Valley History by Norman Rozeff

(Norman also has a page of articles on "Harlingen History" which can be opened by Clicking and also another page listing the "Chronological History of Harlingen" which can be opened by Clicking.)

2004-5 Valley Morning Star Our Heritage Page Second Year Index

Date	Subject	Photo	Extended Obituary
6/3/04	Gorges Hall; Texas Preservation Trust Fund Grants; Park Service Info; Roma History; Juneteenth	KGBT-TV
6/10/04	Brownsville Cathedral History; Knitting Club	Knitting Club	John Flowers, Monte Christo
6/17/04	Button Factory Followup	Button Factory	Ned Wood Solether, Weslaco
6/24/04	Film Crew at Palo Alto Battlefield		Jose Nieto, Sr., El Sauz Ranch
7/1/04	HHPS Museum Celebration; Explanation of 1916 Lawmen Photo	Lawmen Photo	Charles W. Wofford III, Raymondville
7/8/04	Verser House; Rocket Restoration; Brownsville Railroad Centennial
7/15/04	Lozano Building; Brownsville Heritage District	Runyon Photo 1909
7/2204	Valley in Tropical Trails Program; La Feria Reunion; The National History Trail;Lozano Bldg. Feedback	Old Sam Houston School	Alexandra Ontiveros; San Benito
7/29/04	La Reforma Ghost Town; Lozano & Other Buildings & Business College	La Reforma Map	Jerome "Geronimo" Preiss, Floresville
8/5/04	Baxter, Wittenbach Bldgs. & Harl. Business Schools History	Downtown Harlingen, 1927	Walter Gene Smith, Raymondville
8/12/04		Nursery Schools, 1929 and 1960	James Eubanks, Santa Rosa
8/19/04	Wittenbach Bldg. Followup; Carl Chilton's Fort Brown Book	American Eagle, San Benito
8/26/04	Texas Navy; McAllen Historical Development	Eagle Pharmacy Family
9/2/04	Audrey Prentiss Walk Account of 1905-15 Era in the Valley		The. Rev. Norman Washington, Harlingen
9/9/04	Kindergarten Photo Feedback		Albina P. Longoria, San Benito
9/16/04	Cameron County History Online		Reynaldo Garza, Brownsville; Dewitt Farley, Weslaco
9/23	Pancho Villa Followup	Picture of General Carranza	Steven Robert King, Port Mansfield
9/30/04	W.J. Tiller "The Adventures of a Helicopter Cowboy"		Wayne Labar, Harlingen
10/7/04	Brownsville Raid;State Genealogy Conv.;Stillman—Brownsville Founder	Weed Kindergarten and Memories
10/14/04	Rio Grande City History; Rozeff Genealogy Talk	La Borde House	Jesus "Chuy" Bazan, Pharr
10/21/04	Campacuas Cemetery Memorial Marker		C.L. "Smokey" Boyle
10/28/04	Dia do los Muertes & Harlingen Cemetery	1916 Soldiers at Harlingen Station
11/4/04	San Benito Historic Marker Memorial Illumination	Old Resaca Photo	Gilberto Zepeda, Sr.; San Benito
11/11/04	Zimmerman Telegram; Agrasanchez Talk; DeLeon Family History		Morris W. Dodd, Combes-Lyford
11/18/04	Sad End to Harlingen Railroad Depot; Alamo Grafitti	Old Depot Photos
11/25/04	From Balli to Berly—The Adams Gardens Connection; Genealogy Conf. and Award to Grannie	Adams Gardens Gateposts
12/2/04		1940s Greyhound Basketball Team	Maria L.Gonzales, Santa Rosa; Martin Rosales, Austin
12/9/04	Grants for UTPA Library; Mexican Documents	Team ID'd	Juanita "Mommy Five" Romero, Los Fresnos
12/16/04	RGC House and Ghosts; THC Book Awards	RGC Longoria House
12/23/04	Shared Language Embraces the Southwest	Seven Old Rio Hondo Photos
12/30/04	Harlingen Street Names	Misspelled Hays Street Name	Robert I. Irby, Harlingen
1/6/05	Tropical Trails		James Austin Oden, Harlingen
1/13/05	Reese-Wil-Mond Hotel/Heritage Manor History; Weslaco Museum Replica	South Padre Island 1964
1/20/05	South Padre Island 1964 Feedback		Carlos Gracia, Sr., Harlingen
1/27/05	More South Padre Island And Jetties Feedback	Jetties Area	Judge Fidencio Guerra, Sr., McAllen
2/3/05	RGV Jewish Settlers	Observant Jews	Pedro "Pepe" Campos, Sr., Primera
2/10/05	Charles Stillman, Brownsville Founder	Charro Days	Arlo Alvin Haught, Brownsville
2/17/05	Heritage Plan Brownsville Tax Break; TX Independence Day Celebration in Austin		Leandro T. Garza, Harlingen
2/24/05	Harlingen Air Bases; Charro Days	Charro Day Band
3/3/05	Robert E. Lee Hdqtrs., Fort Ringgold	Headquarters building	Capt. Walter A. Brooks, La Feria
3/10/05	Capt. Sanford Kidder's grave vandalized in Brownsville	Kidder's grave	Ezequiel C. Cavazos, Sr., Lyford
3/17/05	Port Isabel Lighthouse; Explorer LaSalle's "Belle", a Book Review	Lighthouse
3/24/05	Robert Runyon—A Man for All Seasons	Runyon Family	Walter A. Theall, Harlingen
3/31/05	Primera History, Part I		Edward Lee Ashley, Harlingen
4/7/05	Primera history, Part II, Memories of Alex Trejo, former mayor of Primera	Old Wilson School	Russell T. Biddison, Lozano; Marion Hardey Arpee, Harl.
4/14/05	History of USO & Chuey's Supermarket, Harlingen; 1937 miller house, McAllen; Biddison and Runyon followups	Biddison Mall, Chuey's Supermarket, USO bldg.
4/21/05	Valley Heritage Pride—Hispanic Ranching	El Ranchito Ranch hands	L.B. Reeder, Harlingen
4/28/05	Donald A. Hoffman & the Harlingen USO Club; Oldtime Brownsville Baseball	WWII Hoffman Photos
5/5/05	Cinco de Mayo Festivities; Visionaries in Preservation Program	Joe and Bertha Gavito	Joe Gavito, Jr.,La Feria
5/12/05	Lafitte's Well. Laguna Vista; Victoria Theater, Brownsville; Paper Preservation	Well and Theater
5/19/05	Student Winners of History Art Contest		Stacy Spiva Malone, Weslaco
5/26/05	99Year Old RG City Matriarch		Kenneth W. MacPherson, Harlingen

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* The VMS moved the Rio Living Feature from Thursdays to Sundays in order to effect a greater readership.

In my history articles I have usually dealt with subjects occurring over the last 150 years. A recent web discovery now allows me to tell you about considerably older Valley natives.

Not much has been published on the very earliest Native Americans in this region, but as early as 1917 artifacts were coming to light which stirred periodic interest. Still the amount of archeological literature on the subject is relatively little. Andrew Eliot Anderson was one of the first to explore local sites, make notes, and collect artifacts. He first published some of his results in 1932, and his collection is presently housed at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory.

Archeologists have termed the little-known Indian groups who occupied the Rio Grande Delta during the period 1100-1700 A.D. the Brownsville-Barril complex or culture. With its semi-arid climate and variable soils the area was generally inhospitable for cultivation so "The people of the Rio Grande Delta were hunters, fishers, shellfish collectors, and plant gatherers who moved frequently as the seasons, tides, and food supplies dictated." Unfortunately evidence of even earlier occupation is scant since river flood deposits and hurricanes have covered or destroyed sites which were on the higher dunes and levees along the coast, resacas, and the river.

The Rio Grande Delta was largely neglected by the Spanish settlers until 1747, years after they had established missions and settlements upriver. By their accounts it was suggested that as many as 50 named Indian groups may have populated the area. These include the Atastagonie (probably the same as the Taztasagonie), Cacalote, Garza, Pacuache (also given name variants such as Campacua, Paachiqui, Pacao, and Patzau), Pajarito (also called the Pacaruja), Pinanaca (Pimanco, Pinaca, Piranca), Tecahuiste, and Tepachuache. These peoples were all part of the Coahuitecan language group of Northeastern Mexico, and this language group may have encompassed up to 200 tribes.

The notorious Karankawa, who constituted a separate language group, did not inhabit the Valley area. In the mid 1840s, remnants of the Karankawa tribe moved from the Corpus Christi area into Tamaulipas, Mexico. Besieged by Mexico authorities after being accused of plundering Reynosa, they moved into Texas in 1850 and settled near Rio Grande City. In 1858 a Texas force led by Juan Nepomuceno Cortina annihilated the small remaining band of Karankawas.

Lacking natural stone, the delta natives used seashells to fashion tools, ornaments, and projectile points. A few objects of pottery, jade, and obsidian found here indicate that the Valleyites likely traded some of their shell creations for these items produced to the south.

Also mentioned is the distinctive manner of human burials, especially the tightly flexed position of the body, that is with the forearms crossed or the hands adjacent to the face, their locations away from living areas, and the accompanying offerings. A link to the Handbook of Texas Online tells in greater detail about the Ayala Site discovered in 1948. Located south of McAllen on the Ayala Farm this site on a bluff of the Sardinas Resaca contained forty-four identifiable remains from the Brownsville complex period.

With the more extensive colonization commencing in the first decade of the 20th century, canal building, land leveling, and the eventual control of the river itself, major archeological sites were lost forever.

Readers may learn more about the Brownsville-Barril complex by going to www.texasbeyondhistory.net. This website is a joint effort of the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, the University of Texas (Austin), and other Texas archeological organizations. Available at this site is a map of Texas showing thirty-five archeological sites. By clicking on any one of them, the viewer is offered a "virtual museum" tour. Under the Brownsville-Barril tour are to be found colored photos of shell tools, ornaments, and more. The next nearest site is Falcon Reservoir and presented under it is the "Ghosts of Spanish Ranchos", a subject of interest to many Valley residents. Covered in some detail is the Leal Rancho. This was once located in the 5,783.6 acre grant in Porcion 55 west of Mier given to Juan Antonio Leal.

The website as a whole is a wonderful way to be an armchair explorer and save gas at the same time.

20th Century Brought Renewed Life to the Old Miller Hotel
Norman Rozeff
January 22, 2004
Revised February, 2010

It was in the summer of 1866 that Uriah Lott glimpsed an ad in the New Orleans Picayune. The ad noted that King, Kenedy, and Company were agents at Brazos de Santiago, Texas of the Morgan Line of Steamships. The latter were the U.S. Mail Steamships serving the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The adventurous twenty-four year old Lott soon set sail for Brownsville and eventually a railroad career that would make him a legend in Texas. Uriah Lott, of course, was later to be instrumental in bringing the first railroad to the Valley and then extending it to the west. Disembarking, he journeyed up river to Brownsville on the steamship Bessie. In Brownsville he put up at the Miller Hotel.

He found a job as a ship agent and also as correspondent for the Rio Grande Courier, which billed itself as the official journal of the Brownsville country. While moving on to Corpus Christi, his 84 hour stage coach trip gave him an indication of the terrain lying between the two cities.

Henry Miller, a German sea captain, had come to Brownsville in 1850 and in about 1858 had erected a wooden structure, naming it after himself. In another account by Mrs. Harbart Davenport, wife of the Port Isabel historian, she says the hotel had its start in 1848 due to both Henry Miller and John Webb. John Webb was a coachman involved with the founding of Brownsville, a vocal opponent of the Stillwell townsite company, and a member of the Blue Party. It was made over from time to time, but it was in 1863 that Miller added a three story brick addition to the rear of his premise at 1301 E. Elizabeth Street at the corner of 12th.

Business languished and the hotel closed. Minnie Gilbert says in an old VMS article that the hotel was closed for 21 years before Lon C. Hill resurrected it to accommodate prospective land buyers and business men after 1901. On a return trip from carrying hill's rice crop to Houston, hill brought in new furniture for the hotel. The Brownsville Herald of 9/16/03 reported that Frank M. Prior, proprietor of the hotel, had sold one-half interest in it to J.M. Anderson of San Antonio. When it reopened and with thanks to the coming of the railroad in July 1904, the hotel prospered. It was managed by Frankie Prior of San Antonio and W. L. Barbee, formerly of Wharton. Guests could for $2.00 per day on the American Plan receive lodging plus meals. Barbee was the owner of one of the two flourishing livery stables in Brownsville, the other being the Brownsville Transfer Company. Both also operated a feed and sales stable in connection with their livery business.

On July 8, 1904 Lott and his associates and the business leaders of Brownsville celebrated the coming of the railroad with an elaborate banquet at the Miller Hotel. In less than five months, the aggressive Benjamin F. Yoakum had ousted Lott from the presidency of the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway Company.

The Miller Hotel in the first decades of the 20th Century was THE place for visitors to stay. Hill and his sometime partner, the entrepreneur Peter Ebenezer Blalack, would sometimes book blocks of rooms at the hotel in order to accommodate potential land buyers and investors. If you look closely at the photograph of the hotel you will note that the man in the doorway is holding two tall stalks of sugarcane. Obviously, he is working to promote the idea at the time that the Valley was to be "The Sugar Bowl of the United States." George Brulay had set the example with his successful sugarcane plantation and mill at Southmost.

Lew Wallace, by the way, was the author in 1880 of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. He saw service briefly in the Valley during the Mexican War. After recruiting and organizing Company H, 1st Indiana Volunteer Infantry, he entered the army as a second lieutenant on 6/18/46 and was mustered out 6/14/47. He served again in the Civil War and rose in rank to general. From February to April 1865 he was detached on a secret service assignment connected with the liberal government of Mexico. It is highly unlikely that he wrote Ben-Hur, the best-selling novel of the 19th Century outsold only by the Bible, while in the Valley.

There is a small town named Ben Hur located eight miles northwest of Groesbeck in western Limestone County, Texas. According to local legend, A.T. Derden, an admirer of Lew Wallace's book, pushed the townfolk to change the name from Cottonwood to Ben Hur. The town had a peak population of 200 in 1947 but had lost its post office by 1906.

We learn more about Henry Miller and his life through US Census data. He is first documented in Brownsville in the census of 1860. At age 39, he was born in 1820 as calculated from future census records. His birthplace is listed as Hanover, Germany but later censuses will always note Bremen, Germany. In 1860 his occupation is recorded as hotel keeper.

By 1870 he is 50 and married to Charlotte, who is 37 and born in Heidelburg, Germany. They have a son Henry Miller, age 7, who was born in Texas. The senior Miller puts the value of his hotel at $70,000. When taken September 9, 1870, the census notes 28 residents at the hotel

In 1880 Miller is 60, and his wife is listed, more or less, by the Spanish spelling Carlota. She is reported to have immigrated to the US in 1855. A daughter Sophia, 20, is residing with them. The younger Henry is not recorded nor will he be in future records. He may have died of some disease prevalent at the time. When taken June 15, 1880, the census records 20 residents at the hotel.

By the 1900 census Charlotte is widowed. She is listed as having been born in January 1830.

A Little Railroad and How It Grew
Norman Rozeff, Harlingen Historical Preservation Society
May 2004

The San Benito and Rio Grande Valley Railway, or as it was affectionately called the "Spider Web" or "Sam Robertson's Back Door Railroad", was the product of San Benito and Houston principals. They realized that the irrigated lands served by the San Benito Land and Water Company as well as other canal companies, could not be sold unless the purchasers, who would mainly be growers, had some means of getting their produce to market. Adding impetus to this need was the high capacity sugar mill to be constructed in San Benito. Sugarcane would be impossible to transport over long distances on the then existing fair-weather-only unpaved roads.

What most people remember as the Spider Web was hardly the modest railroad that first started. With the purpose of constructing and operating rail lines in Cameron and Hidalgo counties, it was initially chartered as the San Benito and Rio Grande Valley Interurban Railway on June 28, 1912. In August of that year its name was changed to the San Benito and Rio Grande Valley Railway Company. With its principal place of business in San Benito, it had a capital of $500,000. At that time its first board of directors were: Samuel A. Robertson, Samuel Spears, W.G. B. Morrison, and L.O. Bryan, all of San Benito, and Abraham M. Levy, John W. Link, Jonas S. Rice, R.H. Kelley, and DeWitt C. Dunn, all of Houston. To finance the project Robertson had asked the Water Company to give him a lien of $10/acre on unsold land within a mile of the proposed railroad tracks and $5/acre for that within two miles.

The fact was that the railroad had been initiated in 1910 in the name of trustee Robertson, acting for the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Co. (Frisco), which advanced funds for the construction. Benjamin Yoakum was the president of the Frisco at this time and had his hand in many early Valley endeavors. Robertson went to Palestine, TX to purchase the necessary steel, ties and, as he related, "junk locomotives and cars" from George M. Dilley and Sons. By November 1910 Robertson had already laid three miles of track north from San Benito and on 6/7/11 it reached Riohondo. [Note: The original spelling of the name was Riohondo. In a letter, dated 7/20/25, to the town's postmaster, First Assistant Postmaster General John H. Bartlett requested that the town's spelling be changed to Rio Hondo to be effective August 15, 1925.] When the charter was issued in June 1912, thirty-nine miles of both completed and in-progress trackage was deeded by Robertson to the Interurban. A few days later it signed a contract with the Frisco to complete the railroad. The Frisco became the controlling interest.

By the end of 1912 there were thirty miles of serviceable track from San Fernando (about three miles north of Rio Hondo) and where the present-day Fernando East Road commences its eastward run and Santa Maria. Later an additional six miles were laid between Fernando and La Leona. Along the initial route, communities starting from Fernando, where the Sugarland Subdivision there supplied cane for the San Benito Sugar and Manufacturing Company mill and its successor, the Borderland Sugar Company, were in order: Rio Hondo, Rancho Colorado, Fresnel (El Fresnos), Lantana, Elrain, Nopalton (later Place Junction), San Benito where it connected to the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway, Boulevard Junction, Highland School, Heywood, La Paloma Junction, Landrum Station, Carricitos (Alcala), Los Indios, Rangerville, and Santa Maria. At La Paloma Junction a one mile spur ran southeast to La Paloma. At Los Indios another one mile spur ran south to Head Gates between the pumping plants for the Harlingen and San Benito canals.

Later a loop starting at Boulevard Junction, about two miles south of San Benito, was started in April 1910 and completed in June 1912. It ran two miles northeast from the junction before turning southwest passing Nebraska and Ohio Stations on it way to Los Indios. Nebraska Station was along today's Oyama Road and Ohio Station to its south was just north of where the Bill and Randy Mc Murray families homestead.

With the benefit of a land bonus, the company, on 11/11 started a totally separated segment. The nearly 20 mile line running from Sammons (near present-day Madero south of Mission) to a point two miles east of Monte Christo was completed 7/13.. It crossed and connected with the Sam Fordyce Branch of the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway at Mission. The coming of the railroad to Monte Christo drew settlers to this isolated community founded in 1909 by the Melado Land Company of Houston. Soon it boasted thirty-six farm families, a feed store, post office, service station, hotel, lumberyard, church, and a wholesale/retail store. The town was to fail when its deep water well ran dry and 1915-16 border raids frightened off some residents. Today few traces can be found that it ever existed.

In 1914 S.A. Robertson was listed as president of the company; J.W. Link of Houston, vice president; G.H. Windsor (shown left) of San Benito, secretary, auditor, traffic manager and general superintendent; J.T. Lomax, treasurer; F.H. Hamilton of St. Louis, assistant secretary and assistant treasurer; Andrews, Streetman, burns and Logue of Houston, general counsel; Morrison and Robards of San Benito, general attorneys; and L.H. Thacker, master mechanic.

By October 1914 a company schedule noted the distances between stations. On the Landrum Branch distances from San Benito were:

Boulevard Junction   1.2 miles
La Paloma                 6.6
Landrum                    8.3
Los Indios Junction     10.3
Headgates                 11.4
Templer                    14.4
Towne                       17.6

Rio Hondo                 8.7
Nopalton                    2.9
San Benito                 0.0
Nebraska                    6.8
Ohio                           8.2
Santa Maria              16.3
Kern                         16.8
Progreso                   31.2
Hidalgo                    45.2
Sammons                 58.0
Hoits                        59.7
Mission                    65.7
Alton                        69.1
Monte Christo          77.9

As innovative and ambitious as Sam Robertson was, he was always strapped for cash for his enterprises. With the Frisco in debt to the Equitable Trust Company of New York, the S.B. & R.G.V. was in receivership. So it was on March 1, 1916 that the San Benito and Rio Grande Railway, the Spider Web, was acquired by the New Orleans, Texas and Mexico, itself emerging from receivership. The latter continued to operate it as a separate company. Robertson remained as president and chief operating officer until he went into the army during the Great War and went to France to work on transportation systems. Mr. George H. Winsor, who had been auditor, secretary, traffic manager, and superintendent, then took over as president and chief operating officer.

In 1916 the line owned two locomotives, seven cars, and operated a bit over seventy-five miles of track. It reported passenger earnings of $6,000 and freight revenues of $20,000.

It was in the mid-20s, after all the sugar mills had closed—the last one being the Donna mill in 1922, that the San Benito and Rio Grande Valley Railway or Spider Web railroad began an expansion that doubled its size. In 1925 its two disjointed sections were united when a thirty-two mile line was laid between Kern just west of Santa Maria and Sammons, just south of Mission. Stops going westward from Kern were Thayer, Progreso, RayPaul (Runn), El Gato, and Hidalgo.

The Spider Web, its parent, the New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railway Company, which took control of the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway in the account of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Company (Frisco), were all acquired by the Missouri Pacific Railroad on January 1, 1925. The original names were kept in place, and the companies operated as separate entities until March 1, 1956 when they were fully merged into MOPAC. Two employees who retained their seniority when the consolidation occurred were conductor L.H. Thacker with a start date of 7/1/14 and engineer J.H. Sanders, 3/4/10.

In 1928 more trackage was laid, but this same year the connection above Rio Hondo to Fernando and La Leona was discontinued. From just north of San Benito, a nineteen mile line via Laureles and Bayview was put in to reach Abney, a no-longer existing community where the Border Patrol now has its detention facility. In 1940 this line would be extended 3 ½ miles south to Esoes (now HWY 100 south of Laguna Vista) and then east to Port Isabel by a nine mile acquisition of an existing line owned by the Port Isabel and Rio Grande Railway. Another unrelated extension was from La Paloma six miles southeast to Santander, now San Pedro.

With the north end of the Valley about to develop, the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway constructed a line running from Raymondville west through Lasara, Filagonia, Hargill and Faysville to Monte Christo. Later it would tie in San Perlita, Willimar, Porfirio, and Santa Monica to Raymondville's east and southeast. To serve the Delta Lake area track was run from Hargill through Rollo (Monte Alto) to Edcouch and south to Weslaco. A spur from it ran west to Engelman Gardens northwest of Elsa. It was in the early 1940s that the total system reached its maximum trackage of about 138 miles.

With fluctuating traffic and the initiation of better Valley highways, the railroad incrementally abandoned trackage over time. In 1955 the company reported freight revenues of $127, 400 and the operation of 115 miles of main track. In 1957, the line from Faysville to Monte Christo was discontinued; in 1968 the rail line from Edcouch to Monte Alto was dropped; and in 1969 the segment from Alton to Monte Christo was abandoned.

All of the system is now gone. One can see reminders here and there of its existence. These may be the straight elevated beds curiously dissecting cropped fields west of Raymondville, the odd-shaped lots and right-of-way in Monte Alto, and the yet to be paved over former track beds along Sam Houston Street in San Benito. This latter was the first to be constructed and possibly the last to be torn out in the late 1990s.

The Spider Web served the Valley well over many years, but time, progress, and the changing nature of agriculture made it obsolete and uneconomical. We'd like to hear from Valley readers about their memories of the railroad here. Does anyone recall a Galloping Goose type of self-propelled combination passenger/locomotive type car? These combined either gasoline or diesel with an electric motive power. In other parts of the country these self-powered passenger cars were called doodlebugs. One major manufacturer of this type rail car was the J. G. Brill Company of Philadelphia. "The J. G. Brill Company and its various incarnations dominated the world of trolley and undercarriage manufacturing for most of its seventy-year history. Based in Philadelphia, Brill was founded in 1865 by a German immigrant and held in family hands well into the 1930s. At its height the J.G. Brill Company owned plants in six states as well as Canada and France." Other manufacturers of self-propelled railcars at the time were the Edwards Railway Motor Company, Osgood Bradley, Wason Manufacturing, Cooke, and American Car and Foundry (ACF).

Before Fame Came, They Worked in the Valley
Norman Rozeff
Harlingen Historical Preservation Society
September 2003

The 1930s were a tough period for the country and world. South Texas was no exception. The Federal Government sought to alleviate the poor economic plight of displaced farmers among others. The Resettlement Agency, an arm of the Department of Agriculture, was created in1935. It evolved into the Farm Security Administration (FSA), which was discontinued in 1943.

One outgrowth of the FSA's existence was the establishment of its Historic Division. Its head was Roy Stryker, a Columbia University economics professor and a forceful administrator. He believed, and rightly so, in the "social and political power of photographic documentation." He not only wanted to create a record but also to gain support for New Deal legislation. The division would aid this effort "by documenting the need for agricultural assistance and recording the results of the agency's efforts to address that need."

Stryker hired a small, but effective, number of photographers who would prove to be outstanding in their trade. These included, among others, later renowned Gordon Parks, Ben Shahn, and Carl Mydans. Three other photographers of equal merit worked in the Valley in the years 1938 though 1942. All three went on to achieve worldwide fame and recognition.

While working in the Valley these photographers took hundreds of pictures in Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy Counties. There are one hundred available photos of Harlingen alone. These pictures, among 164,000 black and white negatives, 107,000 black and white photographs, and 1,610 color transparencies, now form the "America from the Great Depression to World War II" collection in the Library of Congress. The pictures depict family life, living quarters, labor, recreation activities religious and other organizations, personal portraits and more. The emphasis is on rural and small town life. They portray the adverse effects of the Dust Bowl, Great Depression, the increasing displacement brought about by farm mechanization, and the displaced people migrating west or to industrial sites in search of work. By the 1940s, America's mobilization for WW II is highlighted.

