Russian tamed Sonora
He, Rangers shared goal
Pages 28-30
Russian brought law to Sonora
by Paul L. Allen and Peter M. Pegnam, 1990.
Tucson Citizen Publishing Company, Tucson, Arizona
Page 2: Introduction: Emilio Kosterlitzky, Russian sailor-turned-calvary chieftain, ruthlessly brings law and order ot Sonora, Mexico, often granting captured fugitives 30 minutes to dig their own graves.
Page 3: Index : Emilio Kosterlitzky used tough methods to bring law to the border area. (page)
Emilio Kosterlitzky's posed proudly in his full-dress uniform.
Some of Emilio Kosterlitzky's personal effects are in possession of the Arizona Historical Society. [Tucson]
The Eagle of Sonora.
That's what some called Emilio Kosterlitzky, Russian by birth, Mexican by choice and cavalryman by passion.
Kosterlitzky established Mexico's rurales, more commonly called the cordada, that country's counterpart of the Arizona Rangers.
He served with them, part of the Gendarmeria Fiscal, from 1885 until 1913.
He recruited his hard-bitten Sonoran troops from Mexican jails and prisons, and sometimes if a desperado they had run down displayed some redeeming trait would give him a choice: face the firing squad or join the cordada.
James G. Wolf, who moved to Charles ton, about 90 miles southeast of Tucson, in 1883 and lived on his ranch in the area until well into this century, talked about the cordada in a 1937 interview:
"If the men robbed and raped in the Yaqui country the rest of Mexico cared not. The sergeants and corporals in turn relieved the men of any choice loot they might get. That paid them.
"Their uniforms were not uniform, almost any old rags had to do.
"Those who had been guilty of murder had their hats painted black. All wore the wide brim high peaked crown straw hats often seen along the border today.
"They always obeyed any order promptly. Death was the penalty.
"The officers in quiet times had no hesitation in renting them out to a few favored friends during the planting or harvesting season...
"At least one of the black hats always carried a spade strapped to his saddle. Whenever they overtook a culprit, they simply handed him the spade and gave him 30 minutes.
"If he dug a hole they promised to cover him up so the coyotes would not feast."
"Argument was always useless. If the prisoner had a good horse and saddle or any valuable loot when caught, that became one of Kosteriitzky's prerequisites."
Another pioneer Arizonan, Joe Chisholm, who died in 1937, wrote a biographical sketch of Kosterlitzky published in "Touring Topics" in 1932.
He described him thus:
"Gaunt, eagle-eyed, tireless, remorse less as doom in bringing authority and justice to a bandit-scourged land which had known no more of law than the stone age before he came..."
Chisholm said Kosteriitzky's control of the area was legendary "You could trundle a wheelbarrow loaded with diamonds from the border to Mazatlan with out fear of molestation."
Who was this man Kosterlitzky, and how did he come to be a Mexican cavalry officer?
Chisholm wrote that Kosterlitzky was scion of a long line of distinguished cavalry leaders, born in a military barracks in Russia, where his father was colonel of Cossack cavalry.
The elder Kosterlitzky had lost a leg in the Crimean War when British, French, Sardinians and Turks battered the Czar's legions at Balaklava, where the storied "Charge of the Light Brigade" occurred.
Kosteriitzky's father didn't want his son involved in-such a brutal business, and despite his protests sent him to the Royal Naval School at Moscow.
Sailing on his midshipman's cruise around the world, he made a port stop at Mexico. He went, ashore, saw the dashing maneuvers of a regiment of dragoons and made a decision.
He deserted the navy and became a cavalryman.
There is some ambiguity about the early part of his career: Some say he once was a trooper in Company E of Third U.S. Cavalry, but deserted from Fort Huachuca to begin a career in Mexico.
Another story has if that his fiery nature brought a clash during his first service with Porfirio Diaz' legions, and he quit them to join the United States cavalry. But dissatisfaction with their comparative inaction, spurred him back south.
Chisholm added, "His service was one long series of desperate clashes, of lion hearted expedients that pulled him out of seemingly hopeless comers.
"He was wounded by arrows, slashed by sabers, shot many times.
"Once he was grievously shattered by an exploding shell and lay on the battle-field many days, his wounds becoming infected and filled with maggots, but he was finally picked up at death's verge and his rawhide constitution and wonderful vitality pulled him back from the valley of the shadow to fight many an other fiery engagement."
Kosterlitzky took part in numerous border expeditions with counterpart and friend, Arizona Ranger Capt. Tom Rynning.
The pair worked against Geronimo and border outlaws.
They were involved in ending the Cananea mine worker riots in June 1906 when Rynning "invaded" Mexico with 250 Arizona volunteers to rescue trapped Americans and protect their property.
Kosterlitzky was also involved in the Yaqui-Mayo wars and Apache campaigns in the Sierra Madre.
Kosterlitzky had a rigid code of honor, and though he was compelled to execute outlaws, never killed an enemy except on the field of battle.
When Francisco Madero became president of Mexico in 1911, he summoned Kosterlitzky and asked him to go to the state of Morelos then controlled by anti-Madero leader Emiliano Zapata and gain the confidence of the bandit-general and kill him.
Kosterlitzky refused, saying he only killed on the battlefield.
As a consequence, Madero retired him, naming Juan Cabral as his successor.
Cabral couldn't hold the bandits of the north in check, however, and Madero was forced to recall Kosterlitzky to duty.
Kosterlitzky eventually was promoted to the rank of general before the unstable political situation in Mexico took yet an other turn.
Finally, in 1913, when revolutionists Zapata and Pancho Villa were in the ascendency, Kosterlitzky and another cordada commander, Pedro Ojeda, marched out of Mexico and asked asylum of United States authorities.
Kosterlitzky, with 140 men, surrendered his sword to Col. Cornelius C. Smith at Nogales and Ojeda and his small force came across the border at Naco.
After his surrender, Kosterlitzky was interned for a time at Fort Rosecranz, Calif.
Later, he went to work for the United States government.
He was placed with the Department of Justice in Los Angeles.
His command of nine languages (Spanish, German, French, Russian, Polish, Italian, Swedish, Danish and English) and a knowledge of the political intrigue in Mexico helped him pinpoint potential saboteurs and alien enemies before they could do harm.
In Los Angeles, he posed as a German doctor, speaking the language flawlessly.
When World War I was over, he remained with the Justice Department, but chafed at the humdrum routine. He craved action.
Banditry and disorder were still rampant in Mexico, and he hoped to organize a revolution to take over Sonora.
Some historians believe Kosterlitzky then in his late 60s might have been successful had he been a few years younger.
The old soldier died March 2, 1928, at age 75, at his home in Los Angeles.
His widow and six children survived him.
He was buried in Calvary Cemetery at Los Angeles.