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l. j. matteson on sandino's seizure of san albino mine, june-aug 1927
 
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L. J. Matteson on Sandino's seizure of San Albino Mine, June-August 1927

     L. J. Matteson, a North American engineer who worked for Charles Butters at San Albino Mine, was eyewitness to the Sandinista occupation of the mine in the summer and fall of 1927.  Charles Butters' account on the previous page treats the period when Sandino and his men first arrived (May-June).  Matteson describes the period just after that (June-August), when Sandino's forces grew rapidly from around 50 to 800 or 900 men — including hundreds streaming in from neighboring Honduras — and the rebels prepared for the anticipated Marine offensive. 

     In Matteson's brief but highly informative account we glimpse a period of breakneck organizing and preparation, as Sandino and his men laid the groundwork for the struggle to come — gathering livestock, clearing & planting new fields, building boats, hauling pillaged coffee and other goods across the border into Honduras to trade or barter for guns, ammunition, and other war materiel.  During this period of frenetic activity, Sandino and his men also undertook the complex and highly symbolic act of minting gold coins, as seen in EDSN-Docs and at least one newspaper account from this period — effectively announcing to themselves and the world the formation of an autonomous rebel republic in the heart of Las  Segovias.  (Photos:  head and tail of gold & nickel coin minted at San Albino Mine from June 1927; click on images for full photos, kind courtesy of Walter Castillo Sandino)

Sixty Sixth Company, Fifth Regiment
Second Brigade, Marine Corps
Leon, Nicaragua.
6 December 1927.

From:  The Commanding Officer.
To:    The Brigade Commander, Second Brigade, U.S. Marine Corps, Managua, Nicaragua
 
Subject: Mr. L. J. Matteson, interview with.
 
Reference: Your, 8625- 1700.
 
1. In accordance with instructions Mr. L. J. Matteson was interviewed on December 3, 1927, in regards to the activities of Bandits in Nuevo Segovia, and states as follows.
 
That he was at the San Albino Mine until the latter part of August, when he was told by Sandino that in view of the fact that the Marine Patrols were shooting up his (Sandino's) men, and that the rebels might and probably would return to El Chipote by the way of the Mine, he (Sandino) could no longer guarantee his safety. Mr. Matteson is of the opinion that Sandino [had] between eight and nine hundred followers at this time. On August 13, 1927, he saw 200 unarmed men coming from Honduras, and on August 21, 1927, fifty more, and says these men expected to be armed and mounted at El Chipote.
 
In June, Sandino had his men planting beans and corn or working in fields already planted, this is to insure a food supply for the dry season. The water supply of El Chipote is reported to be ample and good.
 
Included in $39,000 worth of supplies taken from a store, at San Albino, belonging to a Mr. Garcia, were 1500 bags of Coffee, which were sold by Sandino in Honduras for $10.00 per sack. Sandino now has his men picking Coffee from the plantations and is sending the Coffee to Honduras for sale.
 
That he has saw in the possession of Sandino's men, two Vickers Machine Guns, five (5) Lewis and eight (8) Thompson Sub. Machine Guns.
 
Sandino is building boats in the vicinity of a place called Mauchones, for a possible get away down the Coco River. Manchones is south and east of San Albino.
 
There are three avenues of escape from El Chipote, one via Las Cenas, one via La Puerta and another back of Manchones.
 
Horses and mules are kept in pastures around Murra.
 
Reported that a few men from the South joined Sandino, but never any large numbers, and that none of them are armed.
 
Has been told by Sandino that he, Sandino, has sufficient supplies for two years even if cut off from all communication with Honduras or the rest of Nicaragua. Also that after the first of December he would have no trouble getting all the men he needed but did not say where.

 

------ E. S. Tuttle -----

MCRC-Personal Papers/Sandino

 

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