First here was Russell Lee (1903-1986) of Illinois. In the early 30s this graduate chemical engineer had spent summers in Woodstock, New York studying painting. He became interested in photography after purchasing his first camera in 1935 to use as a drawing aid.

Between 1936 and 1942, after being hired by Stryker, he became the FSA's most prolific photographer. "His use of direct flash allowed him to take relatively candid and very detailed interior shots." His photos of white migrant laborers and their families in the Valley are poignant and compelling. His most famous project, put together with his second wife Jean, was about the homesteading community of Pie Town, New Mexico. In WWII he served in the Army Air Corps photographing hundreds of airfields to be used in pilot briefings. For this and other work he received the Air Medal.

Moving to Austin after the war, he worked on many projects both here and abroad. After teaching at the University of Missouri, he later helped to establish the photography program at the University of Texas and taught there.

Arthur Rothstein (1915-1985) was next to work here. This New York native was hired by Stryker while Rothstein was attending Columbia University. He first achieved notoriety for his images of the Dust Bowl. One of his images, that of a skull in the desert, became very controversial. While Franklin Delano Roosevelt was campaigning in the Dakotas, the Fargo Forum embarrassed him by revealing that Rothstein's photo was a set up, in that the skull had been strategically placed in the desert and was not a true documentary photo.

Rothstein was too good a craftsman to let this episode stall his career. He went on to become, in 1940, staff director for Look magazine, later, when it ceased publication, picture editor for Parade, and author of seven books about photojournalism.

One of Rothstein's most reproduced pictures was taken in 1936. Taken in Cimarron, Oklahoma, it is titled "Fleeing a Dust Storm—Man and Two Boys." The original of this very dramatic picture of the three pushing their way to a decrepit, low-lying wooden building more fit for animals is owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The last of the three to arrive here was John Vachon (1914-1975) of Michigan. He had been a graduate student of English literature then a filing clerk for the FSA before urging Stryker to allow him to try his hand at photography. After serving in World War II, Vachon joined the Look magazine staff. He later compiled pictures of post-war Poland.

With the passage of time, all three photographers were recipients of numerous honors and awards. They are represented in books of their individual collected works as well as in photography anthologies. Their work is also to be seen in museums worldwide and frequently in traveling exhibitions.

The mostly heart-rending Valley pictures may be viewed at www.loc.gov under the American Memories Collections. That this record of the Valley exists will surprise many and, upon examination, cause the viewer deep reflection about our past.

It was the military when it occupied Fort Brown that began the organized meteorological record of the region. Complete records extend from 1871 forward.

It was in August 1908 that the first U.S. Weather Bureau station was established in Brownsville likely on the possibility that the Fort Brown installation would be phased out. The observation point was at the nearby South Texas Garden, then under the supervision of Dr. E. C. Green.

Recognizing the fact that long distance weather forecasts emanating from New Orleans weren’t accurate enough for Valley interests, the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce had been lobbying for a separate or a special forecast to be issued for this section. After a year of effort, word came from the National Weather Bureau in January l9l5 that such local forecasts would soon become a reality.

The initiation of special winter truck weather forecasts for the Lower Rio Grande Valley was made known 6/30/21. Heretofore little on this subject important to Valley growers was forthcoming from the New Orleans office from which forecasts emanated.

By 12/8/22 the Brownsville office was connected to a state-of–the–art telegraphic system from which it could access weather information.

September 1886 was Brownsville's wettest month, when atop previous rainfall a hurricane moved inland near the city on 9/22. With a total of 30.57" for the month, it eventually pushed the annual total to 60.06", a 133 year record total. The lowest annual rainfall was in the year 1953 when only 11.59" were tallied. This took place in the period 1950 through 1956 when for seven consecutive years Brownsville recorded below-average annual rainfall totals.

These are the transcribed comments of Carl Lee Tanberg to the students of the Wilson School, Primera on 11/28/2000. He titled it "Peerooney, Texas." *

Hello students. I am supposed to tell you all I know about the Wilson School, beginning where the school got its name.

Well, Pierre and Marie Wilson of Hennepin, County, Minnesota early after 1900 bought several thousand acres of brushland extending from what is now Combes to near the Guttierrez Middle School (on Wilson Road) and (west) to Tamm Lane and over to Hwy 107. The Wilsons subdivided the land and marked roads out in the woods and sold tracts of land to northerners and anyone else who had the money. They called it the Wilson Tract.

Later a school district was organized, and they named it Wilson Tract School. They built a big two room wooden school. When I started school in 1927, that building was still on the grounds but was used for a lunch room.

In 1927 there were a lot of important things happening. Some of the canals were lined with concrete, the first concrete roads were paved through Primera, both ways, and the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks were laid from Edinburg through Santa Rosa and Primera to Harlingen and on to Brownsville and Matamoros. All this, besides Carl Lee Tanberg starting first grade. They had slow trains and fast trains. I was a slow train.

Now, here is the beautiful picture of the landmark school building that was built in 1916. Then two wings of school rooms and the big auditorium were built and finished in 1927.

The first community church met in the Wilson Tract School and later in the school auditorium. Then the Baptists organized a church and built a frame building just west up the street here, and then the Methodists built a church 1/4 mile north.

My parent were both of Norwegian Lutheran immigrant heritage. They took us to the community church in the Wilson Tract School House. When a brother Petty [possibly the Rev. W.H. Petty, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Harlingen] came and led the Baptist numbers to build a church house then the Methodists had to do no less. When the new 40' x 60' Methodist Church was all framed up, a freak twister came up and scattered it over a couple of acres. None of the people felt that the Lord was trying to tell them something, so they trimmed broken ends and nailed them back up on 38' x 58' measurements.

What I remember about both churches was full houses and sincere Sunday school teachers, and some very loud Baptist preachers. Some of our Methodist preachers hollered too. Some were old Saints coming back down the career ladder before retirement, and some were very young men just out of seminary with new wives who were surely quietly wishing for hubby to step up a rung or two.

Now, let's talk water!—drinking water. You didn't have reverse osmosis water in 1930. Every well within a quarter mile was salty and tasted nasty. Each September, it took a week or more to get used to it. You should be thankful for city water. We should have each brought a quart jar from home, bur I guess we weren't educated enough yet!

Primera had awful tasting well water and our Methodist Church property was surely located exactly over the worst of it. Soon after arrival of each new pastor, he would begin counseling with Mr. H.A. White, the community well digger, about getting a better well. Mr. White, a beautiful and gentle man, would take his wagon with the apparatus on it up there, and say "Well preacher, we have dug out here, and there, and over there. Now you tell me where to dig." The preacher would choose a likely spot on that acre and the volunteer well-digging crew went to work linking the casing to a good coarse sand. Then they would drop in a pipe with a sandpoint on the bottom and pump it out with a pitcher pump until the water came out clear, and the preacher was then offered a cupful which he would sip and spit out, and Mr. White would take his well-point and his wagon back home. No charge.

Wilson Tract School had only about enough high school boys or girls to make a basketball teams, but they were good! Some years we had championship teams. And did the Wilson teams have support? The games were played after school, and the field was just about where we are sitting. The ebony tree at the front of the office was just south of the court, and there were Model T Fords and Model A Fords and old Chevies and Dodges lined up each side. The farmers would leave their plows and the mothers their housework and cheer our teams and enjoy visiting their neighbors.

How many houses do you think there were across the street here when I was in high school? Not one. That was where the boys tied their burros under mesquite trees. We liked to see the donkeys sleep standing up, and we also liked to hear them bray.

Now let's talk about school buses. The Tanbergs lived a mile west of Combes within the Wilson School District, and the kids got up early, fed the mules, milked the cows, handpumped all the water troughs full, and then harnessed the mules, ate breakfast, and walked to through the woods to school. This was 3 ½ miles or more. The daddy got to sleep late because he plowed behind those mules all day long.

Now Miss Doris Templeton is the daughter of an early Combes settler. When she got a new 1937 Ford car, the district paid her something for hauling the Tanberg kids to school and home. Sometimes her little Ford was overloaded. Miss Templeton still lives in Harlingen.

The beautiful old Wilson Tract School was the only public school that we eight siblings attended. My oldest sister, Maurine, started first grade in 1916 and my brother Walter graduated in 1943.

The one "vacation" we Tanbergs got annually was a daytime July Fourth trip to Port Isabel. Papa gave us each a dollar bill without any remonstrance on how to spend it. We knew there wasn't any more where that came from. Mine went for a Delaware Punch, firecrackers, a quarter for the ferry to barren Padre Island, a coke, a hamburger, more firecrackers, a bar of candy, and another soda. It always came out even. The beautiful Yacht Club was equal to the lighthouse as a landmark, visible from everywhere. I never stopped to think what Mama and Papa did all day. I would like to think that he took her to the Yacht Club Restaurant for a rare treat.

All four of us brothers served in the armed forces during World War II. Robert enlisted in the navy in 1935 and was spared sharing the fate of the West Virginia (at Pearl Harbor 12/7/41) by being hospitalized in California with rheumatic fever. Norman prepared "delicious" army chow all over the South Pacific. I served in a military police company in Louisiana and in the European Theater of Operations. Walter went from one naval training facility to another and was on a long trans-Pacific voyage when the Japs gave in. Helen and Mary's husbands also served throughout the war. I think that Papa just knew that the Axis didn't have a chance.

Our brother Norman died in 1969 and is buried next to Mama and Papa in the Combes Cemetery. Maurine lives in Dallas. Dorothy and her husband, Robbie Robertson, are in retirement in Weslaco. Robert and his wife live in Roswell, New Mexico while her twin, Helen, and husband Bob Short live in San Antonio. Walter and his wife Lucille live in McAllen. Mary was married to Harlingen's Johnny Matz, who is deceased. She lives in Wichita Falls.

If there is a single individual with whom the school can be associated, it is Dolores "Shorty" Garcia. For 38 years this hardworking gentleman ably served the school as its custodian. For many years, he, and he alone, conducted the many maintenance and landscaping jobs. He was beloved by students, teachers and parent alike, for he put a very human face on the Wilson Tract School.

[ In April 2005, Carl Lee Tanburg who gave this presentation, was still going strong at age 85. He and his wife Rita live on the old family homestead on Rio Rancho Road about 1 ½ miles north of the center of Primera.]

Clouds over Brownsville and Major Blocksom's Investigation of the "Brownsville Raid"
Norman Rozeff

General Blocksom, pictured in the 1915 photograph with Gen. Carranza and published in the VMS (9/23/04), had nine years earlier found his military career intersecting with Brownsville history. The chain of events was this. Augustus Perry Blocksom, an Ohio native, was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Just under 19 years of age, he entered the academy on Sept.1, 1873 in a class of 100. He was graduated in June 1877. His career was apparently relatively sedate for, as a lieutenant, he purchased property at an Army-Navy Resort along the New Jersey coast at Banegat Park. Things changed when he served with the Rough Riders of Theodore Roosevelt in the Spanish-American War. He was wounded in battle at Santiago, Cuba in July 1898. At the 1904 Worlds Fair in St. Louis he has a cushy assignment as assistant commandant of the Jefferson Guard.

The circumstance which brought him to Brownsville was to be known as the "Brownsville Raid" or the Brownsville Affair." Blocksom, now Assistant Inspector-General Major to Inspector General Ernest Garlington of the army's Southwestern Division, was sent, to the Valley to investigate events occurring on August 13 and 14, 1906. What had ensued that warranted investigation was a serious incident which can only be outlined here. Books have been written on the subject, and there is no one definitive truth to the matter.

Coming from Nebraska, 167 soldiers of companies B, C, and D of the black Twenty-fifth United States Infantry United States Army had, on July 28, 1906, been stationed at Fort Brown, Brownsville. Most had lengthy service records with "outstanding credentials for service, loyalties, discipline, and bravery during battles fought in Cuba and the Philippines. Six held the Medal of Honor and 13 had been awarded citations for bravery in the Spanish-American War." For all intents and purposes it maybe concluded that neither the community nor officials then treated them even-handedly. On white-owned saloons, restaurants, and all public and recreational facilities signs were posted. They were said to have read. "No niggers or dogs allowed."

An earlier Valley incident may have laid the unfavorable sentiments of the Brownsville citizenry. The Brownsville Herald issue of 10/23/1899 headlined one article: "A platoon of negro soldiers sneaked out of Fort Ringgold, entered Rio Grande City bent on shooting up the police force. Over 100 shoots were fired. No injuries."

On the night of August 12, an alleged attack on a white woman of Brownsville town immediately generated a hostile citizenry. Maj. Charles W. Pierce, white commanding officer of the black companies, tried to cool matters by curfewing his troops the following evening. Peace was broken when, around midnight of August 13, a brief shooting spree erupted. Killed was Frank Natus, bartender at John Tillman's Ruby Saloon, the only bar in the town of 6,000 inhabitants to serve the blacks. Police lieutenant M.Y. Domiguez was shot in the arm and later lost it.

Almost immediately accusations were hurled at the black soldiers. This is what precipitated Blocksom's dispatch to the Valley. He soon "deemed the soldiers uncooperative and urged their dismissal if they refused to turn evidence." When nothing was forthcoming, Texas Ranger Captain William Jesse McDonald conducted his own investigation. It led to the arrest of twelve enlisted men who allegedly held key positions in a conspiracy. Obviously any evidence was very weak for the Cameron County grand jury failed to return any indictments. Still Gen. Garlington, a South Carolina native, in his own separate investigation charged a "conspiracy of silence" and agreed with Blocksom's earlier recommendation to dismiss the soldiers.

The soldiers, who had been transported to San Antonio, became the victims of adverse public opinion and, in a sense, political pawns. Blocksom had put together a 112 page report titled "Affray at Brownsville, Texas 8/13 and 14/06. Investigation of the Conduct of United States Troops." It was published by the Government Printing Office in 1906. In 1907 the same office would publish a 210 page report by Milton B. Purdy with Blocksom as co-author. It was titled "Additional Testimony Related to the Brownsville Affray." Some critics characterized both Blocksom and Garlington as "racists."

Valley Congressional Representative, John Nance Garner, who would later become vice-president in 1932 and 1936 under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, may or may not have reflected the sentiments of his constituency when he introduced legislation in 1906, 1907, 1910, and 1911 to remove all blacks from the army and prevent further enlistment of blacks. His efforts failed in Congress.

On November 28, 1906, safely after elections, President Theodore Roosevelt discharged "without honor" all 167 black soldiers. The issue then rose to national prominence as Roosevelt opponents William Howard Taft and especially Senator Joseph B. Foraker of Ohio called for a Senate investigation. Eventually in March 1908, the Senate Military Affairs Committee concurred with the Roosevelt's decision. However, a minority of four Republicans on the committee dissented by stating the evidence was inconclusive.

When the Great War started, Col. Blocksom would go on to assume command of the 67th Infantry Brigade of the 34th Division. The brigade was formed from Iowa and Nebraska National Guard units. It would be sent to Europe and enter the war in France in 1918.

The wheels of justice often move very slowly. In 1972, sixty four years after the Senate report, scholarly research critical of the government's handling of the affair convinced California Representative Augustus Hawkins that those unjustly discharged should be awarded "honorable" discharges. President Richard M. Nixon agreed and awarded it to them. This was done posthumously except for the lone surviving veteran, 86 year old Dorsie Willis, who was also given a one time lump-sum pension payment of $25,000. Thus closed a cloudy chapter in Brownsville history.

Thanks to the efforts of webmaster Clint Thomas, history buffs and students alike now have a comprehensive source of Cameron County history online. The address for the site is: www.cameroncountyhistoricalcommission.org

Currently, the most comprehensive entry directly on the site is the Chronological History of Harlingen (reached by clicking on Harlingen History) as compiled by Norman Rozeff and members of the Harlingen Historical Preservation Society. This entry is organized into sections dealing with the area's prehistorical period, Pre- Harlingen history prior to the 20th century, then by decades starting with 1900 through 1909. Each decade is subdivided into the following subject headings: Development; Agriculture/Ranching; Government/Politics—City, County, State, National; Business/Commercial/Industry; People; Education; Religious; Organizations—Social Civic, Service; and Miscellaneous. Nearly 200 pages cover this material. While not specifically designed to deal with genealogy, hundreds of people are noted together with vital statistics.

Links with greater detail are provided within the chronology. The site also provides Valley Morning Star Our Heritage page articles submitted by Rozeff as well as a complete index to the first year (May 2003 through May 2004) of this page's publication. Among the subjects detailed are: the Spiderweb Railroad; the Naming of Harlingen; Providencia Ranch; the Mercedes Button Factory; Paso Real and the Stagecoach Line; Adams Gardens History; and many more. On the site are: "The History of the Harlingen Army Airfield and Harlingen Air Force Base" and "A History of Harlingen Parks". Both are unpublished elsewhere.

Links are given for those who wish to view Harlingen and Valley photographs from the famous Robert Runyon Collection documenting the era 1910-1922. Also accessible are the Depression Era photographs of the area shot by photographers who would later gain world renown for their works.

The CC website will also lead viewers to the Texas Historical Atlas, a site which details every historical marker in the county, as well as all Texas, providing its location and legend. A Pan Am University link gives a bibliography of Valley historical literature while area museums supply their backgrounds. A list of cemeteries alerts those sleuthing long forgotten private burial grounds. Graduate students at the University of Texas at Brownsville under the direction of Dr. Anthony Knopp have also put together a wonderful website dealing with Brownsville and Matamoros history. It too is linked.

Anyone delving into Cameron County history will find this historical commission's site a valuable resource, not to be missed.

Every family has its black sheep, a character that it would like to keep under wraps. This is the story of one such character.

When, in May 1975, I arrived to take the position as agriculturalist with the Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers I thought that I had seen the last of an old nemesis. This was guinea grass. Many years earlier, this African invader had taken up residence in Ka'u, Hawaii, the country's southmost political district. It had morphed into a subspecies nicknamed Colonial Guinea Grass and differed from other strains because of its height, tenacity and the prickly spicules which cloaked its stem. It survived in this drought-prone area and had come to compete with the sugarcane being grown there by two plantations. Over time a fortune was spent to no end in an effort to control, not even eradicate, this agronomic menace.

A month after arriving in the Valley, I received a phone call from Dave Morgan, a Rangerville area cane grower. He asked me to come out to his farm to look at a weed he didn't recognize. Once there, Dave showed me the unknown growth in his field. Lo and behold, it was my old nemesis, guinea grass. There and then my morale dropped to my boots.

Fortunately the occurrences of this pest were few and far between in the 1970s and early 1980s. Guinea grass, with its scientific name Panicum maximum, had been in the area for many years likely as a Mexican subspecies which wasn't very cold tolerant and therefore would periodically get wiped out or at least seriously set back by freezes. At one point the Texas A&M Experiment Station brought in grasses new to the Valley in an effort to improve area pastures here and especially on the King Ranch. No one knows for sure but some, including guinea grass, may have escaped from test plots or even been spread by anxious ranchers. In any event a new strain of guinea grass was on the loose. Still it was under relative control as cattle liked its lush vegetation, so much that ranchers termed it "ice cream" grass.

The real problem commenced in the winter of 1983 when a serious freeze decimated Valley vegetation and especially citrus groves. Some of the latter were abandoned, others neglected. The guinea grass which is fast-growing and quite shade tolerant soon infested many groves and seeded widely if mowing and herbicide spraying were not regularly implemented. The even deeper freeze of 1989 exacerbated the problem. Mother Nature began to exert her mysterious ways and selectively favored the few survivors of the freeze thereby initiating the evolution of a strain which, although top-killed by frosts, could survive from its ground-surface crown and roots.

If this wasn't enough the state highway department made a critical decision. In its infinite wisdom it decided to stretch the intervals between road shoulder mowings, ostensibly to allow wild flowers to establish themselves in the Valley in order to beautify the area and also as an economic move. Instead, the existing, established and aggressive weeds took command. Mostly these were grasses including Johnson, bermuda, and guinea grasses but also sunflower species. These plants came to seed prior to mowing, and their seed was spread on the decks of the mowers. Not only were wild flowers not to any extent evident but the heavy weed growth that ensued impeded water flows in the bar ditches, allowed seepage beneath the paved highways, promoted mosquito breeding, and obscured shoulders for motorists who needed to pull off the highway.

Soon guinea grass was no longer restricted to the west end of the Valley but was spread from Mission all the way to Port Isabel. It readily invaded fields of sugarcane, corn, milo, and other crops. Because some of these crops were also in the grass family selective herbicides were unavailable to treat the guinea grass infestations without also hurting the commercial crop.

Home owners who look closely in their St. Augustine or bermuda grass lawns will often see a clump grass which rapidly grows following a rain. A long seed stem soon becomes evident. Atop it is a panicle of fine seed, at first green in color then turning a reddish- brown. While guinea grass seed is said to be relatively infertile, its shear number more than makes up for its sterility.

With continued mowing, guinea grass is not eradicated. It simply changes its growth characteristic and begins to put out recumbent runners. The best method is simply to dig out the complete stool and dump it into a rubbish container. Piling it in a waste or service area is chancy as the stool may often re-root if given enough moisture. Persistence will allow for the eventual removal of the pest from lawns, but work in nearby waste and service alleys is also required in order to prevent re-infestation.

Science offers another solution. Dr. Erik Mirkov, a molecular biologist at the Texas A&M Weslaco Experiment Station, has been able to transform some sugarcane varieties with genetic material which then allows them to tolerate a particular non-selective herbicide. This herbicide will control most invasive plant species but will not harm the transformed cane. Unfortunately these cultivars would have to undergo very expensive (in the millions of dollars) government registration before they could be released. At this point in time, this is not feasible despite the ongoing control-cost outlays by farmers.

You now know why our black sheep-- guinea grass, invited with the best intentions to better the ranching industry, has "eaten our lunch."

It Shaped the Valley
Norman Rozeff,
Harlingen Historical Preservation Society

When people learn of the fresno that was such an important component of the Valley's early development, many assume that because of its Spanish name, the device is of local origin. In fact it had a long and interesting history before it was introduced here.

The piece of equipment referred to is actually the Fresno Scraper, a patented name. It is a semi-mechanical earth mover. In the Valley it was used to level fields, construct levees, and clear right-of-ways for roads and railroads. Its most important task however was to excavate and shape the giant irrigation canals which gave birth to Valley agricultural commerce.

The inventor of the Fresno Scraper was James Porteus. This Scotsman, born in Haddington in 1848, was the son of a wheelwright and blacksmith. He immigrated to Santa Barbara, California in 1873. Four years later he moved to Fresno, California where he set himself up in business making buggies and heavy wagons. Fresno was very similar to the Valley. It was an agricultural area requiring irrigation. Porteus recognized the need of farmers there to construct canals, ditches, borders, furrows, stock ponds, etc.

His first attempts were to improve the Buckboard, a very simple scraper, which had been developed in the west in the mid-1880s. It was 7/25/82 that Porteus patented the Buck Scraper with its hinged tailboard having a lever to either carry or dump the load of soil. Less than a year later, on 4/3/83, he patented his Dirt Scraper. This was similar but rode on two wheels and was an attempt to control the depth of cut. Unfortunately the wheels met rolling resistance in some soil types and sunk in others.

A competitor, William Deidrick of Selma , CA, soon followed Porteus with a similar device but substituted long, flat adjustable runners for the wheels. His machine, however, necessitated the use of wrenches to make adjustments. Still other competitors were coming up with ideas. Dusy and McCall used a chain system to control and adjust the dump on their scraper. Porteus continued to make progressive modifications then in February 1890 he bought out the patent rights of his competitors.

Combining the various positive elements of all the machines, Porteus perfected the scraper to be known as the "Fresno Scraper" and usually just "Fresno." His C-shaped scraper had a blade along its bottom. As it was pulled forward by either horses or mules, it scooped soil. Its runners prevented it from sinking in soft or sandy soils. The operator walking behind could change the angle of cut. When the bucket was full, it was tilted backward and the unit glided forward on its runners. The load could be dumped in low places or wherever the operator desired. The control lever could move sideways and could strike an inattentive operator.

Porteus formed the Fresno Agricultural Works to build the implements which were soon being used across the U.S. to build railroad beds, roads, in strip mines, and much more. . Between 1884 and 1910 thousands of Fresnos were produced. Many were exported to foreign countries, and the builders of the Panama Canal utilized them. In WWI a two-horse model retailed for $28.00 while a four-horse one sold for $37.00.

In the Valley and elsewhere in the early years, draft animals were a critical part of the operation. Mules were, pound for pound, stronger, more durable, and more suited to the task of earthmoving than horses. Drawing teams could run two, three, or four animals depending on the hardness of the soil or the size of the scraper bucket. Animals were imported into the Valley from points north. In 1913 a large mule could run $250, a sizeable outlay for the time. Animals would have to be matched for size and capability in order to facilitate a smooth operation. Team work, then, is an old expression and didn't at the time refer to athletics.

In October 1991 the American Society of Mechanical Engineers designated the 1883 invention as "A National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark." This was in recognition that the Fresno Scraper "established the basis for the modern earthmoving scraper, being able to scrape and move a load of soil, then discharge it at a controlled depth." We in the Valley also recognize that without this scraper the task of taming the rough virgin terrain and vegetation would have been a daunting one. We too owe a debt of gratitude to that creative inventor, James Porteus.

Niche Industry was in Mercedes
Norman Rozeff
Harlingen Historical Preservation Society, March 2004

People driving down Illinois Street near 4th in Mercedes may be curious and puzzled by the large, now decrepit, galvanized metal-sided building sitting well above the ground level on concrete blocks. The reason for its elevated construction was that its builders were ultra-conservative in ensuring that it wouldn't be inundated as had occurred in Mercedes during the disastrous flood of 1922. Waters then had risen to a level forty-two inches above the railroad depot's foundation when the town's protective levee had given way to Rio Grande and Llano Grande overflow waters.

