| Summary: | Part of the Institute of Texan Cultures' The Texians and the Texans series. I THE TEXIANS AND THE TEXANS THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS INSTITUTE OF TEXAN CULTURES THE MEXICAN TEXANS AT SAN ANTONIO . _______________________ . THE MEXICAN TEXANS . ~ The Unive rsity of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures a t San Antonio 1986 THE TEXIANS AND THE TEXANS A series dealing with the many peoples who have contributed to the history and heritage of Texas. Now in print: Pamphlets - The Afro-American Texans, The Anglo-American Texans, The Belgian Texans, The Chinese Texans, The Czech Texans, The German Texans, The Greek Texans, The Indian Texans, The Italian Texans, TheJ ewish Texans, The L ebanese Texans and the $yrian Texans, The Mexican Texans, Los Tejanos Mexicanos (in Spanish), The Norwegian Texans, The Spanish Texans, and The Swiss Texans. Books - The Danish Texans, The English Texans, The German Texans, The Irish Texans, The Japanese Texans, The Polish Texans, and The Wendish Texans. The Mexican Texans Principal researcher: Samuel P. Nesmith ©1975: The University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio John R . McGiffert, Executive Director Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 72-611950 International Standard Book Number 0-86701-030-4 Second revised edition, 1986; second printing, 1989 This publication was made possible, in part, by a grant from Houston Endowment, Inc. Printed in the United States of America Cover: Unknown candle vendor Back Cover: Judge j.M. Rodriguez and family THE MEXICAN TEXANS About three million of today's Texans are of Mexican birth or descent. Their proud heritage is a blend of several cultures which carved Texas from bedrock wilderness. It is our strongest tie with the past and a significant influence on our future. In the emergence of the Mexican people as a nationality, various types and combinations of Indians and Spaniards united under a single banner in 1821. Their story begins much earlier, however. Two centuries before soldiers of Spain landed on the North American mainland, Aztecan builders were at work on their capital. From this city, called Mexico-Tenochtitliin, come both the name of Mexico and its national symbol. Following instructions from their gods, the Aztecs had settled on a lake island where they had found an eagle with a snake in his beak perched on a cactus. Mexico City stands on that site today. When Cortes landed in 1519 with 500 men, the many native tribes of Mexico . totaled between 11 and 20 million people. Their ranks were catastrophically reduced by European-borne diseases, yet by 1800 they still outnumbered Spanish-born residents of Mexico more than 40 to 1. Despite Spain's enormous legacy to Mexico - including language and religion - Old World Spaniards (peninsulares) never constituted more than a fraction of Mexico's total population. About a thousand of these Europeans, mostly male, arrived annually during the first 125 years after the conquest of Mexico. Immigration played only a minor role in population growth after the first half century. Thereafter, American-born Spaniards, the criollos (or creoles), exceeded the Spanish-born peninsulares in ever-increasing ratios. The union of Spaniards and Indians gave rise to a new group, the mestizos, who, with the Indian population, made up 83 percent of the people in New Spain. By the time of Mexican independence from Spain, the creole The founding of Tenochtitldn count was slightly over a million, while European-born Spaniards totaled only about 70,000. Strangely, it was the creole - the Spaniard born on this continent of Spanish parents-who spearheaded the 1810 revolt against Spain. And Mexico became a nation in 1821 through the combined efforts of Indians, mestizos and creoles - all children of the New World. Texas history until 1836 was simply a part of Mexican history. To the present day Mexican Texans have played a significant role in local history. Some of their contributions - examples only-are outlined in the following sketches of a few notable individuals. FRAY ISIDRO FELIX DE ESPINOSA 1709-1716 Fray Isidro Felix de Espinosa was ordained in 1697 at the College of Santa Cruz in Queretaro, the city of his birth. He was assigned to the mis- :3 Fr. Isidro Felix de Espinosa sion of San Juan Bautista del Rio Grande, located at what is now the town of Guerrero in the Mexican state of Coahuila, about 35 miles southeast of present-day Eagle Pass. In 1709 he accompanied soldiers to the present site of San Antonio, where an abundant water source was discovered and subsequently named San Pedro Springs. Espinosa was soon made fatherpresident of the Texan missions founded by the Queretarian college. In 1716 he accompanied the East Texas expedition of Domingo Ramon and established the missions of Nuestra Senora de la Purisima Concepcion de los Hainai and San Jose de los N azonis - both in what is now Nacogdoches County-and reestablished San Francisco de los Tejas one and a half miles north of the present Houston County community of Weches. As a member of Martin de Alarcon's 1718 inspection tour, and again in 1721 as a member of the Marques de Aguayo's expedition, Espinosa increased his knowledge of the Texas mission field. His 1746 book Cronica, an account of the apostolic colleges, remains the best primary source of the early 18th cen- CRISTOBAL DE LOS SANTOS COY 1746 Mission schools had been established at San Francisco de los Tejas in East Texas as early as 1690. The first nonmission school in Texas was founded in 1746 at San Fernando de Bexar by Don Cristobal de los Santos Coy. It was a joint project in which government lands were donated, and buildings furnished by the church were maintained by the people. In 1789 another school was organized in San Antonio by Don Jose Francisco de la Mata, a native of Saltillo. The fate of that school is unknown. But in 1811 Juan Zambrano established a school in San Antonio designed to accommodate 70 pupils who would pay according to ability. The teacher was paid 30 pesos a month, and a regidor (alderman) assumed responsibilit'}' for administering punishment. In 1818 Zambrano formed an 80-pupil school at La Bahia. Later "the teacher, a soldier named Jose Gabin, was relieved of his position because his school duties conflicted with his responsibilities as secretary to the ayuntamiento (municipal council). The school closed in 1821 when the population dwindled. Another school opened at San Antonio in 1826. Two years later the governor bought the school 100 charts, 36 catechisms and other supplies out of tury history of Texas. 19th century schoolroom 4 public funds. This was the first instance in which free textbooks were provided to schoolchildren in Texas. That same year an ordinance was passed establishing a "public free primary school;' Despite this activity, financial support was the crucial problem. The central government shifted responsibility for education to the states; the states, having no money, shifted the burden to the ayuntamientos; the ayuntamientos, also without funds, did not know what to do. Where schools were opened, attendance was often difficult to maintain. JOSE VAsQUEZ BORREGO 1750 Jose Vasquez Borrego was a wealthy cattleman, who owned ranches on both sides of the Rio Grande. In 1750 he secured additional lands from Nuevo Santander's governor, Jose de Escandon, in order to establish the settlement of Dolores, situated north of the river between present Laredo and Brownsville. Within four years this villa had 123 inhabitants brought in by Borrego and his son-in-law, Juan Antonio Vidaurri. Supporters of Mexican independence, the founding families of Dolores were driven from their homes by Spanish royalists, but they returned in 1828. Vidaurri heirs still live on the land, although Dolores was destroyed by Indians in 1850. Ruins of the original settlement include a church, fort, school and several houses. TOMAS SANCHEZ DE LA BARRERA Y GALLARDO 1755 Tomas Sanchez was the second ranchman from Mexico to establish a Texas town on land granted by Governor Escandon. In 1755 Sanchez located the