Rosa María Hinojosa de Ballí, A Modern Woman Before Modern Times
Norman Rozeff

Throughout history there have been those individuals who stand out among their contemporaries because they exhibit traits and actions extraordinary for their time and place. So it is for Rosa Hinojosa de Balli who lived 1752 to 1803. Hers is a special story well worth relating.

She was born in what is now Camargo, Tamaulipas, Mexico as the sixth of nine children of Capt. Juan Jose Hinojosa de la Garza and his wife Maria Antonia Ines Balli de Benavides (elsewhere Antonia Baez Benevides). They were Spanish aristocrats, though not wealthy, and, like many who chose New Spain (later Mexico) as their home, were given rights to land grants and public offices. The family was to move to the frontier town of Reynosa in 1767 where Hinojosa was appointed alcade (mayor). As such he was among the relatively well-off of the area who controlled the jurisdiction. It is likely that Maria was educated there by the parish priest, and well too, as indicated by the literate records that she later produced. She grew up to marry Jose Maria Balli Guerra, who was a captain of the militia in the area and chief justice of Reynosa. He had already been granted a double porcion of land south of the river that added to his grant east of Camargo. All were used for cattle raising. Oldest of their three sons was Jose Nicolas Balli, a missionary priest and developer of the island which would take its name from his title of "Padre" (father).

The Hinojosas resided in Reynosa Viejo, a flood-prone area about 15 miles north of the present-day Reynosa. In 1776 Captain Balli and his father-in-law jointly applied for a large land grant that would be named the La Feria grant. Both had died before the king of Spain granted the land to them. Balli's will had specified that Rosa Maria was to inherit his share of twelve leagues (53,140 acres). A lengthy delay in clearing the heritance was due to a suit entered by Domingo Guerra who had claimed to occupy the La Feria land since 1770. On May 11, 1790 the Chief Justice of the Intendencia of the Province of San Luis Potosi issued a final decree conveying the Llano Grande grant to Juan Jose de Hinojosa and the La Feria one to Rosa Maria, who also inherited three leagues in the former grant.

Over the next 13 years of her life Doña Hinojosa de Balli was to exhibit her business acumen and common sense skills. For years she maintained meticulous, detailed records. For a start, she ably surveyed and documented her inheritance that encompassed water frontage on the Rio Grande. She then continued to clear the debts on the property and enlarge her landholdings.

Recognizing the importance of land holdings she financed an application for her brother Vicente. This was for thirty-five leagues in what would be named the Las Mestenas, Pitita y La Abra Land grant. In return for soliciting and obtaining this grant and surveying it, Vicente transferred twelve leagues of it to his sister. This became the Ojo de Agua Tract that runs east-west just north of Harlingen. It was so named because of its flowing spring.

In 1794 Doña Rosa Maria's petition for the sizeable San Salvador del Tule grant was awarded on behalf of her son Juan Jose Balli Hinojosa. It consisted of seventy-two leagues or 320,000 acres. This area had within its boundaries the valuable Sal de Rey, the great salt lake. For her youngest son Jose Maria Balli Hinojosa Jr., who was nicknamed Chico, she purchased the Las Casteñas tract part of the Concepcion de Carricitos grant from its original grantees, the Fernandez brothers, Eugenio and Bartolome. This grant at the time encompassed what is now south of Harlingen and the Arroyo Colorado all the away to the river. It was with her oldest son Padre Jose Nicolas, who became her business associate, that she applied for an eleven league grant on what is now Padre Island. Delays in granting it led to her withdrawal in 1800 in favor of her grandson. A clear title was requested in 1827 but was only granted posthumously in December 1829. A nephew Juan Jose became heir to half the island and lived there from 1829 to his death in 1853.

Dona Rosa Maria established her La Feria grant ranch headquarters at La Florida. This location is now near the La Gloria Main Canal west of Las Rucias and north of the Military Highway. She, of course, ran livestock on her numerous other properties too. The animals included herds of cattle, sheep, goats, mules, and horses. This how she earned the unofficial title of the first "cattle queen " of Texas. It was from the Spanish word vaquero, or one that cares for vacas (cows), that we derive the modern word cowboy. Strangely enough Rosa Maria never resided on the ranch nor in Texas.

By the time of her death she had amassed over a million acres of land in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and in what are the present-day counties of Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, Willacy, and Kenedy. The La Feria (the fair in Spanish) area takes its name from the annual fairs that were conducted for ranch families of the area. Upon Padre Nicolas' return from Spain, where he had studied, his mother threw a three-day fiesta on the ranch for her workers and their families. It cost a whooping 4,000 pesos.

A devout Catholic, she used her wealth generously in support of her faith. She set aside the equivalent of $4,000 as a church endowment upon her death. Fearing that it might be lost she placed it into her estate. Upon her death then, her business partner, son Nicolas, first paid off all expenses and legacies, including this gift to the church, and withdrew his capital. The redeemed residual estate was then divided into two parts. He received one-half and his two brothers split the remaining half.

In addition to maintaining a family chapel she endowed churches in Reynosa, Camargo, and Matamoros. The latter was the first chapel for the town. Her will bequeathed silver plates, a silver service, and jewelry to Padre Balli for use at the La Feria Chapel. She deservedly earned the sobriquet "La Patrona" and was godmother to a good many who were christened in Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Reynosa Viejo.

Upon her death she was interred in a cemetery adjacent to a chapel where her son conducted mass. This capilla (chapel) is believed to be in Ciudad Victoria. Nicolas, whom she fondly referred to as "My son, the priest", was buried in the same cemetery upon his death. Around 1953 a new large church, Sagrado Corizon de Jesus, was built around the original capilla that was used until 1911. Upon completion of the new structure that entombed the capilla in its middle, the bodies of both were then re-interred in coffins in the basement of the church. Padre Nicolas' artifacts are stored in an upstairs room.

In her lifetime she had tread the fine line of being a powerful woman, yet one who led wisely and strengthened her family without arousing rancor in others. She was both proud of and protective of her children. She was indeed a modern woman well before her time.

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