"Tom Mix of Ecuador"

     About ten years ago I wrote a story entitled "Tom Mix of Ecuador."  It was about an unusual and eccentric Ecuadorian character who was obsessed with Tom Mix, that early cowboy action hero of Hollywood.  The story that I wrote was actually about his nephew, Reinaldo Diaz, a man I knew very well when I was in Ecuador.  Reinldo, in his own way, was just as colorful and eccentric as his uncle who was obsessed with Tom Mix.  The story goes (as told to me by Reinaldo himself as well as others who knew him!) that Reinaldo's uncle became fascinated and obsessed with Tom Mix and tried his best to emulate the old Hollywood cowboy star.  He wore black clothes like Tom Mix and a six shooter on his hip as well as a white ten gallon hat.  He was a well known cattle rancher in Taura, west of Guayaquil.  It was a big ranch along Rio Taura with an impressive two story ranch house.  His ranch bordered another large ranch, his brother's (Reinaldo's dad's).
     But, aside from being eccentric and obsessed with Tom Mix, Reinaldo's uncle was also a difficult person who quarreled with everyone!  One day he got into an argument with a neighbor and one thing led to another and Reinaldo's uncle shot the man dead.  He barricaded himself in his ranch house and when the police arrived a furious gun battle ensued.  At the end of an hour long gun fight, several people were killed, including Reinaldo's uncle.  The ranch house was declared bad luck and "haunted" because such violence had taken place there.  It was left vacant and no one ever lived in that house again.  When I saw the house that was situated on a picturesque piece of property along the banks of Rio Taura, it was still vacant, some forty years after the bloody gun fight.
     Everyone in the area knew of that incident, it became a local legend.  But his nephew, Reinaldo, in my opinion, was just as eccentric and "wild" as his infamous uncle.  Reinaldo did not have an obsession for Tom Mix or any other cowboy film star, but he, like his uncle, was quick tempered and prone to violence!
     In the early 1960s, long after his uncle's infamous shootout on the banks of Rio Taura, Reinaldo caught a rustler on his ranch.  At that time Reinaldo's father owned the ranch and Reinaldo worked for his dad.  Cattle rustling was always a problem on that ranch, even when I knew him in the 1980s and 90s!  Reinaldo and his dad did not trust the local law, since they believed that the local police was involved in rustling!  As it turned out, the rustler that he caught was a nephew of Taura Police Chief!  The rustler, when cornered by Reinaldo, came at him with a machete, forcing Reinaldo to shoot him.  Even though it was self defense, Reinaldo and his father knew that he did not stand a chance with the local law, so he fled to the U.S.  He crossed the border in Tijuana and made his way to New York/New Jersey area where there was already an established Ecuadorian community.  By 1960s there was a well established Ecuadorian pipeline to either L.A. or NY/NJ area, Reinaldo chose to go to the east!
     Reinaldo lived in the U.S. for seven years, in a Hispanic community.  It is amazing that after seven years in the U.S., he did not speak a word of English!  He said that there was no need for him to learn English since he lived and worked in a community where everyone spoke Spanish!  Then one day his father sent word that the Taura Police Chief had been arrested, tried and imprisoned for his illegal activities, including cattle rustling. It was safe for Reinaldo to return to Ecuador, so he quickly returned to Taura and the ranch.  A few years later his father died leaving the huge ranch (a couple of sections with several thousand heads of cattle) to Reinaldo.
     When I knew Reinaldo in the 1980s and 90s, he was the "Patron" of the huge ranch.  The property included his infamous uncle's old ranch, so it was enormous. But interestingly, he lived a very modest life style, drove an old beat-up pick-up truck and wore old clothes.  According to his life-long friend and my good friend Lorenzo, Reinaldo was very rich and could afford to live in luxurious style.  But, he preferred to live very simply and you could easily mistake him for one of his vaqueros!  Reinaldo's one passion in life, other than drinking and womanizing, was hunting.  He loved hunting, especially bird shooting.  That is how he became friends with my good friend Lorenzo and also how I befriended him.  At the time I knew him, he was in his 50s, so I would guess he is in his 80s now.  According to Lorenzo, he is still doing well and still working.  Reinaldo is not a big man, he is rather small, and in his 50s he resembled that communist leader of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega!
     Reinaldo told me his life story when we were on an overnight hunting trip on his huge ranch.  We couldn't sleep because the mosquitos were exceptionally bad.  So we built a fire and sat up most of the night just talking, toasting and eating charred plantains!  That was when he told me about his uncle and also his own story about the time he shot and killed a rustler and had to run for it to the U.S.  Reinaldo Diaz is one of the several fascinating people that I met during my lifetime.