Vicente Silva – Leading Silva’s White Caps Gang
The dusty annals of the American West are filled with tales of daring desperados, lawless gangs, and the complex characters who walked the line between respectability and infamy. Among these figures stands Vicente Silva, a man who embodied the duality of the era. Silva, the subject of this article, was a seemingly upstanding citizen and businessman in Las Vegas, New Mexico, yet he secretly masterminded and led a ruthless band of outlaws known as Silva’s White Caps, also referred to as the Forty Bandits, or the Society of Bandits. This article delves into the life and times of Vicente Silva, exploring his rise to prominence, the inner workings of his criminal enterprise, and the circumstances that ultimately led to his downfall.
Born in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, in 1845, Vicente Silva presented a striking figure. As he matured, descriptions painted him as tall and well-built, possessing an intelligent face and agreeable manners. This affable exterior masked a darker nature, for by the age of 20, he had already embarked on a life outside the law. In the early 1870s, Silva ventured to Wyoming with a group of men, ostensibly to work as cowboys. It was here that his path crossed with Felipe Aguilar, a railroad laborer, and Aguilar’s wife. A scandalous affair ensued, and Silva and the woman eloped to Colorado. Shortly thereafter, Aguilar’s decomposed body was discovered near Cheyenne, Wyoming, bearing gruesome wounds – his head nearly severed and his chest riddled with mortal cuts. While never definitively proven, suspicion immediately fell upon Silva, with many believing that Aguilar had stumbled upon the fleeing lovers and paid the ultimate price for his misfortune.
The winds of fate, however, seemed to blow in Silva’s favor. A stroke of luck led him to the discovery of a small silver mine in Southern Colorado. This newfound wealth provided him with the capital to reinvent himself. Upon arriving in Las Vegas, New Mexico, he established the Imperial Saloon on the old plaza. From its inception, the Imperial Saloon thrived. Silva, a gracious and accommodating host, cultivated a welcoming atmosphere. The saloon was lavishly appointed, boasting a grand mahogany bar and opulent gambling rooms upstairs. It quickly became a hub for the region’s elite, drawing cattle and sheep ranchers, wool and cattle buyers, and silver miners alike. The Imperial Saloon became the most popular establishment in San Miguel County, solidifying Vicente Silva’s reputation as a successful and respected member of the community.
Silva’s popularity extended beyond the confines of his saloon. He was known for his philanthropic endeavors, generously donating to the church, the Orphans’ Home, and assisting the impoverished residents of Las Vegas. His standing in the community was such that he even ventured into politics, running for Sheriff at one point. Although he was ultimately unsuccessful in his bid for office, he garnered a significant number of votes, further demonstrating his widespread appeal. The outward persona of Vicente Silva was that of a benevolent businessman and pillar of society.
However, beneath this veneer of respectability lay a clandestine world of crime and violence. Unbeknownst to the majority of Las Vegas’s inhabitants, Vicente Silva led a notorious outlaw gang, the Silva’s White Caps. This organization, resembling a mafia in its structure and operation, employed tactics of intimidation and brutality to achieve its goals. The White Caps primarily sought to displace settlers from lands that had historically been used as common pasture. Their methods were ruthless, encompassing fence-cutting, arson, physical assaults, and even murder.
The gang’s activities instilled fear and terror throughout the region. They committed a range of crimes, solidifying their reputation as one of the most vicious and cruel outlaw groups to ever operate in New Mexico. Silva’s White Caps held a virtual stranglehold on the area, their power seemingly absolute. This reign of terror continued until October 1892, when internal tensions began to unravel the gang’s cohesiveness.
The catalyst for the gang’s downfall was the execution of one of their own members, Pat Maes. Silva and his inner circle suspected Maes of being an informant, fearing that he would betray their secrets to the authorities. At Silva’s behest, three corrupt lawmen – Jose Chavez y Chavez, Eugenio Alarid, and Julian Trujillo – carried out the grim task of lynching Patricio Maes on October 22, 1892. This act of violence, intended to silence a potential threat, would ultimately prove to be a fatal miscalculation.
Several months later, Silva’s paranoia resurfaced, this time directed towards his own brother-in-law, Gabriel Sandoval. Silva suspected that Sandoval was also on the verge of exposing the gang’s activities, specifically the lynching of Maes. In February 1893, Sandoval was murdered, and his body vanished without a trace. The disappearance further fueled suspicion and unrest within the community, and even within the ranks of the White Caps themselves.
Silva’s escalating paranoia and brutality eventually turned against his own wife. She began to ask probing questions about her brother’s suspicious disappearance, arousing Silva’s suspicion and fear. He concluded that she, too, posed a threat and had to be eliminated. He instructed his trio of crooked lawmen to dig a grave for his wife’s body. However, as Chavez, Alarid, and Trujillo labored over the grave, their conversation took a deadly turn. Dissatisfied with the meager $10 payment they were to receive for their services, and increasingly concerned by Silva’s erratic and violent behavior, they decided that he had become too dangerous and unpredictable.
When Silva arrived at the gravesite with his wife’s body, the trio ambushed him. They robbed and murdered him, burying his body alongside that of his wife. The man who had orchestrated so much violence and death met a violent end himself, betrayed by those he had trusted and employed.
With the death of Vicente Silva, the White Caps gang rapidly disintegrated. The carefully constructed criminal enterprise, built on fear and intimidation, collapsed without its leader. Chavez, Alarid, and Trujillo were eventually apprehended and brought to justice for the murder of Pat Maes. They were convicted and sentenced to life in prison, bringing an end to their reign of terror and marking the final chapter in the story of Silva’s White Caps.
The story of Vicente Silva serves as a cautionary tale, a stark reminder of the duality that could exist within individuals and the corrupting influence of power. He was a man who lived a double life, outwardly appearing as a respected businessman and philanthropist, while secretly leading a ruthless gang that terrorized the region. His story remains a significant part of the history of Las Vegas, New Mexico, and the broader narrative of the American West, a testament to the complex and often brutal realities of life on the frontier.