Las Gorras Blancas (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

for "The White Caps") was a group active in the New Mexico Territory and

American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...

in the late 1880s and early 1890s, in response to

Anglo-American Anglo-Americans are people who are English-speaking inhabitants of Anglo-America. It typically refers to the nations and ethnic groups in the Americas that speak English as a native language, making up the majority of people in the world who spe ...

squatters. Founded in April 1889 by brothers Juan Jose, Pablo, and Nicanor Herrera, with support from ''

vecino 'Vecino' means either "neighbour" or resident in modern Spanish. Historically in the Spanish Empire it referred instead to a householder of considerable social position in a town or a city, and was similar to "freeman" or "freeholder." Histori ...

s'' in the New Mexico Territory communities of El Burro, El Salitre, Ojitos Frios, and San Geronimo, in present day San Miguel County.''Las Gorras Blancas: The Roots of Nuevomexicano Activism''
by Michael Miller

History

After the northern Mexican frontier became part of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in the

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...

(1848) and the Gadsden Purchase (1853), Anglo Americans began immigrating in large numbers to the newly acquired territories. Anglos began taking lands from both Native Americans and Hispanos by different means, most notably by squatting. Squatters often then sold these lands to land speculators for huge profits, especially after the passing of the 1862

Homestead Act The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of t ...

. Hispanos demanded that their lands be returned to them but the governments did not respond favorably. For example, the Surveyor of General Claims Office of the New Mexico Territory would at times take up to fifty years to process a claim, meanwhile, the lands were being grabbed up by the newcomers. One tactic used to defraud Hispanos from their lands was that they needed to present

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

language documentation of ownership, which, due to previously being part of Mexico, could only present

language documentation. While the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

was built in the 1890s, speculators known as the Santa Fe Ring, orchestrated schemes to dis-land natives from their possessions. In response, Hispanos gathered to reclaim lands taken by the Anglo−Americans. Hoping to scare off the new immigrants, they eventually used

intimidation Intimidation is to "make timid or make fearful"; or to induce fear. This includes intentional behaviors of forcing another person to experience general discomfort such as humiliation, embarrassment, inferiority, limited freedom, etc and the victi ...

and

raid Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to: Attack * Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground * Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business * Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college ...

s to accomplish their goals. They sought to develop a class-based consciousness among local people through the everyday tactics of resistance to the economic and social order confronting common property land grant communities. The name comes from the

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

head covering Headgear, headwear, or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, ...

s many wore.

Tactics

In the early 1890s, a depressed

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

and

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...

market affected the

Northern New Mexico Northern New Mexico in cultural terms usually refers to the area of heavy-Spanish settlement in the north-central part of New Mexico. However, New Mexico state government also uses the term to mean the northwest and north central, but to exclude ...

economy adversely. Communal lands dictated by the original land grants were increasingly being split up and fenced off as private land, and pastures were not as plentiful. This was most felt by the Hispano farmers who relied on the communal lands to raise their stock. Las Gorras Blancas tore down fences, burned barns and haystacks, scattered livestock and threatened worse if justice did not prevail. Additionally, a group of Las Gorras Blancas under the direction of Juan Jose Herrera "set thousands of railroad ties afire when the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad refused to raise the low wages it paid" Hispano workers. Moreover, there were numerous demonstrations by men wearing white caps, who rode through the

Las Vegas, New Mexico Las Vegas is a city in and the county seat of San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. Once two separate municipalities (one a city and the other a town), both were named Las Vegas—West Las Vegas ("Old Town") and East Las Vegas ("New Town ...

streets at night on horseback, typically ending at the courthouse. In August 1890 several members of Las Gorras Blancas ran for the

New Mexico Legislature The New Mexico Legislature ( es, Legislatura de Nuevo México) is the legislative branch of the state government of New Mexico. It is a bicameral body made up of the New Mexico House of Representatives and the New Mexico Senate. History The N ...

in a new populist United People's Party under its Spanish name ''El Partido del Pueblo Unido''. Pablo Herrera, Nestor Montoya, and T.B. Mills were all elected and most forms of direct action that the group was known for ceased. All three were unsuccessful in passing populist legislation and left the state government disillusioned with political reform. Pablo Herrera, in a speech to the State House of Representatives in February 1891, stated: Pablo Herrera returned to Las Vegas and attempted to revive Las Gorras Blancas but was killed at the behest of Judge Thomas Smith by Deputy Sheriff Felipe Lopez (brother of outgoing San Miguel County Sheriff Lorenzo Lopez) at 9 in the morning of Christmas Eve 1894 in the town plaza of Las Vegas; according to pro-Republican Party newspapers, he had been convicted of killing a political rival during court proceedings in 1891, but escaped to the mountains before sentencing. After the movement died, Juan Jose Herrera attempted to remain active in politics, serving as a member of the board of the so-called "Union Party" (a successor to the United People's Party) up until the time of his death. He died of typhoid fever at 7:15 on the morning of Oct. 10, 1902. Nicanor Herrera lived the quiet life after the death of his brothers, away from the news headlines, until he died aged 82 on May 3, 1930. In 1890, after 42 years of delay, the US Congress finally did set up the Court of Private Land Claims for New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado to recognize Mexican and Native lands. Unfortunately by this point, much of the land was lost to lawyers who had demanded land in exchange for legal services. Additionally, the courts removed lumber and grazing land (arguing it wasn’t individual but state land to be made into preserves), and were very conservative in their interpretations of old vague descriptions in the land grants, so the land grants were significantly reduced.

Declaration

In the March 12, 1890, issue of the Las Vegas Optic, Las Gorras Blancas−The White Caps members issued the Proclamation of Las Gorras Blancas:1890 - Proclamation of Las Gorras Blancas
- New Mexico Office of the State Historian

References

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History

Tactics

Declaration

References

Further reading