Salado Creek, Texas, 1918: Thirteen black men stood at attention in front of gallows erected specifically for their hanging. They had been convicted of participating in one of America's most infamous black uprisings, the Camp Logan Mutiny, otherwise known as the 1917 Houston Riots. The mutiny and ensuing riots were carried out by 156 soldiers of the Third Battalion of the all-black 24th US Infantry Regiment-a unit of the famed Buffalo Soldiers -after members of the Houston Police Department violently menaced the black soldiers and members of the local black community. It all took place over a single night. After a rumor that a corporal had been shot and killed by the police reached Camp Logan, soldiers immediately made plans to march on Houston and attack the police force. The first police casualties occurred when a group of six officers stumbled upon the entire column of soldiers. After discovering that one of the men they killed was a captain with the Illinois National guard, the seriousness of the mutiny hit home. Houston was placed under martial law, and by morning all of the soldiers were eventually disarmed or surrendered their weapons. In the wake of those riots, eleven civilians, five policemen, and four soldiers lay dead. This incident is one of Houston's most complicated and often-misrepresented historical events. It shook race relations in the city and created conditions that sparked a nationwide surge of wartime racial activism. In the aftermath of the carnage, what was considered the trial of the century at that time ensued. The trial resulted in the hanging of thirteen black men, eliciting memories of slave rebellions. But was justice served? New evidence and access to historical archives indicate that the courts-martial were rushed in an attempt to placate an angered white population as well as military brass. Mutiny of Rage serves to not only retell an accurate story of the event, but to set the legal record straight on what really happened.
Jaime Salazar is a lawyer, engineer, soldier, and author living in Houston, Texas. He is the author of the 2005 memoir Legion of the Lost, which recounted his experiences joining and subsequently fleeing the French Foreign Legion, as well as co-author of Escaping the Amazon. He currently practices immigration, patent, and criminal law, and recently competed in the Houston Marathon.
"Salazar recreates an important yet overlooked moment in Texas and American history with a searing narrative about the Camp Logan race riots of 1917. Mutiny of Rage is at once gripping and vital in understanding the injustices that African Americans too often endure in the American criminal justice system." - Kenneth Williams, Professor of Law, South Texas College of Law at Houston "Jaime Salazar's riveting and heart-pounding account about the 1917 mutiny that took place in Houston, Texas, gives voice to the voiceless, and pays long overdue tribute to the colored soldiers who were buried with no names on their tombstones. Salazar doesn't waste a word in the telling of this timely and relevant tale usually footnoted in the history books." --Ray Studevent, Author of Black Sheep
