Jose "Pepe" Camacho - Founding member of the escaramuza

Photo was taken in October of 1953 at the Rancho del Charro, today's National Charro Association, in Mexico City.

1954: Lilia Lopez Becerril & Rosalia Ranzanz join the team.

Jose Camacho Elorriaga, affectionately known as "Pepe" had the good fortune of riding on the first escaramuza in the history of the sport.

As a boy, he took horse riding lessons with his brother Antonio, sister Guadalupe, known as "Coco," and three other kids from the Ruiz Loredo family : Arturo, Graciela and Maria Eugenia.

Fate put them in the middle of the arena one afternoon in 1953 as a group, showing off their skills during a break at a charreada, or Mexican rodeo. They performed a basic and slow synchronized routine. That day, the escaramuza was born.

Thirty-eight years later, the discipline became an officially recognized sport of charreria in 1991, recognized by the Mexican Federation of Charreria when Carlos Enrique Pacual Lopez led the organization.

Pepe left the original team after a few years, along with his brother Antonio. They had other charro sports to practice, leaving the door wide open for other little girls to join the team. Since then, the escaramuza sport has been a female affair.

Pepe on his horse at the National Association of Charros in 2009, photo by Leslie Mazoch.

Below are historical photographs of the first and second generation of escaramuza teams, including Jose, narrated by interviews with his sister Coco and brother Antonio.