page_title: Red Lopez
section_title: Texas
hierarchical_section_title: Red Lopez / Biography / Texas
caption_attribution_description: Español: De izquierda a derecha, los generales revolucionarios Candelario Cervantes, Pablo López, Francisco Villa, Francisco Beltrán, Martin López.
context_page_description: Red Lopez, born Rafael Lopez, was a little-known Mexican outlaw who was responsible for at least thirty known murders in northern Mexico and the American Southwest. He fought in the Mexican Revolution. He was eventually killed in a shootout by American Frank Hamer, a Texas Ranger.
context_section_description: Lopez fled to Texas, where he became the leader of an outlaw gang. According to Kerry Boren, many of Lopez's men were former members of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch. For the next several years, Lopez plundered banks and trains along the Rio Grande. Between 1915 and 1916 he fought in the Mexican Revolution with his father.
  Somewhere near the international border, Lopez and his men in 1914 derailed a train, robbed it, and killed nineteen of the twenty American passengers on board. In response to the massacre, the Texas Rangers began pursuing Lopez, but they failed to catch up with him for years.
  Kerry Boren says that Lopez died in 1916 during a battle between American and Villista forces. Other historians have concluded that he was killed by Frank Hamer in 1921.
  In October 1921, Frank Hamer was in command of Company C, Texas Rangers, with which he had worked on and off for years. He was told by an informant that Lopez was expected to attend an upcoming meeting of outlaws near the Rio Grande. Hamer decided to ambush the meet with some of his men by having them take up positions in an irrigation ditch and fire on the outlaws as they rode across the river border. After they moved into place, Hamer suspected that the informant had led him into a trap, so he had his men hide the horses and reposition themselves on a low ridge thirty yards away, which overlooked the irrigation ditch. 
  As the sun began to set, the rangers spotted about twenty armed men approaching on foot to the rear of the ditch. Hamer later said that at this time, he could see both the informant and Lopez, who was wearing his "trademark clothing," a red bandana and overalls. Hamer stood up from his concealed position and shouted "Halt! We're officers of the law!" in Spanish. Instantly Lopez "whirled around'" and fired at Hamer with a rifle, grazing him on the cheek. Hamer opened fire with his .35 caliber Remington Model 8. His first bullet struck Lopez in the chest and he died instantly. Hamer aimed for the informant, but, before he could fire, one of the other rangers shot the man down. The fighting lasted about thirty minutes. Eleven bandits were killed that day while none of the rangers was hurt, except Hamer's graze. Hamer took a gold watch off  Lopez's body; it was covered in blood and had been damaged by one of the lawman's bullets. Hamer gave the watch to his brother, Harrison, who hung it on a wall in the customs house in Laredo. The watch remained on display for several years afterward.
  Although Lopez was dead and his gang defeated, the Texas Rangers never told the state of Utah. The Lopez case remained open until January 24, 2003. After years of investigating on his own time and money, Deputy Sheriff Randy Lish of Salt Lake County confirmed that the Lopez of Utah and the Lopez of Texas were the same man, and the case was closed.
caption: Generals Martin Lopez (far right) and Pablo Lopez (left of Villa) standing with Pancho Villa (center) and other Villista commanders in 1914.
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