The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1890-07-29
A MEXICAN

Nepucemo Corttna, a Born Bandit
and Murderer-His Whole
sale Robbery ard Slaughter
Of american Citizens.
Texas has long been noted as a land of
~terrors, and, to own the truth, the title is
not altogether unjust, says a Fort Davis
letter to the New York Times. Due
allowance should be made, howe. er, for
her vast extent Of territory, her mountain
Businesses and bottoms of chaparral and
mesquite Come of the latter nearly as
thick and impenetrable as an East Indian
JUNGLE, and especially should Texas be
commiserated because she is the unfor-
tur ate neighbor by some hundreds of
miles Of boundary to the very worst
country on the face of the earth for out
laws, renegades, and hard characters gen
orally.
Railroad trains plunging along through
wild, unsettled tracts offer special induce
ments to "road agents" and highway
men, who are almost certain of immunity
from capture. Then, again, the Rio
Grande pronounced REQ Grandee) in a
dry, sandy trough eleven months out of
twelve, and rascals committing depreda-
tons on this side can easily skip across
into what is known as the "Zona Libre,"
or Free Zone, and be safe from both gov
ernments.
This little belt of nondescript soil,
stretching along the Rio Grande on the
Mexican side for sixty miles or more, is
and has been for years the safe refuge or
retreat for all the cut-throats and outlaws
of the southwest. Steal a horse, murder
a man, rob a train or commit some other
deviltrY, and all they had to do to be safe
was simply to cross the Rio Grande dry
shod and hide themselves amid the noun
famous rocks of IONA Libre."
To give an idea of what a man can do
in this country and escape hanging it is
of Juan Nepucemo COrtina, who is now
alive, prospecting under the care of the
Mexican government. This old rascal,
gray and aged in crime now, is a born
bandit and murderer, and the catalogue of
black crimes charged against him would
alone be sufficient to fill a good sized
volume. He always had an inherent
l aired for citizens of the United States,
and especially Texans. No red handed
Apache OF any other savage or Indian
has ever caused to our countrymen one
tenth of the sorrow and misery this vii
lain has. In his face may yet be discov-
cred the avsricious, malignant, cruel sneer
which has been a true exponent of his
living character all the years of his life.
When the wal with Mexico broke out,
Cortina was a stalwart young fellow, who
took possession of nearly all of the lower
Rio Grande country and carried on a
deadly guerrilla warfare against our peO-
pie. He was, 1 believe, really comm>s-
| stoned by the Mexican government as a
spy and assassin. When the Mexican
war closed the guerrilla settled down,
nominally to ranching and farming, but
his true occupation was horse stealing
and the running off of stock. When he
stole from Americans, a market was
found for his plumber on the opposite side
Of the Rio Grande at Matamoras, Cindad
Victoria, and other towns of the Mexican
state of Tamaulipas. When he despoiled
his own countrymen, the animals were
crossed over and driven far inland into
Texas, principally to Goliad, which was
| then a furnishing frontier settlement on
| the lower San Antonio river. His skill
at roping was remarkable and his horse
| LuduS1Ip superb NOuS VI ILdG 10Y COulO
| equal him in either of these accomplish
ments. An old Texan ranger, who is
himself pretty well along in years, thus
speaks of Cortina in his palmy days:
81 knew the fellow well. He could
handle the lariat better than any cowboy
| the northwest or southwest has ever pro-
duced, and as to his nerve, why with all
his wickedness I must say that he was
the nerviest and quickest man with a
shooter I ever saw. One day in Browns
vile Gold Brown was a tough town then)
Cortina was standing in the door of a
saloon smoking a cigar and apparently
looking at nothing, yet his eagle eye COW
cred W ything and everybody in sight.
His waist was a perfect arsenal Of fire
arms, and among others I noticed a large,
double-barrelled, old fashioned horse
pistol, which was stuck conveniently IN
front and within easy reach for quick use.
"a row sprang up at the other end OF
the town which created some excitement.
A Mexican came running down the street,
and at his heels the city marshal with pis-
toll cooked, who called to the fugitive to
halt. The pursuer stopped, leveled his
big pistol, and fred. The Mexican fell,
winged, but not very badly hurt. Cortina
stood quietly looking on and made no
move to interfere until the Mexican
tumbled heels over head in the dust.
Then he threw away the cigar he had
been smoking, walked overto the marshal,
cursed him in Spanish, drew his pistol
like a fash, and shot the officer in the
face. Then leaping on the nearest horse
Git was not his OWN, with revolver in
hand, he rode out of town yelling defiance
at all Americans, but especially at Texans.
"In the night he collected thirty des-