26134: orenstein(reply) re massacre river RE: 26122: Miller: (reply ) Bob Corbett adds reply ----Re: 26109: Wilcken (ask) Massacre River history and geography (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: katie orenstein <katie@orenstein.com>


Re the Massacre River:  Chapter two of Michele Wucker's book,  "Why The
Cocks Fight: Dominicans, Haitians and the Struggle for Hispaniola"  tells
the story of the Massacre River.   On page 44 (in my copy) she writes:

"The river lost its original Taino name, Guatapana, in 1728, when Spanish
soldiers slaughtered thirty pirate buccaneers seized there.  In honor of the
slaughter, the river was christened in blood as the Rio Massacre.  The
Massacre earned its macabre name a second time in 1937 when Rafael Trujillo
ordered the slaughter of Haitians who had crossed over to the Dominican side
or who had always lived there."

Katie Orenstein