White Caps Flier, 1890
Before the United States acquired California and the territories of Arizona and New Mexico in 1848, most of the people living in the area were of Spanish heritage. In New Mexico, Hispanic villagers farmed on communal land. In the 1880s, Anglo authorities enclosed the communal land with barbed wire to promote individual farming. In response a group of frustrated residents known as Las Gorras Blancas, or “White Caps,” burned barns and destroyed the fences of ranchers who enclosed common lands. In 1890 the White Caps posted fliers in the town of Las Vegas, New Mexico, in which they described a range of grievances.
NUESTRA PLATFORMA—[Our Platform]
Our purpose is to protect the rights and interests of the people in general and especially those of the helpless classes. . . .
We want no “land grabbers” or obstructionists of any sort to interfere. We will watch them.
We are not down on lawyers as a class, but the usual knavery and unfair treatment of the people must be stopped.
Our judiciary hereafter must understand that we will sustain it only when “Justice” is its watchword.
We are down on race issues, and will watch race agitators.
We favor irrigation enterprises, but will fight any scheme that tends to monopolize the supply of water sources to the detriment of residents living on lands watered by the same streams. . . .
We must have a free ballot and fair court and the will of the Majority shall be respected.
We have no grudge against any person in particular, but we are the enemies of bulldozers and tyrants.
If the old system should continue, death would be a relief to our suffering. And for our rights our lives are the least we can pledge.
If the fact that we are law-abiding citizens is questioned, come out to our houses and see the hunger and desolation we are suffering; and “this” is the result of the deceitful and corrupt methods of “bossism.”
The White Caps 1,500 Strong and Gaining Daily
Source: Las Vegas Daily Optic, March 12, 1890, reprinted in Foreigners in Their Native Land: Historical Roots of the Mexican Americans, ed. David J. Weber (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1973), 235–36.
Interpret the Evidence
Whom do the White Caps claim to represent, and what are their grievances?
How do the White Caps support their claim to be law-abiding citizens? How might Anglo authorities have responded to their claims?
Put It in Context
What kinds of difficulties did nonwhites face as white Americans moved westward during the nineteenth century?
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