OROZCO by SK GUNS and Pascual Orozco himself.

Wow, that's a wild commemorative.

Pascual Orozco was a Mexican Revolutionary who originally supported Madero before falling out with him.  He was of immediate Basque descent, something we tend not to think about in regard to Mexico, which is in fact more ethnically diverse than we commonly imagine.  He was an early recruit to Madero's 1910 revolution, and was a natural military leader, and could be rather morbid.  After his January 2, 1911, victory at Cañón del Mal Paso he ordered the dead Federal soldiers stripped and sent the uniforms to Presidente Díaz with a note that read, "Ahí te van las hojas, mándame más tamales" ("Here are the wrappers, send me more tamales.").

On May 10, 1911 Orozco and Pancho Villa seized Ciudad Juárez, against Madero's orders, a victory which caused Díaz to briefly resign the presidency.  Madero would naively choose to negotiate with the regime, which resulted in The Treaty of Ciudad Juárez allowing for the resignations of Díaz and his vice president, allowing them to go into exile, establishing an Interim Presidency under Francisco León de la Barra, and keeping the Federal Army intact.

Like Zapata, he went into rebellion against the Madero government, which he felt had betrayed the revolution.  He openly declared revolt on March 3, 1912, financing it with his own money and confiscated livestock sold in Texas.  His forces were known as the Orozquistas and the Colorados (the Reds). They defeated Federal troops in Chihuahua under José González Salas. Madero in turn sent Victoriano Huerta against him, who in turn were more successful.  A wounded Orozco fled to the US. After Madero was assassinated and Huerta installed, Orozco promised to support him if reforms were made, and he was installed as the Supreme Commander of the Mexican Federal forces.  As such he defeated the Constitutionalist at Ciudad Camargo, Mapula, Santa Rosalía, Zacatecas, and Torreón, causing his former revolutionary confederates to regard him, not without justification, as a traitor.

He refused to recognize the government of Carvajal after Huerta's fall and was driven into exile again.  He traveled in the US in opposition to Carranza along with Huerta.  In 1915, he was arrested in the US, but escaped.  An unclear incident at the Dick Love ranch in Texas led to claims that he and other like-minded combatants had stolen horses from the ranch, which in turn resulted in a small party of the 13th Cavalry, Texas Rangers, and local deputies pursing the supposed horse thieve with Orozco being killed once the party was holed up.  What exactly occured is not clear.

His body interred in the Masonic Holding Vault at the Concordia Cemetery in El Paso by his wife, dressed in the uniform of a Mexican general, at a service attended by a very larger gathering of admirers.  In 1925 his remains were retuned to Chihuahua.

Why the commemorative?  I have no idea.  He is not an obscure figure in the Mexican Revolution, but not a well known one like Villa or Zapata.  I can't see where he's associated with the M1911 either, a weapon that was brand new at the time the Revolution broken out.  The .38 Super, which is apparently popular in Mexico, wasn't intruduced by Colt until 1929.

Wednesday, January 6, 1915. The Plan of San Diego.

The Plan of San Diego (Texas) was drafted by a group of  by a group of unidentified Mexican and Tejano rebels with the goal of creating civil unrest that would lead to "[freeing] Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Colorado from U.S. control". 

The plan stated:

(1) On February 20, 1915, at 2:00 there would occur an uprising against the United States government to proclaim the liberty of blacks from the "Yankee tyranny" that had held them in "iniquitous slavery since remote times" and to proclaim the independence of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and California, "of which States the REPUBLIC OF MEXICO was robbed in a most perfidious manner by North American imperialism."

(2) To achieve these objectives an army would be formed under the leadership of commanders named by the Supreme Revolutionary Congress of San Diego, Texas. This army, known as the "Liberating Army for Races & Peoples," would fight under a red and white banner bearing the inscription "Equality & Independence".

(3) Each commander was assigned certain cities to capture; once he had done so, he would amass their weaponry and funds in order to provide the necessary resources to continue the struggle. Commanders would account for everything to their superiors.

(4) Upon capturing a city, especially a state capital, commanders must immediately appoint municipal authorities to preserve order and assist the revolutionary cause.

(5) "It is strictly forbidden to hold prisoners, either special prisoners (civilians) or soldiers; and the only time that should be spent in dealing with them is that which is absolutely necessary to demand funds (loans) of them; and whether these demands be successful or not, they shall be shot immediately without any pretext."

(6) "Every foreigner who shall be found armed and cannot prove his right to carry arms, shall be summarily executed, regardless of his race or nationality."

(7) "Every North American over sixteen years of age shall be put to death; and only the aged men, the women, and the children shall be respected; and on no account shall the traitors to our race be spared of respected."

(8) "The Apaches of Arizona, as well as the INDIANS (Redskins) of the territory" would have their lands returned, so that they would assist the revolutionary cause.

