Norman Belshe was the third child (1st son) of Childress Webster Belshe and Virginia Ramos' 'unión libre' (i.e. common law marriage). He grew up in the small Mexican village known as Chamal Nuevo. (Some time in the 60s the official name of the town was changed to Adolfo Lopez Mateos, the 80th president of Mexico from 1958-64.)
Norman died at the age 8 years. The leading suspicion was that he'd been eaten some poisoned food. As I was told the story of this event in the Belshe family, there was a woman in the town who was jealous of the Belshes. She might've thought that she had been slighted or defamed in some way. Her motives were never truly known, but some sort of altercation had occurred.
As an alleged peace offering, the woman from town brought some food, probably a cooked fruit pastry of some kind, to the Belshe's home. The Matriarch of the Belshe family, Virginia Ramos Aros, was suspicious about the 'peace offering' and discarded the food.
As the story was told to me, young Norman had seen the food delivered and to him at least it appeared irresistible, so, he went to the place where the food had been discarded and ate a sizable portion of it. He fell ill within a very short time.
A local medical doctor gave him a few medicines to help counteract whatever had stricken the youngster. There didn't appear to be any improvement.
As a last resort, his mom, Virgina, enlisted the services of a local 'curandera'. In the Mexican culture, curanderos/as were men or women who were what we'd today call herbalists or naturists. They used 'folk medicine' (herbs used singly or in combinations) to try to affect cures for anything from common colds to other more serious maladies. The word 'curandero/a' means curer or healer.
The curandera plied her trade by using herbal brews, candles and other folksy preparations. It's not known for sure whether Norman's condition improved as result of what the curandera's efforts; young Norman lingered for a few more days, but eventually died.
The gringo population in Chamal Nuevo referred to the curanderos/as 'witch doctors'.
Norman died at the age 8 years. The leading suspicion was that he'd been eaten some poisoned food. As I was told the story of this event in the Belshe family, there was a woman in the town who was jealous of the Belshes. She might've thought that she had been slighted or defamed in some way. Her motives were never truly known, but some sort of altercation had occurred.
As an alleged peace offering, the woman from town brought some food, probably a cooked fruit pastry of some kind, to the Belshe's home. The Matriarch of the Belshe family, Virginia Ramos Aros, was suspicious about the 'peace offering' and discarded the food.
As the story was told to me, young Norman had seen the food delivered and to him at least it appeared irresistible, so, he went to the place where the food had been discarded and ate a sizable portion of it. He fell ill within a very short time.
A local medical doctor gave him a few medicines to help counteract whatever had stricken the youngster. There didn't appear to be any improvement.
As a last resort, his mom, Virgina, enlisted the services of a local 'curandera'. In the Mexican culture, curanderos/as were men or women who were what we'd today call herbalists or naturists. They used 'folk medicine' (herbs used singly or in combinations) to try to affect cures for anything from common colds to other more serious maladies. The word 'curandero/a' means curer or healer.
The curandera plied her trade by using herbal brews, candles and other folksy preparations. It's not known for sure whether Norman's condition improved as result of what the curandera's efforts; young Norman lingered for a few more days, but eventually died.
The gringo population in Chamal Nuevo referred to the curanderos/as 'witch doctors'.
Norman Belshe was the third child (1st son) of Childress Webster Belshe and Virginia Ramos' 'unión libre' (i.e. common law marriage). He grew up in the small Mexican village known as Chamal Nuevo. (Some time in the 60s the official name of the town was changed to Adolfo Lopez Mateos, the 80th president of Mexico from 1958-64.)
Norman died at the age 8 years. The leading suspicion was that he'd been eaten some poisoned food. As I was told the story of this event in the Belshe family, there was a woman in the town who was jealous of the Belshes. She might've thought that she had been slighted or defamed in some way. Her motives were never truly known, but some sort of altercation had occurred.
As an alleged peace offering, the woman from town brought some food, probably a cooked fruit pastry of some kind, to the Belshe's home. The Matriarch of the Belshe family, Virginia Ramos Aros, was suspicious about the 'peace offering' and discarded the food.
As the story was told to me, young Norman had seen the food delivered and to him at least it appeared irresistible, so, he went to the place where the food had been discarded and ate a sizable portion of it. He fell ill within a very short time.
A local medical doctor gave him a few medicines to help counteract whatever had stricken the youngster. There didn't appear to be any improvement.
As a last resort, his mom, Virgina, enlisted the services of a local 'curandera'. In the Mexican culture, curanderos/as were men or women who were what we'd today call herbalists or naturists. They used 'folk medicine' (herbs used singly or in combinations) to try to affect cures for anything from common colds to other more serious maladies. The word 'curandero/a' means curer or healer.
The curandera plied her trade by using herbal brews, candles and other folksy preparations. It's not known for sure whether Norman's condition improved as result of what the curandera's efforts; young Norman lingered for a few more days, but eventually died.
The gringo population in Chamal Nuevo referred to the curanderos/as 'witch doctors'.
Norman died at the age 8 years. The leading suspicion was that he'd been eaten some poisoned food. As I was told the story of this event in the Belshe family, there was a woman in the town who was jealous of the Belshes. She might've thought that she had been slighted or defamed in some way. Her motives were never truly known, but some sort of altercation had occurred.
As an alleged peace offering, the woman from town brought some food, probably a cooked fruit pastry of some kind, to the Belshe's home. The Matriarch of the Belshe family, Virginia Ramos Aros, was suspicious about the 'peace offering' and discarded the food.
As the story was told to me, young Norman had seen the food delivered and to him at least it appeared irresistible, so, he went to the place where the food had been discarded and ate a sizable portion of it. He fell ill within a very short time.
A local medical doctor gave him a few medicines to help counteract whatever had stricken the youngster. There didn't appear to be any improvement.
As a last resort, his mom, Virgina, enlisted the services of a local 'curandera'. In the Mexican culture, curanderos/as were men or women who were what we'd today call herbalists or naturists. They used 'folk medicine' (herbs used singly or in combinations) to try to affect cures for anything from common colds to other more serious maladies. The word 'curandero/a' means curer or healer.
The curandera plied her trade by using herbal brews, candles and other folksy preparations. It's not known for sure whether Norman's condition improved as result of what the curandera's efforts; young Norman lingered for a few more days, but eventually died.
The gringo population in Chamal Nuevo referred to the curanderos/as 'witch doctors'.
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