This building in June 1929 came to house a most unusual business. Here is its story. In early 1928 brothers E. M. (Ted) Healey and Frank Healey of Muscatine, Iowa had made an exploratory visit to the Valley. Their hometown was then the domestic pearl button capital of the United States. At one time there were 43 factories there employing 3,500 people. They had stopped here en route to Mexico where they were to search for marketable shells to convert into buttons. Instead, over a two month period, they discovered an ideal source right in the Rio Grande Valley. The area with its numerous lakes, dirt-lined canals, resacas, settling basins, and the like furnished an ideal breeding ground for a type of mussel well-suited for button making. This is the Tampico pearlymussel, Cyrtonaias tampicoensis. Its other synonyms are the purple shell mussel and the Concho River pearl mussel. Occasionally one may develop a pearl, but this is more often than not a rare occurrence.

These fresh-water bi-valves are oval shaped with an adult size about 2 ½" wide by 4 ¼" long. Their external color is dull reddish-brown, but internally the shell is mostly purple with some mussels having white, pink, salmon or orange color. In the Valley, for whatever environmental or natural selection reasons the shells were pink inside and graded out third class when they reached full size at age five. The habitat they prefer is mud, mud and sand, or mud and gravel.

Convinced of the feasibility and the secure supply for raw material of mussels here, the Healeys negotiated to open a factory in a building leased from W.D. Chadick. Their enterprise would be the only one of its kind in Texas. The factory was said to take an investment of $50,000 and was initially scheduled to open April 1, 1929 but didn't get rolling until the first week in June.

Both Healeys were vice presidents in charge of the factory and operations of the Continental Button Company's plant. At startup the plant utilized 48 machines, yet was not initially equipped to produce the end product. The local output was sent on to Muscatine for finishing. Sixty employees started the factory's production. The great majority of them were Mexican ethnics and women. The owners forecast that the first year's payroll would total $50,000.

The shells brought to the plant went through a series of processing steps, much of which must have been derived from trial and error. First the whole mussels were put into large vats in which they were boiled until they opened. Next they were drained and placed onto tables where the meat was removed. The third step was to dry the shells to make them brittle, but then this was followed by placing them in large vats of water to soak and soften them. When they were softened enough, they were machine dried and ready for cutting.

The women employees operated circular saws the sizes of the button blanks to be cut. The shells were held by forceps against a backstop. The rotating, tempered saw blade then moved down upon activation by a horizontal lever and, under a fine water spray, the blade cut out a blank which dropped into a container below. The process was in a semi- assembly line. Different individuals were assigned tasks based on the particular portion of the shell being worked on. The thinnest portions of the shell were left for the most dexterous workers because this part was both fragile and from where the smallest size button blanks were extracted. A machine would sort the collected blanks by size. Since white buttons were the preferred end product, the blanks were subjected to a special process to remove the pink coloration.

In the first year the factory directly employed 20-40 men to collect mussels. The management claimed that some individuals in the field force could make seven to fifteen dollars in a seven hour day. Five to ten tons of raw material were being delivered each day.

With the passage of time the Continental Button Company of Mercedes began to use the services of private mussel collecting contractors and individuals. The mussels to be found in the fresh-water sources throughout the Valley were frequently clustered in certain stretches. The soft mud was a perfect breeding place for the Tampico pearlymussels, which were often buried to a depth of four or five feet in the mud. When the top layer was cleared the mussels more deeply embedded would move up. Beds could be worked as often as twice a month. Ambitious crew chiefs would hire people to dredge the lake and resaca banks by pulling a metal basket with a closeable lid. Once pulled out of the water, the mussels would be steamed or boiled directly on wood fires to open them so the meat could be removed. The cleaned shells were then brought to Mercedes on a truck which was weighed on a public scale, then re-weighed after discharging its load. The crew chief was then paid by the net ton.

Fran Isbell, some quarter century ago, interviewed Don Warner of Mercedes. He recalled how tree-lined Llano Grande Lake was worked for its mussels. "The clamdiggers worked along the shores with a twenty foot rope tied around their waists, so they could tug a flat-bottomed boat 10 to 15 feet long. They kept two large water-filled tubs in the boats into which they dropped the mussels. Each tub also contained one or more alligator gar, a fish which grows to six to eight feet. When the mussels spawned, the eggs attached themselves to the gills of the gar, which later was returned to the lake to replenish the clam beds." Warner reported that collectors sometimes worked all day in waist deep water to earn a dime a tub. After cooking the extracted mussel meat became fertilizer and hog and chicken feed.

In the depression days of the 1930s Glen Housley of Weslaco remembers his and other children's efforts to earn money by gathering shells in the Rio Hondo-San Benito area. When irrigation district personnel drained the canals for whatever reasons, the kids would pick up both fish and mussels. The latter were piled "downwind" for the ants to pick the meat clean, then the shells were put into sacks and packed by horse to Mercedes.

Jimmy Robinson, who grew up in McAllen, also recounted to Mrs. Isbell his experiences. He and his friends were quite innovative. They contrived a homemade diving helmet made out of a five gallon tin can and a tire pump with a long hose. While one person would pump in the air, the submerged diver, who could see nothing in the murky six to eight canal waters south of McAllen and Pharr, would locate shells by feel. After boiling out the meat, which they sold for fish bait, they could sell the collected towsack of shells for 50 cents. Housley recalled receiving only 10 to 25 cents per sack.

The discarded portion of the mussel shells from which button blanks had been sawed were deposited outside the factory. Even this material had uses. People bought some to line the outside of septic tanks to aid in drainage, and others used it for roads or driveway fill.

Early in the fifties, the plant closed forever. The quick adoption of synthetic plastic buttons of any color desired plus the rising use of zippers were too competitive and fashionable for the old shell button industry to contend with. Shell buttons today are one collectible sought by hobbyists. When Fort Brown was manned, local military personnel there had apparently used local shells to replace lost buttons on their uniforms. These and other buttons in collections serve to remind us of Mercedes' unique niche industry.

Note: Some of the information in this article was provided by Bill Burke of Harlingen. His grandfather, Otto Tobias, purchased the factory from the Healey brothers, and Burke worked in the factory one summer while a student between jobs.

After the VMS ran photos said to be the old Mercedes button factory, several sharp-eyed readers called to say that the building shown was not the factory. They were right. The factory building no longer exists but once stood on a lot to the south of the building shown. The building pictured is at 310 S. Illinois and once housed a warehouse of J.R. Barry and Sons, Inc., a chemical and welding firm.

Bill Burke of Harlingen has intimate knowledge of the button factory, for his family (on his mother's side) once owned it. Burke relates that the factory did indeed stand high above the ground. Its first floor rested on wooden timbers driven into the ground. This gave it a clearance of about five feet. It was Burke's grandfather, Otto John Tobias of Iowa, who first made an exploratory trip to the Valley when someone submitted shells from here to a Muscatine, Iowa factory for evaluation. The "Valley Pinks", as they were called, intrigued the Iowa people who thought that they night be suitable for women's and children's clothing. Tobias returned with the Healey brothers, who were the money men, and much that then ensued is as related in the earlier articles.

Mr. Tobias returned to economically-strapped Iowa to fetch his wife and possessions, then bought a ten acre farm in the Mercedes area at 1 ¼ Mile East State Highway. More importantly he became the manager for the button factory. In the 1930s he purchased the plant from the Healeys and changed its name to the Rio Grande Button Company.

The Valley supply of shells had pretty much dried up by the 1950s. Some sea shells from the Boca Chica area were tried but proved to be too brittle to work. Even lengthening the soaking period didn't improve them. Mr. Tobias found a suitable supply of fresh water shells in Tennessee, and this now became the basic material.

Burke himself became deeply involved in the factory in late 1953. Between jobs, and engaged to be married in January 1954, he accepted his grandfather's offer to manage the factory as his aging grandparents wished to return to Iowa. He started on the job in November 1953 and immediately faced challenges. In 1953 the last purchase of Tennessee shells was for a year's supply. This was shipped by rail to Mercedes. The load, when it arrived at the factory on a spur track, proved to be so caked with dried mud that a special shaker had to be fabricated to sift the debris from the shells.

The woman labor force in the factory were either paid minimum wage or by the pound of button blanks produced, whichever was highest. When the saw teeth on a particular machine became dull, the operator would bring it to Bill for inspection and exchange it for a sharp one. Dull blades caused the blanks to break. On Saturdays Burke would not only ship the week's consignment of button blanks produced but had the tricky job of sharpening the teeth of the saws of various diameters. He still retains a chuck with its attached saw blade as a souvenir.

At this time the factory was down to 27 employees, 25 women and two men, one of whom was leadman, Jose Casteneda. All knew that with the exhaustion of this last source the factory would close. It did in July or August 1955. The machinery was then sold for scrap metal. It was likely that the venerable building was torn down the following year.

Burke undoubtedly had a one-of-a-kind experience as a young man. He then became involved in the credit business, eventually with the GM Acceptance Corp. in its Harlingen office. After 31 years he retired in 1988.

Our Language Embraces the Southwest
Norman Rozeff
Harlingen Historical Preservation Society
Revised April 2009

As Mexican, Tex-Mex, and Latin foods find favor across the U. S., culinary terms for food items enter into American English. Long before this transition and adoption, Spanish and Mexican-Spanish terms used in the southwest border areas had been adapted into common ranching terminology and every day life. Many entered the language directly while others made it through transliterations. The fact is that English is a dynamic language derived from many sources. Distortions and mispronunciations have wrought changes to foreign words as they entered the American vocabulary.

With the help of the Unabridged Merriam Webster Dictionary I have compiled a list of terms which moved into our region both centuries past and in recent decades. Some of their derivations have an even more distant past, some going back to the Romans and Moorish Spain.

Adobe – Spanish from the Arabic at-tub (the brick, itself from the Coptic tobe, brick. In the Southwest it is a brick made of sun-dried earth and straw and also a house made of this material

Adios - Spanish, possibly from French adieu, goodbye, literally (I commend you) to God.

Arroyo, also arroya – Spanish possible from the same source as the Latin arrigia, gallery in a mine. Currently it refers to a watercourse, stream, brook creek, and an eroded gully.

Bolo – Am-.Spanish from the Spanish bola meaning ball. In the SW it is used to designate a bolo tie, a string necktie with two dangling metal ends.

Bosal – is used in the Southwest to designate a noseband. It is Mexican-Spanish for muzzle, bells on a halter, halter. The word is derived from bozo, the mouth, nose of a horse. Bozo was in turn from the Latin bucca mouth, cheek

Bosque – Spanish for woods, in the Southwest this refers to a dense growth of trees.

Bracero – From the Spanish brazo for arm, it designates a Mexican hand laborer admitted to the U. S. under an immigration treaty.

Bronco – an unbroken or imperfectly broken range horse of North America, sometimes one trained to buck. Originally from bruncus (Latin) for knot in wood, then bronco (Italian) for stub of a branch, and finally bronc for projection or roughness.

Burro – a small donkey often used as a pack animal. From borrico, Spanish for donkey and originally the Latin burricus, a small horse. Burrito, the popular food item, literally means little burro.

Caballero – in Spain this word applied to a knight or horseman. It derives from the Latin caballerius meaning groom, hostler. In the American Southwest it simply refers to a horseman.

Calaboose – this modification of the Spanish word calabozo meaning dungeon has come to mean jail especially the local jail. In some areas of the southwest, the term calabozo is also used for jail.

Chaparral – comes to us via two other languages. As chaparro in Spanish, it means dwarf evergreen oak. The Spanish took it from the Basque txapar, a diminutive of saphar meaning in that language, thicket. In North America the word took on the meaning: a dense impenetrable thicket of stiff or thorny shrubs.

Chaps – leather leggings resembling trousers without a seat, often fringed and decorated, used as protection while riding through brush. From the Mexican-Spanish chaparerras which in turn was likely derived from chaparajos (also chaparejos). This word was likely modified from the Spanish word aparejo meaning equipment or gear.

Charro – Mex.-Sp. with the meaning rude, coarse, rustic, of poor taste. Currently it has evolved from the SW cowboy often dressed elaborately and the culture cowboys brought to the region.

Corral – a pen or enclosure for confining or capturing livestock. This derives from the Spanish and assumed to be Vulgar Latin, currale, an enclosure for vehicles. In turn this had come from the Latin currus for cart and the verb currere, to run.

Fajitas – little strips of meat; originally back strap of cows slaughtered by cowboys for their own consumption. Currently these are cuts of meat from the beef flanks and even chicken strips. From faja and its diminutive. In Spanish faja means belt or sash.

Hacienda – Sp. from the Latin facienda, things to be done. Now in the SW it refers to a ranch dwelling typically with low rambling lines.

Hackamore – a braided horsehair or soft rope halter having a loop capable of being tightened about the nose in place of a bit; used especially in breaking and training horses. This word comes by way of the Moorish Arabic shakimah changed in Spain over time to xaquima and then jaquima. The letter "j" in Spanish is pronounced as "h".

Hombre – also ombre, first from the Latin homin then French-Spanish, meaning man, and in modern times, guy.

Honda (also hondo) – a metal, knotted or spliced eye at one end of a lariat through which the other end of a lariat is passed to form a running noose or lasso. From the Spanish, hondo, meaning sling.

Hoosegow, also hoosgow – is from the Spanish juzgado, a panel of judges, tribunal or courtroom. Juzgado is the past tense of juggar, to judge. It is itself derived from the Latin judicare. It has come to mean jail, lockup, guardhouse, and prison

Lariat – a long, light but strong rope usually of hemp or strips of hide with a running noose for catching livestock. From the American Spanish, la reata, meaning the lasso.

Lasso – a rope or long thong of leather with a running noose, also the verb to catch with. This is from the Spanish lazo which was derived from the Latin laqueus, meaning noose or snare.

Loco – Mex.-Sp. for crazy from the Spanish slang; out of one's mind, frenzied.

Loma – Spanish from lomo for the loin or back of an animal. In the Southwest it is a topographical term meaning a broad-topped hill.

Majordomo – from the Spanish mayordomo, literally chief of the house, in English it has come to mean a person in charge of a project.

McCarty – a rope. The English word is a transliteration of the Spanish word mecate.

Mescal – Sp. from Nahuatl, a colorless liquor distilled from the leaves of maquey plants.

Mochila – a saddle pouch; also a square leather saddle covering leaving an opening for the horn and cantle and sometimes equipped with saddlebags such as used by the " pony express" riders. From the Spanish, mochila, after Basque mochil meaning errand boy.

Mole – Mex.-Sp. from the Nahuatl mulli. It is a highly spiced sauce made principally of chile and chocolate with numerous other ingredients.

Mustang – a small, hardy naturalized horse of the western plains. This is from the Mexican-Spanish mesteno (also mestegno), an animal without an owner, stray. Originally it derived from mesta, the annual roundup of cattle in Spain or the meeting where ranchers sorted out unclaimed cattle.

Palomino – a slender-legged, short-coupled horse of light tan or cream color with white markings. From the American Spanish, palomino, meaning "of or like a dove".

Pinto – a spotted or calico horse or pony. From the American Spanish meaning spotted or mottled and possibly from the Vulgar Latin word pinctus for painted.

Playa – Sp. literally beach from the distant Greek pelagos, beach, then the middle Latin plagia, shoreline. In the SW it refers to a salt pan and also flat-floored undrained basins that may be periodically flooded.

Poncho – Am. Sp. from pontho meaning woolen fabric. It is a cloak resembling a blanket with a slit in the middle for the head; now also a garment made like this but waterproof, often plastic.

Pronto – Spanish for quick, quickly, promptly. It is derived from the Latin promptus meaning prompt.

Quirt (pronounced kwart)—a whip or a riding whip consisting of a short wooden or leather handle and a rawhide lash. This word has a Mexican-Spanish derivation from cuarta, the lead mule of a four-mule team.

Ramada – is Spanish for rama meaning branch. In English it has come to mean an open porch or arbor.

Ranch – is from the Mexican Spanish rancho or small ranch. In Spain it was a term used for a camp, temporary habitation and was derived from ranchear meaning to take up quarters. In the Andalusian dialect it meant small farm.

Ranchero – Mex.-Sp. for rancher and now used frequently to refer to certain style items of Tex-Mex cooking.

Remuda – the herd of saddle horses from which are chosen those to be used for the day by ranch hands. This word derives from the American Spanish meaning relay, shift of horses or oxen. In Spanish the verb remudar means to exchange. Its origin goes back to the Latin mutare, to change.

Rodeo – now most often used to denote a public performance that features bareback bronco and Brahma bull riding, calf roping, saddle bronc riding, etc; previously connoting a roundup or a place where cattle are brought together. From rodear, the action of surrounding or rounding up.

Romp – is used by cowboys to mean "leave on the run". In the Southwest it may have been borrowed from the Spanish word romper. Webster puts its origin as Old French from ramp meaning frisky, lively, to move vigorously.

Salse, now more often salsa – from the Italian and originally middle Latin salsa. It is a salty, frequently pepper-hot, condiment formerly made primarily from tomatoes but now prepared with numerous bases.

Sarape, also serape – Mex.-Sp., a woolen blanket often of bright geometric patterns used as a cloak or poncho.

Sombrero – Spanish for hat from sombra, shade. It is a high crowned hat with a wide brim rolled at the edges.

Tap – a leather hood covering the stirrup of a stock saddle and used especially to protect the boot when riding through brush. Derived from tapadero meaning cover or plug and originally the Spanish tapar, to cover, stop up.

Tequila – from the Sp. Tequilo, a district of the Mexico state of Jalisco. It is a liquor distilled from the agave plant and also from redistilled mescal.

Tomatillo – Sp. diminutive of tomate, a ground cherry (Physalis ixocarpa) of Mexico

Tomato – Sp. tomate from the Native American Nahuatl tomatl, a plant of the genus Lycopersicon.

Tule – Spanish, but taken from the Native American Nahuatl language and the word tullis, this has come to mean overflow land in the Southwest where there are large tracts of bulrushes.

Vamoose – American slang for "depart quickly". This is from the Spanish, vamos, let us go.

Vaquero – a herdsman or cowboy. From the Spanish, vaca, for cow. This word was transliterated to buckaroo, a word favored by John Wayne in his western movies.

Vigilante – a member of a vigilance committee. This word is Spanish for watchman or guard.

Wetback – (wet + back) A Mexican who enters the U. S. illegally (as by wading or swimming the Rio Grande.)

This list was compiled before the publication of Mary Margaret McAllen Amberson's "I Would Rather Sleep in Texas." In it she has appended James A. McAllen's 19 page double-column list of regional ranching terms used on the San Juanito Ranch, Hidalgo County. One would be hard put to top this compilation of colloquialisms and antiquated words.

The wonder of English is that it is not a static language. Undoubtedly, like the Yiddish-speakers who came to our shores, new immigrants will add to our colorful language that is continually enlivened by change.

The title could well have read Robert Runyon, Renaissance Man. The latter refers to an individual who is interested in and delves into the many facets that life offers. The essential renaissance man is Leonardo da Vinci. The renaissance, of course, is that period of Europe's rebirth or awakening from the "dark ages" and its subsequent interest in arts and sciences.

Runyon was a man born to parents of modest resources and his education was likewise modest. This Catlettsburg, Kentucky native likely attended grammar school and possibly high school but nothing is documented about either. In 1901 at age 20, he married an Ohio girl, but in the seventh year of their marriage she died leaving him a widower with one son. In 1909 Runyon and his son embarked for Brownsville. Once there he managed a newsstand and curio shop in the railroad train depot. Within a year his interests in and knowledge of photography rose to the point that he opened a photography studio. This was to be a major plus for him and for the subsequent photographic documentation of people, activities and historical events in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and Northern Mexico.

On Independence Day 1913 Runyon was to marry again, this time to Amelia Lenor Medrano, the attractive daughter of a prominent Matamoros family. Together the union produced three daughters and two sons.

Runyon's great familiarity with both sides of the border enabled him to visually chronicle the rapidly-changing scene in the 1910-1919 decade. In photos reminiscent of Matthew Brady's Civil War prints, Runyon was able to capture the turmoil and sometimes bloodshed of the Mexican Revolution in northeastern Mexico and its carryover in bandit/revolutionary incidents north of the border. These included scenes of Constitutionalist Gen. Lucio Blanco's capture of Matamoros from Federalist forces, additional engagements elsewhere in Northern Mexico, the Norias Ranch raid, and the terrorist train derailment near Olmito.

Upon the reactivation of Fort Brown, Runyon produced images of a wide range of military life. It is also his widespread curiosity and follow-up documentation of everyday life in the nascent Valley towns that garner praise. Without his major body of work, a tremendous void would exist. The use of his photographs by out-of-area newspapers and on post cards helped to enlighten people about this area and promote land sales and tourism.

His intellect was not only piqued by people and property but by the unique untrammeled botany of the area. He photographed many regional plants of interest and then commenced the compilation of his private herbarium. He was to discover heretofore undescribed plant species, several of which came to bear his name in their scientific descriptions. These included three types of cactus, a sand dune grass, and a tree bearing orange-like fruit. He wrote several books on Texas and Valley flora, including one with Ellen D. Schulz Quillan. Naturally, he also participated in a number of botanical and science societies.

In 1926 Runyon closed his photography studio and became a merchant, first in Matamoros with his brother-in-law, José Medrano, and, in addition, later opened a gift and curio store in Brownsville. He continued in this career until 1938.

At age 56 with what some might say "two lifetimes" behind him, he commenced serving as a civic leader. He became Brownsville's city manager in 1937 and in 11/41 was elected the city's mayor for a two year term. In WWII he acted as municipal defense coordinator for the city, later serving on the city's park board. His other civic achievements are too lengthy to note here.

In keeping with his renaissance man character he commenced investigating his family genealogy. This led to the publication of three books on his ancestry. His surname was an Americanized version of his French Huguenot immigrant ancestor, Vincent Rongnion. Other variations on the name are Runyan, Runion, and Runnion.

Runyon was to die on 3/9/68, but he is surely with us today. How? His family thoughtfully donated much of his works to institutions of higher learning. The University of Texas at Austin received more than 8,750 specimens of his herbarium and Texas A & M, Kingsville his collection of 1,000 botanical volumes. Believing the best way to adequately preserve, index, and reproduce Runyon's 14,000 items including glass-plate negatives, prints, postcards, film negatives, and lantern slides, the family donated the collection to the Barker Texas History Center at U.T., Austin. Grants have allowed the computer digitization of 8,241 photographic items. This collection titled "South Texas Border 1910-1920" may be viewed on the internet by going to http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award97/txuhtml/runyhome.html Smaller Runyon collections are to be found in many locales. His war-related photos have been published in Samponaro and Vanderwood's War Scare on the Rio Grande.

Significant Women in the History of South Texas
A list compiled by Norman Rozeff

To the foregoing, who are all deceased, I would add Betty Nosler Murray who is still alive. Mrs. Murray of Harlingen was married to long-time state legislator and then judge Menton Murray. She is a member of the Texas Historic Commission, promoted Valley history to locals and Winter Texans for many years, organized tours of historic sites, was instrumental in securing state historic markers for various sites, wrote up much Valley history, and was responsible for moving the old F Street Hospital, the Paso Real Inn, and the Ross-Bobo house to the Rio Grande Valley Museum complex where the former two have been restored and preserved.

This document is a transcribed typed copy of a handwritten letter dated December 23, l982 to Glenn Housley of Weslaco from Floyd E. Rees, l308 Michael Drive, Kingsville. TX 78363. In it this ex-railroad man compiled one-of-its–kind information shining light on the railroads in and to the Valley. His attached timetables are of especial importance since they indicate all the stations on the San Benito and Rio Grande Valley Railway line (the Spider Web) and pertinent distances allowing one to pinpoint the exact locations of no longer extant stations and communities. Some obvious misspellings have been corrected and some but not all of Mr. Rees’ grammar.

Enclosed is a photo copy of 4 pages of the Kingsville Division of the Mo. Pac. employees operating time table, taking effect April 29, l934. I thought it might go nicely with the pamphlet put out by the Hidalgo County Historical Commission.

Bayliss who went to work for the S.B. & R.G.V, as a fireman in Feb. l926 told me years ago that a man by the name of Tom Burgess was Supt. and also in charge of the construction work then in progress. Mr. Burgess hired him the day he visited Mr. Burgess’ office with his father-in-law Mr. Nash who was at that time agent at Rio Hondo. Mr. Bayliss and myself have always felt the l2 car track was named for Tom Burgess. In the fall of l928 the S.B.& R.G.V. was consolidated into the Kingsville division and Mr. Burgess was then transferred into the division engineers office at Kingsville, then being administered by Tom McCord.

In my years of railroading, I have always heard small independent railroads such as the S.B.& R.G.V. that run from the back door to the barn are referred to as Spiderweb or Peavine. Almost all cars have a certain amount of spiderwebs under them.

Also enclosed a photo copy of page 863 of Railroad Official Guide dated June 30, l9l6. It shows the S.B.& R.G.V. as of Oct. l9l4. The R.R. had not yet reached La Leona or Hidalgo. In fact [according to] the I.C.C. Valuation report as of June 30, l9l9 they still had not reached Hidalgo.

The R.R. map of S.B.& R.G.V. in the Nov. l0 paper shows Raymondville to Monte Christo – Edinburg - & Weslaco -- also Raymondville to Santa Monica as being part of the S.B.& R.G.V. These lines were never a part of the S.B.& R.G.V. and were built after I went to work in l926 for the St.L.B.& M [St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway].

In the fall of l928 when the S.B.& R.G.V. was consolidated into the Kingsville Division, the following employees were consolidated into the seniority lists of the Kingsville division transportation department.

J. H. Nicol & H. T. Bayliss were taken over as Brakemen and promoted to Conductors on Jan. l, l937 & Jan. 2, l937 respectively.

The Conductor seniority dates were later changed to where the above dates was their S.B.& R.G.V. date and given Jan. l928 main line dates and rank on main Line according to their S.B.& R.G.V. date.

You will note engineer J. H. Sanders seniority date 3-4-l9l0 was slightly more than 2 years before the first S.B.& R.G.V. Charter was taken out June 28, l9l2 as San Benito & Rio Grande Valley Interurban Ry. On Aug. 28, l9l2 it was changed to San Benito & Rio Grande Valley.

