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This secretive association of hooded nightriders
operated in San Miguel, Santa Fe, and
Mora Counties, New Mexico, from 1889 to
1891. Comprised of neomexicanos (Spanish-speaking
New Mexicans), the Gorras Blancas
took their name from the hooded White Caps
of Tuscola, Illinois, who in 1889 made headlines
for their destructive raids on the property
of local commissioners who were proposing
an unpopular drainage canal in their
community. Believed to have numbered between
700 and 1,500 members, the Gorras
Blancas launched a militant campaign of
threats and intimidation against individuals
who allegedly had encroached on community
land and made that land inaccessible by fencing
it off.
In an 1890 publication, the Gorras Blancas declared themselves defenders of "the rights of all people in general, and especially the rights of poor people." They sought favorable adjudication of the contested Las Vegas Land Grant to protect the community's right to use and occupy the land. When legal action failed, however, the Gorras Blancas vowed militant retribution. They cut miles of fence lines, destroyed buildings and farm equipment, and threatened the lives of presumed encroachers and their sympathizers, some of whom were fellow neomexicanos. These actions prompted Governor Lebaron Bradford Prince in 1890 to denounce the Gorras Blancas as a vigilante mob and to take measures securing the safety of local officials. Although at least four dozen of the Gorras Blancas were eventually indicted for their activities, none was convicted.
The Gorras Blancas were reportedly headed
by former U.S. Indian agent and Knights of
Labor organizer Juan Jose Herrera (affectionately
known as El Capitan) and his younger
brothers Nicanor and Pablo. It is believed that
Juan Jose may have been inspired by the tactics
of the above-mentioned White Caps;
however, a surviving family member suggests
that Herrera took his inspiration from the
hooded Ku Klux Klan.