Villa de Laredo on Ruins of Villa de Dolores the north bank of the Rio Grande, 30 miles above Dolores. Under his leadership, the population of Laredo increa!;ed from 85 in 1757 to 700 Spaniards, mestizos and mulatos by 1789. Sanchez was chief justice and al~alde (mayor) almost continuously until his death in 1796. Laredo gained early importance, which it still maintains, as a crossroads to and from Mexico. No attempt was made to extend Texas government to the city, however, until the Texas boundary question finally was resolved by the U.S. -Mexican War. The Laredo Archives (housed at St. Mary's University of San Antonio) rank with those of Nacogdoches and Bexar as valuable source material on Texas under Spanish and Mexican rule. ANTONIO GIL YBARBO 1779 Antonio Gil Ybarbo, a man of intrigue, was born at Los Adaes in what is now Louisiana. His parents had been sent there as colonists from Spain. By 1773 Ybarbo became spokesman for a group of discontented East Texas settlers. When the Marques de Rubi recommended abandoning the presidios and missions of East Texas in order to con- Historical marker at Laredo centrate the Spanish forces for a more effective defense, the settlers were ordered to move from the Nacogdoches area to vacant farmlands near San Antonio. Hardship and sickness took a heavy toll of life on this journey. Ybarbo petitioned the Spanish government, and, after an unhappy one-year stay near San Fernando, these people were allowed to move to the Trinity River, where they founded the town of Bucareli in what is now Madison County. It is said that, on this occasion, Ybarbo took to East Texas cottonseed, sheep and a Negro weaver who was expected to teach his craft to the settlers. But the people were barely able to eke out an existence. Comanche Indians began harassing the settlement in spite of Ybarbo's many expeditions among the tribes to promote friendly relations. Appeals for additional arms and ammunition went unanswered. Finally, after a disastrous flood, the village of Bucareli was abandoned early in 1779. Ybarbo then helped rebuild Nacogdoches. Later he was accused of smuggling and, although cleared, was forbidden to return to Nacogdoches. Exiled to Louisiana, he was, however, allowed by Spanish authorities to return to Texas a few years later. He died at his Nacogdoches ranch in 1809. Ybarbo leading the settlers from Los Adaes, 1773 5 ANTONIO LEAL 1790 Antonio Leal, born in San Antonio de Bexar, led a comparatively uneventful life until 1790, when he joined the first of the filibustering schemes to wrest Texas from Spain. With Irish adventurer Philip Nolan, Leal apparently became involved in capturing and selling Texas mustangs. A ten-league grant, where the town of San Augustine now stands, was owned by Leal and his wife and used as pasture for horses awaiting transfer to Louisiana. The Spanish government became suspicious of Nolan, believing that he was selling horses to Anglo-Americans and mapping Spanish territory as well. In 1801 Nolan was killed, and the Leals were arrested as accomplices. They were prosecuted in one of the most famous trials in Texas history and deported to San Antonio. JUAN BAUTISTA DE LAS CASAS 1811 Texas felt the first stirrings of Mexicds desire for independence from Spain in 1811. In those days the attitude in Spain was that all individuals who were born into the New World atmosphere were naturally inferior. Thus the American-born Spaniard Mexican insurgents of 1810 in typical dress 6 San Fernando Church in the time of Zambrano was not entrusted with high civil, military and ecclesiastical offices. The impoverished Indians and mestizos were stratified by law at the bottom of the social structure. By 1810 the creoles could contain themselves no . longer. Meeting secretly in every city of Mexico, they committed themselves to action against the peninsulares, contemptuously referred to as gachupines (the gentry who enjoyed the privilege of wearing spurs). Leadership was provided by a priest, Father Miguel Hidalgo, whose execution in July 1811 could not stop the movement toward independence. Juan Bautista de las Casas plotted the Texas phase of Hidalgds insurrection. Las Casas, born in 1775, was a native of the northern province of Nuevo Santander, now called Tamaulipas. He had spent much of his life in the military. What is termed the Las Casas Revolution was actually a coup &tat: Spanish Governor Manuel Salcedo and Lieutenant Colonel Simon Herrera were arrested in San Antonio, and Las Casas appointed himself governor of the province in the name of the Hidalgo revolt. Las Casas, however, proved unpopular in San Antonio, and a counter-revolution terminated his brief rule. He was taken to Monclova, tried for treason and executed. Independence for the Mexican nation finally came in 1821. JUAN MANUEL ZAMBRANO 1811 Born at San Antonio in 1772, Juan Manuel Zambrano was a man of tremendous vitality with an independent, flamboyant nature. While a subdeacon of the San Fernando Church, he was exiled to Mexico City in 1807 by Governor Salcedo, who had received complaints from San Antonians regarding Zambrands "aggressive acts:' In spite of vigorous objection from Governor Salcedo, Zambrano was allowed to return to Texas just in time to become an observer of the Las Casas Revolution of 1811. With assistance from prominent Hispanic Texans in San Antonio, Zambrano soon organized a successful counter-revolution and restored royalist authority in March 1811. Apparently not one to hold a grudge, Zambrano helped restore Salcedo to the governorship. Zambrands fame spread far .and wide after the events of 1811. In 1814 he was again ordered to leave Texas, this time because of a gambling debt. Evidently he was slow to obey orders, for in July 1815 he was involved in an impromptu street duel in San Antonio. The temperamental priest was feared by many people. Several complaints were filed against him for varIOUS cruelties. But in 1818 he demonstrated a more constructive side of his character by establishing a non-mission school at La Bahfa. On January 26, 1826, Don Erasmo SeguIn, postmaster at Bexar, wrote his wife: "Don't be afraid of the beating Father Zambrano threatened you with. I've heard he died recently in an exemplary way. May God keep him in His heavenly kingdom!" BERNARDO GUTIERREZ DE LARA 1813 Jose Bernardo Maximiliano Gutierrez de Lara led the first successful revolt against Spanish rule in Mexico and in the process gave Texas its first declaration of independence and its first constitution. Born in Mexico on the eve of the American Revolution, he was inspired by this movement and its French counterpart. When social inequality and economic injustice led Father Miguel Hidalgo and his followers to open revolt in 1810, Gutierrez pledged his personal fortune in Nuevo Santander (now Tamaulipas) to the independence movement. When Hidalgo was executed, Gutierrez hastened to the United States seeking aid to continue the revolution. Tradition says that he became so exasperated with Washington bureaucracy that he even learned to swear in English. Nevertheless, by the summer of 1812, Gutierrez and Augustus Magee, a former U.S. Army lieuten-ant, organized a force of American filibusters, Mexican insurgents and Indians near Natchitoches, Louisiana. They crossed the Sabine River, took Nacogdoches, La BahIa and San Antonio de Bexar. There, on April 6, 1813, Don Bernardo's forces proclaimed independence from Spain and declared Texas a state in the yetto- be-established Republic of Mexico. On July 4, 1813, he wrote an appeal to the American people: "The fertile plains of Texas will no more be stained with the precious blood of patriots. Here you may enjoy life according to your wishes; here peace and comfort will smile. . . ." The Americans in Gutierrez's army soon became disenchanted with the harsh measures taken by the Mexicans toward their enemies and returned to the United States. Within four months Gutierrez was forced to relinquish command of the filibustering army. to Alvarez de Toledo, a Caribbean soldier-of-fortune and pamphleteer. Royalist troops defeated the fiJibusters on August 18, 1813, at the