Soy de Duval

The deadly Duval County election of 1888 featuring the Botas and Guaraches was a precursor to the Parr politics of the future. The Laredo Daily Times recounted a letter from Juan Zardiente to his brother Romulo in Laredo in which he relayed that the Botas Democratic ticket had won the election in Duval County. According to Zardiente, Julian Palacios was elected County Judge over James Luby. Other Bota victors were W. Tinney for County Clerk; Alvino G. Tovar, as County Treasurer; John Buckley, as Sheriff; and Zardiente for County Commissioner. The Guaraches and the Botas reportedly elected two commissioners each but with a Bota County Judge they had majority on the court. But politics reared its ugly head in Duval County, much before the Parr’s had perfected dirty politics to an art form. In fact, Archie Parr had only been in the county for five years and was not yet an active political player. The Duval County Commissioners Court met on Nov. 12 -13 to can...

Today marks the first anniversary of the Soy de Duval blog.  I want to take this occasion to thank everyone for the tremendous support shown to this effort. Just a short recap of what we have done over the last 12 months: the blog has received 15,800 looks or page visits, we have posted 64 articles for an average of five a month, 151 people have subscribed to the blog, 171 people “Like us” on Facebook and 8 people are following us on our recently established Twitter account. Our highest viewed post was “San Diego Dominican priests recalled to Spain subject of documentary by Father Ibáñez 607 views. The remaining top 10 blogs were: San Diego Dominican priests recalled to Spain, sub… Jun 3, 2013, 2 comments 607 The first humans in Duval County Apr 11, 2013, 9 comments 545 1860 was important year in development of San Dieg… Aug 22, 2013, 12 comments 454 The early stirrings of the “town” of San Diego Aug 15, 2013 342 Relying on memory is a ...

After Fred G. Garcia gave eloquent, lengthy speech at El Ranchero , a band led Bota supporters in a street parade full with torches and banners. When they passed El Clarin , its editor F. De P. Gonzalez came out with a six-shooter in hand and struck one or two of the children shouting “ Viva la Bota” and himself shouted “ Viva El Guarache! ” Older boys wrestled pistol from him and made him shout “ Viva la Bota ”. About sundown, October 20, editor Gonzales shot and killed Atanacio Gomez, a tailor in San Diego. An inquest was called to investigate the shooting. Conducting the inquest were William L. Rogers, Ignacio Gauna, Manuel Padros, and Dr. L. B. Wright. They found that Gonzales was in Encarnacion Yzaguirre’s barbershop on the old plaza and was putting on his coat after receiving a shave. Gomez came in and said he did not understand why Mexicans were allowed to carry guns in San Diego. Gonzales told Gomez to report him and Gomez accused Gonzales of punching his boy with ...

Location of abandoned church that may have been Sacred Heart in San Diego. The intersection is of Collins and Center. To the north would have been the Oil Belt Chevrolet, caddy corner the Modern Pharmacy, and to the west what was the old Piggly Wiggly. Saturday, March 15, I had the pleasure of throwing the first pitch of the 2014 San Diego Little League season. I was representing the Diocese of Corpus Christi. Perhaps some background information is in order. In 1994, when I was serving my first term as mayor of San Diego I suggested to the Little League that they use an abandoned field on the north side of town as their field. The Little League had been bouncing around from one location to another for years, ever since the political machine had ordered the original field at Plaza Alcala be leveled in retribution for the opposition of some Little League leaders. The field on the north side of town had been developed by the county on what they believed was abandoned property. As it turne...

The formation of a political party supposedly of Mexican Americans, with mostly Anglo candidates, continued to command attention in the run up to the November 1888 election. While optimists expressed the idea that San Diego was still growing, others openly complained that public officials were not interested in improvements. This no doubt contributed to the interest in a new political movement. The correspondent to the Corpus Christi newspaper lamented that the Plaza, and he called it that only “out of courtesy”, was a disgrace overrun with waist-high weeds. Rent houses in town were only commanding half the rent they had received five years earlier. Mostly Anglos ran the convention held in Concepcion to form the Mexican American political party. The group clearly was an opposition party as only two county incumbents were part of the new ticket. These were County Surveyor J. C. Caldwell and County Commissioner W. H. Hebbron. The Corpus Christi Caller correspondent noted that “ma...

Dr. Emilio Zamora Dr. Andres Tijenina Dr. Emilio Zamora from the University of Texas and Dr. Andrés Tijerina with Austin Community College are spearheading a new “Handbook of Mexican American Texas.” The project is a spinoff for the Handbook of Texas Online. The project was unveiled at the annual Texas Historical State Association Convention held in San Antonio on March 6-8. Initially, the goal is to include 100 articles on Tejano individuals or events of historical significance. Ultimately, many more articles are envisioned.

In July 1888, Mexican Americans in San Diego called for a political meeting at the Garfield House to organize for the November elections. Mexican Americans were not happy with the management of Duval County and public affairs in general. The move appeared to have the objective of organizing Mexican Americans into a permanent political organization and to put a full slate of Mexican Americans for every office in Duval County. Many that were not from Duval County took part at the meeting, including many from Starr County. The Garfield confab elected delegates to a subsequent meeting called for in Concepcion for the purpose of nominating candidates. Anglo citizens stood outside of the Garfield House listening to the speeches intently. The Anglos believed the Mexicans Americans were making a serious error, since they had never banded together to deprive Mexicans Americans from holding office or voting. Catarino Garza Race relations were somewhat tense in the region and Anglo residents...