Co-Rux--Te-Chod-Ish (Mad Dog), born in 1847 in Nebraska in the Pawnee Tribe, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Indian Wars. He joined the US Army in Columbus, Nebraska as an Indian Scout. In July 1869, he was thrown from his horse while chasing after a Cheyenne Dog Soldier near the Republican River. He was badly injured when another member of his own unit shot him by mistake.
He was awarded the Medal of Honor on August 24, 1869. He passed away in February 1913 and is buried in Oklahoma.
Ely Samuel Parker, born in Indian Falls, New York in 1828, was bilingual being fluent in English and Seneca. He worked for a legal firm in Ellicottville, New York, and applied to take the bar examine. Unfortunately, Native Americans were not considered US citizens, and he was not permitted to take it.
After a chance meeting with Lewis Henry Morgan, Parker helped Morgan with information on the Seneca for Morgan's book on the Iroquois. With Morgan's help, Parker earned an engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
He worked as a civil engineer until the start of the Civil War. President Grant appointed Parker to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, become the first Native American to hold that position. Parker tried to raise a regiment of Iroquois volunteers to fight for the Union, but was turned down. He tried to enlist in the Army but was turned down since he was Native American.
Grant got Parker a commission to captain in May 1863. Later, Parker was appointed as military secretary to Grant with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He helped draft the surrender documents for Robert E. Lee's surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse in April 1865.
Parker was promoted to brigadier general of the US Army March 2, 1867, becoming the first Seneca to achieve that rank.
Lauro Cavazos, born January 4, 1927 in Kingsville, Texas, enlisted in the US Army in 1944 and served state-side in an infantry unit in the last days of WWII. He enrolled at Texas College of Arts and Industries (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville) and majoring in journalism.. He transferred to Texas Technological College (now Texas Tech University) and earned a BA and MS in zoology. Later he earned a PhD in physiology from Iowa State University in 1954.
He was a member of Kappa Kappa Psi.
He became the president of Texas Tech University, becoming the first alumnus and first Hispanic to serve as Texas Tech president. He served from 1980-1988, when President Reagan appointed him as Secretary of Education, making him the first Hispanic member in the US Cabinet. He remained at the post until 1990, when he resigned.
After his resignation, he served as the Professor of Public Health and Family Medicine. He passed away in March 2022.
Laura Elena Harring Martinez, born March 3, 1964 in Los Mochis, Mexico, is the first Latina to win Miss USA. She grew up in Mexico before she and her family relocated to San Antonio, Texas when she was ten. At twelve, she suffered a head injury when she was caught in a crossfire from a driveby shooting at twelve.
After studying theater and dance in Europe, she moved to El Paso and began competing in beauty pageants. She won Miss El Paso USA, Miss Texas USA, and then Miss USA 1985 becoming the first Hispanic woman to do so.
She went on to have a successful acting career, most notable is her role as Rita in Mulholland Drive.
France Silva, born May 8, 1876 in Hayward, California, joined the Marine Corps in September 1899 in San Francisco and was assigned to the USS Newark. In May 1900, Private France Silva was a member of the Legation Guards when the Newark sailed for China to help land allied troops to assist civilians during the Boxer Rebellion.
On June 23, 1900, the Regiment, under the command of Major Littleton Waller entered the Tianjin to protect the civilians and forced the Chinese forces to retreat. Private Silva, along with several other marines and two sailors, earned the Medal of Honor in their defense of the civilian compound at Beijing. He became the first US Marine of Mexican-American and Hispanic heritage to receive the Medal of Honor.
Silva passed away in April 1951 in Red Bluff, California.
Raul Cilloniz and Eduardo Dibos, both born in Peru, were the first South American NASCAR drivers. They raced in the 1959 Daytona 500, the inaugural race. Cilloniz finished 12th, only eight laps behind the winner Lee Petty.
Katy Jurado, born Maria Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado Garcia January, 16, 1924 in Mexico City, is the first Latin American actress to win a Golden Globe for her work in High Noon in 1952. She is the first Latin American actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Broken Lance in 1954.
She began her film career in 1943 appearing in the Mexican film No mataras. She appeared in 16 more films over the next seven years in what has been named the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema.
Jurado made her American cinema debut in Bullfighter and the Lady. Although she was not interested in appearing in American films, she worked on numerous American western films. She appeared in High Noon with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. She starred in Arrowhead with Charlton Heston and Jack Palance.
Jurado was married to Ernest Borgnine for four years, and had a romantic relationship with Western novelist Louis L'Amour.
She continued acting until 2002 when she appeared in her final film Un secreto de Esperanza, which was released after her death from kidney failure and pulmonary disease in July 2002.