Mileage of the San Benito & Rio Grande Valley RR. as of June 30, l9l9 by the Interstate Commerce Commission Valuation Report:

Sammons to Monte Christo 11-1911 7-l9l3 19.711 Monte Christo to 2 miles East 11-1911 7-l9l3 l.870

I have a world of information on the S.B.& R.G.V. such as the S.B.& R.G.V. advanced $78,l84.99 for the construction of the Brownsville Street Ry Line which was not taken over but operated independently. In l9l3 when the Frisco & all its subsidiaries went into receivership the Frisco was ordered to divest itself of all its Tex. & La. subsidiaries. Brownsville interests then purchased the Port Isabel Narrow Gauge Line and the Street Car Line from the Frisco. A Mr. D. A. O’Brien became General Manager of both these lines. My father worked in and out of Brownsville for years and was well acquainted with Mr. O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien would send him an annual pass on the Port Isabel Line each year good for him and family.

In late l9l4 or early l5 the Equitable Trust Co. of New York who owned $953,735.00, six percent gold bonds issued October, l9l2 and mature October l942, purchased all the capital stock from the Frisco. It was still in receivership and Sam Robertson was president and chief operating officer. Mr. Robertson held this job until l9l7 when he went into the armed forces and went to France.

Mr. G. H. Windsor, who had been auditor, secretary, traffic manager and superintendent, took over as president and chief operating officer. In l9l6 the N.O.T.& M.[New Orleans , Texas and Mexico Railway Company] emerged from receivership and in l9l8 purchased all the capital stock of the S.B.& R.G.V. from the Equitable Trust Co. of New York.

About l956 when the Mo. Pac. came out of receivership, big changes were made in most of the Mo-Pac, Texas subsidiaries. Their charters were cancelled, they were dissolved and they became a part of the Mo. Pac. lock, stock, and barrel.

The S.B.& R.G.V. has had its share of accidents like all Ry. Some of the oddest are: On Feb. 5, l9l5, conductor J.B. Franks was injured in the face while attempting to start a motor car with gun powder. I must say we have come a long way since l9l5 in the method of starting motor cars, auto, etc.

In Feb. l9l7 a section speedster with 6 men was returning to San Benito and when about l and l/2 miles from San Benito and crossing a bridge used by pedestrians, vehicles and the rail road, jumped the track and swerved to the side of the bridge and broke thru the supports and precipited (sic) the men and car in the canal water beneath. Two of the men were drowned, and the rest escaped uninjured. Where would you say this accident occurred – between San Benito and Rio Hondo or the San Benito to Santa Maria end?

From l9l3 thru l9l8 there were quite a few motor cars (gasoline speedsters used by maintenance employees) derailed account [of] striking horses, cows and even dogs but none account [of] striking autos. In most of these derailments one or more employees were injured [and] in one case the employee died.

I have quite a bit of information on the S.B.& R.G.V. thru l9l8 & l9l9. I have been thinking about writing a l0 to l2 page history of the S.B.& R.G.V. There [are] three things I must do first.

I am in the process of writing an article on "The Raid on the Norias Ranch (Aug. 8, l9l5). Sam Robertson was there at the ranch during the raid. The Brownsville library does not have an article that Mr. Robertson may have made. I was wondering if San Benito or Harlingen newspapers could have interviewed him for their papers. If not I was wondering if his daughters may have a statement he may have made describing the fight at the ranch house and gave a list of those who may have been there. There are too many people claiming to have been there. If you know something about the raid, and have the addresses of Mr. Robertson’s daughters and can furnish me with them I will write them and maybe they have have some information that has never been made public.

Next my information on the S.B.& R.G.V. ends in l9l9, and I would like a trip to Austin later and look into the R.R. Commission files. I would like to know when the line reached Hidalgo and when the lines were coupled up (for sure). Also what became of their 2 motor cars and their passenger trailers.

The Louisiana Public Commission has invited me to inspect their files on The N.O.T.& M., the line that controlled all the Tex. & La. subsidiaries of the Gulf Coast Lines. I hope to go to Louisiana in the late Spring or early Summer and inspect their information on the N.O.T.& M.

Mrs. Max Boye, sister-in-law to my good friend R. M. Bayliss, suggested [that] since you were very much interested in the old S.B.&R.G.V. you were the one I should send this information to.

The Gravity Canal Movement
Norman Rozeff
Research Chairman, Harlingen Historical Preservation Society
July 2003

Organized first in August 1914 as the Southwest Texas Progressive League, Mission area farmers commenced what became popularly known as the "gravity canal movement." They wished to draw water from the river at Penitas, store some in a reservoir west of Mission, then carry it in a large canal which would allow gravity flow eastward in the mid-belt of the Valley. Such a system would, in part, eliminate the need for secondary lift stations on the ends of the existing canal systems. A rare map of the proposed system is to be found in the Stambaugh and Stambaugh book, The Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, Its Colonization and Industrialization.

On September 11, 1914, six hundred people met in Mission to consent to the establishment of the Gravity Irrigation District of the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

In January 1915 this entity reorganized into the Gravity Irrigation Association. S. A Pipes, its secretary, requested that federal engineer Henry P. Corbin make river observations and collect data upon which to base future decisions regarding river usage.

In August 1915, C. B. Gore, an engineer from Austin, wrote a two-part article for the Brownsville Herald. In it he set forth Rio Grande River water figures, noting any Mission area reservoir must be very large, and suggesting that agitation stop and that engineering logic be initiated.

In April 1918 gravity canal proponents formed a new cover group named the Rio Grande Conservation Association.

It was in January 1920 that a federal river irrigation report came out. It hedged in its conclusions. The U. S. Reclamation Bureau engineers had conducted a gravity flow feasibility study covering flows, storage possibilities, possible control stations, and ended by suggesting the need for gathering additional data.

In June 1921 formal approval was given to a six hundred page federal report on the gravity plan. Its costs were forecast to be $72 million from its Penitas area intake to points east. Such an exorbitant price tag (for that time) cooled but did not quench the heated discourse of the movement’s promoters.

Fred Rustenberg of Brownsville and A. B. Jacobs of Donna returned to the Valley at the end of May 1922. They had visited Washington, D. C. to feel out the political situation regarding water development appropriations. They then dropped hints of abandoning the gravity canal crusade for other water conservation alternatives.

Two months later Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Users Association manager, C. H. Pease, pointed out the need to work with the gravity canal people, only to be squelched the next day by engineers who stated that they would turn down any further investigations. The engineers feared that there was not enough water in some periods to satisfy both present use and that of the proposed gravity canal.

The following comprehensive document appears to be either the 1920 report or information which comprised part of it. It provides valuable information revealing the status of the Rio Grande River preceding this period. It also provides agricultural statistics and insight into the social-economic status of Valley farmers of the period.

[ On 9/2/04 the VMS Our Heritage page published an account given at age 80 by Audrey Prentiss Walk on her childhood in San Benito in the 1910s. In it is noted a trip to Matamoros wherein the young Audrey is said to have met Generals Carranza and Pancho Villa. This report throws some light on and clarifies the matter.]

Salvador Dali's readily recognizable painting "The Persistence of Memory" with its melting watch is one of his most famous creations. However, the title of this article refers to the sometimes erratic results in recording history. As people age, incidents of the past, relived again and again in their minds, become a nagging insistence on being facts regardless of the logic or illogic. Still we cherish first hand accounts of long past episodes, for they lend immediacy and connections to events that may otherwise be lost unless documented in some other manner.

Valley history is documented by scattered first person accounts, but much of it was written later by reporters and researchers who often spoke with pioneers and their descendents. The Audrey Prentiss Walk account graciously furnished by her niece Ruth Lewis and reprinted in the VMS (9/2/04) provided an excellent portrayal of local life in the 1910s. It was written at age 80, three-quarters of a century after some of the events had occurred when the author was a child of eight. The portions regarding the border disturbances of 1915-17 are vivid but not necessarily accurate.

The siege of Matamoros took place in March 1915. Francisco "Pancho" Villa had broken with his former ally, Venustiano Carranza, now termed a Constitutionalist, and was fighting to expand the territories he could control. The background to this point was this. The nascent Mexican Revolution had commenced in November 1910 with Francisco I. Madero calling for a general uprising against President Porfirio Diaz, who had served since 1876. By May 1911, Madero, now interim president, is contending with the forces of Pasual Orozco and Emilio Zapata. General Victoriano Huerta is to overthrow Madero in March 1912 but a year later is hisself challenged by Alvaro Obregon and Venustiano Carranza. In July 1914 Huerta resigns and exiles himself to Spain. Three months later Villa and Carranza are no longer allies but are fighting for control of Mexico.

Villa sent forces of his army under two generals, Jose Rodriguez and Raul Absaul Navarro, to seize Matamoros, an entry port for Carranza's arms and ammunition. General Emiliano P. Naffarete ably defended the city with fortifications which he had set up and with machine gun nests. After several skirmishes over a period of days following the initial attack on March 27, some of the defeated and wounded Villistas fled across the Rio Grande to the U.S. side. Near Los Indios they received succor from local and Brownsville residents who had come up from the town. Eventually they went by rail roundabout to Laredo where they crossed into Mexico. This aid by the Americans earned them the enmity of Naffarete who seemingly condoned the banditry which then ensued.

Carranza forces would drive the Villista back to Chihuahua in the northwest and in late November or early December 1915, Carranza would make a victory swing to Tamaulipas and Matamoros. Carranza had earlier transferred Nafarrete to Tampico, perhaps in an effort to mollify Texas and American criticism of the ongoing border warfare. It did not succeed. Finally, in mid-November 1915, U.S. military forces numbering over 20,000 were posted along the border in order to restore order.

Audrey Prentiss and her family may have visited Matamoros in the quieter period of December 1915 when Carranza was there. She certainly did not see arch-enemies Villa and Carranza together in Matamoros. If appeals by her family for compensation for thievery were made to Mexican authorities, they were very likely made to Carranza operatives who now controlled the region rather than to Villa as Mrs.Walk related.

Because Villa became such a rogue, was able to evade John J. Pershing's army force in its ten month pursuit, and generated a Robin Hood type legend over time, some Valleyites, who would romanticize the situation, insist that Villa was himself here when in truth there has never been any documentary proof whatsoever that he was in northeast Tamaulipas let alone on the U.S. side of the border here. It is the siege of Matamoros by his troops that appears to lend some credence to his being here.

The remainder of the story is that in 1917 Carranza is elected president. In 1919 he masterminds the fatal ambush of Zapata. In 1920, when he ties to install a candidate favorable to him, Carranza is opposed by Obregon rebels. In fleeing he is killed on 5/2/20. Obregon is elected president in August 1920. Villa surrenders unconditionally this month and retires but on 7/20/23 is assassinated at Parral, Chihuahua by followers of Alvaro Obregon.

Readers who desire to learn more about this period are directed to a recently-published book dealing mainly with the disturbing events of the year 1915. It is written by SMU history professor Benjamin Heber Johnson and is titled "Revolution in Texas."

The railroad company that laid its tracks into the Valley in mid-1904, and became the first to do so, bore the name St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway. Yet, any physical connection between St. Louis and Brownsville was very round about and primarily over rails owned by other companies. In fact, it wasn't until 4/19/08, five years after the first spike had been driven at Robstown, that the first passenger service between Brownsville and Houston was inaugurated. Why then the St. Louis moniker?

Simply put, it wasn't only land dedicated by South Texans (mainly ranchers) that allowed the formation and success of this railroad company but big bucks from seventy-two subscribers in all finally swung the deal, and St. Louis financiers headed the list. It was the St. Louis Union Trust Company which in 1903 came forward with $400,000. Its individual officers signed up for almost a similar amount. Construction of the 141.75 miles from Robstown to Brownsville was going to cost $12, 250 per mile; the branch line which would parallel the river for an additional 55.73 miles would cost $11,500 per mile. Benjamin F. Yoakum of the Frisco Line and Sam W. Fordyce an Arkansas railroad developer, were among others who signed a contract making the St. Louis Trust manager of the enterprise and agreed to give it a 1 ½ % commission.

Lon C. Hill, Harlingen's founder who had dedicated railroad right-of-way land surrounding and through the townsite which he one day planned to lay out, was later to recognize the contributions made by the railroad backers. He did so by naming some of the streets in the platted town Fordyce, Whitaker, and Brookings. Whitaker was Edwards Whitaker, who would become president of the Boatmen's Bank of St. Louis and one of those responsible for the establishment of the Eighth District Federal Reserve Bank headquarters in St. Louis in January 1914. Whitaker was among others, who, in1907, had originated the idea of scheduling mid-western land seekers' parties by train.

Of even greater interest is the story of Robert S. Brookings. (left) Born in Maryland, he had moved to St. Louis at age 17. Here he became a clerk and salesman for a woodenware manufacturing company. In four years he worked his way up to being a partner in the business. He was determined to not only get ahead financially in life but to be knowledgeable and well-rounded. By traveling extensively abroad in Europe he became self-educated and cultured. In modern jargon we might say, "He was a quick study."

In St. Louis he foresaw the city as a transportation hub and constructed a giant warehouse adjacent to the railroad lines. It was an immediate success. This helped to make him a wealthy man who by 1896 had seemingly given up his commercial endeavors to become a civic leader and philantropist. Primarily he turned his creative energy to building Washington University and other St. Louis institutions. Obviously he kept his hand in investments for like Whitaker he signed on to the railroad scheme in 1903.

In World War I, Brookings worked for the government and later established schools and institutions which were to merge in 1927 into an independent research institute devoted to solving problems of government and the economy. This was the Brookings Institute at Washington, DC. Numerous prominent public servants have attended the institute over the years.

Another St. Louis citizen with a Valley connection was Breckinridge Jones. He, too, had pushed for the Federal Reserve Bank branch in St. Louis. Because Lon C. Hill had borrowed money from Missouri bankers to finance the construction of his 1911 Hill Sugar Mill in Harlingen and then was to see it languish, he fell into debt. It was Jones to whom a chattel mortgage was signed in 1914 in order to cover some of the indebtedness.

If promoting the egos of benefactors was one of Hill's purposes in naming streets after them, then what is the rationale for naming one of the streets "Vanderbilt"? It was Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt who had established the New York family fortune as a shipping and railroad tycoon. The Vanderbilt for whom the Harlingen Street was named was William K. Vanderbilt, (right) the Commodore's millionaire grandson. Perhaps Hill used the name in order to entice him to invest in the region. Vanderbilt didn't. He had, in fact, been financially dented, but apparently not greatly, by the busted "Beef Bonanza" on the Northern Plains in the late 1880s.

Vanderbilt was to be noted for his successes in yacht racing and race horse breeding. One of his breathtaking artifacts still around to be visited today is his famous summer mansion in Newport, RI. The Marble House built over a four year period in 1888-92 cost $11 million, $7 million of which was for 500,000 square feet of marble. Here the family vacationed. A personality for the time was Vanderbilt's strikingly beautiful daughter, Consuelo. She entered into what was to be an unhappy marriage with a minor English nobleman but gleaned the title 9th Dutchess of Marlborough. This arrangement reflected both the need of some of the very wealthiest Americans to be upwardly mobile and marry into European nobility and the dire financial straits in the ranks of some of this same nobility.

In 1903 Vanderbilt came in his private railroad car to the nearest Valley stop at that time. This was the cattle boom town of Alice. Here he was met by two of the Hill brothers and taken south in a hack. What he thought of the bumpy journey and sometime desolate terrain is anyone's guess. He was roughing it for sure. Likely he stopped overnight at the King Ranch where the horse bloodlines there may have been of special interest to him.

Lon C. Hill himself was not one to "stand on ceremony" and while the ladies fonded over Vanderbilt at the Miller Hotel in Brownsville, Hill was out communing with nature and pursuing one of his favorite pastimes—hunting. All told, Vanderbilt may have found the Valley too primitive to his tastes. Before he died he gave $15 million to his daughter Consuelo and left the bulk of his $55 million estate to be divided between his two sons. To have had him invest in Valley developments might have accelerated its growth and evened out some of its boom or bust cycles, but his did not come to pass.

From a brief account by Sam Robertson we learn that Benjamin Yoakum and Col. Sam Fordyce, the railroad pioneers, brought Brookings, Vanderbilt and other St. Louis and New York investors such as Tom Carter and Tom West to South Texas by train in February 1905. He met them while constructing a rail loop near Sarita. They came to investigate land and irrigation possibilities. Internationally known civil and mining engineer John Hays Hammond accompanied them. After grilling Robertson for three hours Hammond became enthusiastic about Valley prospects. However, recent Texas Supreme court decisions in regard water rights were to put a damper on investments here. Still, one eventual outcome was the start of the largest irrigation project in the Valley, that of the American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company in which Yoakum and Judge S. Silver were initially principals. Robertson was to commence construction of the major Mercedes Canal in April 1906.

To the 3,901 or so citizens of the namesake town of Edcouch I offer apologies for the inadvertent misspelling of your founder's name in my article (VMS 7/14/05) on Weslaco.

In relating how the Couch brothers, Edward C., Dan R., and R. C. together with R. L. Reeves acquired what was to be the Weslaco townsite from the W. E. Stewart Land Company, a typographical error brought forth the name "Coach" instead of Couch.

After Weslaco's creation, Ed, who was a land owner, land promoter and banker, was to continue his development endeavors elsewhere in the Valley. The Delta area of the Valley is the name given to the sizeable area served by the Delta Lake Reservoir and encompasses La Villa, Edcouch , Elsa, Monte Alto and other communities. In the early 1920s the area was still mostly a vast scrub vegetation -covered rangeland. A few rugged pioneers had cleared land and were trying to wrest a living from the unforgiving land and climate. One such individual was Raymond R. Hill who built a store on what is now FM 1015 and Mile 16 N. While he farmed the 75 acre homestead, his wife Myra took care of her oldest child, a daughter, and her two younger sons and also operated the store which became known as Hill's Corner. Oldest son John went on to be graduated from Abilene Christian College then going to the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He became a plastic surgeon in that city. Marrying twice-divorced prominent socialite, Joan Olive Robinson in 1957, John and Joan would have a marriage of convenience for 11 ½ years before her strange and controversial death. Indicted for her death, John's case, defended by Richard "Racehorse" Haynes, was dismissed as his trial progressed. The community's suspicion of his role remained until he himself was mysteriously shot to death in 1972. Some contend Joan's vindictive millionaire father Ash Robinson had arranged to have a "hit man" do the evil deed. In 1963 John's brother Julian had committed suicide.

Then the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway Company determined to give competition to the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railroad which had pushed the first line into the Valley from Robstown in 1904. The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway had been acquired by the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, itself bought in 1881 by C.P. Huntington acting for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. Despite the acquisitions and mergers railroads often retained their old names for considerable periods of time. It was on March 1,1927 that the Southern Pacific leased several lines in Texas including those of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad Company. The latter had constructed a railroad line from San Antonio to the north side of Edinburg by 1926 and planned to continue on to Brownsville via Harlingen.

Ed Couch already owned land on Mile 17 North, north of what was to become the town of Elsa. He secured a right-of-way in this area banking on the prospects that with his efforts the railroad would utilize it. William George had however already lobbied the railroad to come through his property north of Mile 16 North and what would become the town of Elsa, named after his wife. Couch, never one to give up, then secured land two miles east of the Elsa site and thereby his town was born.

Initially the railroad stop and a post office were established by 1927 in a nearby locale named Edgeworth. By 1931, however, it is noted "the town was shipping citrus fruit, vegetables, and cotton, had a weekly newspaper named the Edcouch Enterprise, and reported a population of 914." By 1933 when it was incorporated, Edcouch had 35 businesses. A Mr. Lackland opened a section of Edcouch east of what is presently FM 1015. He sold lots in it exclusively to Mexican American ethnics.

Attesting to the area's rapid growth and exploitation once reliable transportation was in place is the fact that a year or so after the railroad's arrival Edcouch had two feed stores, a box factory, two ice plants, two lumber yards, eleven packing sheds, a theater, furniture store, funeral parlor, variety store, three grocery stores, a real estate office, telephone exchange, post office, bank, community center, jail, drugstore, café, and barbershop.

Couch did not stop there. His Delta Development Company of Weslaco continued to exploit the railroad's route by purchasing land and plating what would become Primera, just five miles northeast of Harlingen. On 2/18/27 with the rail lines now laid through the area, land sales begin. Being the first Southern Pacific station out of Harlingen, it is named Primera, Spanish for "first". Four hundred business lots are offered as well as 100 residential ones.

In one period of his career, Couch was elected to serve as a Hidalgo County Commissioner. He then was elected as Judge of Hidalgo County.

Extreme Makeover, Designed to Sell, Decorating Cents, Clean Sweep, Moving Up -- anyone of these present-day popular TV shows has a name which epitomizes what happened in Weslaco in the year 1936. In this year in the throes of the Great Depression the city was to celebrate the 17th anniversary of its December 1919 founding. In 1929 it had commenced celebrating its birthday every year. This served to not only unite the community but also to foster business and town development. Weslaco had been the last of the major cities along the Fordyce Branch of the railroad to become established.

It was the W. E. Stewart Land Company, which in 1917 had purchased 30,000 acres from the American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company for $90 an acre, that two years later sold the prospective townsite to the three Couch brothers and R.L. Reeves. By the time it was platted in September 1919 only Ed Couch and Reeves remained in the partnership. They named the town after a contraction of the letters of Stewart's land company and commenced lot sales in early December.

Stewart's company had weathered a federal mail law suit in which farmland buyers contended they were victims of fraud. The plaintiffs argued that the land which they had been sold did not live up to the potential which they had been told it possessed. This did not sully his reputation for between the years 1907 and 1922 he achieved much for the region by being one of the factors in the development of four Valley banks. These were the First State Bank of Mission, the First State Bank of McAllen, the First State Bank of Donna, and the Cameron County Bank of La Feria.

The building occupied by the McAllen Drug Company was the first brick building in McAllen. Its location was at the corner of Main and Austin Avenues. It was built by W. E. Stewart (c.1911) who had come to McAllen from Lindale, Texas through the influences of his friend B. F. Love. Mr. Stewart organized the First State Bank which occupied his brick building. Later he sold the building and moved the bank into another brick building, still later occupied by Dean's Jewelry Store. [Brim (B. F.) Love came to McAllen in 1909 from Lindale, Texas. He owned and operated a general merchandise store located to the south of the bank.] In 1912 Masons in Mission organized a lodge. Steward was its first Master.

As Stewart's fortune rose he moved on to the firm of Lee, Stewart and Company with an office on Wall Street. It organized what was known as North American Trust Shares.

Stewart obviously was either very lucky or prescient, for prior to the stock market crash of October 1929 he had sold his stock and came out $100,000 ahead. About the same time he read about oil being struck in East Texas. That very night he boarded a railroad Pullman for that part of the country where three days later he commenced to buy considerable acreage and a number of oil leases. In 1935 he became a resident of Tyler near where he was born and had started his career. In the late 1930s he was president of the Kadett Aviation Company, an outfit active in training student pilots attending Texas A & M. At this time he was also chairman of the board of directors of the First State Bank of Overton and head of the Stewart Oil Co. At Stewart's funeral service the minister of the Marvin Methodist Church in Tyler noted that Stewart had donated "far in excess of a million dollars to the hospitals of Tyler and vicinity."

At Weslaco's 1936 celebration a whooping 10,000 people participated. Activities included the famed citrus style show conducted this year on a platform erected on Texas Avenue between the Masonic Building and the B.K. Traylor Man's Store.

In late 1935 some downtown businessmen had met informally at Cressner's Drug Store to discuss ways to make the town more attractive to consumers, invite more businesses, and generate area land and city lot sales. Roscious (he didn't use his first name for obvious reasons) Newell Waters, a local architect, had been invited to exhibit some of his sketched ideas for a possible remodeling of the business district. Waters' renderings were then displayed downtown for all to see and assess. At this time the only unifying element of the town's main street was its polyglot facades, many of which still resembled those seen in western movies.

And what of this 37 year old architect? A Texan, he had been born January 17, 1899 in San Angelo to Bessie (Barfield) and R.C. Waters. In World War I he served in the United States Army during 1917 and 1918. He then attended the University of Texas for two years before transferring to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he received a BS in Architecture in 1923. Newell had gotten his feet wet in this field in 1922 by training for a Boston architectural firm while attending M.I.T..

Because his parents had come to the Valley where his father became a partner in Kirgan and Waters Land Co. of Edinburg and was also involved in real estate development, Newell may have been enticed to start his fledgling career in the Valley. It turned out to be a wise decision, as the Valley sustained a building boom in the 1920s. Over the years and with various associates, Waters' designs were to change and evolve. Apparently all were well-accepted, for his commissions continued despite the business downturn in the country in the 1930s.

Initially Waters' office produced work in the Mediterranean style, then moved into the American style, especially the Monterey, and finally into the modernistic design (art deco and others). Prior to 1936 Waters was already recognized for his Weslaco City Hall and Fire Station (1928), the Los Fresnos State Bank Building (1928) and the Llano Grande Country Club, Mercedes (1928). The former was a multi-use facility, including an auditorium, jail, city offices, fire house, and dormitory for the firemen. Waters collaborated with San Antonio architect, Ralph H. Cameron, in designing the Mercedes City Hall and Fire Station (1927), and Judge Anderson Y. Baker's Edinburg home (1927).

On a personal and other-than-architect level, Waters was also doing well. He owned oil leases, was farming cotton and citrus, and, as a rancher, was one of the first to introduce Brahman cattle into the Valley. In San Antonio in 1928 he had married an operatic soprano, Clementine Anne Helene Mullere, from Luxembourg. Together they would have two children.

Newell's conceptions of a revamped downtown were to win approval from the community. The combination of donations and loans from the Federal Housing Authority financed the project. And what was the concept to be implemented? All building on both sides of Texas Avenue between Third and Fifth Streets were to be given a uniform white stuccoed face-lift in Spanish style architecture. With remodeling of T.G. Cressner's drug store, the transformation job commenced on January 27, 1936. Within a year's time the work had been completed on the two blocks. This allowed the official dedication of the city's remodeling program at the 1936 birthday party.

Weslaco became, or made itself, known as the "City That Lifted Its Face." It wasn't finished yet. Over the next year, 1937, it added vari-colored neon light tubing to outline and accentuate the buildings in the business district. In between structures, lighted designs provided the element of cohesiveness. Now Weslaco gleaned a new moniker – "The City with the Neon Skyline." Without question the colored lights playing upon the white facades provided an air of modernity when the city celebrated its 18th Birthday in December 1937.