battle of Medina River and restored Spanish rule to Texas. In exile in Louisiana, Gutierrez continued to work with liberation movements, and after Mexico was independent he became the first governor of the state of Tamaulipas. JOSE FELIX TRESPALACIOS 1822 Active in many movements for Mexican independence, Jose Felix Trespalacios led a hectic career. He had been imprisoned twice for rebellious activities when he met James Long, who also had ideas of freeing Texas from Spanish rule. After an unsuccessful invasion effort in 1819, Long returned a year later and captured La BahIa. When he learned of Mexico's bid for independence, Long sent Trespalacios and Ben Milam to Mexico to attempt a union with Agustin de Iturbide. Captured by Spanish royalists, the two messengers were Gutierrez de Lara's seal of Texas imprisoned in Veracruz. They Government seal of Coahuila y Texas remained there until Iturbide's cause prevailed. For his service to Mexican independence, Trespalacios was made a cavalry colonel and then appointed governor of Texas. During his administration, from 1822 to 1823, Stephen F. Austin's colony was divided into the Colorado and Brazos districts. Trespalacios later served in the Mexican National Congress. JOSE ANTONIO SAUCEDO 1824 Jose Antonio Saucedo was active in the political life of San Antonio as early as 1806. In 1812 he and Erasmo Seguin wrote the code of rules for a school which was established at La Villita. With the formation of the dual state of Coahuila y Texas in 1824, he becamejife politico, the chief political officer in Bexar. During his tenure Saucedo defined the boundaries of and approved the regulations for Stephen F. Austin's colony. Patio of the Spanish Governor's Palace at .san Antonio 7 MARTiN DE LEON 1824 One of the most influential men in early Texas, Martin de Le6n came from a wealthy creole family of Nuevo Santander. He chose a life of ranching and adventure instead of the European education his father planned for him. In 1805 he made a trip to Texas, saw its possibilities for cattle raising and developed a ranch on the Aransas River. De Le6n's "EJ" brand, reputedly the oldest in Texas, belonged to the Jesuits centuries before and stood for Espiritu JesUs, Spirit of Jesus. Don Martin de Leon's cattle brand Martin had supported the Hidalgo revolution, and, with the establishment of the Republic of Mexico in 1824, he obtained a grant to settle Mexican families in Texas. Victoria, the capital of his colony, grew, even after its founder's death in 1833, and was incorporated by the Republic of Texas. The people of Victoria supported the Texas Revolution and paid heavily for their allegiance: they were considered traitors by the Mexicans, and after the revolution the AngloAmericans treated them unfairly because they were Mexicans. The enterprising men De Le6n brought from Mexico, however, contributed to the growth and development of Victoria, as many of their descendants do today. Leon County is named for the city's founder. A number of his descendants still live in the Victoria area. 8 RAFAEL GONZALES 1824 Born in San Fernando de Bexar in 1789, Rafael Gonzales trained for an army career and served at various posts in Texas and Coahuila. He joined the forces of independence against Spain and was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He served as governor of the united state of Coahuila y Texas from 1824 to 1826. The Texas town of Gonzales is named for him. GASPAR FLORES 1826 Gaspar Flores Abrego y Valdes twice served as alcalde of San Antonio. He was appointed in 1826 to succeed the B-aron de Bastrop as commissioner of colonization. As such, Flores completed the land titles of Austin's first colony and established the settlers of the second Austin contract. With almost unlimited power ofland grants, Flores resided in the colonies during the early 1830's and signed more than 500 titles. He and Jose Francisco Ruiz were among the few men then in Texas equipped to treat and counsel with the Comanche Indians-a service they performed several times. Home oj Juan Martin de Veramendi Don Gaspar offered all of his goods and cattle to the men in the Alamo and was one of four Bexar delegates elected to the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos. But for the hand of fate, he and Erasmo Seguin would have joined Ruiz and Jose Antonio Navarro as the only native Texans to sign the March 2 Declaration of Independence. Seguin became too ill to travel, and Flores died en route to Washington. The Flores family had farms and ranches below San Antonio, and the town of Floresville is named for them. JUAN MARTiN DE VERAMENDI 1830 Juan Martin de Veramendi, born in San Antonio, served for a time as collector of foreign revenue. In 1824 he was chosen mayor of his native city. Later, in 1830, he was elected vicegovernor of Coahuila y Texas. While en route to Mexico City to qualify, he met Jim Bowie. The two became friends and traveled back to Texas together. Bowie married Veramendi's daughter, Ursula, and the two men went into the cotton business. The governor of the province, Jose Maria Letona, died, and Veramendi took his family to Saltillo to assume the office of acting governor. At his summer home in Monclova, Juan Vera- mendi and most of his family-including Bowie's wife-died during a cholera epidemic in 1833. PLACIDO BENAVIDES 1832 Placido Benavides, one of Martin de Le6n's colonists, played a leading part in the fight for Texas independence. A native of Reynosa, Benavides came to Texas in 1828 as secretary to Francisco de Le6n, commissioner of the De Le6n colony. With two of his brothers Benavides shared a land grant on Placedo Creek. He married Agustina de Le6n and became alcalde of Victoria in 1832. His home, Round Top House, served as a refuge for colonists during Indian raids. Always loyal to the Texan cause, Benavides led a group of MexicanTexan ranchers during the 1836 Texas Revolution. Anglo antipathy toward Mexicans in the immediate wake of the war caused him to move his family to Louisiana, where he died in 1837. Benavides and De Leon Grants RAMON MUSQUIZ 1835 "Ram6n Musquiz is one of the best friends to Texas and the truest that lives in this place and he deserves the confidence of the Colony and of all Texas:' So wrote Stephen F. Austin from San Antonio in December 1835. Ram6n Musquiz was the political chief and the highest civil official in Texas from 1827 until 1834. All official relations of the colonists with the state and federal governments had to be conducted through him. Musquiz was born of an old and distinguished family in northern Coahuila. His father, Captain Miguel Musquiz, had been stationed at Nacogdoches during the Philip Nolan expedition. Prior to becoming a political leader, Ram6n Musquiz operated a mercantile business. Upon assuming office in Bexar, he showed an earnest desire to promote in all legal ways the welfare of the Texan colonists. He cooperated with Stephen F. Austin and others who sincerely believed that the introduction of slavery was necessary for the rapid'development of Texas. Musquiz successfully urged Mexican authorities to exempt Texas from the decree of 1829, which abolished slave~ y in Mexico. He also worked to make Texas a separate state within the Mexican nation. In March 1835 he replaced Juan Seguin as vicegovernor of Coahuila y Texas, and three months later he was elevated to the governorship. He was in San Antonio during the battle of the Alamo and later helped tend to the Texan dead. Shortly thereafter Musquiz left San Antonio and lived in Monclova until 1839, when he returned to San Antonio. TEXAS'S DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 1836 On March 2, 1836 - four days before Santa Anna's victory at the Alamodelegates at the town of Washington signed Texas's Declaration of Independence. At least seven Mexican Texans were elected to serve in this historic convention, but only three were able to attend -Jose Antonio Navarro, Jose Francisco Ruiz and Lorenzo de Zavala. JOSE ANTONIO NAVARRO 1836 For 50 years before the American Civil War, Jose Antonio Navarro had a part in every major decision affecting the history of