The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 42, July 1938 - April, 1939 Page: 70
446 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
for the army; and the Secretary of War reciprocated by issuing
the famous Army Order of June 1, 1877, directing the American
commander on the border that he might, in his discretion, "When
in pursuit of a band of marauders, and when his troops are either
in sight of them or on a fresh trail . . . follow them across the
Rio Grande."
What the Hayes administration seems not to have known, and
what its allies in Texas either did not know, or did not care, was
that when this order was issued, the need for it had passed. In a
form not offensive to Mexico, its policy had then been in practical
effect for nearly two years. And Diaz, who began his revolution
at Brownsville and understood the true inwardness of the "cattle
raids" and the necessity, as well as the means, for bringing them
to an end, had terminated that form of border banditry by the
elemental means of replacing General Cortinas' border influence
with that of his old enemy, General Servando Canales. In conse-
quence, the order of June 1, 1877, when issued, was but a gra-
tuitous insult to Mexico, and could have no effect other than to
arouse Mexican enmity and wound Mexican pride. That, doubt-
less, was exactly what the Hayes administration, and its Texan
allies, intended it to do. For three years after its promulgation,
Mexico bristled indignantly and threatened war; and the diplo-
matic interchange between the two countries sounded as though
they were hurrying toward inevitable hostilities.
Public opinion in Mexico was driven by this situation to range
itself behind Diaz, who made the most of -the opportunity thus
cast his way. He conducted the negotiations firmly and forcefully,
but with commendable lack of heat. He faced the seeming inev-
itability of war with his immeasurably stronger neighbor regret-
fully, sorrowfully, but without deviating from strong and dignified
insistence on Mexican national rights.
American diplomatic efforts were, as usual, less happy, but
served administration ends about as well. Public opinion rallied
behind strong insistence upon American rights. The Kickapoo
raid of 1878, from Mexico into Texas-the only "Border trouble"
with which this controversy had anything to do--justified, in
American eyes, a strong hand on the border. Other border inci-
dents which, under the circumstances, might easily have led to
reprisals and war, were handled tactfully and with admirable
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 42, July 1938 - April, 1939, periodical, 1939; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101107/m1/78/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.