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Texas Day by Day

August 8, 1915


Raiders attack Norias Division of King Ranch

On this day in 1915, Mexican raiders attacked the Norias Division headquarters of the King Ranch, an episode in the "Bandit Wars" that troubled the Texas-Mexican border between 1912 and 1915. Norias is some seventy miles north of Brownsville. On the afternoon of the 8th, in response to a report about Mexican horsemen, Texas adjutant general Henry Hutchings and twelve Texas Rangers went to the ranch. Three customs inspectors and the Cameron county sheriff arrived at Norias by train and joined the first group, making a total of sixteen men at the headquarters. At dusk horsemen carrying a red flag began firing at the ranchhouse. The besieged men took cover and returned fire while the cook telephoned Kingsville for help. The raiders were variously reported to number from fifty to seventy. About two hours after dark the firing suddenly stopped and the raiders vanished. In the fight Manuela Flores, a ranch employee, was killed and four defenders were wounded. Five of the raiders were reported killed and perhaps a dozen wounded. The raid provoked outrage in the lower Rio Grande valley, and the United States Army increased its presence in the area.

Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
NORIAS RANCH RAID
KING RANCH
NORIAS, TX
MEXICAN REVOLUTION

Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
Abilene "Top Citizen" dies (1968)
Soul legend born in Rogers (1935)


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