Both within the Valley and as far away as Houston, Waters was to continue his creative career. He designed Knapp auto sales and repair facilities in several Valley towns, the Hidalgo County Courthouse, Edinburg (1954), the State Tuberculosis Hospital, Harlingen (1955), the Knapp Memorial Methodist Hospital, Weslaco (1962) among other institutional buildings and personal residences. He was a parishioner of the Grace EpiscopalChurch, Weslaco and had been the architect of its sanctuary.

Waters was to die in Weslaco in January 1979. He was interred in the family plot in the San Antonio Cemetery, San Antonio. His legacy lives on, and it is one of which Weslaco takes especial pride.

The Weslaco Museum has recently commissioned the fabrication of a scale model replica of Newell Waters' Weslaco City Hall. Lighted from within, the limited edition replicas, which recreate the colorful Spanish mosaic work that makes the building so unique and attractive, are on sale at the museum.

While Primera gets ready to celebrate its Golden Anniversary at 50 on April 9, 2005, it hides its real historic age, more akin to 102 years. Following is a brief chronological history of Primera, its pioneers, and its predecessor developments.

August 1903 Lon C. Hill and associate Thomas L. Jones and their families leave Beeville for the Valley. The 155 mile journey with fourteen large wagons, their holdings, and sixty head of stock takes thirteen days. Jones comes with his wife and seven children.

Thomas L. Jones, a native of Mississippi had come to Texas in 1901. He acquires from Hill the former Cameron County School Lands Survey 25 with its approximate 4,500 acres northeast, currently Primera and what will in 1904 become Harlingen. Perhaps prematurely he attempts to irrigate portions of it but fails in his effort. He may have utilized well water since no canals from the river were yet constructed in the area. Mary Jones teaches school age children in the vicinity at her father's ranch house.

While Hill had paid $1.25 an acre to purchase Survey 25 from the county we do not know what Jones paid him for the land. However Jones reportedly obtains $13 an acre when he later sells the tract to Dr. Pierre (Perry) Wilson of Dallas and Frank W. Kibbe, an aggressive Brownsville real estate promoter, in November 1908. Wilson had expressed an interest in building a sanitarium on part of the land though having retired from his medical practice in Dallas. Wilson was originally from Hennepin County, Minnesota possibly coming to Texas via Lawton, OK. In a land sales brochure he is advertised to have planted 108 acres of cotton in the spring of 1911 and raised 125 bales from it. The first 100 bales brought him $5,776.20 and the other 25, $1,250. Five acres of his sorghum which he cut several times in the year brought him 12 tons/acre which he sold for $10-14 per ton. The area thereafter is called the Wilson Tract and the road leading from it to Harlingen is Wilson Road. A 1909 map shows that the Wilson Tract had been platted into 110 lots of 40 acres each. Engineer A.W. Amthor of Brownsville and La Feria surveyed and laid out the tract. The Tract encompassed the whole of Survey 25. The uncleared land is offered at $150 an acre. After becoming ill, Dr. Wilson sells the land to Mr. (H.E.?) Shaff, former president of the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad, known for short as the Katy. Mr. Shaff was in town by April 1909. In the 1920s the property with its citrus orchids is used as a showplace. Prospective buyers are treated by Valley Developments, Inc. to meals at the ranch clubhouse.

Dr. Wilson built his retirement home on a slightly elevated parcel on the northeast side of the tract. When he died his widow buried him in the yard. Three or four years later the Payne family purchased the homestead. Mrs. Wilson then reburied her husband upstate where she was then living.

1909 Samuel Davis Grant, son of Hannah Harriet and William Talley Grant, comes to the area after surgery by Dr. Pierre Wilson. He becomes foreman of Dr. Wilson's ranch. After the ranch falls into the hands of the Mr. Shaff, former president of the "Katy" railroad, Grant acts as the bookkeeper. Born in Robertson City, TX in 1883, he attended TCU and UT where he completed his studies in 1903. He marries Helena (Lena) Templeton of Santa Elena Ranch in 1914 and together they have five children: Georgiana, Christine, Francis, James, and Helena. Her Uncle, James Dishman, presents them with 320 acres of virgin land as a wedding present. In 1915 Grant purchases land east of Combes (and now HYW 77) and farms it, but in 1918 he commences the Ebony Grove Dairy with a herd of fine Jerseys. Sam is for a time president of Kiwanis, on the Harlingen School Board, and the Boy Scout Board. He is to die of a heart attack 1/23/46.

1909-10 A non-descript wooden one or two classroom structure has served as a school for area children. In this school year Lillian Elizabeth Weems is teaching at the Wilson School. Lillian is the daughter of W.Z. Weems who helped Lon C. Hill build canals and who had grown sugarcane and processed it into syrup in a small mill built with partners in Harlingen. She taught school in Harlingen after that town's school system was first established. The next year she will teach in McAllen followed by a year in La Lomita. She will marry John Raymond Baldridge on 9/15/12, but he is to die 12/19/16 leaving Lillian and a two year old daughter Ramona. She teaches for many years and also becomes an excellent chronicler of Harlingen history.

1910 James F. Rodgers and his wife come to Harlingen. He was born in Illinois 10/22/71 and educated at Warrensburg Normal School. For a time he was a school teacher in Missouri. Of Irish descent he married Mary L. Yates of Monroe City, MO 10/30/1900 at St. Stephen's Catholic Church, Indian Creek, MO. She was schooled at the St. Joseph Academy, Dubuque, IA. He is a landowner and was one of the founders of the Wilson Independent School, which from one room has by 1928 grown into a beautiful two-story $40,000 building and employs 11 teachers. Rodgers is chairman of the Valley-Texas Farm Bureau Cotton Association. He is a Kiwanis, Knight of Columbus, and member of the Chamber of Commerce. On 5/20/22 James F. Rodgers is appointed U.S. Postmaster for Harlingen and serves until 1935. They are parents to Charles L., L.P., Raymond J., Josephine, Ravilla, and J.F., Jr. Mrs. Rodgers was involved with the Red Cross during WWI and also with the Ladies Chamber of Commerce. They will eventually reside at 818 E. Madison where they will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

Mrs. Rodger's brother, Tom Yates is also to come here in 1910. He was born in Missouri on 9/24/90. He will purchase 160 acres of Wilson Tract land from Jesse Avery. He will farm it and later be involved in cotton ginning, produce buying, and be associated with both federal and state departments of agriculture.

His wife to be is Rachel Brown born in Duluth MN on 1/1/94. She arrives here in 1912. Her father, Frank R. Brown, is sent here by a northern bank which has loaned Lon C. Hill money and wants to check on how things are going. He will stay to become associated with the water district office. Rachel will teach at the Wilson School. Rachel and Tom's son, Frank, will be a long-time employee of CPL. Brown's second wife, Katherine Clarey Brown, is a doctor who has worked in Hopkinville, KY and St. Louis, MO before coming to Harlingen with Frank in 1911. She and the widowed Frank had been married in 1907, honeymooned in Alaska, and stayed there six months before moving on. Here she is not a practicing physician but does offer the first in-patient care in Harlingen when she takes patients into their spacious 1222 W. Harrison Street house. When the first F Street hospital opened in 1923 she may have ceased this service. By 1930 the Browns are living in an apartment on Madison.

4/12 L.S. Ross, son of former Texas Governor Sul Ross, who was a famous Texas Ranger, is elected Mayor of Harlingen. He was the president of the Harlingen Commercial Club, treasurer of the Rio Grande Construction Association, school board trustee and farmed. He is also president of the Harlingen State Bank in which he is provided a private office for the conduct of city business. He is authorized to purchase office furniture and provide stationery. The bank is the depository for city funds. Ross is also responsible for bringing J.F. Rodgers to "Six Shooter Junction" in 1910. After settling in the Wilson Tract area, Rodgers will enter into a partnership with Ross called Ross and Rodgers Realty. A post card photograph taken by P.C. Shocky is inscribed May 5, 1913 and the farm of L.S. Ross-Wilson Tract, Harlingen, Texas. It shows four men in white shirts, ties, and hats standing just inside a field of tall corn. Obviously it was taken to promote land sales.

It is the year 1913 that H.B. and Betty Gamble Payne come to the Wilson Tract. Mrs. Payne was born 8/10/67 in Balesville, AR and married 1/21/86. These Methodists had six children. He died 10/11/25 and she in October of that year.

6/22/13 Carl Anthony Tanberg, his wife Thea, and daughters Maurine and Dorothy arrive in Harlingen to take possession of their Wilson Tract property. This family of Norwegian ethnicity departs from Eau Claire, Wisconsin with plans to grow grapefruit and farm in south Texas. They are met at the Harlingen train station by their neighbor, rancher Raymond Wright, who hauls them in a mule team-pulled wagon to their Wilson Tract homesite. After spending two nights with the Wrights the Tanbergs look at their land newly grubbed and cleared by contractors. On it they put up a military style tent with a wooden floor to serve as their first abode. Over the years the family adds children Robert Lund, Norman, Walter, Helen, Mary, and Carl Lee. With investments from his brother Hans, Carl eventually accumulates several hundred acres.

By 1914 the Wilson Tract area is estimated to have a population of 200, a weekly newspaper, several general stores, a pharmacy, and a publishing house.

1915 This year the two story brick Wilson School at Primera to the west of J.F. Rodgers' place is built. Rodgers and J.T. Avery are its prime movers. Its high ceilings and numerous windows help to keep the classrooms somewhat cool. After a time the earlier wooden building is used as a cafeteria. The school is to begin construction of two wings and an auditorium in 1926.

1922 It is this year that Frank and Bettie Autrey McGee move to the Wilson Tract from Lincoln Parish, LA. Accompanying them are their children Lucy, Claire, Glenn and Gertie, who comes with her husband W.A. Napper, a carpenter. Coming by train to Harlingen they bring livestock including horses, mules, cows, pigs, and chickens, and also lumber enough to construct a large barn and three houses on adjacent 20 acre blocks (now about one mile east of Bass Blvd. and just north of Wilson Road). The parcels were occupied by the senior McGees, Gertie and her husband, and Glenn and his wife Ovie Stewart McGee.

Another tract family is that of George Francis and Mary Jane Barnes Murphy who also arrived in the early 1920s. Their children are Ellis, Rufus, Oscar, Curtis, Patty Rea, Oma Lee, and Emmodell. Some members of the family return to Union County, AK after the 1933 hurricane. Ellis however is to marry Lucy McGee in 1925. It is after Claire marries Mattie Ferguson in 1930 that W.A., Frank, and Ellis build the newly weds a house on the southwest corner of Frank's parcel and just east of the Yate's farm. Frank was to add 12 acres to his 20 when the Debois family left the area.

The McGees and Nappers grew cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, peppers, onions, corn, and cotton along with livestock feed. When the Southern Pacific railroad came through in 1926-27 they profited by providing cooked food for the construction crews. In the late 1930s Glenn Murphy was to purchase a home one mile west of Primera. Gertie Napper was to teach several years at the Wilson School in the 1920s and also coach the girls' basketball teams.

In the 2000s the McGee lands commence being parceled into the Autrey Court Subdivision.

Also coming in 1922 from Louise, TX to what would be Primera is Mrs. Nellie Ward. She teaches music at the Christ Church. Dying at age 77 on 8/17/60, she leaves her husband Delward and two local sons, James Sterling and David L. When the town of Primera is incorporated in April 1955, Delward is elected its first mayor by gleaning 26 of the 32 votes cast. His son D.L. received the other six votes as a write-in candidate. Ward is re-elected without opposition in 1956, 1958, and 1960. He is to die in office on 10/1/60 at age 85.

8/11/26 A full page ad is taken in the Harlingen Morning Star to welcome the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and its officials to the city.

1926-27 The Southern Pacific Railroad through its subsidiary Texas and New Orleans Railroad with its San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway, completes its 135 mile line from Falfurrias to Edinburg. On 2/15/27 the tracks reach Harlingen and on 3/10/27 the line is operational to Harlingen. In June work begins to extend the line to Brownsville and on 10/21/27 the work train reaches there with a freight one to follow the next day. On 11/10/27 Brownsville passenger service commences. W.L. Hollingsworth, who was a conductor for the SP on its first trip to Brownsville, is also on the last trip of the SP connection of daily passenger service from Brownsville to McAllen in the 1950s.

2/18/27 With the Southern Pacific rail lines now laid through the area, land sales begin. Being the first SP station (5 miles northwest) out of Harlingen, it is named Primera, Spanish for "first". Another name submitted but rejected was "Pomelo." Primera is promoted by Ed Couch of the Delta Development Co. of Weslaco for its fine water at a shallow depth of 22" and the Wilson School. Four hundred business lots are offered as well as 100 residential ones. Later residents learn that the area now downtown Primera in the vicinity of the school has very brackish water despite the efforts of well digger H.A. White to locate sweeter sources.

1928 To the south of the area, land was also being subdivided and utilized. The Huntley family of St. Louis purchased 20 acres (Valley Groves subdivision blocks 3 and 4) straddling Russell Lane, and in this year erected a two story Spanish style home. Citrus and vegetables were grown on the land which was retained by the Huntleys until the early 1960s. One of the Huntley family members conducted a grove care business for non-resident owners of the area until the early 1940s. From 1980 the Jon M. Dale family has occupied the house.

1930s Some Protestants of the area initially worship in a community church utilizing the school. Then the Baptists stirred to action by a Brother Petty [probably the pastor at the time of the First Baptist Church, Harlingen] construct a church house just west of the school. The Methodists are then moved to action and commence one ¼ mile north. As a story goes, plans were for a 40' x 60' building, but during construction freak high winds knocked down and broke many timbers. As a result the congregation salvaged what they could and ended up with a 38' x 58' building.

1933-40 The Primera area suffers from the Great Depression and low farm prices. Businesses are reduced to one and the population drops to an estimated ten. With greater food demand upon the commencement of WWII, the population recovers to 100 in the early 1940s and in 1947 is seventy-five. Three packing sheds operate, sometimes using school children for help in the labor-short war period.

9/10/39 Labor crew chief Santos Gonzalez and his new bride, Maria Leal of Santa Rosa, settle in downtown Primera across from the school. There they raise a family of seven children. Stalwarts and counselors to the Latin community there, they helped to make Primera a good and joyful place to live. One of their very accomplished children is Justice of the Peace and Judge Sallie Gonzalez.

1948 By this year the Dishman, Stuart Place, and Wilson Schools have been integrated into the new Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District (HCISD). For what will culminate in 38 years of service to the Wilson School, its beloved custodian, Dolores "Shorty" Garcia, will come to epitomize the close-knit spirit of the school.

4/9/55 The Town of Primera is incorporated. Murray Godfrey is a leader in bringing this about. No small concern is avoiding what will be perceived as higher taxes if the community is absorbed by Harlingen.

1965 Around this period the Wilson School at Primera is closed. Its elementary school students are bussed to either the Dishman or Stuart Place School. Higher grade students go into Harlingen.

1972 The old Primera Wilson School and its additions are torn down to make room for the construction of a new school complex. Elaine Aaron Godfrey saves the cornerstones of both the 1915 building and the 1926 addition. The cornerstones are now exhibited in the new Wilson School. Miss Aaron, at age 23, had come to Primera from Alabama in 1936 to teach at the school. In 1938 she was to marry Murray Godfrey, son of local residents.

In 1974 when population growth warrants it, the district constructs a new Wilson Elementary School. James I. Thigpen is superintendent of schools at the time and Johnny C. Means is the School Board of Trustees president.

1990 The town's population has risen to 2,030 and is reflected in the school additions constructed this year under school superintendent Dr. T. Carl McMillan and Ruben Pena, president of the School Board of Trustees.

2000 The 1.54 square mile town holds 2,723 souls in 780 houses by this year. In the 2000s increased urbanization, rising demand for house lots in nearby Harlingen, and steeper lot prices make low-keyed Primera an attractive alternative as a "bedroom" community. One can readily perceive the changes in new building valuations. In 2001 twenty five buildings averaged $24,600 in value. The year 2002 saw a more than doubling in the average value of 23 new homes to $56,100. In 2003 values continued to rise to $69,900 for 31 new houses.

The town's administration must keep pace. On 3/11/05 the Town Hall moves into a spacious new building on Stuart Place Road north of its old site. It vacates what was dedicated as the new city hall by Mayor Alex Trejo on November 11, 1975.

With a youthful median resident age of 26.8 years, there is no question that the Town of Primera belies its more than 50 years age and is in a state of dynamic flux. We wish it the best for its next fifty years. Happy birthday!

These are the transcribed comments of Carl Lee Tanberg to the students of the Wilson School, Primera on 11/28/2000. He titled it "Peerooney, Texas." *

Hello students. I am supposed to tell you all I know about the Wilson School, beginning where the school got its name.

Now, here is the beautiful picture of the landmark school building that was built in 1916. Then two wings of school rooms and the big auditorium were built and finished in 1927.

My parents were both of Norwegian Lutheran immigrant heritage. They took us to the community church in the Wilson Tract School House. When a brother Petty [possibly the Rev. W.H. Petty, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Harlingen] came and led the Baptist numbers to build a church house then the Methodists had to do no less. When the new 40' x 60' Methodist Church was all framed up, a freak twister came up and scattered it over a couple of acres. None of the people felt that the Lord was trying to tell them something, so they trimmed broken ends and nailed them back up on 38' x 58' measurements.

The beautiful old Wilson Tract School was the only public school that we eight siblings attended. My oldest sister, Maurine, started first grade in 1916 and my brother Walter graduated in 1943.

Filemon Bartolome Vela, jurist, was born May 1, 1935 in Harlingen, Texas. He was the eighth of nine children of Maria Luisa and Roberto Vela, Sr. His mother died when he was 11-years old. His father operated a small grocery store and was a notary public. Following his graduation from Harlingen High School in 1954, Vela enrolled in Texas Southmost College, Brownsville, an institution which five of his brothers were also to attend. He went on to the University of Texas at Austin but postponed his studies to serve in the United States Army, 1957-1959. After his service he entered St. Mary's University Law School, San Antonio where he received a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1962. Returning home he entered into the private practice of law, served on the Brownsville City Commission from 1971 to 1973, then in 1975 he took office as a state judge in the 107th Judicial District for Cameron and Willacy Counties. He served in this capacity for five years before President Jimmy Carter nominated him as a federal judge in 1980 to fill the seat vacated by Judge Reynaldo Garza. He served as such until the year 2000 when he retired and received senior status yet continued to sit on the bench until 2004. In summarizing his 29 years of judicial service he was characterized as "a fair but strict judge…"

Judge Vela taped more than 200 radio programs stressing the value of an education, encouraging children to stay in school, and promoting literacy programs." He was a mentor to many in the legal profession. He was honored as a TSC Distinguished Alumnus in 1998 and by having a middle school in Brownsville named in his honor. His character was once best described as "a bear—a grizzly on the bench, but of the teddy bear variety in everyday life."

On April 13, 2004 at age 68, he died from stomach cancer in Harlingen. He was survived by his wife, Blanca Sanchez Vela who for a period served as mayor of Brownsville, three children, and three grandchildren.

On June 29, 2005 President George W. Bush signed a bill designating the United States Courthouse and Federal Building constructed in 2001 at Sixth and Harrison Streets, Brownsville as the Reynaldo G. Garza and Filemon B. Vela United States Courthouse.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: United States House of Representatives Bill H.R. 483, April 13, 2005, Reynaldo G. Garza and Filemon B. Vela United States Courthouse. Eduardo R. Rodriguez, Texas Bar Journal, June 2005. UTB/TSC News Press Release, April 14, 2004.

Reynaldo Guerra Garza, jurist, was born in Brownsville, Texas July 7, 1915, the fourth child of emigrants from Mexico. He attended local public schools in Brownsville, was graduated from Brownsville Junior College in 1935, received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1937, and a degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1939. He then was in the private practice of law in Brownsville from 1939 until 1942 at which time he served in the military in World War II from 1942 until 1945 as a member of the United States Army Air Corps. Upon completion of his service he returned to Brownsville and practiced law from 1945 until 1961. President John F. Kennedy nominated Reynaldo Garza to the United States District Court, Southern District of Texas in March 1961. Upon confirmation he became the nation's first Mexican American federal district judge and later served as chief judge of the court from 1974 until 1979. In December 1976 President Jimmy Carter "asked him to serve as the nation's Attorney General, but he declined because he didn't want to leave his beloved South Texas and his service to the federal bench." President Jimmy Carter nominated Judge Garza to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth District, and Judge Garza was confirmed by the United States Senate in July 1979. He assumed senior status in the court in 1982. In April 1997 he was also appointed by Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist as chief of the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals that convened in Denver. The appointment to lead this prestigious court demonstrated the extraordinary respect in which he was held within the federal court system. He presided over many significant cases, his most celebrated civil rights decision being the 1972 Medrano v. Allee case, which struck down laws used by the Texas Rangers to break up United Farm Workers strikes. All told he sat on the bench for more than 43 years.

This highly respected community leader was also the first Mexican American elected to the Brownsville School Board, worked with the League of United Latin American Citizens to improve the civil rights of Mexican Americans in Texas, and was recognized for his many accomplishments by having the Reynaldo G. Garza Elementary School in Brownsville named in his honor. A devout Christian, he was the recipient of the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal from Pope Pius XII and in 1954 became a decorated Knight of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great. In 1989 Judge Garza was honored by the University of Texas with a Distinguished Alumnus Award.

At age 89, he died of pneumonia on September 14, 2004 leaving behind his wife of 61 years, Bertha Champion Garza, five children, twelve grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Louise Ann Fisch, All Rise--Reynaldo G. Garza, the First Mexican American Federal Judge (College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 1966). Texas State Senate Resolution No. 217 adopted February 22, 2005. Brownsville Herald, June 20, 2005. United States House of Representatives Bill H.R. 483, April 13, 2005, Reynaldo G. Garza and Filemon B. Vela United States Courthouse.

Until the year 2005, the year 1933 held the dubious honor of recording the most hurricanes to occur in the Atlantic Ocean. In that year the twenty-one storms which arose were not yet given names. The Labor Day storm which was to hit the Lower Rio Grande Valley was simply Hurricane # 11, 1933. On July 22 the area had been swiped by a tropical storm south of Matamoros near Tampico. On August 4 a minimal storm whipped Brownsville. With winds of 75-80 mph it caused $75,000 damage in Brownsville.

To qualify as a hurricane sustained winds must average 74 to 100 mph. A tropical cyclone with winds of 101 to 135 mph is categorized as a major hurricane and with winds of 136 mph or more an extreme hurricane. The odds of a tropical storm or a hurricane striking the area from the mouth of the Rio Grande to the south edge of Baffin Bay in any one year are 1 in 7.

From David Roth of the Lake Charles Weather Bureau office who compiled Texas Hurricane History: Early 20th Century we learn that before August 28, 1933 a depression had formed and strengthened in the Atlantic Ocean east of the Bahama Islands. Passing ships and boats had alerted the U. S. Weather Bureau to the storm, so it was tracked from its inception until landfall. On August 30 it passed over Turks Island in the Bahamas and registered the very low barometric pressure of 27.47", a compelling indication of its intensity. It advanced towards Cuba and with 94 mph winds struck Havana in the late afternoon of September 1. Seventy-five miles east of Havana, the north coast city of Cardenas, Cuba, famed for its Havana Rum, saw the storm kill 30 people and injure more than 100. The ferocity of the storm ruined its piers and caused millions of dollars in damages not only to the waterfront and boats, but also to its sugar cane factory and distillery. A large red harbor buoy was deposited inland into a city park by the tidal surge. It was later mounted on a foundation and remains to this day as a reminder of the fateful storm.

In other areas of Cuba an additional 30 persons were killed by the storm. From Cuba the hurricane now moved over the completely open waters of the Gulf of Mexico in a west northwest direction toward the South Texas coast, approximately 950 miles from Havana. A ship in the eastern Gulf reported that as the storm passed it had registered a pressure of 27.99".

The Valley was not unaware of this storm, for one of the two first page headlines of the Valley Morning Star of 9/2 read "Tropical Storm Strikes Havana, Injuring 16 Persons" with the sub-headline "Six Reported Killed and Damage Mounts". The following day the headlines proclaimed "Hurricane Loss 60 Dead in Cuba".

As it proceeded westward the movement of the hurricane's eye averaged out to just under 10 mph. Once on the same latitude as Brownsville it turned west. On the Labor Day weekend and September 4 the impending storm made known its presence with increased wind velocities. The next day it made landfall on South Padre Island, just north of Brownsville. In a quirk so common with tropical storms, its heretofore westerly course now changed into a slightly southwest path. This brought the eye of the storm directly over San Benito and Harlingen. An imaginative, but totally erroneous map, of the hurricane's track was published in the VMS 9/9 paper. It showed the eye coming ashore at Freeport then following the coastline inshore all the way to the Valley before turning west.

The wind's velocity was recorded by one anemometer, before it was blown off its anchorage, at 106 mph. An estimate of the wind peak was subsequently reported as 125 mph. The wind average for a sustained period was around 80 mph. Barometers measured the storm's low pressure at 28.02 inches or 948 millibars at Brownsville at 1 am on Monday, the 5th. These figures characterize the hurricane as a Category 3 one. It is listed as #31 of 65 of the most intense storms to hit Texas.

The elements created a tidal surge of 13' along Brazos and South Padre Islands. All dunes on the latter were flattened. South Padre Island had over 40 overflow channels cut in it to the Laguna Madre. The marginal ranching on the south part of South Padre Island was abandoned forever after this storm.

The total Brownsville rainfall for September 1933 was 13.58" of an annual rainfall this year of 38.96". The historic annual rainfall total for this city is 26.75". Harlingen incurred even higher amounts, and this led to considerable flooding in the community. Its September total was 18.25" out of its 1933 total of 41.75". Harlingen's historic average rainfall total is 25.75".

Based upon later-reported damage the eye of the hurricane likely came ashore at the north end of Brazos Island. This occurred around 3 pm. By 9:30 pm the electricity was out in Harlingen and many other areas and all streets were flooded.

With a strong premonition of the probable dangers as the eye of the hurricane reached the city, Harlingen attorney Claude Carter tried to find someone to send for assistance. He latched upon Lawson Anglin, a Cameron County highway patrolman from Harlingen. The enlisted cyclist was told to go to Alice and contact the Governor, Miriam "Ma" Ferguson, tell her about the storm, and seek aid from the state. Carter was sure this request would succeed because he was a friend of Ma's husband, former Governor Jim Ferguson.

