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LOT 3226
Historic, Documented Mexico Ten Tragic
Days Coup Presentation Damascene Colt
Police Positive Double Action Revolver
with Pearl Grips and Factory Letter -
Serial no. 52393, 38 cal., 4 inch round bbl.,
blue/gold finish, pearl grips. Manufactured
1912, this historic Colt Police Positive DA
revolver subsequently received a deluxe period
presentation embellishment. It was a presentation
piece between the president of Mexico President
Victoriano Huerta and U.S. Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson.
These two men joined forces to install Huerta as president through a
violent coup d’etat known as the Ten Tragic Days in February 1913. It was the last successful coup to overthrow a sitting Mexican president.
Victoriano Huerta (1850-1916) was a general in the Mexican army and 39th President of Mexico. His rise to the position of president came
through a coup against the democratically elected government lead by President Francisco Madero. The coup was backed by the Germans
as well as the United States government under the William Taft presidency. However, the incoming Woodrow Wilson administration refused
to recognize Huerta’s government, which only lasted 17 months. Anti-Huerta forces defeated the Mexican Federal Army, and Huerta
resigned in July 1914 and fled to the United Kingdom and then Spain. In 1915, he arrived in the United States and soon plotted with
German agents to regain the Mexican presidency through another coup. Huerta was arrested, taken to prison, and while confined, died.
The coup that installed Huerta to the presidency was heavily supported by the United States. Appointed by Taft, Henry Lane Wilson
(1857-1932) was the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico from 1909 to 1913 and was a key ally of Huerta. The success of the coup may well have
resided with Wilson. When Wilson arrived in Mexico, the president was Porfirio Diaz, who had come to power through a coup in 1876.
Diaz had opened Mexico to foreign investment, and from a U.S. business perspective, the Diaz administration resulted in huge profits.
Wilson was determined to keep Mexico open for business, but an aging Diaz came under serious challenge from Francisco Madero and
his broad anti-Diaz collation. Diaz was forced to resign, and Madero was elected president of Mexico. Seeing Madero as a threat to U.S.
business interests, Wilson decided to take matters into his own hands and became involved in the coup that ousted Madero in February 1913 known as the Ten Tragic Days. By all counts
President Taft was uninterested in Mexican politics and therefore gave Wilson broad authority. Wilson spearheaded a media propaganda blitz that portrayed Madero as an incompetent
leader opposed to U.S. interests. The media campaign helped to amplify Mexican and international public opinion against Madero. Huerta’s coup against the Madero administration was in
February 1913. Madero and his vice president were murdered. In Mexico, Wilson and the U.S. State Department were seen as culpable in the deaths. Madero’s wife had pleaded with Wilson
to save her husband but Wilson refused and told the wife, “Your husband’s downfall was due to the fact the he
never wanted to consult with me.” Huerta, apparently, had not made the same mistake. Wilson was also accused
of arranging the murder of Madero’s brother, a charge that Wilson always denied. After taking the oath of office,
President Woodrow Wilson was informed of Henry Wilson’s role in the coup. President Wilson was infuriated
and dismissed Ambassador Wilson. President Wilson’s refusal to recognize the Huerta is credited for creating an
opening for anti-Huerta forces to rise up in an armed rebellion. In 1927, the former ambassador published his
memories that lacked mention of his role in the coup, but continued to push the idea that Madero was unfit for
the presidency.
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