Name a Duval County Rancho
Map of the Rio Grande Frontier, Texas, 1892
POSTED BY: CARDENAS.AE@GMAIL.COM APRIL 6, 2020
Much interest has been expended by this blog and its readers on the original Spanish and Mexican land grants made in Duval County. Rightfully so. But, those land grants did not remain empty spaces. People moved in and established ranchos. So this week we will look at some of the ranchos that we have identified from those earliest years.
The first ranchos sprung up in various parts of the county, but most likely the San Diego Creek area were some of the earliest ranchos. The map above shows the three land grants made along the San Diego Creek in which today is the city of San Diego. Included are three ranchos on the north side of the creek. The two on the left, or west side of town, were those of Julian and Ventura Flores, respectively. We do not have specific names for these two different ranchos. These two grants are often referred to as one, but a rancho on each side of the grants’ boundary seemingly confirms that they were two separate grants.
The rancho on the far left is most likely that of Julian Florres, the patriarch. Immediately across the the boundary line of the two grants, is another rancho, most likely the headquarters for Ventura Flores’ ranching operations.To the far right, to the east, is San Remigio, which was the ranch of Ventura’s daughter Trinidad Flores. This ranch was most likely in present-day Jim Wells County. In between the two ranch headquarters and San Remigio there appears to be a fourth unnamed ranch.
On the south side of the creek, below the fork of the San Diego and Rosita (Tarancahua) Creeks is the headquarters for the San Leandro grant. No ranch name is given, other than San Leandro.
West of San Diego were the Rosita, Ruiz, and Soledad Well Ranchos, and two ranchos near the Freer area whose names are not discernible on the map. Southwest of San Diego are two Gravis Ranchos, the Oglesby Rancho, two Alaniz Ranchos, and the Ceyades(?) Rancho.
Ranchos in the Benavides area were not from early grants.
In the Benavides area were found a number of ranches not affiliated with early grants, but of people that came later. North of Benavides on the railroad were the Mesquite and Piedras Pintas Ranchos and the new community of Duval that never took hold. East of Benavides were the Guajillo, Lopez, and Bandera Ranchos. To the west were the Hubbard, Murray, Mamsona(?), and Parilla Ranchos.
In the western and southern parts of Duval County there were several grants made, as well as, some later ranches that came into being.
El Mesquite Rancho, headquarters for Los Angeles de Abajo grant.
In 1808, ancestors of Trinidad Vela took possession of Santa Maria de Los Angeles de Abajo, where they founded Rancho Mesquite near the Charco Salado Creek. The ranch is in the southwestern corner of Duval County on the border with Webb County. Fifteen miles northwest of Realitos, is the Barronena Ranch. North of Barronena were the Los Encinos, Chapa, Valderas, Morris Ranchos.
Rancho La Laborcitas.
Southwest of Realitos, on the west side of the railroad, was the Palo Blanco Rancho. Still further south on the east side of the Tex-Mex were the Baldwin Rancho and Pena Station. The Stage Coach Road is indicated going south at Pena Station but it is hard to determine where it went to on its northern leg.
East of Realitos on the road to Concepcion were the Lewis Ranch, Clovis Rancho, and Concepcion, in early years known as the La Laborcitas Rancho of Jose Manuel Ramirez, who took over the Santa Cruz de Concepcion grant from Francisco Cordente.
North of the Concepcion area. on the road to Benavides, were the the Agua Poquitas, Las Fleicidades, Los Indios, and Sweden Ranchos. To get a better view of the 1892 map showing the south Texas ranchos, click here and “use the slider, plus and minus buttons, and arrow buttons to zoom and pan (also the navigator up top)”.
Ranchos in Southern Duval County.
There were of course many other ranchos not included in the 1892 page. For one thing the map does not show the ranchos north of present-day State Highway 44.
Some other ranchos on the historical record are Placido Benavides’ Palo Alto Rancho; Jose Angel Gonzales Rancho; Mateo Sendejo Rancho, six miles west of Mendieta Rancho; John Martin Rancho near Freer; the Ybanez Rancho; the Glover Rancho near Benavides; Carrillo’s Rancho, four miles from Benavides; Rancho de la Muralla; La Gloria Rancho; Rancho Canai; Rancho Aquas Prietas, located past Benavides; Cibolo Rancho; the Labbe Rancho along the banks of the San Diego Creek, north of San Diego; Los Horcones; the Duval County Ranch; Rancho Los Anaquas; the Stillman Ranch, formerly the Gray Ranch; the Collins Ranch, a couple of miles northeast of San Diego; the Delamer Ranch in San Diego; Florencio Benavides Rancho, two miles off Concepcion; further south, the Hilario Benavides Rancho, three miles from Concepcion; John Fitch Rancho; Rancho San Felipe; Rancho of Juan Salinas; Avelino Perez’ Rancho; Becerra Rancho, 50 miles north of San Diego; Rancho San Jose; Los Olmitos Rancho; and others.
In an effort to have a more complete record of Duval County ranchos, I invite your comments or if you would like, please fill out the form below with information on missing ranchos or clarification/amplification on the ranchos included here. Please limit your responses to ranchos in operation before 1900. Thank you. P.S. for those of you being good and practicing social distancing by staying at home, or maybe at your ranch, below are some good reading suggestions for you to consider.
6 COMMENTSON "NAME A DUVAL COUNTY RANCHO"
Diana Cueva Liese | February 13, 2021 at 12:47 pm | Reply
Where can I find a map, of Duval County ranches?
The map included in article doesn’t enlarge very well.cardenas.ae@gmail.com | February 22, 2021 at 8:08 am | Reply
Try this link: Good luck. Let me know if it works for you.Alma Luz Carrales | April 7, 2020 at 5:14 pm | Reply
I am fwd. the Los Ranchos info to my sister-in-law, Aurora Carrales Cuevas. Her ancestors come from the Julian Flores Land Grant. I shall ask her to send you some information. This is another way of sharing the family history.
Alma Carralescardenas.ae@gmail.com | April 12, 2020 at 10:49 pm | Reply
Thank you, Alma. Glad you found good use for it.Juan P. Castro | April 7, 2020 at 7:46 am | Reply
This is a great way to expand the memories of our family histories and collaborate with others.
Thank you, Juan. I’m glad you feel this way. It is very gratifying to hear and an affirmation of my work.
Comments
Post a Comment
We welcome constructive comments and invite you to share your own research if you would like. Thank you.