Anglin took off in the nick of time, since falling utility poles became his backdrop and along parts of the highway the water depth measured 12-18". He received the expected concerned response from the Governor and a pledge to act on the matter.

The Valley Morning Star did not publish its 9/4 through 9/6 issues. It dated its 9/7 paper 9/5-6-7. In this edition it headlined "Valley Counts Hurricane's Toll" and "Relief Headquarters for Valley Established in City". Reported were the comforting information that the Red Cross had set up in the Montgomery Ward Building located at First and Monroe Streets, that a relief train from San Antonio had arrived on Wednesday the 6th, that a hospital unit from Fort Sam Houston was here, and that a labor pool headquarters had been set up in a domino parlor on North A Street. The army medical unit consisted of 177 enlisted men, 12 officers, 5 nurses, 2 ambulance companies, and a hospital company.

The mayors of San Antonio and Houston had acted expeditiously upon learning of the turn of events. The former organized a train by Tuesday afternoon and rode along with it. The consist had six baggage cars with supplies and food, coaches carrying 60 nurses and 50 doctors, and even a tank car with drinkable water in anticipation that the municipal supplies would become contaminated. The train organized by Houston's mayor had ten coaches with doctors and nurses and a carload of supplies. At Robstown another car was picked up. It carried 18 nurses and 18 doctors. Soon two train cars from Dallas and one from Austin were on the way.

Airplanes were sent aloft to survey the prevailing situation. Immediately after the storm had subsided Attorney Carter organized scouting parties and relief care. Initial hurried relief was provided in an improvised hospital on the second floor of the Reese-Wil-Mond Hotel. First aid was given in the first floor lobby. Thousands were fed. Guests and others at the Madison Hotel under the management of Harry Nunn were given free meals. Later the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) and the Red Cross distributed a week's supply of food to 2,500.

The cost to lives was found to be devastating. All told 40 individuals were to perish from the storm, with 24 of these deaths occurring in Cameron County. Five hundred people were injured. When put into perspective by the fact that the Valley's population at the time was relatively low, Harlingen, for instance, having only between 10,000 and 12,000 individuals, the human loss was considerable. Property damage was set at $16.9 million by one estimate. Possibly in an effort to garner state and federal funds the Cameron County tax assessor put the Cameron County losses at $22.9 million and total Valley losses at between $50 and 60 million. On 9/15 Cameron County losses were reported to total $29 million. Insurance adjusters said only an estimated 20-25% of property losses were insured.

The fickleness of the storm is indicated by Brownsville's losses of only $1.75 million. It did lose its bakeries and also its flour supplies when a warehouse storing it was exposed to the elements. The Brownsville Airport where Pan American Airlines had its Latin America office was so badly flooded that the firm moved its headquarters to Corpus Christi was for a while. This all occurred even though Brownsville was likely in the hurricane's calmest quadrant—the southwest one.

San Benito was as crushed as Harlingen. The entire block occupied by the Hinkley Building was destroyed and few downtown businesses escaped with minor damages. The small town of Rio Hondo was especially hard hit during the 15 hour siege of the storm. Out of a population of 900 there were seven deaths. As was the case elsewhere casualties resulted from flying timber and sheet metal, collapsed structures, and drownings.

Another victim was the relatively new high school between Tyler and Polk Streets at Sixth Street. This building with its two ornate towers had been erected in 1922 at a cost of $45,452. In 1926 it had hosted the 50th Convention of the State's Firemen and Fire Marshals' Association. Together with families 4,000 people had come to Harlingen for the event. Structural damage to it was so significant that it had to be demolished. Obviously its architects hadn't given much thought to its ability to withstand the forces of nature.

The North and South Ward Schools withstood the storm much better and escaped with only minor damages. However, the west side Harlingen school for Negroes was totally destroyed. Board President Frank Davis announced that the start of the school year was postponed until September 25; this was later set back again to October 2.

Joseph M. Chance, UT-Pan American history professor, received a first-hand account from his 92 year old father who, then in his 20s or 30s, was dispatched to the Valley by the Texas Department of Public Safety. From Austin, C. L. Chance, later Judge Chance, and 10 other officers took off in a chain-driven Mack truck. Upon reaching Falfurrias near nightfall, they had to stop overnight because of the debris-strewn obstacles on the highways south along with the flooded portions. These would have made further travel perilous in the dark.

Reaching Harlingen the next day they witnessed a scene of utter devastation. To quote "Power poles were all snapped off at ground level. Store fronts had all been blown out exposing goods and merchandise to the elements and to possible looters. Citrus fruit had been blown off the trees and drifted into the fence rows in the water-filled fields. Water was knee-deep in many of the streets and the Arroyo Colorado was so far out of its banks that I could not see the other side. The Arroyo lapped up to where the Harlingen Airport is now located. I have never seen such destruction in my life."

Chance later went on to San Benito where the Stonewall Jackson Hotel had been commandeered to serve as an emergency hospital for the injured. In this town a 24-hour curfew was instituted. Apprehended breakers of the curfew were put to work cleaning up street debris. Chance gives due credit to the Salvation Army. He notes that they were on the scene early, furnishing simple meals and sandwiches to the hard-pressed doctors, nurses, and security personnel. The Army also asked nothing in return. Some days later the Red Cross officials arrived by train to much fanfare.

Chance related that the Rio Hondo community was especially hard hit and had no potable water. In McAllen, a relief train was made up with a tank car of drinkable water and in this consist were also several boxcars of cots and blankets. After traversing San Benito and turning north, the conductor placed a flatcar in front of the locomotive. This precautionary measure was to test the track ballast which might have been saturated and undermined by the flood waters lapping the embankments.

It wasn't until Saturday, the 10th, that 30 families were discovered to be in dire straits in the San Jose Ranch and Al Parker subdivision area 15 miles south of Rio Hondo. With downed lines and impassible roads they had been isolated until someone reached the San Benito-Rio Hondo rail line to the west of the area and communications were made. A special relief train was dispatched to pick up the survivors who had to trek to the rail line through the deep mud.

Cameron County Judge A. W. Cunningham declared an emergency to exist in the county on Thursday 9/8 and appointed Sheriff Frank Brown as executive officer of this emergency. At this point 8,000 persons in the county were said to be homeless. The county was under semi-martial law. Tourists were barred from the area, as well as unscrupulous sales people.

At the Valley Baptist Hospital on F Street two large tents containing cots were erected in the landscape area in order to accommodate the less severe cases and make room for the more serious ones within the hospital itself. Doctors were to treat fractured skulls, cracked ribs, broken arms and legs, and a number of deep gashes. Fearful that a typhoid fever epidemic might ensue typhoid inoculations were commenced. A total of 19,892 shots were administered.

The Rio Living sections of the Valley Morning Star of 7/28/05, 8/4, 8/11, 8/18, 9/1, and 9/8 carry first-person accounts by individuals who experienced the storm. These convey the human drama which mere statistics fail to reveal.

Families, such as that of then 18 year old Consuelo Arriaga Salazar, along West Harrison Street, Harlingen were being flooded from their homes. A truck managed its way through the water and its riders distributed ropes to residences. The residents then secured the ropes to create a human chain as they waded east to the somewhat higher ground and shelter at the Harlingen Bakery in the 400 block. After several days in a shelter Consuela's family was able to assess the results of the big blow. Neither their home nor any of their possessions was to be found in the C Street area.

Julie Gallaher Uhlhorn noted that her doctor father George didn't come home for three days because he was so busy attending injured patients. His office in the Baxter Building on Jackson Street was centrally located to all the activity.

One of many storm heroes was VMS linotype operator, Alfred Jones. He left the A Street office after midnight and wearing a bathing suit fought the elements for ten blocks. He rescued his wife and baby just before the house disintegrated. He then brought them through the howling winds and rains to the Reese-Wil-Mond Hotel and safe refuge. Remembering the neighbors behind his home he returned there to find the E. B. Howell family huddled under the structure whose roof had fallen in. Able to start a nearby vehicle with water up its running boards, he drove them to the hotel and shelter. Many other families had similar stories to relate.

On Brazos Island some Valleyites had constructed summer cottages of wood on pilings. They were in residence because of the holiday weekend. Coast Guardsmen boated over to Boca Chica Beach to warn them of the coming storm. Some fled immediately while others chose to ride out any storm. In a VMS 8/4/05 account Lorene Valdez Meyners related what transpired. Battering waves soon struck the beach houses and started to tear them apart. The occupants then began a trek five miles south to Del Mar Beach and the shelter of its bathhouse. Many ended by cowering behind sand dunes and moving as one by one they were eroded by tidal action. Fortunately all survived as the strongest part of the storm edged into the Valley a little more to the north.

Their neighbors had not been so lucky. Young Jose Longoria saw his 18-year old sister Concepcion hit on her head by a beam, then swept by the winds out of the beach house only to be impaled on a spiny shrub. She succumbed to her injuries.

The Coast Guard ferried some of the harrowed survivors to Port Isabel. Sam Robertson related that his Del Mar complex was not inundated by the high waters but that a large channel had been cut in the north end of the island.

For treasure hunters the effects on the beaches were a godsend. Long-covered artifacts were revealed. Not only were shipwrecks unearthed but also former Mexican and Civil War army camp sites gave up bottles, bullets, inkwells and other memorabilia.

Numerous Valley families, fearful for their safety and lives fled their homes to what they considered more substantial shelters. Billie Bingley Palmer provided one account of what happened to her family in Los Fresnos. Rationalizing that the town's structures might become airborne hazards, her family embarked for the rural residence of her uncle, Russell Bingley. Before departing Billie's father George, owner of the Chevrolet dealership in town, opened the doors to the garage building to townspeople in need of shelter. Upon returning to town after the winds had subsided, the Bingleys concluded that they had made the right decision because most sheet metal structures had been completely torn asunder. Some homes were even dislodged form their foundation blocks.

Citrus orchards lost 90% of their fruit. Dislodged fruit was found to be unsalvageable since it was too green or immature. Those on the trees, especially grapefruit, soon turned yellow from bruising and the twisted stems. The marketing order would not allow the sale of this substandard fruit. Occurring about a month before the citrus harvest would normally have commenced this meant that a great number of Hispanic fruit pickers would be out of work for the season. Some left the Valley in search of other employment.

The cotton harvest was well on its way to winding down when the storm hit. The price of 9 cents a pound for this season's crop was well above the 5 cents/lb. received the previous year. The 1933 crop reached 55,000 bales, but this total was estimated to have been reduced by 20,000 tons due to untimely rains.

In the aftermath of the storm the Missouri Pacific Railroad (Mo-Pac) brought in six water tank carloads from Kingsville and later transported bread and milk to the Valley at no cost. Telephone cablemen were soon on the scene after coming from all over the state.

In view of the recent controversies related to Hurricane Katrina an interesting footnote to the Hurricane of 1933 must be added. Corpus Christi residents still remembered the deprecations of the Hurricanes of 1916 and 1919 to their city. In the latter storm 284 persons had lost their lives. This loss was second only to the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. With 110 mph winds the city sustained more than $20 million in physical losses.

When word of the impending 1933 storm was made known, Corpus Christi city officials declared Martial Law. All residents in low-lying areas were to evacuate, and the city was to "provide shelter for all citizens who wanted to flee their homes."

Being the Labor Day weekend and with considerable tourism expected, businesses projected large losses in revenue by shutting down. When it made landfall near Brownsville the storm just gave the Corpus Christi area a relatively glancing blow. Boats and piers were damaged by surging tides generated by the low pressure in the Gulf. The four principal business streets had three feet of water in them. The Municipal Pier lost 150' of its length while the pleasure boat Japonica was stranded inland. The Don Patricio Causeway connecting Flour Bluff to Padre Island was destroyed. Due to the wave action, the barrier islands in the Corpus Christi vicinity sustained numerous large cuts, one at least a mile wide.

Some disgruntled Corpus Christi businessmen, now angry over their loss of business due to the early warning, commenced a letter writing campaign to Washington. They demanded that the Meteorologist-in–Charge of the Corpus Christi Weather Bureau office be disciplined or worse. The Weather Bureau Headquarters in Washington dismissed their criticism, indicating that the weatherman had performed his duties well in ordering an evacuation that saved lives. He subsequently remained in his Corpus Christi post until 1946.

The quick and adequate response to the Valley's plight was undoubtedly conditioned by the experiences Texans had encountered with deadly hurricanes over the decades. Brother helping brother had become the norm not the exception.

You have seen them rolling quietly southward on the rails—consists of 80-100 strange-looking gray cars, all MTY (railroad slang for empty freight cars). When I first saw these cars with their perforated screen sides I thought that they were specialized cars to carry off the Valley's 500 lb. cotton bales, the airy sides to keep the contents cool and less subject to combustion. I was wrong, for I soon realized that I had never seen the loaded cars going in the opposite direction. In fact, I had never seen these cars, loaded or otherwise ever heading north. What are these cars? They are designated auto-racks and are designed to transport automobiles and trucks.

The reason that they have perforated side panels is to reduce unnecessary weight. These 19' high cars are topped with curved galvanized metal roofs, also weight savers. Inside, the cars have fixed decks; these are either bi-level or tri-level. The former carry high profile vehicles such as vans and SUVs while the latter carry standard autos. Since, however, tri-level auto-racks are taller than bi-level cars, an unusual adjustment has been made to ensure overhead bridge clearance. They have smaller wheels of 28" diameter versus 33" on the bi-level ones. This lowers the profile appropriately.

The auto-racks are 89' in length, and their capacity varies by the length of the vehicles being transported. This ranges from five to six autos per deck, so a tri-level car may peak with a load of 18 vehicles. The bi-levels hold ten units.

The empty auto-racks bear the logos of the major and a few minor railroad carriers still existing in the U.S. and Canada. Observers waiting at rail crossings for the consist to pass will often note the logo CSX, which is the successor to the former Chesapeake and Ohio or Chessie System. This is one of the largest carriers in the Eastern U.S. From the north and northwest come BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) cars. The Union Pacific (UP) logo is best known here because it is this area's service provider. The Kansas City Southern Railway Co. bills itself as the NAFTA Railway because of its Mexico connections and the former government lines it owns within Mexico. NS represents Norfolk Southern, a major coal hauler. TTX is a freight car leasing company organized in 1955. It has 127,000 railcars. Conrail is the government subsidized line, a conglomerate of a number of failed railroad companies. Northwestern marked cars are likely from the small shortline carrier, Iowa Northwestern Railroad. From Canada come Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP) equipment. Lastly there is TFM or Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana.

All are headed for automotive assembly plants clustered near Mexico City and Monterrey. They leave the U.S. over the Brownsville-Matamoros swing bridge, which opened for traffic in December 1910. In order to facilitate traffic movement once full, the great majority are routed north via Laredo, otherwise the single track line exiting the Valley would become a logistical nightmare under a heavy traffic load. Some auto-rack consists are routed as far west as Del Rio.

Readers will be surprised by the number of automaker plants that there are in Mexico. Close to Monterrey are the manufacturing communities of Ramos-Arizpe, Saltillo, and Santo Tianguistenco. Further south are Aguascalientes, Silao, Cuautitlan, Toluca Car, Toluca, Cuernavaca, and Puebla. Valley routing of auto-racks is destined for them.

In addition there is a Ford plant in Hermosillo and a Toyota plant in Tijuana. These are not in the Valley loop. Also to be noted is the fact that not all the models listed above are exported to the U.S.

The early 20th Century Valley did not lack for "characters". Certainly Alba Stimson Heywood fits into this category of individuals. This northeast Ohio native, born in Kingsville to Clarissa Brencie Bannister and Chester Wright Heywood on April 9, 1859, would sail through his life as if it was painted on as colorful a diorama as one could imagine. His father was a teacher at Hiram College, Kingsville while his mother was a school teacher. They were to have five sons and two daughters.

Alba attended public schools but for how long we do not know. We do know that his family had moved west, at least to Cleveland, where Alba as a teenager worked as a newsboy, later taking up farm laboring, canvassing orders, and then becoming an impersonator. This latter occupation alone provides us a clue as to his extroverted personality and outgoing nature. Eventually he and three of his brothers (Chester) Dewey, Otho Wright, and (Walter) Scott, formed a vaudeville act which traversed the country. On the circuit, Alba was given the name "prince of comedians." In 1892 he was to marry Genevieve Stoy while in July 1906 a second marriage was to Frances Turner.

Musician brother Scott had visited the Florence, Colorado oil field while touring with the brothers' band. In the late 1890s he formed oil companies in the Fresno and San Francisco to develop oil leases in those areas. The collective perceptions, business acumen, or perhaps just gambling instincts of the brothers was obviously high for, upon the discovery of easily exploitable oil in the Spindletop Oilfield south of Beaumont on 1/10/01 and at the urging of Scott, they quickly formed the Heywood Brothers Oil Company which soon acquired valuable and profitable oil leases in this field. This discovery, in effect, marked the birth of the modern petroleum industry. After laying a secure infrastructure for their Texas enterprise, the brothers were to branch out in 1902 to oil discoveries at Jennings, Louisiana. This was this state's first major oil strike. It was after their establishment here that Alba was appointed to the staff of Louisiana Governor N.C. Blanchard and served with the rank of lieutenant colonel from 1904 to 1908, hence his title thereafter of colonel.

Sam Robertson, who would play such a major role in the Valley's development, had first met the Heywoods when they asked his aid in constructing earthen berms around well facilities in order to reduce fire probabilities. Alba was to return to Texas in the following manner. In June 1904 Sam Robertson, who was then engineering the construction of the tracks and infrastructure for the St. Louis, Brownsville, and Mexico Railway into the Valley, made the acquaintance of Oliver Hicks and James Landrum of the Powers Estate. A verbal agreement was made to construct what was eventually to be named the San Benito Canal. Work was not started on it until November 1906, and Robertson was then to work on the canal construction until 1913. It was in 1907 however that Alba and two of his brothers, at the behest of Robertson, joined him and Judge R.L. Batts, Mrs. Ed Rowson, William Stenger, and A.C. Swanson to form the San Benito Land and Water Co. with a capital of $500,000. This company was to execute the massive irrigation project to develop some 55,000 acres and found the city of San Benito. Some of these same individuals would later be involved in the formation of the Heywood Connor Bank in the young town of San Benito.

Scott and Alba were to found the San Benito Bank and Trust in 1908. By 1911 they had constructed the handsome and impressive two story San Benito State Bank and Trust Co. at 198 S. Sam Houston. This Spanish Colonial Revival structure would hold offices in its second story. In 1914 the San Benito Library was organized and occupied part of its upstairs quarters. The bank offered a service to local farmers as it hoisted warning flags over the building when inclement weather was forecast for the area. In 1980 the building was awarded a Texas State Historical Commission marker.

By April 1907, 15 miles of the San Benito canal had been excavated with a completion date forecast for July 1907. An engine was brought in by the newly renamed San Benito Land and Water Company (SBL&W) and its president Alba Heywood. Its purpose was to power an immense dredge. The canal, which would have 18 miles in its major run and 70 miles of laterals, would be capable of irrigating 45,000 acres. The Houston Post of 7/20/07 reported that in addition to the 15 miles already completed, 23 miles of laterals were finished. By October, the SBL&W purchased an additional 14,700 acres from James A. Browne and his wife for $200,000 or $13.60/acre. By December the company was running ads offering 20,000 acres for sale at $50/acre, 1/3 down and 6% interest on the balance due in three annual payments.

On 3/6/09 a Brownsville Herald headline read "San Benito Sugar Enterprise" and the story following revealed the San Benito Land and Water Company’s commitment to a future factory. One thousand acres for sugarcane culture were to be set side, and the land which was being cleared north of the railroad track was to be the site of a 1,000 ton cane/day mill. Those involved included Col. Alba Heywood, president, R.E. Filcher of San Francisco, vice-president, E.H. Cox of Chicago, secretary, S.A. Robertson, treasurer, and Robert Lynn Butts of Austin, director and counsel.

The San Benito Sugar Company took out a full page advertisement. It stated "We cultivate the land and market the crops for the absent owner." It then went on to say that the San Benito Land and Irrigation Company had set aside 1000 acres of choice irrigated land which will be cleared and planted to sugar cane by the San Benito Sugar Company, an organization formed for this purpose. With no qualms about making exaggerated claims, it continued "Sugar cane has been a demonstrated success in the Lower Rio Grande Valley for over 30 years. It is a staple crop, involving no risk, and yields 50% to 100% net year after year." The company was offering the 1000 acres in tracts of five acres or multiples thereof, at $200 an acre, of which the purchaser would pay $100 in cash or easy installments and the crop pay $100.

Alba, who was actively farming south of San Benito, visited Mineral Wells in October 1910. He learned of the major problems being caused by aggressive Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense), and wrote an open letter to caution Valley growers and ranchers not to import Johnson grass because it would be fiercely competitive and nearly impossible to eradicate. His admonition was too late; the weed pest was already here and has offered problems to growers ever since.

Shortly after the sugar mill's construction was rapidly apace in July 1911, Col. Heywood sold 15,000 acres of his Espiritu Santo Irrigated Land Company, Los Indios land, and some Landrum acreage to A.C. Swanson and Company and its partner Allison Richey Land Company for $125/ acre On his farm 4 ½ miles south of San Benito, Heywood would plant 1000 acres of sugarcane. Unbeknown to him the Harlingen clay soil series in this location was underlain by very poorly drained subsoil. As a result the subsurface salts began to rise over time, and his cane yields plummeted to the point of abandonment.

By 1912 Sam Robertson's Spiderweb Railroad (officially the San Benito and Rio Grande Valley Railway) would run north and south of San Benito. Along the latter leg in order were Boulevard Junction, the Highland School, and Heywood on the way to Landrum Station, Carricitos (Alcala), Los Indios, Rangerville, and Santa Maria.

Farmers in the early 20^th century faced the same marketing problems as they do to this day, but namely not having control of the price received for their produce. San Benito cabbage growers, who were selling to only three shippers, considered forming a marketing organization when prices dropped precipitously at one point. Mission-area growers faced similar problems. Five hundred attended a discussion meeting in early March 1914. From this time on, Valley truck growers attempted to exercise some control of their economic destiny. The movement took on the name "unit marketing" in the popular media. In August the Rio Grande and Gulf Association was established at Harlingen with 800 to 1000 members attempting unit marketing. Alba Heywood was a vocal proponent of the unit marketing approach. In September the system was approved by a vote of 617 to 146. Twenty four directors representing 24 units were elected by 1,240 members. Also approved were control of acreage, "shut-off" orders, and f.o.b. sales or "dumps"

Over the next few years numerous overextended Valley canal companies ran into financial difficulties. By December 1914, San Benito farmers were ready to take over the canal company. Of the $650,000 cost, the farmers would pay $350,000, and bond holders would assume another $l50,000 in debt. The district would be approved by the county in June and encompass 70,000 acres. The landowners committee consisted of J.L. Landrum, P. R. Foley, T. H. Kindig, and Alba Heywood. It took another seven months before area growers voted l03 to 4 to proceed with the takeover of the water district requiring the issuance of $600,000 worth of bonds. The final vote in December was l23 to 2, but county approval didn’t come until mid-March of l9l7. Half the bond issue would be payment for the purchase and the remaining $300,000 for improvements.

Alba Heywood in 1918 was one of the Valley proponents lobbying to obtain federal funding to dredge the Port Isabel Harbor in order to make it useable for deeper draft vessels. After a many year delay some funding was finally made available for this project.

Because of their reputations for successfully exploiting new oil discoveries, brothers Alba and Scott were often sought out to investigate new ventures. So it was in 1918 that large West Texas rancher William Thomas Coble asked the bothers to come to the Panhandle and looked into oil prospects for what was called the Turkey Tract Lands. Drilling soon proved fruitful. They were then to lease 10,000 acres with Coble and form the Coble-Heywood Oil Company. This set the stage for numerous other oil developments by major companies in the Panhandle area. As it is said, "The rest is history." While newspapers and others frequently characterized the Heywoods as geologists, use of that nomenclature that might have been a stretch. Perhaps they were more akin to "wildcatters" .They were, however, sharp enough to learn from their many drilling experiences and also to utilize the knowledge of professionals in a period when scientific information on geologic formations, oil strata, and petroleum reserves were scant.

Despite his wealth, Alba had a populist leaning and was a Bryan Democrat. He was to die September 15, 1921. While the termites, fire, old age, or simply progress may have taken the attractive, old Heywood homestead from the scene, Alba Heywood's memory lives on through his strong efforts in helping to successfully establish the community we know today as San Benito.

Medal of Honor Recipient Billy Harrell of Mercedes
Compiled by Norman Rozeff
Harlingen Historical Preservation Society, July 2007

Vignettes of Rio Hondo History
Norman Rozeff, Harlingen Historical Preservation Society
October 2005

What was to become Rio Hondo in the former Espiritu Santo Spanish land grant was off the beaten path because the Alice Stage Coach Line's route from Brownsville to the Paso Real ferry crossing was well to the east of the area. There were a number of old and large ranches in northern Cameron County but none in the vicinity of what was to be Rio Hondo. The nearest ranch to the future townsite was Rancho Colorado about 1 1/8 mile south of the site and 2 ¾ miles east lay the El Mamon ranch.

The original spelling of the name was Riohondo. In a letter, dated 7/20/25, to the town's postmaster, First Assistant Postmaster General John H. Bartlett requested that the town's spelling be changed to Rio Hondo to be effective August 15, 1925.

1900 When Mr. and Mrs. Guadeloupe Rodriguez move to Paso Real this year little do they know that the thriving community with over 80 homes is destined to soon shrink. The Inn closes first, then the ferry. Later periodic floods in the Arroyo Colorado sweep away many homes, and time and the elements do the rest. By 1975 only four will remain. The Rodriguez work a small farm south of the arroyo in Cameron County. Four of their boys and one daughter are born on the farm. These include Agapito in 1908, Pedro 1910, Gonzalo, Gregorio, and Rita. Seferino and his other siblings later call urban Rio Hondo home.

