On September 1876, the James-Younger Gang headed for Minnesota fleeing the law after their depredations in the South.
The gang consisted of brothers Jesse and Frank James; brothers Bob, Jim, and Cole Younger; Clell Miller; Charlie Pitts; and Bill Stiles.
Upon arriving in the state, the gang divided into scouting parties of two, three, and four men. Looking for possible sites to execute their plans, they considered banks in Minneapolis, Red Wing, St. Peter, and St. Paul, as well as Madelia, Mankato, Lake Crystal, St. James, Garden City, and Northfield.
The gang decided to abort the robbery and headed for its second choice, Northfield. Little did the gang members know that this decision would end all of their careers as outlaws and result in the deaths of three gang members and two Northfield citizens.
There is nothing particularly special about Northfield. The lazy Cannon River snakes its way through town and its population is dwarfed by Minneapolis-St. Paul, 15 to 20 miles to the north. However, the important thing to the gang was that it had a healthy bank, the Northfield First National Bank.
On September 7, 1876, eight bandits rode into Northfield to rob the bank. The desperadoes ordered the three bank employees to open the safe, but were told that the door was locked and couldn’t be opened. Meanwhile, local citizens on the street began to arm themselves after a merchant discovered the robbery in progress and shouted, “Get your guns, boys — they’re robbing the bank!”
Upon this discovery, two gang members sprang to their saddles and began firing their pistols and yelling for everyone to leave the area or be shot. This forced the remaining robbers to enter the fray. The first to fall was a Swedish immigrant named Nicholas Gustafson. He was wounded in the head and died several days later.
When it was over after just seven minutes, two robbers were dead in the street and two more were badly wounded.
The remaining six outlaws fled southwest, triggering the largest manhunt in U.S. history. Frank and Jesse James were not caught after the failed raid, but the Younger brothers were captured, and Charlie Pitts was killed two weeks later during a furious gunfight near Madelia.
This claim to fame for this small Minnesota town has been turned into a hugely profitable annual celebration which has placed Northfield on the tourist map. Each year, thousands flock to see a reenactment of the James-Younger attempted robbery of the bank.
Do you now that the greatest cultural event held there yearly has become a source of tourism from which the town derives its greatest economic shot in the arm? Would you believe a three-day-long reenactment of the James bank robbery?
Northfield has no international border, no nearby sea, and nowhere near Brownsville's ties to major historical, social, and political figures and upheavals. Yet, they have achieved success with one chance encounter with history. (We do have Charro Days, a purely commercial enterprise which had its beginning as a merchants' ploy to attract customers to the city.)
In contrast to Northfield, we seem to be content to have our history carted off to collections in distant university data bases while we continue to ignore it here. Outsourcing of our manufacturing base has not worked out well for our country. Outsourcing our city's past is an even worse idea.
In contrast to Northfield, we seem to be content to have our history carted off to collections in distant university data bases while we continue to ignore it here. Outsourcing of our manufacturing base has not worked out well for our country. Outsourcing our city's past is an even worse idea.
Brownsville has all those qualities and more. But we seem content to hide our history, to deny events that have had international repercussions happened here. 
Today, July 13, is the 163rd anniversary of the day that Juan Cortina shot sheriff Robert Shears and carted off his ranch worker which ignited the turbulent Cortina Wars and, later in the year, in September, he rode into town with some 70 to 80 followers and sought out his enemies.
In Northfield, the bank robbery lasted all but seven minutes. Cortina held Brownsville for the better part of three days before he left.
Why do we ignore the role that Juan Cortina played in the turbulent era following the inclusion of this area into the United States?
Think of a Cortina raid reenactment. All the elements are there. Good vs. bad, whichever way you see it. A daring act, and plenty of drama that took place right in the heart of the city.
And the city's most vital historical and genealogical documents lie locked in Market Square under the care of the myopic and dormant Brownsville Historical Association.
Could it be that the good citizens of little Northfield were prescient to see that a criminal act – the robbing of the bank – could turn out to be a gold mine while we in Brownsville are sitting on a treasure trove of historical proportions which we continually ignore?
13 comments:
Juan, give us history we can relate to - like who was the first lazy-ass Mexican in Brownsville to get food stamps and when the first housing assistance check arrived from Washington, D.C.
ja ja ja ja
GO MAYRA!!!
