A Law for the Lion: A Tale of Crime and Injustice in the Borderlands

by Beatriz de la Garza

"Esto no es cosa de armas" (this is not a matter for weapons). These were the last words of Don Francisco Gutiérrez before Alonzo W. Allee shot and killed him and his son, Manuel Gutiérrez. What began as a simple dispute over Allee's unauthorized tenancy on a Gutiérrez family ranch near Laredo, Texas, led not only to the slaying of these two prominent Mexican landowners but also to a blatant miscarriage of justice. In this engrossing account of the 1912 crime and the subsequent trial of Allee, Beatriz de la Garza delves into the political, ethnic, and cultural worlds of the Texas-Mexico border to expose the tensions between the Anglo minority and the Mexican majority that propelled the killings and their aftermath. Drawing on original sources, she uncovers how influential Anglos financed a first-class legal team for Allee's defense and also discusses how Anglo-owned newspapers helped shape public opinion in Allee's favor. In telling the story of this long-ago crime and its tragic results, de la Garza sheds new light on the interethnic struggles that defined life on the border a century ago, on the mystique of the Texas Rangers (Allee was said to be a Ranger), and on the legal framework that once institutionalized violence and lawlessness in Texas.

142 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

Reviews

[S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

For work.

A critical look at the early Texas law system, and how it afforded certain individuals loopholes to escape punishment for their crimes. In this case, the individual was Allee, who murdered a Mexican ranch owner and his son over a dispute(Don Francisco Gutierrez and Manuel Gutierrez). There was one witness present, but as he did not speak English fluently and had issues translating what he saw into English, his eyewitness report did not hold up in the court--despite the location of the bullet wounds, particularly those in Francisco's body.

What I'd like to read more into is further documents about early Texas border 'law,' especially the act of appointing what seems like badly-chosen people to become Texas Rangers. (Allee's grandfather was a murderer several times over, but was still chosen to act as a Ranger for cattle owner(s)...) I found it disappointing, but not surprising, that although the governor himself (Jim Hogg!) tried to get Allee convicted, he was still let off for these crimes due to his legal representation.