1902 Santos G. Garcia is born near what will later become Rio Hondo. It is his grandfather who sells Lon. C. Hill the 2000 acre Los Costanos Ranch for 50 cents an acre. Garcia will attend the first Harlingen school for Mexican ethnics. He is later to help subdivide the Mexican housing sections of Harlingen, Brownsville, and Mercedes before going bankrupt in 1934. He then became a claims adjuster for the Lloyd Caldwell Corp., where Harvey Oler was manager. In this same year he begins selling tortilla-making machines. These were invented in Mexico in 1911. Renting a vacant lot at 515 W. Monroe from Carl Woods for $3 a month, Garcia sets up a corn grinder and tortilla machine under a shelter. He soon improves his machine after seeing a more advanced model in Brownsville. By 1941 he is to open four more tortilla factories in Harlingen. A dozen sells for 10 cents. Over time he is to sell 4,000 tortilla-making machines across the southwest. In 1946 he will establish Club Educativo Commedo de Caming. This organization loans money to Latin students attending college. The club has 400 members who contribute 50 cents a month for the education fund.

The Handbook of Texas Online tells us that: 1910 Rio Hondo is established and named for its location along the Arroyo Colorado. In Spanish rio hondo means "deep river." One of its first settlers is J.R. George, who operated a general store and served as the first postmaster when a post office was established in 1911. In 1914 Rio Hondo had a population of 150, a restaurant, and various stores and businesses. By 1925 its population was 250 and had increased to 1,000 by 1929. The town was incorporated in 1939, when it had 713 residents and 33 businesses. The town population was an estimated 1,128 in 1950 and 1,793 by 1990.

The San Benito and Rio Grande Valley Interurban Railway Company (later the San Benito and Rio Grande Valley Railway Co. or the Spiderweb as it was affectionately called) had been initiated in 1910 in the name of trustee Robertson, acting for the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Co. (Frisco), which advanced funds for the construction. Benjamin Yoakum was the president of the Frisco at this time and had his hand in many early Valley endeavors. Robertson went to Palestine, TX to purchase the necessary steel, ties and, as he related, "junk locomotives and cars" from George M. Dilley and Sons. By November 1910 Robertson had already laid three miles of track north from San Benito and on 6/7/11 it reached Rio Hondo. When the charter was issued in June 1912, thirty-nine miles of both completed and in-progress trackage was deeded by Robertson to the Interurban. A few days later it signed a contract with the Frisco to complete the railroad. The Frisco became the controlling interest.

The construction of the San Benito Canal was the event which was to open the land around the future Rio Hondo for agricultural development. The immediate area was subdivided and platted by the Espiritu Santo Land Company, to its north was the Sugar Land Subdivision, to the northeast the Fernando Subdivision , and to the east the San Benito Irrigated Lands Subdivision.

The railroad gave Rio Hondo a sugar connection. In 1982 upon the 55^th year as an incorporated town Rio Hondo conducted related activities. One was a compilation of remembrances put together in a booklet titled "Pioneer Families of Rio Hondo." James Taylor noted that the Hartzog family, longtime grocers in Rio Hondo, had come to San Benito in August 1909. "The San Benito and Rio Grande Valley Railroad-spider web-was organized and extended to Rio Hondo. The purpose of the railroad was to haul sugarcane being grown or what was known as the sugar cane tract, just north of Rio Hondo. For a time the sugarcane was shipped by rail to be ground and refined into brown sugar at the old San Benito sugar mill. The mill was built while the Hartzogs were living in San Benito." The latter moved to Rio Hondo because of the development of the sugarcane industry in the area.

The original Rio Hondo developers were Edward H. Smith and William H. Morrison. They developed land out of the Concepcion de Carricitos Grant. In 1907 the San Benito Land and Water Company bought 14,708 acres at $12.50/acre. They sold 1,000 acres of it to the San Benito Sugar Manufacturing Company.

Elmer James Carpenter and sons Arthur James and Fred Roy came to the Valley from North Dakota in 1912, purchased 100 acres of the Browne tract east of town. "The Carpenters were some of those early farmers who tried raising sugarcane, but the difficulties of getting it to market as well as being unable to control insects soon brought the growing of this crop to a finale. Mr. C.H. Edwards of Fall City, Texas raised citrus and cane from 1921. He held that position for a little over two years until the sugar borers ruined the cane and it was no longer profitable. The cane was taken by train to San Benito where it was processed into raw sugar in the plant that is now Central Power and Light Company." There are obviously inconsistencies with the 1921 date noted in this account because the San Benito mill had long closed.

Two other individuals noted in the town history were Pedro Gutierrez born at El Palmito Ranch 2/23/1900. He had worked at the Ohio and Texas mill south of Los Fresnos. Martinino Rodriguez was born 1880 and married in the village of La Villa Nueva near Brownsville. In 1913 he and his wife moved to the Sugar Land tract. He hauled sugarcane by wagon to the sugar mill in Rio Hondo. [Possibly this refers to a transloading site along the railroad or to the syrup mill.]

In January 1912 Andrew and Millie Hough with two children, Lucille and Ray moved from Bay City, Texas to Rio Hondo. Mr. Hough was the manager of the 2,000 acre sugarcane and cotton plantation northeast of Rio Hondo and known as "Sugar Land." [It is still platted as such.]. His workers were Mexicans who came across the Rio Grande. Wages ranged from 50¢ to $1/day, depending on their skill.

Lucille Hough Brown, daughter of the early cane plantation manager, provided some history of the area and period. Her father had been a rice farmer in Bay City. In 1912 Frank Robertson had asked Andre Thomas Hough to come to the Valley. Mrs. Brown noted that two trains a day came to Rio Hondo. One, like a streetcar, brought children to school. Mrs. Brown would later be the first person to be graduated in the red brick school in town. Her father farmed only two years before working as a canal rider for the irrigation district. Later he served as county deputy sheriff and worked in a hardware store. Mrs. Brown recalls Robertson’s mill staying open only three years. The cane was not burned and the cotton was too lush in the virgin soils. It was corn and vegetables that replaced cane. She recollects the Paredes Line Road area as being salted out. It was only in 1925-27 that the first paved roads connecting Rio Hondo to San Benito came into being.

In the time of the Bandit Trouble Mrs. Brown recollects that some children were sent away. Soldiers from Bastrop and Oklahoma moved into the area and stayed for a year, some in her family’s house. Although few houses had indoor plumbing, hers did. She recalls being put to sleep in the bathtub for safety purposes on several occasions.

Her father-in-law was A.G. Brown, an accountant for the water district in 1917. Brown and his family had come from Missouri in 1910.

As certain incidents in childhood can create vivid memories, one was related by Mrs. Brown. Molasses from the Sugarland syrup mill was sold in lidded cans. One time some cans must have been on the shelf for too long a time or subjected to too much heat. Their contents had fermented. The chemical reaction caused them to suddenly explode. The noise and mess left an indelible impression.

9/13/20 The Harlingen to San Benito road is badly flooded. This necessitates a 15 mile detour via Rio Hondo and the ferry across the Arroyo Colorado.

2/13/25 The contract for $57,435 is awarded to Dodds and Wedegartner of San Benito for a new Arroyo Colorado vehicle bridge. It is to be built to the east of the 1911 one now deemed unsafe. The new structure will have two 150' spans on concrete piers and an overall length of 350'. Judge Dancy is to later explain that 2/3 of the costs will come from the state and the remainder from the county.

8/20/26 The Chamber of Commerce endorses A.F. Parker's proposal for a channel up the Arroyo Colorado to Harlingen. $100,000 is sought, perhaps by assessing $1 per acre from land owners. Parker, a major land developer, donates $16,500. On 12/6/27, $500,000 of the new Arroyo Colorado Navigation District bonds are offered. They attract a premium price, according to J.B. Chambers, chairman of the newly created district.

2/18/27 Harlingen Mayor Ewing directs the Intercoastal Canal Association, and it holds its 1927 convention in Harlingen. He convinces the Association to back Hill's plan to dredge the Arroyo Colorado.

In February 1927 the Southern Pacific System railroad line reaches Harlingen from San Antonio. The tracks are then extended south of Rio Hondo with a bridge across the Arroyo Colorado and continue southeast via Los Fresnos and then south on the west side of Las Paredes Road (FM1847) into Brownsville by 10/22/27.

12/2/27 The paving of the road between Harlingen and Rio Hondo is completed. The road paving from San Benito to Rio Hondo was also recently completed. This allows for a scenic circle drive on paved roads of about 24 miles.

3/6/38 A dredge in the Arroyo Colorado is progressing toward what will be the Port of Harlingen.

4/18/50 A temporary pontoon bridge is stretched across the arroyo to service Rio Hondo for the next few years until the new lift bridge is built. On 4/29 the old one lane steel bridge is demolished to allow passage of the canal dredge.

10/26/50 The new dredge, C.S.E. Holland, under contract to Bauer-Smith Construction Company of Port Lavaca arrives at Rio Hondo. It will complete the last 6 ½ miles of canal from Rio Hondo to Harlingen.

6/15/51 The Gulf Intercoastal Waterway from Corpus Christi to Brownsville is completed and the opening to Port Harlingen is effected.

2/27/52 Port Harlingen facilities are completed and dedicated, and its first cargo shipment in a commercial barge arrives at one of seven docks. It has a 500 by 400 foot turning basin dredged to a depth of 12 feet and tied to a 125' wide channel down the Arroyo Colorado for 26 miles to the Intercoastal Waterway.

1953 (summer) The $500,000 lift bridge over the Arroyo Colorado opens. It connects the west side of FM 106 to Rio Hondo and allows for tall waterway traffic to reach Port Harlingen. It is the only such engineered bridge of its type in Texas.

6/11/59 The low water wooden bridge across the Arroyo Colorado at Port Harlingen is completed. It replaces the wooden one destroyed last fall in a flood.

4/11/00 The state completes the construction of a new concrete beam bridge over the Arroyo Colorado near Port Harlingen. It has two lanes and is 46' wide and 320' long. It replaces the rickety one lane wooden low-water bridge which has served Cemetery Road for many years. A reliable, fast alternative route between Harlingen and Rio Hondo now exists.

Hometown Hispanic Icons
Norman Rozeff, Harlingen Historical Preservation Society
December 2005

While Daniel García Ordaz's recent Valley Morning Star article "Hispanic Icons" makes for fascinating reading quite a few of the icons he notes will likely have little "staying power" as time progresses.

Valley Hispanics do not have to go far a field to find icons from this area to emulate and adulate. It is unfortunate that our local Texas history teachers fail to portray these regional icons to their students. Because of space limitations I can give only brief biographies of those deserving attention. Many come from just south of the border and show

Carlos Manuel Balli Tejerina (1889-1947) A physician born in Reynosa, after moving north of the border, he helped to fight the Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918. Later after receiving an MD degree in Austin, he became McAllen's first Hispanic doctor.

Celestino Pardo Barreda (1858-1953) Born in Spain and coming to this country in 1871, he studied in New York and Massachusetts before coming here to become a successful merchant. He acquired a sugarcane plantation in Cuba and became a major landholder around Brownsville. He practiced progressive farming and ranching and promoted Valley water projects and business.

Pacido Benavides (?-1837) This Reynosa native is noted for his contributions to the settlement of Victoria, Texas and became one of its early alcades. A foe of General Santa Ana, he fought Indians and assisted in the Texas Revolution though he remained loyal to Mexico.

Santos Benavides (1823-1891) This Laredo native was the highest ranking Mexican-American to serve the Confederacy. He fought Juan Cortina in 1861. Col. Benavides defended Laredo and importantly helped facilitate cotton transport to Mexico to circumvent the Union blockage of Southern ports. He was a leader active in Democrat politics.

José María Botello (?-?) was a Tamaulipas native and a convert to the Presbyterian Church. He became a very effective ministerial advocate of this faith.

Manuel Box Bravo (1901-1984) As a Hidalgo County Judge and civil rights advocate he fought for the economically poor, for better educational systems, supplies, and accountability, and numerous rural improvements as well as against ethnic discrimination.

José Tomás Canales (1877-1976) Originally from Nueces County, this outstanding individual became a lawyer and politician and a founder of LULAC. Bravely he stood against Texas Ranger abuses in the Bandit Era, and this led to government reforms of this agency. He was a prominent leader in the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement and an historian of this area.

José Cantuì (1914-1952) As a Brownsville radio broadcaster, he gave voice to Hispanic frustrations in a humorous manner. He was characterized as "a friend of those in poverty."

Carlos Eduado Castaneda (1896-1958) A Brownsville High School valedictorian when graduated in 1916, he went on to earn his PhD from the University of Texas and became a professor. He authored history books, translated others, and received numerous academic honors.

Francisco A. Chapa (1870-1924) This Matamoros native was trained at Tulane University in New Orleans. He became a pharmacist, alderman, and Board of Education member in San Antonio. A Republican, he had a mixed record of political involvement.

José de Escandón (1700-1770) Born in Spain, he is known as the colonizer and first governor of Nuevo Santander and the "father of the Lower Rio Grande Valley."

Emilio Forto (1856-?) Born in Spain, he came to Brownsville in the 1870s. He then entered politics where he held numerous county and city positions, including sheriff. As a businessman he represented the James Stillman interests for years and became wealthy. He later fought the Well's political machine.

Esteban Garcia (1896-1988) He was an able and progressive rancher in Brooks County who helped landowners get a fair shake from oil and gas discoverers on their lands. He helped popularize Brahman cattle.

Eìlida García de Falcoìn (1879-1968) This Tamaulipas native became an important translator of English to Spanish for the Methodist faith as well as being an educator.

Jose Antonio Garcia (1912-1971) Another Tamualipas native, he was Mercedes High School valedictorian in 1958 and went on to earn an MD degree from the University of Texas (Galveston). He practiced medicine in Corpus Christi and became a LULAC and civil rights leader.

Manuel Marius Garcia (1872-1950) Successful educator, rancher, and philanthropist, this man was a native of Camargo. In 1894 he became the first Mexican-American to be graduated by the University of Texas.

Antonio García Valverde (1859-1917) Another Camargo native, Antonio was a business, farming, church, and civil leader in the Mercedes area.

Erasmo Catarino Garza (1859-1895) This journalist, revolutionary, and folk hero promoted causes for Mexicans in this country and opposed the dictatorship of Diaz in Mexico. He worked to establish mutual aid societies in Mexico.

Reynaldo G. Garza (1915-2004) This Brownsville native received his law degree from U.T. (Austin), served in the military, and became the nation's first Mexican-American federal judge. He served from 1961 to 1982 by which time he received senior status. He was a respected community leader.

Alfredo(Freddie) Cantu Gonzales (1946-1968) Medal of Honor recipient, this Edinburg Marine was killed while serving as a sergeant in Vietnam. He has numerous things named in his honor, but leading them is the missile launcher, USS Alfredo Gonzales, the first ship named after an Hispanic Texas military man.

Manuel C. Gonzales (1900-1986) Hidalgo County lawyer, Mexican-American civil rights advocate, LULAC supporter, and worker on Mexico-United States relations.

Thomas Gonzales (1829-1896) Born in Tamaulipas he was a pioneer cotton broker and hero on the Confederate side of the Battle of Galveston in the Civil War.

Jovita González de Mireles (1903-1983) Forklorist, historian, writer, and teacher from Roma, she obtained a MS degree from the University of Texas at a time when few Latinas attended the university.

María L. de Hernández (1896-1986) From Monterrey, she became the first Mexican female radio announcer in San Antonio. She was a proponent of the League of United Latin American Citizens. She was often a speaker on behalf of Mexican-American causes.

Rosa María Hinojosa de Ballí (1792-1803) Rancher in the La Feria Land Grant, she was the first "cattle queen" of Texas, a successful land and estate manager, and a patron of the Catholic Church.

Salvador Marcos Hinojosa (1901-1970) This Reynosa- born businessman was founder of a very successful meat product company, H & H, one of the top minority-owned businesses in the United States. He was a Mercedes community activist and strong supporter of the Catholic Church.

Nicasio Idar (1855-1914) This Port Isabel native became a newspaper editor, publisher, civil rights advocate, justice of the peace, and assistant marshal in Laredo. His papers covered injustices.

Leo J. Leo (1917-1981) A native of Mission, he was often controversial in his support of numerous causes such as poverty programs, farm worker rights, economic development and umbrella Mexican-American organizations. La Joya was his fiefdom.

Paula Taylor Losoya (?-1902) This Tamaulipas native helped to found and develop the city of Del Rio. After being widowed she was a successful irrigated farm manager with related enterprises such as a candy factory.

Salome Balli Young de McAllen (1831-1898) A descendent of the owners of the Santa Anita Land Grant, she was able in her lifetime to reassemble the Santa Anita Ranch parcels which had earlier been broken up to various owners.

Eduado Edmundo Mireles (1905-1987) This Chiuahua native was one of the founders of bilingual education in Texas. He was educated at the University of Texas and in 1930 was one of only 230 Mexican-descent college students in the state. He was a teacher and as LULAC president supported antidiscrimination legislation.

Ismael Montalvo (1876-1967) Born at Las Prietas Ranch, Cameron County, he grew up to become a cattle rancher and entrepreneur who helped to finance San Benito developments. He was anti-Texas Ranger abuses and financially supported insurgents thereby making himself somewhat controversial. He was a benefactor of both the San Benito and Brownsville Libraries.

María Elena Zamora O'Shea (1880-1951) Born near Peñitas, she attended Southwest Texas College and became a teacher and principal, then translator and historian/writer.

Emelia Wilhelmina Schnunior Ramírez (1902-1960) Born in Sam Fordyce this college graduate became a teacher, principal, and professor in various cities. She wrote of the plight of the children of undocumented workers and also of ranch life after 1850.

José San Román (1822-ca.1895) This Spaniard became a Brownsville area merchant, banker, and broker in contraband cotton and by 1870 one of the wealthiest men in South Texas. He helped to secure a charter to build the Point Isabel to Brownsville railroad line.

Lino Sánchez y Tapía (?-1838) From Matamoros, he was a scientific illustrator for Jean Louis Berlandier and an accomplished artist.

Antonio Valent (1884-1970) From Point Isabel he brought forth his vision of combining fishing, packing, and shipping aspects into one business. In the 1930s and 40s his enterprise became a major one.

Filemon B. Vela (1935-2004) This Harlingen native was graduated from U.T. (Austin). In 1980 he became a federal judge serving on the bench until 2004. He stressed education in over 200 radio broadcasts.

If I had to select one of these outstanding individuals as one whom I most admired, it would be J. T. Canales. Canales was a courageous individual who stood up to verbal abuse and the threats of physical abuse. He fought steadily with the courage of his convictions sustaining him. He was an intelligent, educated, sympathetic leader who set a good example for the Hispanic community of his day and continues to do so today. He deserves a well-researched and well-written biography to document his many accomplishments.

Slightly off the beaten path, Santa Rosa is a small town at the western edge of Cameron County. It came into being in the second decade of the 20th century when irrigation water availability and farming began to take hold. It was named for the large La Rosa Ranch which preceded it in the area

Initially the area's few residents sent their children to school which occupied part of a store, a branch of a La Feria one. A wood framed school building was in use by 1921. As the population rapidly expanded, a larger school was needed. The community united to pass a $40,000 bond issue, then a sizeable sum, to construct a new school. At the present north side site along Hwy 106, where the new high school is under construction, the one story brick edifice was completed in the fall of 1922.

In late 1928 a one story brick building immediately adjacent to and south of the 1922 school structure was built. It was to provide for the elementary students which the older building would then house the older students. The 1928 building was demolished in 2001 to make room for the erection of the modern Jo Nelson Middle School, named after a long-tenured teacher in the Santa Rosa School District. This building was occupied in the spring of 2003. The high school students continued to use the 1922 edifice until the new high school was built in 1987 immediately to the east of the 1928 structure. Then when the Elma Barrera Elementary School (named after an admired 6th grade teacher) was built .8 miles to the north on FM 506, the 1922 building was put to use by middle students.

It was likely sometime in the 1920s that the school trustees either purchased or were presented with a large cast iron bell. It may possibly have been used previously at some other site. That is unknown. In any case it was impressive for its size and timbre.

Sam Sparks, farmer, owner of the Nuevo Progreso Bridge, and longtime Santa Rosa area resident, was able to provide some historic information on the bell. He relates that it sat in the school yard and near the bus barn, both of which were behind (to the east) the two 1920s buildings. The bell could be rung to signal the beginning of school day, recesses, lunch period, dismissal time, and fire drills. Since wood heaters were installed in various classrooms the latter was a necessity. This authoritative bell stood in sharp contrast to the hand-held ones commonly rung by the teachers or principals in small schools. On a calm day the bell could be heard at least to the two miles distance to Sam's house and possibly more.

Longtime Santa Rosa resident Louise Bookout Richardson entered the school as a third grader. She recalls the bell being mounted on a tall frame about 15' above the ground. Students were rewarded by being allowed to ring the bell with its rope pull. One ring of the bell signaled a class change. Another Santa Rosa resident, Ralph Ketcham, believes the bell was rung 10 to 12 times to alert students to the start of the school day though others remember it as only being rung 3-4 times. For recess it tolled twice.

As construction over the years encroached on the schoolyard playground, the bell was taken out of service and removed. Electric gongs or bells supplanted the manual powered ones. The disused bell came into the care of George Shulgen. Mr. Shulgen owned an iron shop and a smithery in Santa Rosa. Later he branched out into the Builtright Construction Company and was to erect the two-story Sundeck Apartments across the street from the schools. The bell was eventually moved to Port Isabel where Shulgen operated his Santa Rosa Iron Works. Shulgen's desire was to return it to Santa Rosa if the school district would name its new high school in honor of Santa Rosa school teacher, Rose Ketcham, the mother of Ralph and who was to live to age 102. This was not to be.

After sitting uncared for and exposed to the elements for many years, the bell was destined for a metal scrap yard when Sam Sparks suggested to Shulgen that it be donated to the Rio Grande Valley Museum in Harlingen. The school bell came to the museum in the period 1995-97. Standing by the side of the Lon C. Hill House, it is protected now by an attractive Spanish style housing with stuccoed walls and red tile roof constructed solely for this purpose.

Cast iron bells were recommended for school use in contrast to the more expensive cast bronze ones with sweeter tines for churches. The school bells, usually 20 to28" at their mouth, were cast with a thinner wall to give a higher "dingy" sound, so they wouldn't be mistaken for other bells. Bells 30" and above in diameter are considered church or fire alarm bells, were usually painted black, and many had no inscriptions. With nothing except "No.36" embossed on both sides of the museum's bell yoke stand and "36" on the top of the yoke itself, the manufacturer of the bell is left to speculation.

Prominent bell manufacturers before and in the early 20th century include: the American Bell & Foundry of Northville, Michigan with its Bowlden Bells; the two separate companies with similar names—Meneeley of Troy, NY and Meneeley of West Troy, NY; the Jones and Company Troy Bell Foundry of Troy; the Vanduzen Buckeye Bell Foundry of Hillsboro (sometimes listed as Cincinnati), Ohio; the C. (Charles) S. Bell Company of Hillsboro; the McShane Foundry Co. Inc. of Baltimore, Maryland; and the two (one Henry) Stuckstede Bell Foundry firms of St. Louis.

The Santa Rosa school bell has some impressive dimensions in its pillar blocks, rope pulley, yoke, bell globe, eye bolt, and clapper (gong). Its measurements are:

Approximate overall unit height 43 1/2", width 43", depth 31 1/2"
Diameter of rope pulley 34 1/2"
Actual bell globe width at bottom, approx., 35 1/2"
Actual bell globe height, approx. 24"
Weight of bell only, approx. 605 lbs.
Weight of entire setup, approx. 950 lbs.

The bell apparently is an oddity, for it falls in the usually size category of a church bell yet is cast iron rather than bronze.

It would have been sad if this unusual treasure had been relegated to a scrap metal melting furnace. Now visitors who see and hear it can relate to a small but memorable part of Valley history.

In December 2004 an envelope of golfing photos connected with the Harlingen Municipal Golf Course ended up at the Harlingen Public Library. They had been sent by Crystella Liston Holloway of Gilmer, Texas. The library asked if I could supply some background on the various individuals, some of whom were identified on the reverse side of photos.

I took the photos next door to my neighbor, Dan Palmer, who was a long time avid golfer. One of the people he could readily tell me something about was Al Escalante. He appeared in a photo with Harlingen Mayor (1928-36) Sam Botts and a tall, unidentified, young Anglo golfer. Each had been presented a trophy. Upon going to Google I located a reference to an Alfonso Escalante. I e-mailed the webmaster of this B-29 World War II subject site and learned that this was indeed the Al Escalante of Brownsville.

Alphonso (Al) Escalante shown in these photos ( taken between 1928 and 1936) appears to be in his late teens. He was born in Brownsville in 1916. He along with an unidentified individual appears to have been a tournament winner. The photos of him are likely from the mid to late 1930s. His parents had been born in Mexico. His father was a pro at the Brownsville Country Club and the family lived adjacent to the course. Upon his dad's death in 1935 Al, at age 18, took up the golf pro-manager reins at this club.

He participated in World War II and likely had attended college previously because he had a rank of captain. He was a member of the 330th Bombardment Group (VH) which flew B 29s from Iwo Jima and Guam and bombed Japan in 1945. Al was a bombardier who possessed amazing 20-10 vision. He flew under LtCol. R. B. Smisek in the K-29, "City of San Francisco". The window nose of the plane had Al's wife's name, Ozelle painted on it. Escalante earned the nickname '88 Keys' after he mistakenly bombed a piano factory in Tokyo.

He went on after the war to instruct golf, supervise the upkeep of the golf course, and operated a pro shop at Fort Davis, Texas, then moved on to Cristobal, Canal Zone, and then back to the Brownsville Country Club. In June of 1951 at age 34 he moved to the 800 member Mexico City Country Club. After 3 ½ years there, he returned in November 1954 to Brownsville as pro and was given a hearty welcome-back reception. However, in 1957, he was to leave the Valley for good when he moved to Monterrey to take on the job at a newly expanded course at Valley Alto. Around 1963 he accepted a position with the Club de Golf Chapultepec, a large country club near Mexico City. He was a pro there for more than 35 years. Escalante died in 2002 at age 85, having given a golf lesson a few hours before. His wife Ozelle died in 2004.

