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(MEXICO--REVOLUTION.) Toribio Ortega. Proclamation to the people of Ojinaga, newly captured by Villa's revolutionaries. 2 manuscript pages (quite possibly an Autograph Manuscript Signed), 10 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, in pencil on lined paper; folds, minimal foxing and wear, apparently lacking its integral blank. With complete typescript English translation. Ojinaga, Chihuahua, 6 April 1913
During this phase of the Mexican Revolution, General Victoriano Huerta had recently led a coup overthrowing moderate Francisco Madero and was establishing a military dictatorship. The previously divided ranks of revolutionaries were quickly uniting in opposition.
Toribio Ortega Ramírez (1870-1916) had been a rural shopkeeper before taking a lead role in Chihuahua's revolution against Porfirio Diaz in 1910-1911. He gained a reputation for magnanimity when he spared the life of the deposed mayor of the village of Cuchillo Parada. Now, in 1913, he served as one of Francisco Villa's leading officers among the constitutionalist insurgents. John Reed in his 1914 book "Insurgent Mexico" wrote that Ortega was "a lean, dark Mexican, called 'The Honorable' and 'The Most Brave' by the soldiers. He is by far the most simple-hearted and disinterested soldier in Mexico. He never kills his prisoners. He has refused to take a cent from the Revolution beyond his meager salary. Villa respects and trusts him perhaps beyond all his generals. Ortega was a poor man, a cowboy."
Ortega's forces took control of the northern Chihuahua border town of Ojinaga in late March 1913. In the tradition of many conquering commanders, Ortega issued this proclamation to secure the trust and obedience of the town's civilians. Its message: return to your homes, we mean you no harm, we will establish order, please study the justice and legality of our cause. One key passage (in translation): "All persons who do not sympathize with the National cause may also return to the village, as long as they take care not to put out mistaken or subversive opinions. . . . As we are certain to triumph, and recover the national rights in a very short time, we have endeavored to proceed as noble victors, not as petty avengers."
We have found no other examples of Ortega's handwriting or signature, so it is difficult to know with certainty whether this proclamation is in his hand, or was transcribed for distribution around Ojinaga. It appears to be unpublished. The following January in 1914, Ojinaga would be the site of a decisive battle in which Villa's forces defeated Huerta's federal troops. By that point, Ortega held the rank of general in Villa's army. Ortega might be most often remembered today as the great-grandfather of former New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez.
With--an unused Real Photo postcard showing Ortega (right) with revolutionary leader Venustiano Carranza.
