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UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE CHARRO: THE TRANSNATIONAL HISTORY OF A CULTURAL ICON A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By GARY MORENO Norman, Oklahoma 2014 CHARRO: THE TRANSNATIONAL HISTORY OF A CULTURAL ICON A DISSERTATION APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BY ______________________________ Dr. Sterling Evans, Chair ______________________________ Dr. James Cane-Carrasco ______________________________ Dr. Raphael Folsom ______________________________ Dr. José Juan Colín ______________________________ Mr. Byron Price © Copyright by GARY MORENO 2014 All Rights Reserved. Table of Contents List of Figures .................................................................................................................. vi Abstract ........................................................................................................................ viiiv Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: From Chinaco to Charro: Hombres a caballo in Nineteenth Century Art and Literature .............................................................................................................. 9 Horsemen on Canvas ................................................................................................ 11 Maximilian I of Mexico ............................................................................................ 20 Horsemen on the Page .............................................................................................. 22 From the Page to the Stage ....................................................................................... 27 Chapter 2: El Célebre Torero: Ponciano Díaz and the Popularization of the Mexican Charro ................................................................................................................. 31 "The Celebrated Mexican Swordsman" ................................................................... 39 Mexican Charros Conquer Spain ............................................................................. 48 Ponciano and the Print Industry ............................................................................... 53 Return of the Bullfighter .......................................................................................... 58 The Mexican Charro Goes North ............................................................................. 71 Chapter 3: Crossing Cultural Frontiers: Mexicans in the Wild West Shows ................. 75 From Puebla to the Plains ......................................................................................... 78 "Go back to the Gringo, go lick at hees boots!" ....................................................... 84 From Toreros to Vaqueros ........................................................................................ 87 "Daring Western Girls and Mexican Señoritas" ....................................................... 95 iv Where the Buffalo Roam ........................................................................................ 106 A Frontier Memory ................................................................................................. 111 Chapter 4: Becoming Good Neighbors: Leo Carrillo and Cinematic Charros ............. 114 "Where the Wild West Meets the Ocean" ............................................................. 118 Mr. California ......................................................................................................... 121 From Bandido to Caballero ................................................................................... 130 "The Cisco Kid Was a Friend of Mine" ................................................................. 144 "Goodbye Amigos"................................................................................................. 150 Chapter 5: Inventing a National Sport: The Mexican State and the Creation of Charrería .......................................................................................................................... 153 Charro Landscapes ................................................................................................. 158 The First Associations ............................................................................................ 160 El Duque de Regla ................................................................................................. 166 Expansion and Federation ..................................................................................... 171 Charro Diplomacy ................................................................................................. 174 Cinematic Charros ................................................................................................. 183 The Corruption of the Charro ................................................................................ 188 "One foot in the stirrup and the other in the grave"................................................ 194 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 196 References .................................................................................................................... 202 Primary Bibliography ............................................................................................ 202 Secondary Bibliography ........................................................................................ 218 v List of Figures Figure 1. Claudio Linati’s Criollo on Horseback ........................................................... 12 Figure 2. V. Debray’s Attack of the Stagecoach ............................................................ 14 Figure 3. Edouard Pingret’s Herrador ........................................................................... 16 Figure 4. Manuel Serrano’s Tailing in the Field ............................................................ 17 Figure 5. Frederic Remington’s Coming to the Rodeo ................................................... 19 Figure 6. Mexico City 1883 ............................................................................................ 33 Figure 7. Ponciano Díaz in traje de luces ....................................................................... 42 Figure 8. Ponciano Díaz in traje de charro .................................................................... 43 Figure 9. Water Hydrant at Plaza de Bucareli ................................................................ 47 Figure 10. Ponciano Díaz in La lidia .............................................................................. 54 Figure 11. Ponciano Díaz Songbook .............................................................................. 58 Figure 12. Mazzantini at Bucareli .................................................................................. 61 Figure 13. Vicente Oropeza c. 1896 ............................................................................... 79 Figure 14. “Scenes From the Strenuous Life of Pawnee Bill’s Wild West” .................. 82 Figure 15. José Barrera on Horseback ............................................................................ 90 Figure 16. José Barrera and Mexicans in Pawnee Bill’s Wild West Show .................... 95 Figure 17. Effie Cole Barrera in Costume for the Lady Riders ...................................... 97 Figure 18. May Lillie in Costume for the Lady Riders .................................................. 99 Figure 19. “Toreador pants! No ‘Bull’.” ...................................................................... 115 Figure 20. Warner Baxter as the Cisco Kid ................................................................. 120 vi Figure 21. Leo and Edith Carrillo ................................................................................. 126 Figure 22. Leo Carrillo with Governor Goodwin Knight ............................................. 130 Figure 23. Jorge Negrete in “¡Ay Jalisco no te rajes!” ................................................. 138 Figure 24. Duncan Renaldo as the Cisco Kid ............................................................... 142 Figure 25. Leo Carrillo at Chicago Music Festival ...................................................... 145 Figure 26. Emiliano Zapata in Charro Suit .................................................................. 155 Figure 27. Ernesto Icaza’s Preparing to Tail a Bull .................................................... 159 Figure 28. First Board of Directors – National Charro Association ............................. 162 Figure 29. Carlos Rincón Gallardo ............................................................................... 167 Figure 30. El Mariachi Coculense Cirilo Marmolejo ................................................... 184 Figure 31. Abel Quezada’s Charro Matias .................................................................. 190 vii Abstract This is a transnational cultural history of the charro horseman in Mexico and the United States. It begins with an analysis of the archetype in nineteenth century art and literature, exploring various works of visual and literary culture. The dissertation continues with the popularization of the image through the spectacle of mass entertainment and the emergence of celebrity through bullfighting. This study crosses the border with performers of the secondary acts of Mexican bullfighting