Pardon-Happy Governor Frees Cop-Killing Folk Hero

When the lukewarm trail of a horse thief led the Karnes County sheriff to the Cortez place on June 12, 1901, retired Texas Ranger Brack Morris and two of his deputies dropped by to ask a few questions.

   When the lukewarm trail of a horse thief led the Karnes County sheriff to the Cortez place on June 12, 1901, retired Texas Ranger Brack Morris and two of his deputies dropped by to ask a few questions.

    Following a familiar pattern, the Cortez clan came over to the Texas side of the Rio Grande in 1887.  Romaldo and younger brother Gregorio spent a decade hiring out as temporary hands until they saved enough money from their meager wages to buy a modest spread in Karnes County.

    Few words passed between Sheriff Morris and the older Cortez before the lead began flying.  As the Mexican fell, two bullets in swift succession struck Morris, who staggered several yards before collapsing.  Gregorio pumped a third slug into the defenseless lawman, grabbed his gun and escaped with his wounded brother.

    Abandoned by his panic-stricken deputies, who did not lift a finger during the brief battle, Brack Morris slowly bled to death.  Meanwhile, Gregorio deposited Romaldo, who was in no shape to travel, with kinsmen in Kenedy and fled on foot.

    Scores of riders combed the countryside and soon took Romaldo into custody.  Figuring his straight-shooting sibling would make a beeline for the border, all routes west were closely watched.

    But the fugitive did the unexpected by heading due north.  He ate breakfast the next morning in his victim’s hometown and went on his way unnoticed by grieving residents paying their last respects to the slain sheriff.

    At sundown the following day, Gregorio found shelter at Belmont east of Seguin.  A posse recklessly rushed the hideout in the early hours of Jun. 15, and when the smoke cleared a second sheriff, Robert Glover of Gonzales County, lay dead.

    Gregorio again eluded capture but not before plugging a civilian member of the posse.  Ten miles away near the banks of the Guadalupe, he picked up a pistol and a fresh horse from a friend, whose generosity cost him two years in the penitentiary.

    Scrapping his plan to seek sanctuary in North Texas, Gregorio lit out for Mexico cleverly weaving a zigzag course.  Running two mounts to death, he dodged one posse after another as hundreds of volunteers joined the manhunt and heeded the advice of the San Antonio Express “to fill up every nook and corner and guard every avenue of escape.”

    The tenth day of the chase, Gregorio came upon a deserted sheep camp 30 miles from the Rio Grande.  He huddled inside a crude hut and calculated the date – June 22, his birthday.  What a celebration there would be once he waded the river!

    But a fellow Mexican spoiled the party.  Spotting the famous fugitive with the thousand-dollar price on his head, he flagged down a passing patrol of Rangers.  Moments later, the most wanted man in the Lone Star State surrendered with a struggle.

    Gregorio was jailed at San Antonio, as the competing counties argued over which would get first crack at him in court.  Only then did the exhausted prisoner learn to his amazement that Mexicans on both sides of the river hailed him as a hero.

    The editor of a Spanish-language newspaper in the Alamo City organized a legal defense fund for the destitute defendant and in no time at all was up to his ears in cash contributions.  The money came in handy as Gregorio stood trial six times in three years on a long list of charges.

    Three convictions were overturned on appeal, and an all-Anglo jury in Corpus Christi ruled the killing of Sheriff Morris a case of self-defense.  But Gregorio would not go unpunished.  A Columbus trial ended with a guilty verdict in the death of the Gonzales County peace officer and a sentence of life imprisonment.

    Gregorio entered the state pen at Huntsville on New Year’s Day 1905.  As the years dragged by, loyal supporters lobbied tirelessly for clemency and in 1913 finally found a receptive ear.

    Gov. Oscar Colquitt had marked his 51st birthday the previous December by freeing 51 inmates.  In spite of the fact that Gregorio stubbornly refused to express the slightest remorse for the murder, he was released after serving only eight and a half years.

    Reactions to the pardon split along racial lines especially in The Valley.  While most Mexicans applauded Colquitt’s controversial act of clemency, most Anglos agreed with the Beeville paper that blasted him as “a chicken-hearted governor” for turning loose “the state’s most heinous coward and murderer.”

    Following a series of public appearances, Gregorio went to Nuevo Laredo and jumped feet-first into the Mexican Revolution.  Shot up for his trouble, he retired to the West Texas town of Anson to lick his wounds.

    After three short years of freedom, Gregorio Cortez died suddenly at the age of 41.  The official cause of death was a heart attack, but his devoted fans suspected foul play.  To this day, many believe the cop-killing folk hero was poisoned by South Texans seeking revenge for the murders of their two sheriffs.

    Bartee Haile welcomes your comments, questions and suggestions at haile@pdq.net or P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549.  And come on by www.twith.com for a visit!