This Week in Duval County History, November 18 — 24

 

POSTED BY: CARDENAS.AE@GMAIL.COM NOVEMBER 18, 2019

November 18

New post office

Post Office is opened in Sweden for the first time on November 18, 1884. First Postmaster was Henry A. Lucas.

Texas Post Offices

November 19

Area was unsafe

Beyond Santa Rosa Rancho, 65 miles southwest of Corpus Christi, roads considered unsafe except by large and well-armed parties. (Do not know where Santa Rosa Rancho was located but 65 miles southwest of Corpus Christi would seem to be somewhere in Duval County.)

Corpus Christi Ranchero, November 19, 1859

November 20

Rangers assigned to Pena

November 20 – Texas Ranger Company C arrived at Pena and made camp six miles from Pena Station on account of grass and water. Company C consisted of one officer, 10 enlisted men, and a teamster. They had, among other things, six mules, a wagon, 600 Winchester cartridges, 700 pistol cartridges, a pair of shackles, a B.C. shotgun, five wall tents, etc. They used up 200 Winchester cartridges in November.

Frontier Ranger Battalion, Company C Monthly Returns

November 21

New roads across Duval County

Corpus Christi was quite animated due to a number of mules and wagons belonging to a large number of traders, 90 to 100, from Mier. They were in Corpus Christi buying lumber and other supplies for both sides of the Rio Grande. They brought in about $40,000.

They were to return to Mier by a new road surveyed by Mr. Manning of Corpus Christi who accompanied the party as a guide. Col. Kinney had a plowshare affixed to one of the wagons with which it is intended to turn a furrow the whole distance to the Rio Grande. This made a clear and perceptible trail until a permanent road was cut. The distance was 145 miles to this side of the river. Upper branch goes to Mier, lower branch to Rio Grande City and Camargo.

Col. Kinney had opened a similar trail to Laredo, 138 miles away, through Los Angeles… (These roads had to cross through Duval County, given their destinations.)

Corpus Christi Star, November 21, 1848

November 22

Escape equaled lynched

In South and West Texas when it was said a prisoner escaped that usually meant he was lynched. According to a Corpus Christi newspaper that was the fate of the killers of Rafael Salinas, who had been found dead near Concepcion.

Norton’s Union Intelligencer, Dallas, November 22, 1879

November 23

Freer Lady Buckarools win state volleyball title

On November 23, 1994, the Duval County Picture reported that the Freer Lady Buckaroos won the state championship in volleyball. They were led by all-state players Lilly Ortiz and Amy Ford. Other contributors included Lory Ruiz, Carmen Perez, and Cindy Hinojosa.

Duval County Picture, November 23, 1994

November 24

Another Post Office opens

(corrected from original post)

The Post Office was opened in Mendieta on November 24, 1879. The first Postmaster was Fabian Fabela.

Texas Post Offices

10 COMMENTSON "THIS WEEK IN DUVAL COUNTY HISTORY, NOVEMBER 18 — 24"

1. Justin Mendieta | November 28, 2019 at 1:45 am | Reply
   Fabian Fabela was the post master of Mendieta on November 24,1879. Who ever wrote this paper on this date tried to skew the truth because Piedras Pintas is east of Benavides? Chiliptan Creek is Mendieta.

• cardenas.ae@gmail.com | November 30, 2019 at 1:18 pm | Reply
  Thanks for your feedback, Justin. You are right, Fabela was the postmaster at Mendieta, not Piedras Pintas. And the Borjas Creek had nothing to do with Piedras Pintas as far as I can tell. But, there was no attempt to “skew” anything, it was simply an honest error. Apparently when I transcribed my notes from the original source I messed up. But nothing was intentional. By the way, Piedras Pintas is not east of Benavides, it is north, northwest of Benavides.

2. Homero S. Vera | November 19, 2019 at 6:36 pm | Reply
   Alfredo, Pedro de la Garza original grantee of Rancho Santa Rosa. Later McGill brothers acquired it and now most of it belongs to Robert East Foundation. Located a few miles west of Riviera, TX.

• cardenas.ae@gmail.com | November 21, 2019 at 9:08 am | Reply
  Thanks, Homero. So I guess it wasn’t in Duval COunty after all.

3. David Smith | November 19, 2019 at 6:15 am | Reply
   Thanks again for your interesting column. I believe the McGill Ranch was called Santa Rosa.

• cardenas.ae@gmail.com | November 19, 2019 at 9:03 am | Reply
  Thank you, David. Where is the McGill Ranch?

4. Marco A Pineyro | November 18, 2019 at 9:24 pm | Reply
   You have mentioned Piedras Pintas several times. Where was it located.

• cardenas.ae@gmail.com | November 19, 2019 at 9:01 am | Reply
  Marco, Piedras Pintas was a couple of miles NW of Benavides. See it here.

• Marco A Piñeyro | November 20, 2019 at 9:42 pm | Reply
  That is the location of the creek. What about the location of the town. Could that town be Benavides?

• cardenas.ae@gmail.com | November 21, 2019 at 9:14 am | Reply
  Well, the town was along the creek. Piedras Pintas predates Benavides. It was an important town in the frontier. Was the scene of numerous Indian and bandit raids. Played a role during the time cotton was king in Duval County and was the where oil was discovered in Duval County. The story goes that when the railroad came, the owner of the land (a gentleman named Saenz) refused to sell land to the railroad for fear the trains would kill his cattle and the young children. The railroad bypassed Piedras Pintas and bought land from a gentleman named Benavides and then is when Benavides came into being. Piedras Pintas continued for a while but eventually passed from history.