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"Sandals" attack "Boots," setting off Laredo election riot
On this day in 1886, one of the biggest gun battles in the history of
the American West broke out on the day after a city election in Laredo.
In 1884 two political factions in Laredo and Webb counties designated
themselves as Botas and Guaraches. The Botas ("Boots"), led by Raymond
Martin and José María Rodríguez, were essentially the "wealthy" class,
although they drew much support from the less fortunate. The reform
club, which adopted the slogan Guaraches ("Sandals") to symbolize the
lower class, included Santos Benavides and, later, Darío Gonzales. In
the city election of 1886, the Guaraches won only two seats on the
Laredo city council. In their celebration the following day, the Botas
paraded the streets of Laredo promising to bury a Guarache in effigy.
After the Guaraches attacked the Bota parade, as many as 250 men became
involved in the fighting at one time or another. It took two companies
of the Sixteenth United States Infantry and one company of the Eighth
Cavalry to restore peace. Although the official number of dead in what
was called the Laredo Election Riot was placed at sixteen, unofficial
reports placed the number as high as thirty, with as many as forty-five
wounded.
- Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
- BOTAS AND GUARACHES
- MARTIN, RAYMOND
- RODRIGUEZ, JOSE MARIA
- BENAVIDES, SANTOS
- GONZALES, DARIO
- LAREDO, TX
- Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
- "Mr. Sam" becomes a congressman (1913)
- Mina Expedition sails from Galveston Island (1817)
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