Louis Cardis

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Louis Cardis(1825-1877) was born in the Piedmont region of Italy. He served as a captain in Giuseppe Garibaldi's army before immigrating to the United States in 1854. Cardis moved to El Paso, Texas in 1864. He quickly learned the Spanish language and established a political power base with the Mexican American citizens of the area. He became involved in a dispute involving salt deposits and the shifting of influence and political power from the hispanic population to the anglo. He was elected to the State Legislature^{[citation needed]} with the help of Charles Howard. Cardis had a falling out with Howard after Howared staked an exclusive claim to the salt deposits. Cardis had his allies imprison Howard, and Howard retaliated by shooting Cardis to death with a shotgun on Oct. 9, 1877. Two months later Howard was killed by Cardis former supporters.