Gregorio Cortez

On June 12, 1901, Sheriff W.T. "Brack” Morris and a deputy arrived at the Thulemeyer Ranch to question Gregorio Cortez (1875-1916) about a reported horse theft in Atascosa County, and a shootout followed that left Morris dead. Cortez fled, and during the ensuing manhunt a Gonzales County sheriff was shot and killed. Captured on June 22, 1901, Cortez was tried before an all-Anglo jury, found not guilty by reason of self-defense in Morris's death, and convicted and sentenced to life for the murder of the Gonzales County sheriff. Efforts by his supporters led Governor O.B. Colquitt to grant a conditional pardon in 1913, and many later regarded Cortez as a folk hero, perpetuated in "The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez."

Texas · United States