Soy de Duval

Even after, the Republic of Texas came upon the scene, the state of Tamaulipas maintained governmental control of the Nueces strip and continued with its practice of populating the area by granting land to settlers. On July 26, 1836, the state of Tamaulipas deeded to Vicente Ynojosa Las Anacuas grant, consisting of three sitios or 15,469,250 squares. It was located on the “Arroyo de las Anacuas,” a tributary of the Santa Gertrudis creek, 47 miles west, southwest of Corpus Christi. Two months later, on September 24, 1836, the state of Tamaulipas placed Santos Flores in possession of the Agua Poquita grant. The corners to the grant were designated as Lindero de Guajolote, Lindero de San Rafael, Lindero de Don Marcelo, and San Juan del Mezquital. When a surveyor came around in 1850 to once again clarify title after two more wars–the Texas War of Independence and the United States war with Mexico–older citizens and adjoining landowners pointed details to the surveyor, who was already aware...

The war between Mexico and Texas broke out on October 2, 1835. Two weeks later, on October 15, 1835, J. M. Guerra, Military Commander of Tamaulipas informed the landowners in the Nueces strip  that the Texans were in open rebellion against the central government. The rebels had taken Goliad, and Guerra directed ranch owners to arm themselves and their ranch hands and be prepared to challenge the Texians if they came into the area. While war dominated conversations in the area, interest in land acquisition was not dampened. Several applications had been in the works for land grants and on October 15, 1835–the same day that General Guerra issued his advisory–José Antonio González, a citizen of Camargo, complied with requirements of the Colonization Law in regards to La Huerta grant in the same jurisdiction of Camargo. He paid $46 12 1/2 cents and 11 grains which was the appraised value for 4.5 leagues of land, 3 labores and 125,000 square varas . Francisco Villaseñor, the secretary...

Father Benito Retortillo, Father Epi Rodriguez and Alfredo Cardenas in front of St. Francis de Paula after Mass on June 16 after a Mass to say farewell to the two longtime San Diego priests. Corpus Christi Bishop Wm. Michael Mulvey celebrated a Mass before some 900 people at St. Francis de Paula Catholic Church in San Diego on June 16 to say farewell to the community’s two longtime Dominican priests. The standing-room-only crowd came out to say goodbye to their two beloved priests, Father Benito Retortillo and Father Epi Rodriguez, who will be returning to Spain on July 1. Also on hand was their Provincial Superior from Spain. Bishop Mulvey asked for those that had been married by either Father Epi and Father Benito to stand; and standing-room–only took on a special meaning. The bishop said, the two Dominicans-and their Dominican brothers before them-had brought the Catholic faith not only to San...

While development in the state of Tamaulipas, between the Rio Grande and the Nueces was steadily continuing, war clouds were developing in the neighboring state of Texas. In 1833, Benjamin Lundy–a Quaker abolitionist in search of a place to establish a colony for freed slaves–crossed through Duval County and described it as “delightfully rolling” country. He is said to have been in the vicinity of San Diego and reported seeing many horses as well as many bones of horses scattered over the “plain” close to a pen that appeared to have been used to catch animals. The skeletal remains of cattle and horses that Lundy saw were no doubt evidence of the desertion of the area south of the Nueces River during México’s struggle for independence from Spain. Ranching in the area had suffered during this period under turmoil and uncertainty. As Spain withdrew soldiers from the frontier to fight off revolutionaries in the interior, the landowners in the Nueces Strip had to fend for themselves against...

As mentioned in our previous post, individuals who had received land grants from the Spanish crown had to certify their holdings again under the new Mexican government. On May 25, 1829, Don Juan de Borges a resident of Camargo and mandatario general of Doña María Leonarda Liscano, widow of Francisco Cordente, appeared before Donaciano García the alcalde segundo –in absence of first alcalde –to complete the sale to Juan Manuel Ramírez of four leagues in the agostadero de Santa Cruz known as Concepción. The land, which Cordente bought and paid $600 silver pesos to the previous government in San Luis Potosí as attested by D. Marcelo de Enojosa of Mier, was located between the Palo Pinto and Concepción creeks, about 70 miles north of present day Rio Grande City.  Ramírez paid for the land. Further north, along the banks of the San Diego Creek, Julian and Ventura Flores and Rafael Garcia Salinas applied again for their family’s claims to the 40,000-acre San Diego de Arriba and San Dieg...

Father Benito Retortillo, OP and Father Epifanio Rodriguez, OP will return to Spain on July 1, 2013. Last week I had the honor and pleasure of granting an interview to Pluma Pictures , which is making a video documentary of the contributions the Dominicans made to San Diego and south Texas. The occasion that prompted the documentary is the fact that the Dominicans are recalling all their Spanish friars back to Spain, including Father Epifanio Rodríguez and Father Benito Retortillo , both longtime pastors in San Diego as well as Alice, Benavides, and Freer. They will return to Spain on July 1, 2013. Father Armando P. Ibáñez , OP is the producer of the video. He is an old friend and a San Diego native, the son of Gerónimo H. Ibáñez and Vicenta E. Pérez . Father Ibáñez was born in San Diego and raised in Alice. After serving as a reporter for the Alice Echo-News and the Corpus Christi Caller he joined the Dominican order at the age of 39 and was ordained a priest at St. Francis de Pa...