Bandit Wars. According to the Wikipedia article compiling secondary historical sources, this violence was carried out by Anglo-Texan vigilantes and law enforcement, particularly the Texas Rangers, and was justified at the time by racism. Estimates of the number of Mexican Americans killed during this decade range from 300 to 5,000, with at least 100 documented lynchings, many occurring in Texas. Many killings were concealed or went unreported, and people suspected by Rangers of supporting Mexican insurgents were sometimes placed on blacklists and disappeared.

The period followed the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which drove migration into Texas and tripled the Mexican population in the United States during the decade. Border raiding by Carrancista forces predated 1914; from January 1915, rebels calling themselves Seditionistas drafted the Plan of San Diego, which called for a race war to remove Anglo-Americans from the border states and for Mexico to annex them. Although no full-scale invasion occurred, roughly 30 raids into Texas are reported to have killed 21 Americans, and about 400 Anglo-Texans died overall in border unrest during the decade.

Early documented cases include the lynching of Antonio Rodríguez, a 20-year-old migrant worker burned alive by a mob in Rocksprings in November 1910 after being accused of murder; the lynching of 14-year-old Antonio Gomez in Thorndale in June 1911 after he killed a man while fleeing a mob; and the case of León Martínez Jr., legally hanged in 1914 after a contested trial, an execution nonetheless counted among documented lynchings of Mexican Americans in the era.

Ranger violence is described as peaking between 1915 and 1919. Cited examples include the September 1915 killing of Jesus Bazan and Antonio Longoria, two Mexican-American residents shot by a Texas Ranger named Henry Ransom after they reported a robbery to him, with no official investigation following; and the Porvenir massacre of January 28, 1918, in which Texas Rangers and civilian ranchers, aided by U.S. Army cavalry, separated 15 men and boys from the village of Porvenir and shot them to death. A 1919 legislative inquiry led by State Representative Jose Canales brought 19 charges against the Rangers based on testimony of abuses, but the charges were ultimately dropped.

In the aftermath, the depopulation of Mexican and Mexican-American laborers from Texas led employers to import an estimated 50,000 Mexican laborers by 1920, even as anti-Mexican sentiment persisted. The Wikipedia article notes that descendants of victims of La Matanza had, as of July 2019 according to CNN, warned that anti-immigrant sentiment could contribute to violence such as the 2019 El Paso shooting.

Key facts

Victims
León Martínez Jr., Antonio Gomez, Antonio Rodríguez, Jesus Bazan, Antonio Longoria
Date
1920
Location
South Texas / Texas–Mexico border region
Case status
cold

Case timeline

  1. 1910

    Mexican Revolution begins, driving migration of Mexican refugees into Texas.

  2. 1910-11-03

    Antonio Rodríguez, a 20-year-old migrant worker, is taken from jail and burned alive by a mob in Rocksprings, Texas.

  3. 1911-06-19

    Antonio Gomez, a 14-year-old Mexican boy, kills a man while fleeing a mob in Thorndale, Texas, and is later lynched.

  4. 1911-07-23

    León Martínez Jr. is accused of murder in Toyah, Texas.

  5. 1914-05-11

    León Martínez Jr. is executed by legal hanging.

  6. 1915-01

    Mexican rebels known as Seditionistas draft the Plan of San Diego, calling for a race war against Anglo-Americans in border states.

  7. 1915-09-27

    Jesus Bazan and Antonio Longoria are shot and killed by Texas Ranger Henry Ransom after reporting a robbery to him.

  8. 1918-01-28

    Texas Rangers, civilian ranchers, and U.S. Army cavalry surround Porvenir, Texas; Rangers separate and kill 15 men and boys, an event known as the Porvenir massacre.

  9. 1919-01

    State Representative Jose Canales begins an investigation into Texas Ranger violence against Mexican Americans, later bringing 19 charges that were ultimately dropped.

  10. 1920

    An estimated 50,000 Mexican laborers are imported into the United States following the depopulation of Mexican labor in Texas caused by the violence.

Best coverage

No approved coverage links are attached yet.

People

  • León Martínez Jr.

    VICTIM

    Convicted of murder and executed by legal hanging in 1914; his execution is counted among documented lynchings of Mexican Americans in the era.

    citation on file

  • Jose Canales

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Texas State Representative who sponsored a 1919 legislative investigation into Texas Ranger violence against Mexican Americans, bringing 19 charges that were later dropped.

    citation on file

  • James Monroe Fox

    CHARGED

    Texas Ranger captain who led Company B and civilian ranchers in the January 1918 Porvenir massacre, in which 15 men and boys were killed.

    citation on file

  • Antonio Gomez

    VICTIM

    14-year-old boy lynched by a mob in Thorndale, Texas, in June 1911.

    citation on file

  • Antonio Rodríguez

    VICTIM

    20-year-old migrant worker lynched (burned alive) by a mob in Rocksprings, Texas, in November 1910 after being accused of murder.

    citation on file

  • Henry Ransom

    CHARGED

    Texas Ranger identified as having shot and killed Jesus Bazan and Antonio Longoria in September 1915; no official investigation followed.

    citation on file

  • Jesus Bazan

    VICTIM

    South Texas resident shot and killed by a Texas Ranger in September 1915 after reporting a robbery.

    citation on file

  • Antonio Longoria

    VICTIM

    South Texas resident shot and killed alongside Jesus Bazan by a Texas Ranger in September 1915 after reporting a robbery.

    citation on file

Places

South Texas / Texas–Mexico border region

29.4241, -98.4936

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
Between 1910 and 1920, Anglo-Texan vigilantes and law enforcement, including the Texas Rangers, killed an estimated hundreds to thousands of ethnic Mexicans in Texas amid tensions from the Mexican Revolution and the Plan of San Diego, with most killings unreported and unprosecuted.
Where did the crime happen?
South Texas / Texas–Mexico border region.
What is the current status of the case?
Status: cold. Last verified July 2026.

Sources

  1. La Matanza (1910–1920)wikipedia · Wikipedia · 2026-07-07
  2. Contemporaneous coverage — The New York Timesnews · The New York Times · 2026-07-07
  3. Contemporaneous coverage — NPRnews · NPR · 2026-07-07

Last verified JUL 2026

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