Texas. Born in San Antonio de Bexar in 1795, he was involved in the first stirrings for independence from Spain and was active in the insurrection led by Gutierrez and Magee. When that uprising failed Navarro took refuge in Louisiana until he was granted amnesty in 1816. His pleasant friendship with Stephen F. Austin began in 1821, Reading of the Texas Declaration of Independence 9 when the colonizer was locating his settlers in Texas. Navarro was a member of the Chamber of Deputies in the state legislature, when, at Austin's urging, he introduced a prudent and novel piece of legislation into the New World. Decree No. 70, passed by the legislature of Coahuila y Texas in 1829, was the forerunner of the homestead law. Texas thus became the first government in this hemisphere to make the family secure in its home. A signer of Texas's Declaration of Independence, Navarro was also a member of the committee to draft its constitution. After serving in the Third Congress of the Republic, he reluctantly accepted President M.B. Lamar's appointment in 1841 as commissioner on the ill-fated Santa Fe expedition. As a result Navarro spent four years in a Mexican prison. He escaped in time to attend the Texas Convention of 1845, where he voted for annexation to the United States and helped draw up the new state's constitution . Navarro was a state senator in the first and second legislatures, and at an Austin meeting in 1861 he spoke for the secession ordinance. Twentyfive years before his death in 1871, Navarro County was created and Jose Antonio Navarro 10 named in his honor. The county seat, Corsicana, is so called for his father's birthplace on the isle of Corsica. Jose Francisco Ruiz JOSE FRANCISCO RUIZ 1836 Bo'rn in San Antonio on September 1, 1780, Jose Francisco Ruiz was sent . by his family to Spain for his education. He returned home in 1803 filled with ideas of self-government. He became a respected and influential teacher and was an early supporter of the Mexican Revolution. Unlike others who escaped to the United States after defeat of the GutierrezMagee expedition, Ruiz went to live among the Indians until Mexico gained independence. He was soon a colonel in the Mexican army, where his knowledge of the Indians was a great asset in military and governmental affairs. After signing the Texas Declaration of Independence, Ruiz served as the first senator from Bexar to the Texas Congress. LORENZO DE ZAVALA 1836 Lorenzo de Zavala's illustrious political career began in his native Yucatan as a member of its provisional assembly and as its representative to the Spanish Cortes in Madrid. An advocate of democratic reforms, he served in the Mexican Congress from the state of Mexico in 1827. Under President Vicente Guerrero, De Zavala was minister of the treasury and received an empresario land grant to settle families in Texas. In 1833 Santa Anna called the statesman from the Mexican Chamber of Deputies to be minister to France. Giving up the post when Santa Anna abrogated the Mexican Constitution of 1824, De Zavala brought his family to Texas and established a home near present Houston in 1835. He represented the Harrisburg municipality in the 1835 Consultation at San Felipe and attended the Convention of 1836 at the town of Washington, where he signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. On March 17, 1836, De Zavala was named vice-president ad interim of the Republic of Texas. His health was failing, and he resigned this office only a month before his death on November 15, 1836. Although deeply involved in the struggles for Mexican independence and later for Texas independence, Lorenzo de Zavala found time in his 47 years to publish a number of important books on Mexican politics. He was highly esteemed by his fellow Texans, who considered him one of the most interesting and polished gentlemen of their frontier. 1822 until his election as governor of Lorenzo de Zavala GREGORIO ESPARZA 1836 Gregorio Esparza - one of seven known Mexican Texans to die in the Alamo - was the only defender whom Santa Anna allowed to be buried. Bodies of all the others were burned, including Juan Abamillo, Juan A. Badillo, Carlos Espalier, Antonio Fuentes, Galba Fuqua and Andres N ava. Esparza was excepted because his brother was on call to Santa Anna during the storming of the Alamo and had joined General Cos at the siege of Bexar in December 1835. Gregorio, on the other hand, had entered the Texan service as a volunteer in mid-October and, with Juan Seguin's company, helped drive Cos from San Antonio. When Santa Anna reoccupied the city early in 1836, Esparza was warned that he and his family should take refuge in the Alamo. The siege was beginning and the massive doors already barred tightly in the beleaguered walls when the Esparzas, under cover of night, were raised through a window into the Alamo chapel. In that chapel Gregorio was found on March 6, 1836, the eve of his 34th birthday, slumped over the small cannon he had manned - a ball in his chest and a saber slash through his side. Travis's slave Joe and at least 12 women and children survived the battle inside the Alamo. Five were Esparzas: Gregorids wife and their children. One son, Enrique, lived to be 89 years old, and at his death in 1917 the family'S printed announcement closed: "The deceased was a son of one of the soldiers on the side of the Americans in the battle of the Alamo." JOSE MIGUEL ALDRETE 1836 During the Texas Revolution Jose Miguel Aldrete served with Captain Philip Dimmitt's garrison at Goliad, signed the Goliad Declaration of Independence and helped supply the Texan forces. Little is known of Aldrete's youth, although he probably was born at La Bahia. He married a daughter of Mexican empresario Martin de Leon, served on the Goliad town council and was several times alcalde. A large landholder in N ueces and Refugio counties, Aldrete was land commissioner of Coahuila y Texas in 1835, when Santa Anna dissolved its government. Fall oj the Alamo JESUS CUELLAR 1836 The Mexican army's success at San Patricio and Goliad during the Texas Revolution might have been reversed had a plan devised by Captain Jesus Cuellar succeeded. A soldier in the Mexican army until after the siege of Bexar, Cuellar deserted to the Texas side because of his personal dislike for Santa Anna. He joined Fannin's troops at Goliad and suggested a stratagem of entrapping Urrea's forces at a pass. U nfortunat ely Fannin was too slow in taking Jose Miguel Aldrete 11 action and soon was massacred at Goliad along with his men. Cuellar, in the meantime, had been sent as a messenger to Refugio and managed to make his way to Texan forces on the Brazos. Some sources say he was with General Sam Houston at San Jacinto. Nicknamed "Comanche" for having once been an Indian captive, Cuellar remained a loyal Texas citizen and died at Goliad in 1841. ERASMOAND JUAN SEGUiN 18.36 The Seguins, Erasmo and Juan, devoted their lives and fortunes to the growth and development of Texas. Born at San Antonio in 1872, Erasmo Seguin was an early alcalde of Bexar. He ranched south of town, experimented with cotton and organized a city-owned school. A friend of Stephen F. Austin, Erasmo supported the colonists in their dealings with the Mexican government and tried to reinforce the weakening relationship between the Texans and the Mexicans. In December 1835, when General Cos and his troops occupied San Antonio, Mexican soldiers made the mistake of mistreating Erasmo Seguin. He reacted by making huge contributions of food, horses and mules to the rebels. He was elected a delegate to the Convention of 1836, but illness prevented his signing the Texas Declaration of Independence. His son, Juan, was one of the most effective recruiters for the Texan forces . His company, the Second Regiment of'Iexas Volunteers, Ninth Company, served gallantly throughout the Texas Revolution. Juan missed death at the Alamo when he and an aide were sent out with a message requesting reinforcements. Later, as a lieutenant colonel commanding the military at San Antonio, Seguin buried the ashes of the Alamo defenders. So popular did he become that the