Randolph Runnels
Encyclopedia
Born in Texas
probably in 1830, Randolph Runnels was a nephew of Hiram Georges Runnels. He became a Texas Ranger and took part to the Indian wars.
He came in Panama
in his early 20s, recruited by the Railroad company who was looking for a man capable of pacifying the isthmus for the construction of the Panama Railway
, the first intercontinental railway, which was inaugurated in 1855.
” --- who plagued the isthmian transit zone during railroad construction days.
After registering the movements and the name of the bandits in a "black book", Runnels, with the help of the railroad company and the tacit approval of Colombian and US authorities, created a company of agents called "The Isthmian guard", with whom he organized a couple of mass hangings, one of which took the lives of 37 presumed criminals. Their bodies were found one morning strung up near the Panama City seawall. In another purge, 41 people died.
Runnels was also believed to be in charge of quelling labor unrest, and he supposedly whipped the mayor of the village of Las Cruces
in the town square, to end a labor stoppage.
Nicknamed "El Verdugo" (the executioner), Runnels and his Isthmian Guard are said to have quelled the crime by the time the Panama Railroad was finished.
", name given to an anti-American riot which began when an American traveler named Jack Oliver refused to pay for a watermelon slice he had eaten from a street vendor. A very violent riot took place during which 15 people died. The violence subsided when Runnels and his men arrived on the scene and rescued the travelers assaulted by the mob.
One consequence of that incident was a US Marine Corps intervention in Panama some weeks later. Randolph Runnels shortly after left Panama and ended his career in Nicaragua
where he became an American consul. Runnels died in Nicaragua, after having served as US consul there.
Much of the information about Runnels is contained in a book called “The Golden Road”, which content may be partially fictional.
More direct information about come from his letters to his sister who lived into the 1930s and who saved his letters.
http://www.trainweb.org/panama/runnels.html
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
probably in 1830, Randolph Runnels was a nephew of Hiram Georges Runnels. He became a Texas Ranger and took part to the Indian wars.
He came in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
in his early 20s, recruited by the Railroad company who was looking for a man capable of pacifying the isthmus for the construction of the Panama Railway
Panama Railway
The Panama Canal Railway Company is a railway line that links the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean across Panama in Central America. It is jointly owned by the Kansas City Southern Railway and Mi-Jack Products...
, the first intercontinental railway, which was inaugurated in 1855.
The Isthmian Guard
He settled in Panama and opened a company of mule rentals and transportation services. This was a cover for his true occupation, the extermination of the bandits --- the so-called “DerienniDerienni
Derienni the native bandits of Panama in the early 1850s, during the California Gold Rush who robbed the pack trains crossing the Isthmus of Panama with sacks of California gold and ran off with it into the hills...
” --- who plagued the isthmian transit zone during railroad construction days.
After registering the movements and the name of the bandits in a "black book", Runnels, with the help of the railroad company and the tacit approval of Colombian and US authorities, created a company of agents called "The Isthmian guard", with whom he organized a couple of mass hangings, one of which took the lives of 37 presumed criminals. Their bodies were found one morning strung up near the Panama City seawall. In another purge, 41 people died.
Runnels was also believed to be in charge of quelling labor unrest, and he supposedly whipped the mayor of the village of Las Cruces
Las Cruces
Las Cruces could refer to:* Battle of Monte de las Cruces* Las Cruces, California* Las Cruces, Chile* Las Cruces, New Mexico ** The main campus of New Mexico State University...
in the town square, to end a labor stoppage.
Nicknamed "El Verdugo" (the executioner), Runnels and his Isthmian Guard are said to have quelled the crime by the time the Panama Railroad was finished.
Runnels and the Watermelon War
Runnels is also famous in Panama for his role in the 1855 "Watermelon WarWatermelon War
The Watermelon War was a riot that occurred in Panama City, Panama, on the morning of April 15, 1856.-Background:From 1850 until 1903, the US military had created very strong tension between Panamanian citizens and US officials...
", name given to an anti-American riot which began when an American traveler named Jack Oliver refused to pay for a watermelon slice he had eaten from a street vendor. A very violent riot took place during which 15 people died. The violence subsided when Runnels and his men arrived on the scene and rescued the travelers assaulted by the mob.
One consequence of that incident was a US Marine Corps intervention in Panama some weeks later. Randolph Runnels shortly after left Panama and ended his career in Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
where he became an American consul. Runnels died in Nicaragua, after having served as US consul there.
Much of the information about Runnels is contained in a book called “The Golden Road”, which content may be partially fictional.
More direct information about come from his letters to his sister who lived into the 1930s and who saved his letters.
Source
- Joseph L. Schott, Rails Across Panama - The Story of the Building of the Panama Railroad 1849-1855, The Bob Merrill Company Inc., New York: N.Y., 1967.
- Michael L. Conniff, Panama and the United States: the forced alliance, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, 2001.
External links
Ruiz, Bruce: Biography of Randolph Runnelshttp://www.trainweb.org/panama/runnels.html