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San Benitc Contractor Recalls Exciting Days On Border During Bandit Raids And Murders; Still Remembers Loyal WorkersBv MI N N IK GILBERTof The Star Stafff --(Ya»r Slar M«rnin* New* ScrvtariSAN BENITO—Record of bandit da^ in the Lower Rhj GrandeValley is marked by acts of violence and not infrequent slayings but only one victim lived to remember being ordered before a bandit execution squad. Uprisings along the Rio Grande borderi in 1915 and 1916 mark the mostturbulent chapter in Valley history since the present developmentbegan.Stanley S. Dodds, prominent San Benito pioneer, then a young contractor directing w ork at w hat is now the Los Fresno* pump, owes his life to Mexican friends, who interceded for him. one beingwi member of the outlaw band. wTwo other white men, captured at the same time, were shot to death by an execution squad ; commanded by Anlceto Pisana. bandit leader, A similar fate intended for Mr. Dodds w as narrowly averatedCaptured Iri 1915*Their capture occured early on the morning of September 1. 1915 when a party of bandits numbering about 45 surrounded the pump where Mr. Dodds, an assistantengineer named Smith, and twoMexican laborers were at work, j The ‘latter two were Jesus Esparza and Ventura Rodriguez, both well-known members of SanBenito’s Mexican colony today.The surprised men did not attempt any defense, since theirnearest approach to weapons was picks and shovels. Their captors compelled them to leave thevicinitv of the pump and heldthem prisoners in a remote spot know’n as Agua Prieta also east of San Benito.Here the bandits killed a steer and cooked and ate most of thebeef. The company of outlawswas traveling on foot but horses were seized wherever opportunity offered and used in making forays.Animosity of the bandits wasdirected at Mr. Dodds and Mr. Smith and the unfortunate ap-perance of a Mr. Donaldson swelled the number marked for death* to three.Was NewcomerMr. Donaldson, a newcomer to this section who had just finished building a house on his farm, drove up in a wagon. The bandits swarmed around the vehicle, cutting* the -traces that held the team and making the driver a prisoner.At no time did the English-speaking captives doubt the intention of the bandit leaders to carry out their execution threat. One of the primera capitans (first captains) bragged to Mr. Dodds that he killed the Austins at Sebastian. Shooting of A. L. Austin and his son. Charles. August 6. 1915, by a band of 14 outlaws after the robbery of a storein Sebastian, was an atrocity that stirred the entire area to the seriousness of the bandit situation.Bandits forming the party thatcaptured Mr. Dodds and killed the other two men also had part in the wrecking of the passenger train between Olmito and Brownsville a few week later. Deliberate wrecking of the southbound train brought death to the
Newspaper Details
Valley Morning Star
Harlingen, Texas, US
Sun, Apr 25, 1937
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 08 Apr 2020
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