The first humans in Duval County

Discovery of bones in Duval County mostly are from the Pleistocene age, a more recent geologic time going back 10,000 to 1.8 million years. While officials of the United States National Museum could not identify large fragments of bone found 2.5 miles north of Concepcion in gravel and sand deposits on the Agua Poquita Creek, they determined that the bones were likely from the Pleistocene age. Bone fragments from the time were also found on Agua Poquita where it intersects the Benavides-Concepcion Road, on the Concepcion Creek near Concepcion, and on a number of other creeks in the county. A. L. Labbe found a 3-foot tusk in a well on the Labbe ranch along the banks of the San Diego Creek. Other Pleistocene era fossils were found on the San Diego Creek, 1.5 miles east of San Diego.

It was at the close of the Ice Age that humans might have made their first appearance in Duval County. Anthropologist Thomas R. Hester observed in his book Digging Into South Texas Prehistory, “There are several localities in south Texas with evidence of habitation attributed to a time prior to 11,000 years ago…there were claims some decades ago for the association of artifacts and mid-Ice Age fossils in the so-called ‘equus beds’ of Duval County…”. This would place humans in Duval County during the earliest known times of human existence in North America. At this time, grass and forests covered South Texas and Duval County where mammoth, mastodon, and other extinct animals roamed freely. Later, grass vegetation covered the area. Rivers and creeks flowed year-round and smaller wild animals such as buffalo, pronghorn deer, antelope, bear, and prairie chicken abounded. While not extinct, none of these species are found any longer in Duval County.

Of course, without the ability to write, we know very little about the earliest inhabitants of Duval County. What little we know comes from geologists, anthropologists, and archeologists digging around South Texas for water, oil, gas, and uranium. The evidence from these digs indicate that native Duval County people were hunters and gatherers that, unlike later inhabitants, did not practice agriculture or raise animals, and did not organize into clans or communities.

 Perhaps the earliest incursion into the Duval County area by a European was in 1533, less than 50 years after Columbus discovered the New World. According to Bethel Coopwood, Cabeza de Vaca traveled in the area of Duval County while he was making his way from Florida to Mexico. It should be noted that Coopwood’s theory is one of a number routes attributed to De Vaca’s, including others that do not bring him to Duval County. Assuming Coopwood is correct, De Vaca landed in St. Joseph’s Island off the coast of present-day Corpus Christi. 

After Indians captured De Vaca, he escaped and wandered in the wilderness for years before reaching Mexico. He made his way to an area where McMullen and Duval counties meet. It was an area where the prickly pear was abundant, which De Vaca wrote was very popular with the Indians. De Vaca identified 17 Indian tribes who lived in villages and spoke different tongues. It is not clear which ones inhabited the Duval County area but when De Vaca was supposedly in Duval County he was traveling with the Avavares tribe.

From the McMullen County line, De Vaca and his Indian friends marched some 60 miles over a large expanse of flat dry land to a stream where they found an ebony scrub that bore fruit similar to an English pea. The stream, Coopwood surmises, was the Agua Poquita in the Concepcion region of the county. The fruit described Coopwood believes was the maguacates, which were plentiful in the area. From there De Vaca traveled to the Rio Grande River in Zapata County over “dense jungles and prickly pear thickets, where the thorns” reminded De Vaca of the crown of thorns worn by the Savior.”

Edna Campos Gravenhorst | October 9, 2019 at 6:41 am | Reply (Edit) Great article, interesting and informative! Thank you Alfredo! Olga Garcia Mendoza | February 3, 2019 at 3:00 am | Reply (Edit) My grandfather was Ignacio Garcia Benavides. His mother was Felicitas and Felicitas’ Father was Jesus Benavides the owner of “El Pedernal”. I am also a direct descendant of Cristobal Ramirez and Santiago Vela the owner of El Peyote. My families first founded Revilla also known as Vieja Ciudad Guerrero and continued founding towns on the south side of El Rio Grande until they reached the area of Padre Island.They then started founding towns on the north side of the river. I am very interested in what you shared!!! Oh, I forgot to mention how my ancestor Juan Bautista Jan Sanchez brother of Tomas foundedLaredo.. cardenas.ae@gmail.com | February 3, 2019 at 11:58 am | Reply (Edit) Thank you, Olga. You have a very interesting family tree. Lots of history there. Anonymous | October 7, 2014 at 4:21 pm | Reply (Edit) I am looking for a photo of the store that Juan and Genoveva and Juan Canales had in tienditas for my website. evehayes@yahoo.com Alfredo E. Cardenas | May 2, 2013 at 4:02 pm | Reply (Edit) Thanks for the update. Anybody in contact with the school that can follow up on this with them? Anonymous | May 2, 2013 at 4:00 pm | Reply (Edit) Alfredo, he gave it to the school district. Celestino said he contacted Tx U then and they ignored him too ; so, I guess you were not the only one thinking "so What". I was amazed with that finding we even went with Celestino where he found it hoping to find some more. We did get a sunburn. lol Thank you for sharing all this information . Alfredo E. Cardenas | April 25, 2013 at 6:27 pm | Reply (Edit) I'm ashamed to admit that I do not remember that, but that was during a time when I thought anything old was "so what?" Wonder what happened to it, maybe Cele still has it. Anybody in contact with him? Anonymous | April 25, 2013 at 6:25 pm | Reply (Edit) Alferdo, remember while we were in high school when Celestino Perez found a 9' elephant tusk imbedded in a creek bank at La Rosita area. Science teacher had it in display at the old Junior High (old Army Barracks} . Being very bridle it was about 3' and 1'5" diameter when it go to the class room. Alfredo E. Cardenas | April 21, 2013 at 2:31 pm | Reply (Edit) Thank you Valerie for passing this along. One good turn deserves another, check this site out especially the photos. Maybe one of your relatives is in one of them. http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/search/searchterm/Tienditas Valerie | April 21, 2013 at 2:17 pm | Reply (Edit) Very interesting. Both sets of my maternal grandparents are from Tienditas in the Concepcion- Benavides area. Our family ranches are still there. I'll pass this along as well. Thanks! ML Grout | April 20, 2013 at 1:36 pm | Reply (Edit) Am enjoying the sequence of your blog entries, Alfredo – geology, anthropology, history … all encompass where we came from and who we are. I'm learning a lot / Thank you. Anonymous | April 18, 2013 at 1:16 am | Reply (Edit) My father's family is from Duval County and I really enjoyed reading this…I look forward to anything else you may have written in regards to that area. Anonymous | April 12, 2013 at 3:55 pm | Reply (Edit) My mother's family is from Ramirez, Texas which is down the road from Conception. I found this quite interesting and will pass this information on to family.