Soy de Duval

Weather reports from Duval County were mixed, as 1894 got underway. One report had hundreds going hungry because of the drought that had persisted for six years. Folks in Concepcion were reportedly being helped by a relief agency from the Rio Grande valley. On the other hand, the New York Times reported that the county had made history for having produced the first bale of cotton for the year. The bale arrived in New York on July 2 after being shipped from Houston the week before. It weighed 608 pounds, but the Times did not have the name of the farmer who produced the record bale.  Results of the county election in 1894 yielded a new county judge named S. H. Woods. Other officials elected included, William A. Tinney , County and District Clerk; Charles L. Coyner, County Attorney; George Bodet, County Treasurer; Gunter, County Treasurer; John Buckley, Sheriff and Tax Collector; and Pedro Eznal, Assessor of Taxes.  Precinct officers elected included, G. D. Garcia, County Comm...

Half a century, or so, after settlement came to the Duval County area, it appeared as if the old timers were making way for the new; not always by their choosing. In 1892, J. Williamson Moses resigned his post as county judge after suffering a stroke and paralysis. F. Garcia Tovar was appointed to finish the term. Pablo Perez, one of the founders of San Diego, died later that year on May 29 and was buried in the San Diego Cemetery. Pablo Perez head stone. Moses had a colorful career as a South Texas pioneer. He first came to the area as a mustanger in the 1840s. A mustanger is the Anglicized term to describe a mesteñero or someone who rounded up wild horses for sale to area ranchers or to start their own herds. They were a hardy lot of men, with little regard for danger or at times, the law. Moses spent much of his mustanging days in ranches that are now in present day Jim Wells County, such as Amargosa, Trinidad, and Los Presenos. After settling down as a cattle raiser and businessman...

For those readers who may have missed last week’s blog let me quickly bring them up to speed. In April 1886, Nueces County Deputy Paulino Coy arrested Andres Martinez and Jose Maria Cadena on suspicion of horse theft. He left both men in the custody of Constable Juan Juarez in Collins. During the night, someone mysteriously shot the two men to death. A few days later, people in Duval County found Mateo Cadena and Pedro Peña lynched near the rancho Los Indios. The local Mexican-American population suspected Coy in the atrocities and reportedly took over the town of Collins in search of the deputy. Martinez’s father offered a $1,000 reward for Coy’s capture. On May 2, the San Antonio Express reported that Jesus Portio, who was sleeping within five feet of Martinez and Cadena when they were murdered, had “lost his mind” and authorities transported him to Corpus Christi for treatment. The San Antonio newspapers and the Corpus Christi Caller were at odds with their reporting. The Caller c...

On the third week of April 1886, Nueces County Deputies Paulino Coy and Del Hoyo left Corpus Christi for Palito Blanco to arrest several individuals believed to be selling horses stolen from Hilario Cruz. The trip for Deputy Coy, who had already acquired a reputation as a vigilant officer amongst the Anglo community, would seal his status as a traitor amongst Mexican-Americans, and would result in one of the most notorious events in the annals of South Texas frontier history. The sheriff had issued arrest warrants on April 14 for Andres Martinez and Pedro Peña. Coy and Del Hoyo first went to Martinez’s home but did not find him there. The deputies left word for Martinez to go to Collins because they needed him as a witness. The deputies left for Guajillo in search of Peña but did not find him. On their return, the deputies ran into someone who told them he had bought horses from Peña who claimed he had bought them from Jose Maria Cadena. With this new information, Coy went back...

Here is the talk given by Jose Angel Gutierrez at the dedication of the Tejano Civil rights Museum in Corpus Christi on May 4, 2014. He is competing with the birds chirping away but he is audible. Below is a photo album of the event. I did not stay to tour the museum; waiting to do that when there isn’t too much of a crowd. The museum is located in the Grande-Grossman House in Heritage Park in Corpus Christi. It will include the following exhibits: Founders Room , dedicated to those who helped make the museum possible; Heroes Room , displaying Tejano heroes who have made a difference in he civil rights of Mexican Americans; Map Room , displaying maps showing the development of Texas and south Texas over the past 300 years.; Flag Room , displaying the flags that have flown over Texas; and Art Gallery Room , displaying some of the art work associated with south Texas and he Mexican and Tejano culture. Alfredo E. Cardenas | May 7, 2014 at 6:09 pm | Reply (Edit) Thank you. I will. ...

As early as 1883, a deputy from Nueces County by the name of P. S. Coy was making a name as one bad hombre with a badge and a gun. Through the next five years he was continuously in the newspaper apprehending one outlaw or another. He soon acquired a reputation of shooting first and asking questions later. The newspaper often praised him for his actions but he did not enjoy such a stellar reputation in the Mexican American community. The name Coy is part of early Texas history. Santos Coy was an early settler and alcalde of Nacogdoches.  Trinidad Coy was a  Tejano rancher and a  scout for the Alamo defenders. He was also the father of Paulino S. Coy, the same Deputy  P.S. Coy who as it turned out was himself a Mexican American.  Some of Deputy Coy’s earliest mentions in the Corpus Christi newspaper was a story about a band of thieves headed by well-known “cut-throat” Faustino Vela who were depredating the neighb...