Here we TENASCA Task Force will not be celebrated. Martinez, Mendez, y compadres.
Carl Fryar Many Spanish families had their Spanish land grants taken from them, especially from the two-timing, backstabbing Francisco Yturria from Matamoros/Brownsville who claimed to be the representative of Spanish land grant families taking up the fight against the invading gringos. Instead, he gave those titles away so that they could grant him a tract of land while taking over the rest of the Spanish south TX families' land grants. Yturria sold all of the Spanish land grant families out to the Kings, Klebergs and Kenedys. The next article loves to lie. It doesn't tell the true story from the Spanish land grantees side. Yturria is made into a wonderful man by those who ended up stealing all of the large sums of Spanish lands. He was a liar, a criminal, a thief, and a sell out. I know for I come from one of the larger Spanish land grant famlies... the Cavazos family (now in present-day San Antonio) who owned one of the larger Spanish land grants in south Texas.
July 13, 2024 at 8:57 AM
Isn't mayra mescan? she definitely not a gringa.
July 13, 2024 at 10:47 AM
Spanish Land Grants?
The one's this land belonged to were the Native Americans. Once the land was taken from them the land was up for grabs.
It is a tale of sorrow for the Native American.
Pipe used to run down elizabeth st shooting his cap pistolas. FACT
Sit around and smoke what the natives did
They lost the land
They are the original lazies
Ever been to Hawaii?
Same thing with the Polynesians
What about west virginia?
Mexicans ain't the 1st or last
All the history posts and yet you couldn't be bothered to write about Trump being shot yesterday.
Even the Native's, you white people killed. There are 1667 land grant deeds registered in Cameron County, but all been ignored by these ratas.
July 14, 2024 at 9:30 AM
you worry about tu papa mamon joto aqui nobody cares about ese pendejo pinche coco mamon
Need to research Texas Land Grants before you comment on who is who. The Heirs to these large tracks of land were PRIVATE Land Grant owners with Deeds to these lands. These owners were and still are the REAL owners to these land grants and heirs with Declaratory Judgements to prove heirship of ownership, these grants were granted by the KING OF SPAIN, baboso. The recent Mexicans who did cross illegally to the United State and screwed the heirs were from Mexico AND NOT ANCESTRAL HEIRS, like Francisco Yuttria, el bastardo born from one of the Mexican ladies and an Irish Soldier from Zackery Taylor troops THAT MADE THE LAND STEALING POSSSIBLE. These heirs were not Mexicans, they were heirs from the Royal Crown. Read the 1848 TREATY OF GUADULUPE HIDALGO THAT PROVED THAT THESE LARGE LAND GRANTS WERE PRIVATE LANDS NOT PART OF THE DEAL WITH TEXAS. Keep in mind that just because we are the color brown doesn't justify that we are all MEXICANS.
A Great Example is the recent concealment of selling the BOCA CHICA public beach by our so-called MEXICANS local political leaders, not Ancestral Heirs. Sold it to a huge money Entity like Space X, all for the love of money. We might have lost the lands by corruption, set-up concealment and theft, but we still own the MINERALS. THIS IS MY OPINION.
July 13, 2024 at 8:57 AM
WILL NEVER VOTE FOR ESA PENDEJA THAT LETS A ESTUPIDO INSULTS EVERYBODY USING HER NAME. GO BACK TO EL MONTE TO COOK YOUR WHITE TORTILLAS DE HARINA AND FEED YOUR STARVING CAMPAINGER HE NEEDS TO EAT BUT MOJONES NOT WHITE TORTILLAS.
AND THIS IS A FACT I WILL NEVER VOTE FOR ESA LAMBICONA MAYRA NUNCA.
Why can't we have access to historical documents at Brownsville Historical Association? Is is possible that they are trying to erase stories of people like Catarino Erasmo Garza (1859-1895) Mexico's president, AMLO, has recovered his bones and remains at Bocas del Toro, Panama to be returned to Matamoros, Tamp. As a journalist, Garza's publications must be in those vaults. He moved and married in Brownsville when he was 17. He lead the first revolution movement, from Texas, against Dictator Porfirio Diaz 18 years before Francisco I. Madero.
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