Factors Influencing the Impacts on Security of Manning Military Posts on the United States-Mexico Border from 1865 to 1916

Colonel Edward Hatch, Commander 9th Cavalry Regiment, following the resolution of a 1877 uprising in San Elizario, Texas, submitted a report to the Secretary of War. His concluding statement suggested that the existence of Fort Bliss, as a permanent installation with from 200 to 400 soldiers, would have prevented the riot in San Elizario, about 30 miles southeast of El Paso, Texas, which housed the post. This thesis identifies factors counter to Colonel Hatch's statement. That is, while a strong military presence helped remove revolutionaries from the Lower Ro Grande Valley, the deliberate use of the frontier forces available, installing experienced negotiators as commanders in out posts near border towns, maintaining a reduced military presence in border towns, notably in Texas, and, an emphasis on local governments controlling domestic troubles secured and stabilized the frontier border.