town of Walnut Springs changed its name to Seguin in his honor. Seguin served in the Texas Senate until 1840, when he resigned 12 Juan Seguin to help set up a northern Mexico republic separate from Santa Anna's regime. Uncovering a Mexican plot to invade Texas again, he hurried back to warn his Texas friends. Juan Seguin became mayor of San Antonio in 1841. When General Rafa~l Vasquez and his troops captured the city in March of the following year, Vasquez told the people that die mayor sympathized with the l'y1exican cause. Although this seemed a deliberate attempt to discredit Seguin, his enemies took advantage of the situation and incited powerful opposition. They were so successful that when Seguin returned with Captain Hays after having pursued Vasquez and his army to the Rio Grande, he was met by an aroused mob that forced him to flee into hiding. A few days later, when The battle of San Jacinto General Edward Burleson arrived to take charge of the army, Mayor Seguin asked for a military trial to clear his name, but Burleson refused, saying that the charges were ridiculous. Bishop Odin reported that about 20 of the most prominent Mexican families of San Antonio were compelled to leave the city as a result of their treatment by the Texas Volunteers, who invaded their lands and homes. Seguin resigned as mayor and joined the march of the refugees to Mexico. In September 1842 Santa Anna forced him to follow General Adrian Woll in a reinvasion attempt. Seguin died at Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, in 1889, unappreciated for his services to 'Iexas. Eventually, however, he was vindicated and recognized as a true Texas patriot. In 1969 citizens of the town of Seguin made a pilgrimage to Nuevo Laredo to honor him. Then, in 1974, Juan Seguin was reburied in Seguin, acknowledged as a Texas hero. SECOND REGIMENT OF TEXAS VOLUNTEERS, NINTH COMPANY 18.35-18.36 Captain Juan Seguin'S company served gallantly throughout the Texas Revolution - at the storming of Bexar, in the Alamo, as scouts in Houston's army and as a unit at San Jacinto. Five of the seven Mexican Texans who died in the Alamo were Seguin's men (see section on Gregorio Esparza). Other members of the company included: ] ose Maria Arocha, Manuel Arocha, Simon Arreola, Andres Barcinas, Manuel Bueno, Juan M. Cabrera, Gabriel Casillas, Antonio Cruz y Arocha, Antonio Curbier, Matias Curbier, Alejandro de la Garza, Lucio Enriquez, Manuel Flores, Manuel Marfa Flores, Nepomuceno Flores, Pedro Herrera, Tomas Maldonado, Antonio Menchaca, ] ose Maria Mancha, Nepomuceno Navarro,]acinto Pena, Eduardo Ramirez, Ambrosio Rodriquez, Manuel Tarin and] ose Marfa Ximenez. JOSE ANTONIO MENCHACA 1838 Born at Bexar in 1800,] ose Antonio Menchaca was the grandson of Marcos Menchaca, who had settled on a grant from the Spanish crown. Antonio joined the Texan forces in 1835, participated in the siege of Bexar and served under] uan Seguin at the battle of San] acinto. In this battle Sergeant Menchaca, who was fluent in both English and Spanish, acted as interpreter for Seguin and others of the company who did not understand English. After the Texan army left Antonio Menchaca Harrisburg, General Houston had asked the company of Mexican Texans under Juan Seguin to stay behind and guard the horses and equipment. Perhaps Houston was afraid some of these men might be shot by mistake in the forthcoming melee. But Seguin and his company were insulted by Houston's suggestion. Menchaca told the commanderin- chief that they had joined the army to aid in the fighting and wanted to die facing the enemy. If horse-herding was the alternative, they would go and attend their families, who were fleeing to the Louisiana border in the "Runaway Scrape." Houston admired this kind of courage and changed his order. The Mexican Texans fought bravely and well at San]acinto. In 1838 President Lamar named Menchaca to a conference commission on the Cordova rebellion, and he was later mayor pro tem of San Antonio. VICENTE CORDOVA 1838 Vicente Cordova lived In Nacogdoches, where he served as alcalde, judge and councilman. Cordova was opposed to the Texas Revolution and led a rebellion of his own. He began in 1835 with an attack on Texans marching to the siege of Bexar. Cordova rose again against the AngloTexans in 1838 but was defeated. His forces, including 300 Indians, camped on an island in the Angelina River and sent a letter to President Sam Houston disclaiming any allegiance to Texas. Thomas]. Rusk pursued him with the militia, but Cordova and many of his men escaped to Mexico. With General Adrian Woll's army in 1842 Cordova assisted in the Mexican occupation of San Antonio and was killed at the battle of Salado. Jose Maria Jesus Carbajal JOSE MARiA JESUS CARBAJAL (CARVAJAL) 1846 At the midpoint of his career] ose Marfa Jesus Carbajal commanded an army division for Mexico in the War of 1846. This war, which established the Rio Grande as a permanent international boundary, settled officially the old Texan-Mexican dispute over land stretching south from the Nueces to the Rio Grande. But Carbajal and many other Rio Grande residents continued to view this fateful strip as part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. San Antonio-born Carbajal was a fatherless lad of 13 when befriended by Stephen F. Austin in 1823. Austin arranged for him to study in the United States, and on his return in 1830 he lived with Austin to learn the techniques of surveying. He was named surveyor for Martin de Leon's Victoria colony, married De Leon's daughter and served as secretary to the Coahuila y Texas legislature. When Carbajal's arrest was ordered in 1835 for rebellious activity against Mexico, he fled to New Orleans with his brother-in-law, Fernando de Leon, to secure a boatload of munitions for Texas volunteers. Captured and detained at Matamoros, Carbajal was thereby prevented from attending the Convention of 1836 at which the Texas Declaration of Independence was framed and issued. He did not escape until after the battle of San Jacinto. One of Carbajal's brothers died for the Texas cause at Goliad; another was a Texan cavalry officer. But when the revolution was over, strong anti-Mexican feeling swept Texas. The De Le6n family had its possessions taken and was forced into exile. Thereafter, Carbajal never considered himself a Texan. In 1839 Don Jose was active in the short-lived Republic of the Rio Grande, which was an attempt to establish a confederation of northern Mexican states. He was among petitioners to the United States in 1850 for a proposed Republic of the Sierra Madre, which would occupy the region east of the Rio Grande, south of the line of New Mexico and distinct from Texas. By 1855 Carbajal had led four expeditions of Texans and Mexicans into Mexico, attempting to form a free-trade zone along the Rio Grande. He fought in the same area during the Cortina War of 1859. Almost single-handedly Don Jose captured Matamoros in 1866 and was named governor ofTamaulipas. President Juarez then entrusted Carbajal with a delicate loan mission to the United States; his success, and his purchase of arms, made possible the complete expulsion of the French from Mexico. King Ranch Riders 14 - . I . ~ ~ __ "",. Old Building at San Ygnacio LOS KlNENOS The widely known King Ranch of South Texas has taken well over a century to build. Much of the labor involved has been provided by Mexican ranchhands whose families have been associated with the ranch for several generations. With pride they have called themselves Los Kineiios. "Some of the people who worked for . the ranch in the late 19th . century have achieved almost legendary status. Ram6n Alvarado was a famed cow boss, while Luis Robles and Julian Cantu were expert horse bosses. Jose Maria Alegria had charge of the sheep. Today kineiios say they work "with" the ranch owners, not "for" them. DON MANUEL MUSQUIZ 1854 In 1854 a political refugee from Mexico named Manuel Musquiz settled in a canyon six miles southeast of Fort Davis. He established the first great cattle ranch in the Davis Mountain country. About 1861 ChiefNicolas and 250 Apache warriors attacked