PRESIDIO COUNTY MASSACRE
EL PORVENIR RANCH MASSACRE - Jan. 1918
MASSACRE OF 15 INNOCENT MEN & BOYS,
GUILTY OF NO CRIME
1. MANUEL MORALES 47 9. ANTONIO CASTANEDA 72
2. ROMAN NIEVES 48 10. PEDRO JIMENEZ 27
3. LONGINO FLOREZ 47 11. SERAPIO JIMENEZ 25
4. TIBURCIO JAQUEZ 50 12. JUAN JIMENEZ 16
5. ALBERTO GARCIA 35 13. PEDRO HERRERA 25
6. EUTIMIO GONZALES 37 14. VIVIANO HERRERA 23
7. AMBROSIO HERNANDEZ 21 15. SEVERIANO HERRERA 18
8. MACEDONIO HUERTA 30
" EVEN IN WAR THE KILLING OF INNOCENT CIVILIANS IS A CRIME "
Odessa At the blessed and tender age of 101, Juan Bonilla Flores passed from this life. He was born June 25, 1905.
He was the last survivor of the Porvenir Massacre who died at his home in Odessa, Texas, on Sunday, March 25, 2007.
Juan was the son of Juanita and Longino Flores.
He had an older sister, Benita Flores Mesa and an older brother,
Narcisco Flores.
Growing up on the banks of the Rio Grande, Juan
always believed he belonged as much in Texas as he did in Mexico. He
would herd the family stocks, such as goats, etc., in Presidio County
and in Chihuahua where there was more grass in the dry seasons. In 1913,
Manuel Morales, the owner of the Porvenir Ranch, offered his father,
Longino Flores a job to administrate the extension irrigation ditch of
the Rio Grande to the Porvenir Ranch. After the widening of the
irrigation ditch, Mr. Longino decided to stay as a sharecropper and also
to build a home in Porvenir, Texas. On the ranch the Mexican-Americans
dreamed to plant cotton and to build a cotton gin, instead, their dream
came to an end on January 14, 1918, in Porevnir when 15 farmer men were
taken out of their homes at 2:00 a.m. and completely slaughtered to
their deaths. Juan Flores has not shared this tragic story until the
year of 2000, due to his family discovering documentation of the
Porvenir Massacre. Juan had kept this tragic story to himself for such a
long time and decided to share this unforgettable, yet sad, incident.
At the age of 95, Juan decided to show his family the exact location of
the Porvenir Massacre and the buried fifteen men. Due to his age, Juan
was not able to climb the hill that marks the location of buried fifteen
men, where he once stood upon a freeze in January 1918. On that day and
on that hill, he remembered weeping as he saw his beloved father,
Longino Flores, being buried with the other fourteen men. Even through
such an experience, Juan loved to tell wonderful and exiting stories of
his childhood day at the Big Bend.
In 1919, while living in Ruidosa, Texas, word got
around that General John Pershing and his soldiers were in Mexico and
heading toward Ruidosa. The towns people were excited of seeing this
well talked about General, as the General crossed the Rio Grande with
his men, he did not go around shaking hands like he was known to do. He
only made a short speech saying that he would give five United States
dollars for every mule that was returned to him and that they may keep
whatever was on the mules, such as gun, ammunition, etc. Later on, one
of his soldiers said the General was in a hurry to get to Marfa, and
send a telegram to headquarters.
Juan is survived by his sons, Longino Flores of
Odessa and Juan Flores Jr. of Midland; daughters, Paula Flores Smith of
Arlington, Erlinda Flores Burgess of Roanoke, Alabama, Benita Flores
Albarado of Uvalde and Vicki Belen of Odessa; including five generations
of grandchildren and numerous nephews, nieces cousins and lot of
friends of the Flores, Bonilla and Meza families.
A prayer service will be held at 7:00 p.m. today,
Tuesday, March 27, 2007, at Odessa Funeral Home Chapel. Funeral
services have been set for Wednesday, March 28, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. at
Sunset Heights Baptist Church, 2401 W. 16th St. Juan will be buried
following the service at 2:00 p.m. at Mt. Olive Cemetery in Big Spring
next to his beloved wife who passed away July 6, 1971. Serving as
pallbearers will be Jesus Flores, Jose Lupe Flores Juan Belen Jr., Jose
Flores, Longino Flores Jr. and Juan Flores.
The family would like to express a special thank
you to Star Care Hospice for the wonderful care of our beloved father
and grandfather.
Services by Odessa Funeral Home.