(9) All appointments and ranks of subordinate officers in the revolutionary army, as well as those of other conspirators who might wish to cooperate with the cause, would be reviewed by their superiors.

(10) "The movement having gathered force, and once having possessed ourselves of the States alluded to, we shall proclaim them as an INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC, later requesting (if it be though expedient annexation to MEXICO, without concerning ourselves at that time about the form of government which may control the destinies of the common mother country."

(11) When the revolutionary movement had obtained independence for the blacks, the revolutionaries would grant them a banner, "which they themselves shall be permitted to select", and the revolutionists would aid them in obtaining "six States of the American Union, which states border on those already mentioned," so the blacks could form an independent republic of their own.

(12) "None of the leaders shall have the power to make terms with the enemy, without first communicating with their superior officers of the army, bearing in mind that this is a war without quarter; nor shall any leader enroll in his ranks any foreigners unless said foreigner belong to the Latin, the Negro, or the Japanese race."

(13) It is understood that upon the triumph of the cause, no member of this conspiracy would fail to recognize his superior, nor to aid others seeking to destroy "what has been accomplished by such great work."

(14) As soon as possible, each local junta would select delegates who would elect a Permanent Directorate of the Revolutionary Congress. At this meeting the powers and duties of the permanent Directorate would be determined, and the Revolutionary Plan could be amended or revised.

(15) It was understood that the revolutionists would achieve the independence of the blacks, and that "on no account will we accept aid, either moral or pecuniary, from the Government of Mexico; and it need not consider itself under any obligations in this, our movement."

The actual authors of the plan were unknown but the signatures on the plan document were from rebels being held inside a jail in Monterrey, Mexico, suggesting it wasn't their idea.  It was a genuine plan, however, that would later lead to raids.  Suspicion has been attributed to various factions in the Mexican Revolution, including Victoriano Huerta and Venustiano Carranza.

The plan called for no aid from the Mexican government, as noted above.

This is not, it should be noted, a later plan backed by the Germans, but it was pretty darned similar.

The Battle of Sairkamish went disastrously for the Ottomans, with the Russians firing on the headquarters of the 3d Ottoman Army and capturing entire Ottoman divisions.  Hafiz Hakki Pash ordered a full Ottoman retreat.

The German Navy attempted to use the U-12 for carrying a seaplane, unsuccessfully.

Sentiment in Italy for the country to enter World War One grew following a state funeral for a fallen officer of the Garibaldi Legion, an Italian volunteer unit to the Allied cause.

Last edition:

Sunday, January 3, 1915. Coney Island.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, Battle of Sarikamish, Belgium, Catholic, Germany, Imperial Russian Army, Ottoman Army, religion, World War One

Friday, July 24, 1914. Mobilization of land armies commences.

Serbia mobilized, Austro Hungaria severed relations.

Russia, regarding its rearmament program incomplete, determined to partially mobilize in the hopes of deterring war.

Victoriano Huerta and his family reached Kingston, Jamaica aboard the German cruiser SMS Dresden. They would reside there until 1915 when they'd relocate to the United States.

The railway strike in New Brunswick came to a negotiated end.

Last edition:

Thursday, July 23, 1914. The Ultimatum.

Labels: 1910s, 1914, Austro Hungaria, Crime, Diplomacy, Germany, Marriage, New York, Russia, Serbia, Teenagers, The relationship between men and women, United Kingdom, World War One

Wednesday, July 15, 1914. Huerta resigns.

Victoriano Huerta resigned as president of Mexico and left for Vera Cruz and exile.  Francisco S. Carvajal became interim president.

Carvajal

Carvajal was a lawyer and government official whose position was merely transitional.  After completing it, which took a month, he left for the United States where he married.  He returned to Mexico in 1922, resuming his prior occupation of lawyer, and died in 1932 at age 61.

Rasputin was declared out of danger.  He had, as readers will be recalled, been stabbed by a female assailant earlier in 1914.

Last edition:

Tuesday, July 14, 1914. Bastille Day.

Labels: 1910s, 1914, Austro Hungaria, Bastille Day, France, Germany, Holidays, Hungary, Ireland, July Crisis, Northern Ireland, Serbia, Ulster, United Kingdom, World War One

Tuesday, June 23, 1914. The decisive Villista Victory.

Pancho Villa's División del Norte defeated the Mexican federal army in the Battle of Zacatecas.  It was a decisive victory with nearly 90% Federal casualties and directly brought down the Huerta government, which was already looking for a way out of the war.

The bloodiest battle of the Mexican Revolution in its own right, the bloodshed was made worse by Villistas killing all Federal officials taken prisoner, Colorado's, and Federal officers.  Killing of prisoners continued until General Felipe Ángeles arrived at dusk and ordered the executions to cease, and the bodies of the dead buried to prevent disease.

