Soy de Duval

 Good news! The University of North Texas Press has agreed to publish my forthcoming book,  DUVAL COUNTY TEJANOS,  An Epic Narrative of Liberty and Democracy, The book's release is scheduled for Fall 2024. Listings for the book will begin to appear on the UNT Press website and Amazon in late spring 2024.  on Freepik While the focus of the book is on the Tejanos who comprised 90 percent of the the county's population, it will be a comprehensive history of the county and its people from its founding by Spaniards in the early 19th century through the mid-20th century. Most of it covers the founding and development during the 1800s and concludes with an encapsulation look at the 1900s up to the end of the Parr era. It has been a project of great pride and joy that has taken a number of years to research and write. I am extremely grateful to UNT Press for their willingness to bring this book to the reading public.  On Friday, October 13, at 10 a.m. I will be at...

(This is a narrative I wrote for the Plan of San Diego historical marker application. I wanted to make it available to anyone interested.) by Alfredo E. Cardenas Introduction On January 6, 1915, nine men signed the Plan of San Diego in Duval County, Texas. Before the end of the year, hundreds of people, mostly Mexican-Americans, were killed in the Rio Grande Valley under the seditious call to action laid out in this document. It brought about a turbulent time in South Texas, where many law enforcement officers abandoned their oaths to preserve and protect. The Plan launched the entire economic and social fabric of the Rio Grande Valley into upheaval. The plot spread panic and fear far and wide to the rest of Texas and the United States. The rebellion prompted by the Plan of San Diego had international implications, both in the Western hemisphere and in Europe. On January 24, 1915, Hidalgo County merchant Deodoro Guerra detained for authorities in McAllen, Texas, one Basilio Ramos Jr., ...

Balo’s War : A Novel About the Plan of San Diego by Alfredo E. Cárdenas , (Corpus Christi: MCM Books, 2015) (This coming Sunday, July 16 at 2 p.m., I will be making a presentation and signing books on my historical novel Balo's War. The event will be at La Brasadas El Encuentro  in Rios, located at the old Catholic Church (click the link to get directions on Google Maps .   I hope to see many of you there. If you can't make it tell a friend. Unfortunately, I am low on books at the moment but I will have some for sale and autographing. If I run out and you would like an autographed copy I will take orders and ship them to you within two weeks. Otherwise, you can also order the book on Amazon. Thanks for your continued support and I look forward to seeing you there. Please read the excellent review below if you are unfamiliar with the book. You can also read a sample chapter of Balo's War by clicking here .) Scholars have found the Plan de San Diego (PSD) of great i...

  Palo Alto was home to the Valerio clan before the Civil War. (A few days ago, someone posted on Somos De Duval about her ancestor Cecilio Valerio. Many members took an interest, so I thought I would share an excerpt from my upcoming book on the nineteenth-century history of Duval County.)

  Alfredo Cárdenas, the author of Balo's War , visits with descendants of Basilio Ramos at the book's debut in 2015 at the Duval County Courthouse. Cárdenas will do a book signing on Sunday, July 16 at El Encuentro in Rios. Eight years since Alfredo Cárdenas debuted  Balo's War  in 2015, the author has been invited to make a presentation and do another book signing in Duval County. The author will be at La Brasadas El Encuentro in Rios, located at the old Catholic Church (click the link to get directions on Google Maps .)   Balo's War is a historical novel based on the Plan of San Diego which was given light in Duval County's capitol in 1915. The Duval County Historical Commission dedicated a Texas Historical marker for the Plan of San Diego at Padre Bard Park in San Diego earlier this year. Cárdenas, who was unable to attend because he took ill at the time, prepared the historical marker application, including writing its history. "I first ran...

In February 1937, premiere Tejano Civil Rights leader Alonso S. Perales said: “ As Mexican Americans from San Antonio and other places, we rejoice and feel pride upon seeing our fellow Mexican-American citizens from Duval , Webb, Zapata and Starr guide their communities towards the future.” (Alonso S. Perales and Emilio Zamora, In Defense of My People (Houston: Arte Público Press, 2022), 225). He said that Mexican Americans over “the entire world, feel at home” in those counties because “the honorable descendants of Hidalgo and Cuauhtémoc, as well as the no less worthy descendants of Washington and Lincoln, advance in all fields of activity.” Alonso S. Perales “These places,” Perales said, “are totally devoid of racial prejudice and symbolize the ideal circumstance that no doubt existed in the minds, souls and hearts of Antonio Navarro and Francisco Ruiz, signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence.” Antonio Menchaca, Juan N. Seguín and other Tejano patriots who supported “libert...

  Ten bronze statues set on marble and five descriptive plaques depict the story of the founding of Texas by Tejanos. The five tablets in front tell the story of Tejanos’ contribution to the founding of Texas. The monument is in front of the Texas Capitol in Austin. (photo by Rene Renteria Photography) Two Duval County natives, Homero Vera and Juanita Garcia Tijerina, played an instrumental role in the Tejano Monument on the State Capitol grounds becoming a reality. The monument, consisting of ten bronze statues on a marble foundation, was dedicated by Gov. Rick Perry in 2012 after an effort that took 12 years to complete. Andres Tijerina addresses the Tejano Genealogical Spanish Society symposium on June 10 in Austin. (photo by Rene Renteria Photography) The idea for the monument came about at a gathering of four individuals, including Andres Tijerina, a native of Ozona in West Texas, and South Texans Dr. Cayetano Barrera, a native of Encinal in Brooks County, Richard Santos from ...

  Mexicans who allegedly attacked the King Ranch met their fate at the hands of Texas Rangers and their allies. ( General Photograph Collection, UTSA Special Collections. ) Dr. Trinidad Gonzales La Matanza—Truth y Reconciliation: History y Justice will be the next presentation of Las Brasadas El Encuentro in Rios on June 4, beginning at 2 p.m. The featured speaker will be Dr. Trinidad O. Gonzales, Assistant Chair, Department of History at South Texas College in McAllen. During the turbulent years from 1910 through 1920, the Texas Rangers (Los Rinches) and vigilantes indiscriminately slaughtered Tejanos and Mexicanos all along the Rio Grande, from Brownsville to El Paso. This has come to be known as La Matanza . Dr. Gonzales is among the founders o Refusing to Forget , which chronicles this era. The lawless lawmen did not discriminate between “women and men, the aged and the young, long-time residents and recent arrivals.” Dr. Gonzales has received several awards for his research...