Tierra Amarillo Revolution

This is not directly railroad related but I thought it was interesting. On my last several trips to Chama to chase the DRGW in the late 1960's I heard bits and pieces about the "Tierra Amarillo Revolution" as it was sometimes called. I recently found this on the internet:

On June 5, 1967....

"Twenty armed men stormed the crumbling Tierra Amarilla courthouse.....a sheriff and a jailer were shot, police cars were riddled with bullets, two other policemen were beaten--one seriously--and a UPI reporter....was detained. The judge escaped by locking himself in the bathroom.....

"Two hundred military vehicles including tanks, almost four hundred soldiers and scores of police and lawmen plowed into Rio Arriba County..."

The issues leading to the "revolution" provide some interesting insights into New Mexico history. A good read for anyone interested is the very funny novel "The Milagro Beanfield War" (or the movie version). And here is a link to some commentary about the raid and its leader Reies Lopez Tijerina.

Reis Lopez Tijerina

There's more to Chama than just trains!

JBWX



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2008 03:21PM by John West.