No. 745.
Mr. Connery to Mr. Bayard.
Mexico, October 4, 1887. (Received October 12.)
Sir: A case which is attracting some attention here at present is the murder of an American citizen named Leon Baldwin, superintendent or manager of the Valenciana mines at or near a place called Ventanas, in the State of Durango. I deem it my duty to report the case for your consideration, though I do not feel authorized to initiate proceedings with a view to securing the punishment of the assassins, or of obtaining compensation for the widow of the unfortunate victim.
About the middle of last August Mr. Baldwin, while making a tour of a group of mines belonging to a number of American capitalists, was fired upon by some parties concealed behind rocks close by the Ventanas mines. He was badly wounded, but managed to escape into a tunnel near by, and soon after was informed by the foreman of the mines that the assassins threatened to put to death several of the unarmed workmen unless they brought forth the superintendent. Mr. Baldwin directed the foreman to go out and endeavor to compromise with the bandits, authorizing him to promise the payment of any reasonable sum of money by the company provided they would desist from further hostilities, and withdraw peacefully. This the foreman did, and after a parley with the ruffians, reported to Mr. Baldwin that his offer was accepted. Not to go into unnecessary details in this preliminary statement of the case, I will merely add now that Mr. Baldwin, desiring to save the lives of his men, and believing that the prime object of the assassins was to secure money, went out of the tunnel and confronted his assailants. He was thereupon placed upon a mule and led a short distance away. A few minutes later on five shots were heard and some of the miners rushing down the road in the direction of the noise, found Mr. Baldwin lying dead with a bullet in his brain. The assassins had disappeared. This is, in brief, the story of the outrage as related to me.
If I may believe other statements made, this is only the last of a series of outrages in the same locality, and by the same organized band of assassins commanded by a notorious outlaw named Eraclio Bernal. Two or three other superintendents of the same mine, also Americans, have lost their lives in a similar manner, and it is said that the governor of Durango was notified in each case and warned that efficient measures should be taken to protect the lives and property of the people in the employment of this mining company.
I have heard much more about the doings of the bandits of Durango, but I deem it prudent, at present, to confine myself to this simple narration of what have been represented to me as the undoubted facts in the case of the unfortunate Leon Baldwin.
[Page 1088]My object in presenting the case is to ask for instructions. Do you wish me to cause a careful investigation to be made, and then lay the case before the Mexican Government? I shall await your instructions.
I am, etc.,