the ranch while Musquiz was in Presidio. Three people were killed, and all the cattle were driven away. Lieutenant Mayes and a company of troops from Fort Davis started to the rescue, but they were ambushed, and all but one were killed. By 1862 Musquiz had changed his base of opera-tions to Santa Rosa in Mexico. It was here that he was reunited with his brother, Miguel, who had been an Indian captive since early boyhood. Miguel was the father of Alsate, noted chief of the Chisos Apaches. Today the ruins of the Musquiz ranch house may be seen on the road between Fort Davis and Alpine. The great cottonwoods Don Manuel planted still stand . PROCESO MARTiNEZ 1859 Don Proceso Martinez was a pioneer merchant and office holder of Zapata County, Texas. A native of Guerrero, Mexico, he moved at the age of 19 to Nuevo Laredo, where he was employed by Francisco Iturria, a wealthy Spanish merchant. H e stayed with Iturria a year. In 1859 he crossed the Rio Grande to manage a ranch owned by his father. He traveled often to San Ygnacio, where he met and soon married Maria de Jesus Uribe. Martinez had the foresight to see that the Civil War, then brewing in the United States, would generate a brisk trade between the Confederate States and Mexico. He established a general merchandise store, which became highly successful. In 1868 he settled in San Ygnacio, where he founded a similar enterprise. He conducted a large-scale exportimport business between the interior I of Mexico and outlets at Corpus Christi and San Antonio. In one of his shipments he received a consignment of kerosene lamps, which quickly replaced tallow candles for home lighting in San Ygnacio. He planted the first cotton and also introduced the first modem-style plow and corn-planter in Zapata County. Martinez died at his home in San Ygnacio, Texas, on February 23, 1937, at the age of 96. JUAN NEPOMUCENO CORTINA 1859 Born in Tamaulipas of wealthy parents, Juan Cortina fumed against injustices done to many South Texas Mexicans in the wake of the 1846 war. He witnessed his people being victimized by dubious land transactions and subjected to discrimination and abuse. In September 1859 he shot a deputy sheriff who was pistolwhipping a prisoner on the streets of Brownsville. When the gunfire had ceased four men lay dead or dying. For the next several months Cortina completely dominated the region with a series of raids on the border towns. When federal troops under Colonel Robert E. Lee arrived on the scene, Cortina stopped troubling Texas for a time. Juan Cortina In his violent and ill-considered way, he had stirred up more hatred and persecution than ever before, since his raids resulted in strengthening the very forces that were working against just treatment for the Mexicans. In Mexico he joined the cause of Benito Juarez, who was trying to drive out the French. He also lent support to the Union army, which was trying to eliminate slavery in Texas. Later, when he was about to receive a pardon from the governor of Texas, his old enemies began circulating rumors that he was a cattle thief. Many of the charges were selfcontradictory, but they eliminated his chance for a pardon. Cortina also opposed the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, whose forces subsequently took him in custody. The old firebrand spent the rest of his life on parole in Mexico City, where he died in 1892. SANTOS BENAVIDES 1861 A prominent Laredo merchant, ~ntos Benavides was also an effective military leader. He was a grandson of Tomas Sanchez, who had founded the city in 1767. Benavides himself was born at Laredo in 1827. He was mayor of the town in 1857, when an Indian band came raiding. The pursuing forces consisted of25 civilians led by Benavides and a detachment of soldiers. The Indians were defeated at the end of a 350-mile chase. Early in 1861 Benavides was commissioned captain of a ranger company organized at Laredo. When the Civil War came he volunteered his services to Colonel John S. Ford, who was commander of the Rio Grande Military District. The companies of Benavides and Captain Donaldson were stationed at Carrizo to protect the country between Rio Grande City and Fort Ewell. In May 1861 Juan Nepomuceno Cortina and his band crossed the river. Benavides gave chase. With 36 men he defeated Cortina's 70 in a bloody fight near Carrizo. From that time until the Confederate withdrawal from Santos Benavides Brownsville in November 1863, Cortina gave little trouble in Texas. In 1864 Colonel Benavides commanded a force which defeated the federal troops under Colonel EJ. Davis. Promoted to brigadier general, Benavides also distinguished himself at the battle of Palmito Ranch. After the war he was an alderman in Laredo and a member of the 16th, 17th and 18th state legislatures. He was appointed Texas Commissioner to the World's Cotton Exposition in 1884. IGNACIO ZARAGOZA DE SEGUIN 1862 General Ignacio Zaragoza, a native Texan, became one of Mexicds greatest heroes on May 5, 1862, when he led his recruits to victory over superbly equipped French forces. This significant battle ofPuebla was the turning point in Mexicds efforts to rid itself of French occupation, and · it so inspired the country that Cinco de Mayo (May 5) became a national holiday. By order of President Juarez, Zaragoza was made military governor of Veracruz. His name was inscribed in letters of gold in the halls of Congress, and the city of Puebla's name was changed officially to Puebla de Zaragosa. But four months later 15 Ignacio Zaragoza was dead of typhoid at the age of 33. The hero had inherited his aptitude for military life. His father, Miguel, was a young lieutenant stationed at Bexar when he met and married Maria de Jesus Seguin, member of a prominent San Antonio family. Her cousin Juan Seguin became a colonel in the Texas army. The Zaragozas were transferred to Presidio La Bahia, near Goliad, where Ignacio was born in 1829 and named for his Texas grandfather, Ignacio Seguin. Subsequently, army orders took them back to Bexar and on to Nacogdoches and Anahuac before 1834, when Miguel Zaragoza was assigned south of the Rio Grande. In 1962 Texas joined with Mexico in centennial celebrations of the battle of Cinco de Mayo. Soil from Goliad was carried by relay runners more than a thousand miles to Puebla, and that city in turn presented the town of Zaragoza's birth with a bronze bust of him. Each year on the fifth of May Zaragoza Societies from several Texas cities gather at Goliad for commemorative ceremonies. In an area designated as Zaragoza State Park, plans are under way to restore the house where he was born. Ignacio Zaragoza de Seguin 16 A freighting team in the time of Danda OLOJIO DANDA 1874 Olojio Danda worked for the famed wagonmaster, August Santleben, on the Ehihuahua Trail. Danda, however, was celebrated, not as a trail driver, but as an Indian fighter. He ;"as a citizen of Presidio del Norte , ~nd his reputation was acquired on the trail that ran between his home town and Fort Davis. Marauding bands of Mescalero Apaches used this route when making raids into the Big Bend country and Mexico. Occasionally the Indians fought openly, but their preferred tactic was the ambush. Men of Danda's caliber were much in demand because of their knowledge of Indian warfare and because their courage was equal to any emergency. PEDRO JARAMILLO 1881 As a young man Pedro Jaramillo had an infection of his nose which caused him great pain. In desperation he flung himself down by a pond and made a poultice of the cool mud. As the pain left him Pedro vowed to devote his life to healing others. He arrived in Texas in 1881 and soon settled at Olmos, an old settlement near Falfurrias. As an evangelist and dero and true folk hero, developing a clientele from as far away as California and New York. He carried a Bible wherever he went, and his clients paid whatever they could afford. At times there would be as many as 500 people camped at Los Olmos Creek waiting for Don Pedritds attentions. Pictures of Don Pedrito are displayed among those of saints in many Mexican homes in South Texas today. Wreaths, candles and letters are