With His Pistol in His Hand: A Border Ballad and Its Hero

Américo Paredes

Published by University of Texas Press 1958

With His Pistol in His Hand

A Border Ballad and Its Hero

Américo Paredes

In the series Texas Classics

https://doi.org/10.7560/734326

Overview
Contents

About this book

Gregorio Cortez Lira, a ranchhand of Mexican parentage, was virtually unknown until one summer day in 1901 when he and a Texas sheriff, pistols in hand, blazed away at each other after a misunderstanding. The sheriff was killed and Gregorio fled immediately, realizing that in practice there was one law for Anglo-Texans, another for Texas-Mexicans. The chase, capture, and imprisonment of Cortez are high drama that cannot easily be forgotten. Even today, in the cantinas along both sides of the Rio Grande, Mexicans sing the praises of the great "sheriff-killer" in the ballad which they call "El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez."

Américo Paredes tells the story of Cortez, the man and the legend, in vivid, fascinating detail in "With His Pistol in His Hand," which also presents a unique study of a ballad in the making. Deftly woven into the story are interpretations of the Border country, its history, its people, and their folkways.

Author / Editor information

Américo Paredes (1915–1999) was a professor at the University of Texas at Austin and founded the UT Center for Mexican American Studies.

Reviews

To see why Gregorio became a folk hero, one only has to remember that in practice there was one law for Anglo-Texans, another for Texas Mexicans. The chase, capture, and imprisonment of Cortez are high drama.... This is an extraordinary book.

— Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART ONE Gregorio Cortez, the Legend and the Life
I: THE COUNTRY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
II: THE LEGEND Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	33
III: THE MAN Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
IV: THE HERO'S PROGRESS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	108
PART TWO El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez, a Ballad of Border Conflict
V: THE Corrido ON THE BORDER Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
VI: VARIANTS OF Gregorio Cortez Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151
VII: Gregorio Cortez, A STUDY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
VIII: A LAST WORD Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	251
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	259

Language: English
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Copyright year: 1958
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 276

eBook

Published: July 25, 2012
ISBN: 9780292748033