The Massacre at Gracias a Dios: Mobility and Violence on the Lower Rio Grande, 1821–1856

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Abstract On March 20, 1856, Mexican forces massacred a band of Lipan Apaches at a river crossing known as Gracias a Dios. Historians have described the massacre as an example of the growing violence against Native peoples in Mexico, motivated by a desire to control movement across the U.S.-Mexico border. But given the long history of border crossings in the region, why did Mexican forces massacre the Lipan Apaches in 1856, rather than at some earlier point? The Lipan Apaches had long used the border to their advantage, forging alliances with Mexico in 1822, with the Republic of Texas in 1838, and again with Mexico in 1853. These alliances show that the Lipans were important to the history of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands not only because their raids wrought devastation, but also because they were geopolitical actors in their own right. To understand why Mexican forces turned on their Native allies, we must examine how the policies of neighboring nations interacted with—and shaped—one another. Convinced that Mexico’s Native allies were raiding their ranches with impunity, Texans decided to launch an expedition against the Lipans in Mexico in 1855. This attack made Mexico’s alliance with the Lipans into a liability rather than an advantage. The massacre that resulted shows that the shift toward greater violence against Native peoples was, at its core, a transnational process.