placed on his grave at Olmos, a popular spot for meditation and prayer, in the hope that Don Pedrito still will help his followers. At one time a Laredo firm supplied curative herbs, using his picture and the trademark "Don Pedrito?' healer he became a legendary curan- Don Pedrito Jaramillo GROWING IMPORTANCE OF THE TEXAS BORDERLANDS 1876-1920 I ~ For more than 60 years after the Texas Revolution there was little emigration from Mexico to Texas. By 1876, however, events vital to Mexico began taking shape on the Texas side of the Rio Grande. That was the year in which Porfirio Dfaz began his ruthless dictatorship of Mexico, which he maintained for nearly 35 years. Periodic efforts were made to overthrow Diaz, but none were successful until the Madero revolution of 1910. The turmoil which followed caused a great movement of the Mexican people into this state. In 1900, prior to the revolution, Mexicanborn Texans totaled about 70,000, Catarino Garza A Mexican j!1£al about 1890 and their numbers were increased by an average of only 100 immigrants per year. This pattern changed drastically with the events of 1910 and the years thereafter. Many landowners were forced to leave Mexico, and with the countryside despoiled by war, agricultural production fell to the level of the late 1700's. CATARINO GARZA 1'891 ~he flashing figure of Catarino Garza - born in Mexico, reared in Brownsville -was the last of the line of minor marauders to plague Diaz. In 1891 Garza recruited a small army in South Texas and captured the Mexican village of Guerrero, believing that local support would rally to his cause. When support failed to materialize, his men were forced north of the Rio Grande, where they scattered in small bands and taunted the law for two years. Garza, meanwhile, had scurried from Mexico to Cuba and on to Colombia, where he was killed as a filibuster in 1895. GREGORIO CORTEZ 1901 Gregorio Cortez, a Mexican-Texan hero, inspired a folk legend comparable to those of Sam Bass, Billy the Kid and Jesse James. His feats became symbolic of the struggle between the oppressed and the oppressor. In his time, ballads were composed and sung about Cortez from San Antonio to Mexico City. Born in Mexico in 1875, Cortez moved with his family to Manor, Texas, in 1887. His exploits began with the killing of Sheriff Harper Morris on June 12, 1901. The dispute came about as a result of misunderstanding between the two men, neither of whom could speak the other's language. During an incredible tenday flight, Cortez walked at least 120 miles and rode more than 400 miles, using three horses. He killed two of his pursuers, one of whom was Sheriff Robert M. Glover. Chased by men in parties of up to 300, Cortez outwitted the posses until he was captured near the Rio Grande border by Texas Ranger CaptainJ.H. Rogers. Gregorio Cortez was tried for three murders, acquitted of two and convicted on the third. Sentenced to life imprisonment, he was pardoned by Governor o.B. Colquitt in July 1913. Gregorio Cortez and Rangers who pursued him 17 MEXICAN-TEXAN POPULATION 1930-1970 By 1930 more than 266,000 persons of Mexican heritage lived in Texas, and hundreds of thousands of others moved seasonally into other states to harvest crops before returning to their homeland. The most significant movement of people in this hemisphere still occurs across Texas's southern border, making Texas the bridge - or meeting place - between English-speaking North America and Latin America. Almost two million Mexican Texans - or some 21 percent of the state's 1980 populationexert the rich cultural influences of their forebears on Texas life: in architecture, food, dress, music, language, ranching traditions and other customs. And many Mexican Texans of today, as in the past, occupy places of business, professional, military and political distinction. Perhaps the first among them who should be cited are the Medal of Honor winners, as listed in the records available to November 1970. During World War II the nation's highest honor was awarded to Sergeant Luciano Adams of Port Arthur, Sergeant Marcario Garcia of Sugarland, Private Silvestre p. Herrera ofEl Paso, Sergeant Jose M. L6pez of Brownsville and Sergeant Cleto Rodriguez of San Marcos. In the Korean conflict, Corporal Benito Martinez of Fort Hancock in West Texas was an outstanding example of determined courage. The Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously in 1952 for his "incredible valor and supreme sacrifice:' "It is perhaps a sound conclusion;' wrote Raymond Brooks of the Austin American in 1966, "that the Mexican contribution to citizenship, at least in Texas and other border states, is taking care of itself to a degree and in a manner comparable with the highest achievements of other groups of similar dimensions:' It is impossible to list all of the Texans of Mexican ancestry who are making significant contributions in 18 the arts, the professions and business. Nor can anyone honestly presume to select any reasonable number as being more worthy of mention than all others. We have chosen a few outstanding individuals, whose accomplishments are representative of the contributions being made in many areas by Mexican Texans today. CARLOS E. CASTANEDA In a lifetime devoted to the study of borderland history, Carlos Castaned< is total literary output included 78 articles and a dozen books. His most distinguished contribution was a work entitled Our Catholic Heritage in Texas. For many years he was engaged by The University of Texas to search the principal archives of Mexico City and Saltillo, colonial capital of Coahuila y Texas, for documentary sources relating to early Texas. In the course of this work, he discovered and edited Fray Agustin Morfi's . History of Texas, 1673-1779, a work which had been thought to be lost. Castaneda was born on.November 11, 1896, at Camargo, Mexico, a small town on the Rio Grande. He came with his family to the United Carlos Castaneda States in 1908. His struggle to obtain an education began at Brownsville, where he attended high school, and concluded with a doctorate of philosophy from The University of Texas in 1932. Though he qualified as a graduate engineer and spent a year in field work in Mexico, he was drawn irresistibly to the teaching and writing of history, particularly of his native Southwest and of Latin America. His knowledge of languages, his great intellectual energy and his native culture made him admirably qualified for this work. His teaching career began in the public schools of Beaumont, then San Antonio. For four years, 1923-1927, he was associate professor of Spanish at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. He returned to his alma mater, The University of Texas, in 1927, where he remained until his death in 1958. JOSE CISNEROS From his home at El Paso, Jose Cisneros has devoted a lifetime to studying and portraying the historical record of the borderland and its people. His skillful pen-and-ink drawings have made him one of the nation's foremost illustrators. Born in 1910 in the Mexican state of Durango, Cisneros came with his family toJuarez in 1925. In 1934 he moved his residence to El Paso. He worked at such jobs as deliveryman and window trimmer until 1943, when he began working for the El Paso Transit Company. Throughout his life Cisneros has pursued his art in his spare time. Though he had little opportunity for formal education, he is described by friends as one of the best-informed and best-read men in the El Paso Southwest. Although he has never had an art lesson, he has produced striking illustrations for such volumes as The Journey of Fray Marcos de Niza, The Spanish Heritage if the Southwest and Morelos of Mexico. I Jose Cisneros Today his drawings are found in more than 30 books and countless pamphlets, greeting cards, program covers and the like. He has also designed emblems and medallions for a number of organizations and institutions. Cisneros's work has appeared under the imprint of such major publishing houses as Random House, Funk and Wagnalls, DevinAdair and Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. REYNALOO GARZA In 