Chipita Rodriguez

Josefa "Chipita" Rodriguez (December 30, 1799? - November 13, 1863) was convicted of murder and hanged in San Patricio County, Texas at the age of 63. A century later, on June 13, 1985, the Texas Legislature passed a resolution noting that Rodriguez did not receive a fair trial. She has been the subject of two operas, numerous books, newspaper articles, and magazine accounts. Rodriguez was reportedly born December 30, 1799 in Mexico. She was a Mexican-American woman from the South Texas town of San Patricio who furnished travelers with meals and a cot on the porch of her lean-to on the Aransas River. She was accused of robbing and murdering a trader named John Savage with an axe. However, the $600 of gold stolen from him was found down...