Benavides: The Town And Its Founder, 1880 (Part 2)

by Arnoldo De Leon

Arnoldo De Leon

Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus, Angelo State University

Despite their role in the Texas Revolution, however, the Benavides family encountered the same fate as other Tejanos faced once the fighting ended. Suspected of aiding Santa Anna and being involved in the massacre of Goliad and the Battle of the Alamo, many Tejanos had been chased from their homes and ranches. Some fled to the Rio Grande Valley, where the settlements established by Jose de Escandon in the 174Os and 175Os provided them refuge. Others fled to Louisiana to escape vengeful white men. Among those leaving for Louisiana were the four Benavides brothers who had helped found Victoria--Placido, Eugenio, Ysidro, and Nicolas.

It was in Louisiana that Cayetana Moreno Benavides, the wife of Ysidro, gave birth in 1836 to Placido, the future founder of Benavides, Texas. After two years in exile, the Benavideses (except their brother Placido who had died in Opelousas, Louisiana, in 1837) returned to what was left of their lands. Ysidro Benavides and his family settled down on their ranch in modern-day Calhoun County along Chocolate Creek.5

What happened to Ysidro Benavides and his family after their return remains obscure, but it is certain that Señora Benavides suffered a great tragedy in 1842 when her brother Regalado Moreno was murdered in cold blood along with six other Mexicans by the cut-throat Mabry "Mustang" Gray near Goliad.6

Sometime in the mid-1850s, notes Leopoldo Benavides of Hebbronville, Texas,7 the young, unmarried, Louisiana-born Placido Benavides, his mother Cayetana, and his brother Ysidro, made their way into South Texas and towards Rancho de Trinidad. For some time, the widow Cayetana had wanted to move nearer to her native Mexico and closer to her brother, Santos Moreno, who owned Rancho de Trinidad in Nueces County. Moving all their belongings from Victoria seemed the logical thing to do. Once at his Uncle Santos' ranch, the enterprising Placido began acquiring land in the area, which eventually became the site of the town named after him.[8]

The Civil War interrupted Placido's ranching interests. Texas had joined the Confederacy, and while most Tejanos sympathized with the Union, others enlisted in the Confederate columns. Like his celebrated relatives from Laredo, Santos and Refugio Benavides, Placido opted to fight in the Confederate Army.[9]

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5 Grimes (ed.), 300 Years in Victoria County, pp. 108, 213; Rose, Some Historical Facts in Regards to the Settlement of Victoria, Texas, p. 105. Ysidro Benavides' original grant, situated close to that of his brothers in present Victoria County, became part of Calhoun County in 1846 when it was created from parts of Victoria, Jackson, and Matagorda Counties. Webb, et al, Handbook of Texas, I, p. 270.

⁶ Grimes (ed.), 300 Years in Victoria County, pp. 213-215; Rose, Some Historical Facts in Regard to the Settlement of Victoria,

Texas, p. 106.

⁷ Oral interview with Mr. Leopoldo Benavides, March 17, 1980, Hebbronville, Texas (hereinafter referred to as Benavides interview). Leopoldo, who is the grandson of Placido Benavides, has a vast knowledge of the founder's life. Some of the Placido Benavides papers are in Leopoldo's possession.

⁸ Benavides interview, March 17, 1980, Hebbronville, Texas. Tax rolls for Nueces County confirm Moreno's presence in that area.

9 Benavides interview, March 17, 1980, Hebbronville, Texas.

Books by Arnoldo de Leon