Houston Mutiny of 1917

By the time the U.S. entered World War I, black soldiers and white Texas civilians had a history of hostile relations dating back more than fifty years.  At Camp Logan, men with the Third Battalion of the Twenty-fourth U.S. Infantry Regiment faced increasing harassment from Houston authorities.  On August 23, 1917, a rumor reached the camp that Corporal Charles Baltimore had been killed for interfering with the detention and interrogation … Continue reading Houston Mutiny of 1917

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BROWNSVILLE AFFRAY, 1906

In July 1906, the U.S. Army stationed three companies of the all-black Twenty-Fifth Infantry at Fort Brown, Texas, adjacent to Brownsville.  In recent years, southern Texas and the border region had seen periodic disturbances between American soldiers and local Chicanos who resented the military’s presence.  Soon after their arrival, black soldiers began complaining of police harassment and civilian discrimination. On the night of August 13, … Continue reading BROWNSVILLE AFFRAY, 1906

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EL PASO SALT WAR, 1877

El Paso’s salt mines, located about a hundred miles east of the city, had long been used by local Indians and Chicanos.  In 1877, two local political factions struggled for control of the deposits; these were the so-called “Salt Ring” led by District Judge Charles Howard, the group that tried to gain private control of the mines, and the “Anti-Salt Ring” of Antonio Barajo and Luis Cardis, which opposed privatization.  Continue reading EL PASO SALT WAR, 1877

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