The Treasure of The Sierra Madre - Historical Setting

Historical Setting

By the 1920s the violence of the Mexican Revolution had largely subsided, although scattered gangs of bandits continued to terrorize the countryside. The newly established post-revolution government relied on the effective but ruthless Federal Police, commonly known as the Federales, to patrol remote areas and dispose of the bandits.

Foreigners, like the three American prospectors who are the focus of the story, were at very real risk of being killed by the bandits. The bandits, likewise, were given little more than a "last cigarette" by the army units after capture, even having to dig their own graves first. This is the context of the story.