Louis Cardis (1825–1877) was an American politician who served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1874 until his assassination in 1877. He was born in the Piedmont region of what was then the Kingdom of Sardinia. He served as a captain in

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

's army before immigrating to the United States in 1854. Cardis moved to El Paso, Texas in 1864. He quickly learned the Spanish language and established a political power base with the

Mexican American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...

citizens of the area. He became involved in a dispute involving salt deposits and the shifting of influence and political power from the Hispanic population to the Anglo. He was elected to the Texas House of Representatives with the help of Charles H. Howard. Cardis had a falling out with Howard after Howard staked an exclusive claim to the salt deposits. Cardis had his allies imprison Howard, and Howard retaliated by shooting Cardis to death with a shotgun on October 9, 1877. Two months later Howard was killed by Cardis' former supporters from San Elizario.

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1825 births 1877 deaths Military personnel from Piedmont Politicians from El Paso, Texas People from the Kingdom of Sardinia Immigrants to the United States Members of the Texas House of Representatives People murdered in Texas Assassinated American politicians Deaths by firearm in Texas 19th-century American legislators Italian people of the Italian unification American people of Italian descent Politicians assassinated in the 1870s {{Italy-mil-bio-stub

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References