Lawful: The Lynching of Chipita Rodriguez

In the middle of the American Civil War, a horse trader was found in a south Texas river with his head axed in. Following the discovery, the town sheriff arrested an elderly woman by the name of Chipita Rodriguez. Was justice served?

Sources:

Abernethy, Francis Edward. Legendary Ladies of Texas (Denton: University of North Texas Press, 1994).

Correa, Tom. “Was Josefa ‘Chipita’ Rodriguez a Patsy?” The American Cowboy Chronicles. September 30, 2021. http://www.americancowboychronicles.com/2020/02/josefa-chipita-rodriguez-texas-bandit.html

Davies, Dave. “‘Cult of Glory’ Reveals the Dark History of the Texas Rangers.” NPR. June 8, 2020. https://www.npr.org/2020/06/08/871929844/cult-of-glory-reveals-the-dark-history-of-the-texas-rangers 

Hebert, Rachel Bluntzer. The Forgotten Colony: San Patricio de Hibernia (Burnet: Eakins Press, 1981).

Givens, Murphy. “A black day in San Patricio when Chipita was hanged.” Corpus Christi Caller Times. April 6, 2017. https://www.caller.com/story/news/columnists/murphy-givens/2017/01/17/black-day-san-patricio-when-chipita-hanged/96556038/

Guthrie, Keith. The Legend of Chipita: The Only Woman Hanged in Texas (Austin: Eakin Press, 1990).

Jennings, Rachel. “Celtic Women and White Guilt: Frankie Silver and Chipita Rodriguez in Folk Memory.” MELUS. Vol. 28. No. 1. (Spring, 2003). Pp. 17-37. 

Torres, Alfred. Jr., “The noose plagued Mexican-Americans, too.” My San Antonio. November 25, 2017. https://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/The-noose-plagued-Mexican-Americans-too-12381761.php 

Underwood, Marylyn. “Rodriguez, Josefa [Chipita].” Texas State Historical Association. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/rodriguez-josefa-chipita 

Wills, Matthew. “The Untold History of Lynching in the American West.” JSTOR. March 26, 2019. https://daily.jstor.org/the-untold-history-of-lynching-in-the-american-west/ 

1985 Texas Legislature docs regarding Chipita here: https://thewrongcarlos.net/wp-content/sources/texas-legislature-scr-14-69th-regular-session.pdf 

For more on the lynching of ethnic Mexicans: https://utrgv.libguides.com/SCA/lynching (Research Guide from the University of Texas)

Lynching in Texas: https://www.lynchingintexas.org/ 

Music: Credits to David Fesilyan

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