1961 Reynaldo Garza of Brownsville became the first Mexican American ever appointed to a federal judgeship in Texas. He is a lifelong resident of Brownsville. He attended public schools there and received a bachelor of arts degree and a law degree from The University of Texas at Austin in 1939. He practiced law in Brownsville until 1942, when he began his military service. He reentered the field of law in 1945 and continued practicing until March 1961, when he was appointed as a federal district judge by President John F. Kennedy. Judge Garza has served on the school board at Brownsville and as a member of the city commission. He was an original member of the International Good Neighbor Council. He has also served with distinction in such organizations as the Knights of Columbus, the Rotarians and the Boy Scouts of America. Severo Gomez SEVERO GOMEZ Severo G6mez is Texas's first assistant commissioner of education for international and bilingual education, appointed to this position at the time of its creation in 1967. G6mez, born in 1924, was educated in the public schools of Woodsboro, Texas. He graduated from Texas A&I College in 1948, with an interruption for military service from 1943 to 1946. He began teaching at Benavides, Texas, upon his graduation from college. He remained there until 1955, when he transferred to the Rio Reynaldo Garza Grande City school system, where he was supervisor of science education. In 1960 he received his doctorate from The University of Texas at Austin and joined the staff of the Texas Education Agency. G6mez's pioneering work in the field of bilingual education culminated in his appointment as the first assistant commissioner for international and bilingual education. He is a member of the Texas Academy of Science and the International Good Neighbor Council, among other organizations, and is known for his writings in the fields of science education and language instruction. HENRY B. GONZALEZ A native of San Antonio, Texas, Henry B. Gonzalez was elected to the city council of his home town in 1953. Three years later he became the first Texas citizen of Mexican descent to be elected to the state senate since 1846. Then in 1961 he again shattered tradition with his election to the United States House of Representatives, the first of his ethnic group ever elected from the state of Texas. The parents of Congressman Gonzalez emigrated from the state of Durango during the Mexican Revolution. They settled in San Antonio, where his father became managing editor of La Prensa, a Spanish-lan- Henry B. Gonzalez 19 guage newspaper. Young Henry was educated in the public schools of San Antonio and at San Antonio College. He later attended The University of Texas at Austin. He received a law degree from St. Mary's University in 1943. After service in World War II, he became chief probation officer of Bexar County until the beginning of his political career in 1953. Throughout his long tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives Gonzalez has played an active role in legislation dealing with public housing, urban and rural development, education, military family benefits, equal rights for women and other vital subjects. AMERICO PAREDES Already noted for his contributions to folklore studies, Americo Paredes developed a new program of research and publication as director of the Center of Mexican American Studies at The University of Texas at Austin in the 1970's. A native of Brownsville, he attended public schools and graduated from BrownsvilleJunior College in 1936. He worked until 1943 as a newspaperman and freelance writer. He served in the army from 1944 to 1946, the last year in Tokyo as political editor for the Pacific edition of Stars and Stripes. He remained in Tokyo through 1950, spending two Americo Paredes 20 years as a public relations officer for the American Red Cross and two years with the Department of the Army as a magazine editor. Paredes came to The University of Texas at Austin in 1950 and received a B.A. degree the following year, a M.A. in 1953 and a Ph.D. in 1956. He taught for one year at The University of Texas at El Paso and then returned to Austin to join the faculty. In 1967 he was visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley. He also served as editor of the Journal oj American Folklore. PORFIRIO SALINAS Legend has it that, one day in the late 1920's, artist Robert Wood decided Porfirio Salinas that he simply could not bear to paint another bluebonnet on one of his landscapes, so he hired young Porfirio Salinas to paint them in for him, at five dollars a picture. Since that day Salinas has gained world renown as a painter of the Texas Hill Country and its bluebonnets. Born near Bastrop, Porfirio Salinas moved to San Antonio as a young boy and began haunting the galleries of the Witte Museum. He received lessons from Jose Arpa, a well-known regional artist. An early admirer of his work was then-Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, who bought his first Salinas painting in 1949. Salinas's patrons have since included some of the best-known art connoisseurs in the nation. . PHOTO CREDITS All photos are from the collec tion of The University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio, courtesy of the following lenders. Credits from left to right are separated by semicolons and from top to bottom by dashes. Cover Library of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas a t the Alamo. Page 3 Alfonso Caso, The Aztecs (Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1967). Page 4 Carlos E. Castaneda, Our Catholic Heritage in Texas, 1519-1936 (Austin: Von Boeckmann:Jones Co., 1936)-___ Pierpont, The Young Reader (Boston, Mass., 1831). Page 5 The Institute of Texan Cultures-The Institute of Texan Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 22 Cultures; Carlos E. Castaneda, Our Catholic Heritage in Texas, 1519-1936 (Austin: Von Boeckmann:Jones Co. , 1936). "Cronica del Traje Militar en Mexico de Siglo XVI al XX;' Artes de Mexico, no. 102, ano XV 1968; Carlos E. Castaneda, Our Catholic Heritage in Texas, 1519-1936 (Austin: Von Boeckmann:J ones Co., 1936). Herbert Gambrell and Virginia Gambrell, Pictorial History of Texas (New York: Dutton & Co. , 1960); Archives Division, Texas State Library, Austin - Herbert Gambrell and Virginia Gambrell, Pictorial History of Texas (New York: Dutton & Co., 1960). The Institute of Texan Cultures; Thomas W. Cutrer, Austin. Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, The University of Texas at Austin; Mrs. Artie Fultz Davis, Navasota. Library of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas at the Alamo; Mrs. Ruby Hermes, San Antonio-Texas State Capitol, Austin. Library of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas at the Alamo-De Leon Fa mil y, Victoria. Archives Division, Texas State Library-Texas State Capitol, Austin. Library of t4e Daughters of the Republic of Texas at the Alamo; Leopold Morris, Pictorial H istory of Victoria and Victoria County (San Antonio: Clemens Printing Co. , 1953). Tom Lea, The King Ranch (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1957)-The Institute of Texan C ultures. Jose T. Canales, Juan N. Cortina: Bandit or Patriot? (San Antonio: Artes Graficas, 1951); De Leon Family, Victoria. The Bishop's Palace at Monterrey; El Paso Public LibraryThe Heritage Museum, Falfurrias. Harper's New Monthly Magazine vol. LXXXI (n.d.) - Library of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas at the Alamo; Barker Texas History Center, The University of Texas at Austin. The Institute of Texan Cultures. Information Service, The University of Texas at AustinLibrary of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas at the Alamo; Dr. Felix Almaraz Jr.; The Institute of Texan Cultures. Information Service, The University of Texas at Austin; The Institute of Texan Cultures. Library of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas at the Alamo. Back Cover Library of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas at the Alamo. 21 One oj a series pr
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