Prior to 1914, the Carrancistas had been responsible for most attacks along the border, but in January 1915, rebels known as "Sedicionistas" drafted the Plan of San Diego and began launching their own raids.

The first attack took place on July 4, 1915, when a band of approximately 40 mounted rebels crossed the border and raided Los Indios Ranch in Cameron County.

According to author John William Weber, Ransom was in charge of an "assassination squad" that conducted a "scorched-earth campaign of annihilation" against both guilty and innocent Mexicans.

The lynching, whether perpetrated by the rebels or by the Texans, created an atmosphere of distrust among the local Mexican population for the Texas Rangers and other American police forces.

Despite that accusation, no evidence suggests that Pizana ever had any significant ties with the rebels though he was a friend of Luis de la Rosca, a known raider who owned a store in Rio Hondo.

In response to Scrivener's claim, a force of about 30 Texas Rangers, US Army soldiers, and some deputy sheriffs attacked the Los Tulitos Ranch on August 3.

Austin formerly served as the president of the Law and Order League which, according to federal investigators, "had driven several bad men out of that section [Sebastian, Texas]" and so was an ideal target for the raiders, who thought of him as a racist.

That day, a band of raiders derailed a train six miles north of Brownsville and killed several white people on board but left the Mexican passengers unhurt.

This time, a squad of eight army signalmen was besieged by the Mexicans at Ojo de Agua until it was relieved by 12 men from the 3rd Cavalry, under Captain W. J. Scott.

[4][5][6][7] By December 1915, the threat of Mexican raiders was slowly diminishing, but in the summer of 1916, a series of minor attacks began, all them occurring around Laredo, Texas.

That year, Luis de la Rosca recruited his Villista cousin Jose Morin to capture San Antonio, but a baker in Kingsville, known as Victoriano Ponce, informed the Texas Rangers, who arrested both men in May.