Soy de Duval

The year 1876 would prove notable to the area around San Diego. On April 22, 1876, N. G. Collins, P. C. Gravis, J. H. Moses, and other citizens petitioned the Nueces County Commissioners Court to recognize Duval County, which the Texas Legislature created in 1858. Duval County remained attached to Nueces County since its creation. Now, citizens were ready for their own government. Nueces County commissioners denied the request because they were not sure if San Diego was in Duval County or Nueces County. Most of the signatures on the petition came from San Diego. Moreover, a law officer did not verify the petition. Collins, Luby, and others again petitioned through Gravis who was Nueces County commissioner from the San Diego area. Once again, Nueces County tabled the request until they could review the boundaries between the two counties. On September 22, the group presented a third petition to the Nueces County Commissioners Court and once again, the court tabled action to allow the co...

N. G. Collins felt so sure about the success and need for a railroad that in 1875 he hired R. Hollub, an engineer, to survey and subdivide a tract of land 52 miles from Corpus Christi, which was to become an addition to Old San Diego. Collins had settled in San Diego when it was still close to a wilderness and had become its biggest sheep man. He believed so much in the railroad that he contributed $2,500 for the first 20 miles of line. James O. Luby, along with Frank W. Shaeffer, E. J. Nickerson and Hollub, partitioned the town of San Diego, which at that time was a large sheep and cattle round-up center. Pioneers also knew it as a citrus growing center. On Sept. 18, 1875, the Corpus Christi, San Diego and Rio Grande Narrow Gauge Railroad Company came into being with Frank Davis and Frank W. Schaeffer of San Diego among the original members of the railroad’s board of directors. The railroad’s charter called for a direct line to San Diego then to Eagle Pass with a branch to Laredo. A M...

The raging arguments ongoing today over immigration are nothing new to South Texas. Some of the arguments for immigration were advanced more than 100 years ago in Duval County. In 1874, E. N. Gray of Concepcion reported that many Mexican shepherds had returned to their native land because of the danger of Indians and outlaws. This exodus had caused a serious falling off in the wool business compared with former years, according to Gray. The Concepcion landowner hoped that the area would return to times that were more peaceful so that the Mexicans would return. “They are very necessary to future prosperity,” wrote the Corpus Christi Weekly Gazette . Examples of shepherds meeting premature deaths were many. On Sept. 1, 1874, residents of San Diego found Jesus Duran dead six miles from town. Justice of the Peace James O. Luby appointed a jury of inquest to determine the cause of death. The Jury of Inquest, consisting of Guadalupe Linares, Juan O. Yzaguirre, Eduardo O. Flores, E. G. Garci...

As mentioned in my previous blog, the bandit Alberto Garza was involved in cattle stealing and skinning in the Duval County area in 1873. The first week of April found Garza and his men at Rancho Piedras Pintas. W. L. Rogers told the Corpus Christi Gazette that Garza was “employed in killing and skinning cattle, stealing and robbing generally.” On Sunday, April 3, Garza and his followers surrounded Piedras Pintas, placed guards on all of the roads leading to the ranch and entered the ranch with 17 men. Six members of a posse were in possession of one the houses and barricaded themselves as Garza and his men entered the enclave. Garza indicated to them that he intended to hold Eugene Glover and Maurice Levy responsible for any interference by law enforcement and would burn Piedras Pintas to the ground. Cattlemen decided to take action against Garza and his band. On Monday morning, April 14, Jasper Clark, James Scott and others left Banquete for the settlement of Lagartoville, where a s...