| Marker Text |
Annual elections for city officials, held here since 1767, were followed by rioting in 1886. Citizens were divided among two rival parties. The Guaraches, named for the Mexican Indian sandals, were led by Dario Gonzales. Raymond Martin, a French immigrant, led the Botas (boots). Shortly before the April election, a Bota city councilman was killed. Sheriff Dario Sanchez, a Bota, appointed several special deputies, and Guarache resentment flared. The April 6 election was peaceful. Bota candidates won all places except two. Against the advice of party leaders, the Botas planned a mock funeral for their defeated opponents on the evening of April 7. The humiliated Guaraches determined to stop the procession. They fired their ceremonial cannon, filled with nails and scrap iron, into the Bota parade. Both sides began shooting, and a battle ensued. U.S. soldiers, dispatched by Col. R. F. Bernard, commander at Fort McIntosh, ended the fighting. Martial law was imposed. Casualties were estimated higher than the 11 known dead. Col. Bernard blamed the violence on factions in both parties, and on lawless outsiders and renegades gathered on both sides of the border in the days preceding the election. (1976) |