Vila was unable to fully exploit the victory as Carranza refused coal for local trains to be used by Villa, given the discord between them, and the US, which had lifted an arms embargo on Villa, reimposed it.  Villa, ironically, would end up withdrawing to the north after the battle even though it had destroyed the Federal Army.  All of this provided ample evidence that even though Carranza and Villa were both Constitutionalist, that the discord between them was reaching an irreparable state.

U.S. infantry brigade photographed at Texas City, Texas on this day in 1914.

Mob violence over a labor dispute destroyed the Western Federation of Miners office in Butte, Montana and resulted in two deaths and the building being dynamited.

The first flight of the flying boat America took place in anticipation of a transatlantic flight that would not occur due to the outbreak of World War One.

The Kiel Canal, which had been under reconstruction for seven years, reopened with the British Fleet under Sir George Warrender visiting as the Kaiser inspected the dreadnought HMS King George V.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, June 21, 1914. A warning.

Labels: 1910s, 1914, 1960s, 1967, 1990s, 1993, Austro Hungaria, Canada, Mining, Montana, Serbia, Unions, World War One

Wedneday, June 17, 1914. Successful Rebels. White Wolves and Pancho's.

The "White Wolf", rebel  Bai Lang, broke through a Chinese Army blockade numbering 5,000 men with his 1,000.

Bai Yung-chang, or Bai Langzai, or Bai Lang, the latter of which was a pseudonym, was a 41-year-old rebel and one time governor of Henan and almost bandit, dissuaded from that fate after killing a man in a fight by his family.  He'd been trained in the military arts in Japan and had served in the Beiyang Army after the outbreak of the Chinese rebellion of 1911.  The tugid politics of revolutionary China drove him into allegiance with the bandit forces of Du Quiin.

The Revolution of 1911 has never really resolved, sharing therefore a bit of the history of the Mexican Revolution, which didn't resolve until 2000 with the election of Vicente Fox.  Fox established that Mexico had evolved from a one party state into a true democracy, one which has a solid middle class, no matter how much Mexicans and Americans refuse to believe it, today.  China, on the other hand, fell into an ineffective chaotic republic that collapsed into civil war, from which the Chinese Communist Party emerged as the one party ruler.  Ultimately, and likely soon, that party will fall and a true Chinese republic will emerge, but it's taking quite some time to occur.  Still, no matter its bluster, the current People's Republic of China, will evolve into something else, just as Revolutionary Mexico did.

Another bandit/rebel was in the news in 1914, José Doroteo Arango Arámbula, but by his pseudonym as well, Pancho Villa.

The Mexican Federal government of Gen. Huerta was collapsing, and as it collapsed the news increasing turned towards the spectacular victories of the rebel Ejército del Norte and its leader, Pancho Villa.  And with that, speculation was rampant that Villa would declare himself held of state.

In fact, Villa, who had been fanatically loyal to Modero, was not yet disloyal to Carranza. . . but that day was coming.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, June 14, 1914. Flag Day

Labels: 1910s, 1914, Austro Hungaria, Flag Day, Holidays, Italy, Red Week, Serbia

Thursday, April 9, 1914. Drama at Tampico.

USS Dolphin.

Things really begin to go down the tubes between Gen. Huerta's Mexico and the United States when Federal authorities arrested 8 U.S. sailors from the USS Dolphin, assuming for some reason that they were Constitutionalist.

The sailors were released, but U.S. Rear Admiral Henry T. Mayo demanded a 21-gun salute and formal apology from the Mexican government. Huerta gave a written apology instead but refused to have his forces raise the U.S. flag on Mexican soil to provide a 21-gun salute, for which he really can't be blamed.

US cries for intervention in Mexico, immediately followed.

On the same day, Captain Gustavo Salinas Camiña, flying for the Constitutionalists, piloted a Glenn L. Martin biplane loaded with explosives in an attack on Mexican Federal gunboats Guerrero and Morelos, which were blocking Tampico's harbor. Neither plane nor ships were hit.  It was the first aerial attack on ships.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, April 7, 1914. Last spike on the Grand Trunk Pacific

1910s, 1914, Canada, Canadian Arctic Expedition, Liberalism, Politics, Progressivism, Railroads, Republican Party, Wyoming

Friday, February 27, 1914. The River of Doubt.

Mexican strongman Victoriano Huerta promised an investigation into the death of Clemente Vergara while, at the same time, Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan announced that the Texas Rangers would not be allowed to cross into Mexico to arrest the suspect Mexican soldiers.

Theodore Roosevelt's and Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon's expedition team reached Caceres, Brazil, to begin exploration of the Rio da Dúvida, an event from which Roosevelt's health would never recover by the time it was done.

The Vanderbilt Cup race was held.

Locally, the news was asbestos, but not the way it hits the news currently.