The webmaster had given me the e-mail address of Al's oldest child, daughter Cynthia, living near Mexico City. She was able to furnish information on her father. Her brother Jimmy, who currently resides in the upper mid-west, also contacted me. A third sibling was middle child Craig. Cynthia related to me "Al was proud of being born a Texan", and I add "an accomplished one at that."

Until the year 2005, the year 1933 held the dubious honor of recording the most hurricanes to occur in the Atlantic Ocean. In that year the twenty-one storms which were precipitated were not yet given names. The storm which was to hit the Lower Rio Grande Valley was simply Hurricane # 11, 1933.

Around August 28 a depression had formed and strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico directly east of Brownsville. Passing ships and boats had alerted the U.S. Weather Bureau to the storm, so it was tracked from its inception until landfall.

On the Labor Day weekend and September 4 the impending storm made known its presence with increased wind velocities. The next day it made landfall on South Padre Island, just north of Brownsville. In a quirk so common with tropical storms, its heretofore westerly course now changed into a slightly southwest path. This brought the eye of the storm directly over San Benito and Harlingen.

The wind's velocity was recorded by one anemometer before it was blown off its anchorage at 106 mph. An estimate of the wind peak was subsequently reported as 125 mph. The wind average for a sustained period was around 80 mph. Barometers measured the storm's low pressure at 28.03 inches or 948 millibars. These figures characterize the hurricane as a Category 3 one. It is listed as #31 of 65 of the most intense storms to hit Texas.

The elements created a tidal surge of 13'. South Padre Island had over 40 overflow channels cut in it to the Laguna Madre. The marginal ranching on the south part of South Padre Island was abandoned forever after this storm.

The cost to lives was devastating. All told 40 individuals were to perish from the storm, with 24 of these deaths occurring in Cameron County. Five hundred people were injured. Property damage was set at $16.9 million. The fickleness of the storm is indicated by Brownsville's losses of only $1.75 million. Citrus orchards lost 90% of their fruit.

Harlingen was the hardest hit large community. The $125,000 Municipal Auditorium, a source of great pride to the city and constructed in 1927, was nearly destroyed. The stage half of the structure was completely torn asunder. It would take until 1936 until the cornerstone was laid for the building's reconstruction. Another victim was the relatively new high school between Tyler and Polk Streets at Sixth Street. This building with its two ornate towers had been erected in 1922 at a cost of $45,452. In 1926 it had hosted the 50th Convention of the State's Firemen and Fire Marshals' Association. Together with families 4,000 people had come to Harlingen. Structural damage to it was so significant that it had to be demolished. Obviously its architects hadn't given much thought to its ability to withstand the forces of nature.

In view of the recent controversies related to Hurricane Katrina an interesting footnote to the Hurricane of 1933 made be added. Corpus Christi residents still remembered the deprecations of the Hurricanes of 1916 and 1919 to their city. When word of the impending storm was made known, Corpus Christi city officials declared Martial Law. All residents in low-lying areas were to evacuate, and the city was to "provide shelter for all citizens who wanted to flee their homes."

Being the Labor Day weekend and with considerable tourism expected, businesses projected large losses in revenue by shutting down. The storm, however, just gave the area a glancing blow. Boats and piers were damaged by surging tides. The business district had three feet of water in its streets. The causeway connecting Padre Island was destroyed. Due to wave action, the barrier islands sustained numerous and large cuts, one at least a mile wide.

Baseball was the national pastime once it was conceived and popularized. Both amateur and professional baseball competition was fierce. Each city and town had its own favorite baseball team and pledged strong allegiance to it. The Valley was no exception.

We learn of some Valley baseball activities from an article published in the 1939 Spaulding Official Base Ball Guide. Writer Ed Osdoes of that publication tells us of the fledgling Texas Valley League which was organized and played its first season in 1938. His article states:

A newcomer in the field of the National Association was the Texas Valley League, which began an auspicious season with six clubs representing Corpus Christi, Harlingen, Taft, Refugio, McAllen, and Brownsville. In a section of almost one-quarter million population, great enthusiasm for the game and rivalry between towns, the situation appears promising for permanent membership in the National Association. Guy Airey is president and Roy Brandenburger, secretary-treasurer.

Corpus Christi finished the season well in front with Harlingen as runner-up. Taft and Refugio followed in third and fourth places respectively, the former by only four points over its rival which ended exactly on the .500 equatorial.

Although Corpus Christi led at the end of the first half of the season, and the six clubs were lined up as they finished later, Harlingen, in August, made a determined effort to wrest the lead and even succeeded for a short while, but Corpus Christi worked back in form in resuming first place. However Harlingen had its revenge in the championship playoff, in which the Cubs managed by Jake Atz, long identified with baseball in Texas, finished off their season rival in four straight games.

The longest game of the season was a fourteen innings affair on June 18 between Corpus Christi and the lowly Brownsville team, Berklimid pitcher for Brownsville and Knoepner for Corpus Christi. Later, in August, Knoepner turned in a no-hit, no-run game against Refugio, to win 8-0. Only three reached first base, two on bases on balls, and one on an error, but none of this trio got around this initial sack. Ray Craighry of Corpus Christi came within an ace of a no-hit, no-run performance when he held Harlingen hitless for eight and a third innings then it was a tossup and took a three run rally in the ninth to put on the winning run for Corpus Christi, with the final score 3-2.

Manuel Cortinez, Corpus Christi outfielder, pounded over a .330 average to take individual batting honors. He also ripped 28 home runs, but had three rivals for that honor…

From an accompanying photograph we learn that in addition to Jake Atz, manager, the championship Harlingen roster for 1938 included players: Roger Rotoni, Dale Jones, Steve Carter, Limey Allmand, Joe Wessing, Damon Phillips, Garret McBryde, Conrad Fisher, Wilbur McElroy, Johnny Guerrero, Gene Hinricks, George Farnham, Gabbert Hickman, Red Mays, Herb Huser, and Bill McClaren. Did any of these players later advance to the major leagues? Perhaps a diehard baseball fan can tell us.

In an 8/24/06 VMS article by Brownsville historian Rene Torres we learn more of this league. He provides the names of each town's team. They were the Harlingen Hubs, McAllen Palms, Corpus Christi Spudders, Taft Cardinals, Refugio Oilers, and Brownsville Charros. The league's 140 game daylight schedule commenced on April 14, 1938. When it concluded there was to be no second year for the league, for attendance at some of the parks, especially in Brownsville, had been sparse and when this team folded so did the league.

One of the first widespread publicity items concerning the new Cortez Hotel appears in the Harlingen Star semi-weekly newspaper of 11/26/28. It is datelined "Weslaco, Texas, Nov. 24" and reads:

Two of seven carloads of furniture and fixtures which are required to finish the Cortez Hotel have arrived and workmen are busy placing it.

The management of the Cortez hopes within the next few days to be able to announce just the exact date of the opening of this magnificent hotel at which time it is expected that a brilliant affair will be staged and prominent people from all parts of the Valley will be invited to attend and inspect one of the most complete and modern hoteleries of the entire Valley, a hotel that any city might be proud of.

Weslaco citizens are justly proud of the Cortez and well they might be for it marks the beginning of her ability to take care of the traveling public in a splendid manner, equal to any city in Texas.

In structure the Cortez is a very imposing and beautiful building, one that would attract attention in a city. Then again it affords every modern convenience to be found in large cities of the south. The Cortez is just another evidence of the progress of the Valley and one of its busiest cities, Weslaco.

On 12/30 the Harlingen Star ran a front page drawing of the Cortez accompanied by a lengthy article. From it the following information is gleaned.

The $250,000 structure will be inaugurated with a New Year's evening banquet and dance. Seating was to be limited to 200 persons and tickets for the event starting at 8 p.m. would cost $2.50. The hotel's own five piece orchestra would provide music into the wee hours of the morning.

The hotel's manger was T. Joseph Domm, an individual who had wide hotel experience over a 20 year period in this field.

The description of the facility was impressive. The three-story complex with a basement would have 65 guest rooms plus two suites on each of the three upper floors. There were telephones in each room and electric ceiling fans. Each floor had running ice water. Rooms were furnished in antique Italian walnut furniture. Axminster wool carpets from England were throughout the building. These were grey in the guest rooms and red with light yellow for the halls.

The large banquet room would accommodate 250 people. It has an adjacent service kitchen. Broadcloth curtains overdraped with damask prevail in the ballroom. Its woodwork together with the lobby was of natural gum. Elsewhere the woodwork was enameled. The bathroom floors were red concrete as was that of the coffee shop located on the southwest corner of the first floor. The exterior of the windows were trimmed in Spanish blue.

The hotel is the property of Walshe and Burney, well known San Antonio contractors. It was built by the Weslaco Hotel Company of which E. G. Walshe is president. The hotel was designed by architect P. G. Silver of San Antonio. He is also a director in the holding and operating firm. The operating firm is the Beacon Hotel Company with Floyd Singleton as president and Mr. Walshe as vice president.

The fireproof structure is designed so three more floors could be added at some future time. In the front of the building is a patio and dwarf hedge. Palm trees have been planted on either side of the walkway. In the future a Spanish garden in which dinners will be served will be constructed in the back of the hotel. The basement has ample storage areas and also has toilet and bathing facilities for the staff employees.

On the ground floor are 14 display cases for use of Weslaco merchants. The first floor also has spaces for nine stores, five of which have already been leased including a barber shop, drug store, and beauty shop.

Seventy six and a half years later this grande dame refurbished several years ago by current owners, Larry and Patti Dittburner, continues to exhibit its attractive beauty. Awarded a Texas State Historical Commission marker in 2004, it wasn't until 2006 that the marker was erected at the 260 S. Texas Avenue site.

Upon an inquiry in May 2006 by a Forto descendent living in Barcelona, Spain the following information was compiled.

Progressive farmers Emilio C. Forto and the Longoria brothers by 1890 used a 6" centrifugal pump to irrigate 150 acres of sugarcane in the Santa Maria area. Later they expanded into other crops too. By 1897 they had constructed a canal at Santa Maria which would stretch five miles and have the capability to service 5000 acres. This system was purchased by a syndicate of investors in 1905 and would become the Santa Maria Canal Company.

The Orleans Parish, Louisiana death index lists a Frederick Forto as dying 5/27/1888 at age 44.

Lt. William Chatfield publishes a lengthy brochure titled "The Twin Cities of the Rio Grande: Brownsville and Matamoros." In it he has this to say about E. C. Forto: It is written that a "prophet is not without honor, save in his own country", but the subject of this sketch seems rather to have been meted out "honor to whom honor is due" by the Laredo Times, in a review of Brownsville and Corpus Christi in 1889, which says, "Judge Forto has contributed over his signature articles which related to his city, to Texas periodicals and is thoroughly familiar with everything that pertains to it. He is a fine specimen of an educated gentleman having left his native country, Spain, when quite a boy, and came here about 17 years of age. He possesses one of the most comfortable homes in Brownsville."

He was then county judge of Cameron County, which position he held for several years and continued on the bench until the fall of 1892, when he was elected county sheriff. In the latter position he has developed a promptness and skill in dealing with law-breakers which ensures to the people a continuation of peace and quiet.

In L. E. Daniel's Texas, The Country, and Its Men published in 1896 the above passage is reprinted plus this additional material: Sailing from his home in Spain, he landed in the city of New Orleans in 1867, when 16 years of age, and at the end of 1869, located in Brownsville, Texas, where he occupied the position of bookkeeper in the house of Don Antonio Yznaga for two years, after which he started a business for himself as a commission merchant and custom house broker. Upon the completion of the railroad between Laredo and Monterey, the foreign trade being then diverted from Brownsville, he devoted himself to the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1884. He has been in public life since 1876 and has held many important positions. For 12 years in succession he served as a City Alderman, as Justice of the Peace for three years, as District Clerk for two years as County Judge eight years, and at present holds the office of Secretary of the Board of Public Education of the city of Brownsville and has been a member of the Board of Public Education since 1880, and sheriff since 1892.

On August 25, 1897, Judge E. C. Forto and Manuel Samano appeared in a Cameron County Court to provide a surety bond for James B. McAllen, whose fraud case had been moved from adjacent Hidalgo County. It was all a political charade brought by McAllen's Democratic Party, the Reds, against him as a Republican, the Blues.

In June 1903 E. C. Forto was one of the soliciting committee formed to promote the building of the first railroad from outside the area to the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. It was successful, and by July 1904 the railroad had reached Brownsville and would change the economics of the area forever.

A Corpus Christi Caller article of 5/20/04 notes Emilio Forto as being president of the Brownsville Board of Trade. Over time this banker and politician was Cameron County Sheriff, Mayor of Brownsville, and served 16 years on the school board.

In the fall of the year 1905, the Santa Maria Irrigation Company board consisted of LaGrand W. Jones, C. E. Hammond, and E. C. Forto, S. A. Robertson, and W. A. McNeil. The company had cleared 450 acres and expected to clear 100 acres more over a two-month period. Seventy acres of alfalfa were being grown and onions and cucumbers were to be planted. Pumps with the capacity to irrigate 3,000 acres were in place.

In July 1908 E. C. Forto was part of a committee to erect a major hotel for Brownsville, but this idea fell through since the city had yet to install a sewer system.

In February 1913 Emilio was a pallbearer at the funeral of John McAllen, wealthy landowner, pioneer of the region, and for whom the city of McAllen was named. This indicates Forto's high repute in the community.

E. C. Forto is mentioned in Benjamin Heber Johnson's book titled Revolution in Texas. It deals with the unsettled Border War-- Bandit Era of 1911-1917. Here is a quote about Forto when events heated up in July 1915: "Even law enforcement officials suspected one another's motives during the first several months of raiding. After the clash of Aniceto Pizana's ranch, for example, Brownsville deputy sheriff Mike Manahan expressed his belief that Emilio Forto was involved with the rash of theft and raids. Manahan owed his appointment to the 1914 victory of the anti-machine Independent slate in Brownsvlle, whereas Forto was a fixture of Jim Wells's machine, having served as sheriff and judge of Cameron County in the 1880s and 1890s. "I have always thought that old man Forto… was giving this band aid but have not secured much direct information to sustain this belief", Manahan informed the Department of Justice. "It is significant enough though that one of his henchmen…gave the bandits a calf and a goat and otherwise rendered them assistance when they were camped in the vicinity…another henchman of Forto is known to have harbored these bandits." Moreover, Forto had personally misled the military authorities. According to Manahan, he hired an automobile and showed an army colonel around the area, convincing him "that there were no organized movement[,] that it was not uncommon in this country to see a Mexican with a 30/30[rifle] strapped to his saddle and that whatever exploiting was being done was a matter for the State authorities to handle."

When Lon C. Hill, the founder of Harlingen, was criticized by the Mexican Constitutionalist consul in Brownsville for his heavy-handed ways, "only Frank Pierce and Emilio Forto had the courage to confront him about it" according to the consul as noted by Johnson.

Johnson reports that Emilio Forto and Major General Frederick Funston were repeatedly cited as saying that only 300 Mexicans had been killed in this period of terror. Recently some have put this figure at 10 times this number. Frank Pierce is his book and with objectivity and sympathy for the Mexican plight puts the figure under 500.

3/1/1917 In the Brownsville Herald, Judge Forto gives a detailed history of the Brownsville-Matamoros Ferry. Its cable across the Rio Grande had been removed days before 4/16/1912 and several years after the combination railroad and vehicular traffic bridge across the Rio Grande at Brownsville had been completed.

A scan of the area phone directory in 2006 reveals no one with the surname Forto living in the area.

Josep R. Mauri of Barcelona, Spain while researching his ancestors contacted Norman Rozeff in search of Forto information. In May 2006 he provided the following information by e-mail.

I am descended from the Cardellach family, which came from Tarrasa, Spain from which they emigrated in 1810 to New Orleans, and the Forto family that from 1855 maintained marine commerce relations between Barcelona, Cuba, New Orleans, and finally with Charles Stillman before the Civil War.

During the Civil War, the brothers Juan and Frederick Forto sailed between New Orleans, Brownsville, and New York while Emilio Forto 15 years of age, remained in Brownsville with Stillman's mercantile firm.

After the war, Emilio, the youngest brother, became the permanent representative of Stillman's interests in Brownsville. He was later to be Brownsville Mayor, Cameron County Judge, Cameron County Sheriff, and even founded a political party in Texas.

Juan Forto, the oldest brother, returned to Spain after the Civil War ended. Jose, my direct predecessor, married Eulalie Cardellach in New Orleans. She was the daughter of his partner in that city. They were transferred to Cuba and later returned to Spain after the Spanish-American War of 1898. Their relationship reminds me of "Gone with the Wind" with Juan having a probable association with Eulalie's older sister and their river side warehouse at 224 Clairborne always being subject to the river's vagaries.

It is Frederick Forto of whom I seek information. I believe that he was Commissioner of the State of Texas for its integration back into the Union in 1870. Before that he resided in New Orleans from where James Stillman, with 20 years experience, was appointed by the Louisiana governor to look over the interests of cotton growers prior to the Civil War.

Frederick lived in Cameron County, precinct 1, in 1880 and died in New Orleans in May 1884, but his political activities have drawn a blank.

Many thanks for your lovely summary of dates of my Brownsville ancestors. Regrettably I am unable to convey myself to you in English, for I know I would have great difficulty in searching for the right words.

Of all the data received, what powerfully summoned my attention was the act of Emilio Forto being the personal representative of Antonio Yznaga del Valle. This fact confirms the content of the book which I will complete about the life of Frederick Forto, brother of Emilio Forto, and my great grandfather, Jose Forto.

Consider my thesis that Antonio Yznaga del Valle, in 1848-1851, was one of the prominent Cubans with the first intentions to establish a United Cuba devoted to the landowners of Cuba, whose greatest representatives were members of the Yznaga family. The attempt was aborted when your President Taylor refused to break the 1818 treaty of neutrality with Spain thereby forcing General (then colonel) Robert E. Lee, who after receiving the offer of $200,000 to lead a Cuban invasion, had to abandon the project. Imagine the indignity that the unworthy Southern states were to compete for his services.

Yznaga, after the failed invasion of Cuba by the Venezuelan Narciso López, removed himself to Louisiana, where he acquired a grand expanse of productive cotton land. This cotton was the principal source of financing for your Civil War, after passing through Brownsville and being re-exported to the north as a product of Matamoros, Mexico.

I am not surprised that Emilio Forto would in time become representative of Antonio Yznaga and Charles Stillman (a founder of Brownsville). Both moved to New York after not being held responsible for their Civil War activities. Surprising, ehh?

I am surprised that the idea to clarify the history of my ancestors in the United States (some arrived in your country in1810) culminates in circumstances which reminded me of the protagonists of "Gone with the Wind."

Thanks again and if you are interested in becoming acquainted with the book, please request it and with pleasure I shall remit it by PDF, except that it is in Spanish. Cordial regards from Barcelona, Spain.

Letter from Emilio C. Forto to Colonel H. J. Slocum—a version published in "La Prensa", a Mexican periodical published in Los Angeles, California, Saturday March 30, 1918, page 3. [Col. Slocum was the commander of U. S. Army troops in Columbus, New Mexico when the town was murderously attacked in March 1916 by forces of Pancho Villa.]

Reviewed from microfilm in the Nettie Lee Bensen Library, UT Austin. Transcription: Archivo Filmico Agrasanchez, 2004.

It has been some time since Colonel H. J. Slocum, commander of American forces that guarded a border region, contacted Emilio C. Forto, an American citizen residing in Brownsville, Texas for more than fifty years, and who performed the duties of Sheriff, Justice of the Peace, and many other public positions, requesting him to write an informed report on the conditions of that region. The report says the following:

In regards to our recent conversation and my promise to you to write my thoughts in respect to that which we discussed—to learn the actual status of the long border demarked by the Rio Grande. I wish to reflect that I am sincerely pleased to contribute this grain of sand, having secured from you personally an acquaintance with the Mexican border and its history.

I have been very happy spending my time in an attempt to compile a detailed analysis of the conditions of the border region, and especially those that have really occurred. The effort has resulted in encouraging me to arrive at the conclusion that there exist four different causes to which we can possibly attribute our difficulties:

1. Lack of sympathetic understanding between the two peoples [Americans and Mexicans].

2. The repugnance that the Americans, relatively new to this area, hold in accepting the Mexicans with their traditions and customs.

3. The introduction of so may regulations and innovations that are incomprehensible to the uneducated class of Mexicans; and finally, but not the least cause:

4. The imprudent manner that has permitted undisciplined "bullies", rural guards [read Texas Rangers], and other civil authorities, who, without any right, have constituted themselves as judges, juries, and executioners.

The Mexican of the border is by nature peaceful, respectful of the laws, and fond of merriment. Never looking for the bad in others and, by general rule, he is always ready to share his bread, even with the most downtrodden stranger. The women feel safe in the presence of Mexicans, and the horrible records [rape?] of violent criminals so frequent in other parts of the United States, does not occur in this region. A young woman is able to walk through the streets of Brownsville in the middle of the night, and even along the major roads, with the comfort of their being secure. Following the memorable years from 1860 to 1865, when the war [Civil War] was at its height, the number of murders in this community was 75% less than in Dallas and other large cities.

This community is composed of more than 75% Mexicans and naturally clings to its traditions and culture, and this is where there is a failure to appreciate the reality of sympathetic understanding. Ninety percent of the Americans (United States) don't appear to understand and don't want to learn of the customs nor respect the ideals of the Mexicans.

In general, the border Mexican is illiterate and in consequence is not well versed about sanitary and hygiene rules. Many of the Americans (United States), recently arrived, perceive them (Mexicans) as a dirty beings and the source of disease and reject any exchange with them. Therefore, everything related to Mexicans and their customs is repulsive to the American (United States), who during his lifetime has been nurtured under a society with anti-microbial theories. I don't write this to make a comparison nor much less to criticize the beliefs of Americans (United States), and only mention it as one of the obstacles that hinder the brotherly progress and the betterment of a peace-loving people. I don't desire that the Americans (United States) change beliefs, but I wish that they not condemn the Mexican because he is not educated in the same principles.

The territory on both sides of the Rio Grande have been occupied by Spaniards and Mexicans since 1760, and from this period their descendents have continuously lived on both banks. It is very common that the home of a daughter or son of one family who resides on the Texas side contracts a marriage with some member of another family residing in the Mexico side. For many generations these blended families have been accustomed to cross the river at their fancy in order to have daily or weekly visits. One fraternal bond reigns between the families of both sides.

Selective dishes of the Mexican cuisine the mother sends to the son or the daughter to the mother, from one side to the other, and neither is able to conceive any intransigence in these courteous exchanges, etc.

During recent years our immigration laws have been made more exacting and restrictive making it very difficult for Mexicans to become accustomed in so short a period to these new dispositions and regulations. They don't see anything wrong in crossing the river in undeclared boats.

More recently, upon the initiation of more vigorous laws concerning edibles, we see yet less heartfelt items that occasion discriminating purchases in whichever locale these articles of prime necessity are offered. Many of these annoying incidents have been explained [to custom officials] and [their rectification] would have greatly improved the friendly feeling between the two peoples, if the custom employees who effected the laws took into consideration the mutual good and, recognizing the language and the peculiarities of the Mexican, acted with discretion and a good dose of common sense.

For example it is a known fact that almost half the families of Mexican origin that reside in Brownsville have parents in Matamoros—the two cities are face to face—and sometimes in the case of grave illness or of the death of someone, the members of the family residing in Brownsville have encountered great difficulty in that it is quite impossible to obtain a permit in order to go to the side of a loved one. Cases of necessity have perpetually been presented in detail, and it is believed that the [immigration] employees consider human predilections could have properly accepted the word of citizens of good repute and permit the effects of the heart to follow their natural course. With the application of a little common sense and the use of certain considerations for the working class, who in general are those that commit most errors, rather by fault of illustration than by maliciousness, the interests of the country would not suffer nor the law be violated. Such license on the part of our public servants toward the people would enhance the friendship between authorities and inhabitants on both sides of the river.

It is noted unquestionably that the undisciplined rural forces (Rangers) are those responsible for the enmity and friction that exists between Mexicans and Americans, given these ultimate frank opinions by soldiers of the United States Army.

As much as we would utilize the phrase "raids of Mexican bandits" [the fact is] many lives of good citizens of this country were sacrificed by the Rangers and other civil authorities. The illiterate class of citizens were subjected to the vengeance of the Americans, and it is a positive fact that those innocent fighters would resist the blows of those antagonists who were directed by the Rangers.

It would be too lengthy here to offer you a complete description of that which occurred in the supposed "raids" of bandits in 1915. Suffice to know that they were initiated by the assassination of two brothers living near Mercedes, on July 24, 1915; the lynching of a young man named Munoz, in San Benito, almost at the same time; the wasteful assassination of a father from the family named Flores and two of his sons, in the presence of the mother, wives, and ten small offspring children, on the Arroyo Colorado, without having had provocation or motive for it. The number of victims sacrificed by these functionaries of peace, probably will never be known, although I understand that the lawyer F. C. Pierce has in his possession a list with the names of victims that amount to about 300.

I deduce from all the reports (some of these provided by officers of the army whose testimony is probably that which you are able to still obtain) that in those days there was inaugurated a campaign of actual extermination. Often heard was this epithet, "We have to convert this into a country of pure white people!" It is not difficult to comprehend that many accommodating Tejanos, but of Mexican origin, were expelled by the Rangers with the help of the following threat: " If we return and encounter you here after five days, we shall shoot you immediately." With such a threat, these unfortunate people felt obligated to abandon their properties or sell them at a loss.

From that which I know, the Rangers have never served as elements of pacification on the border, and I am certain that there will be a reign of true peace and concordia, if in time, there are employed those forces, regular troops of the United States, to exercise vigilance along the river, as they now do.

In conclusion I ought to tell you that during my 50 years residency in Brownsville I have fulfilled the positions of Sheriff, Justice of the Peace for about 20 years, and many others as secretary of the School Board of Trustees. My experience with the Mexicans of both sides of the river and my knowledge of idiomatic Spanish places me in a position as being able to speak with impartiality about the subject that is the principal object of this letter.

As a general rule the Americans that have lived along the border for a period of five years or more, in community with the Mexicans, concede that they are not able to ask more of this race [raza] to accept and respect the laws.

3/2/1921 The Daily Sentinel of Brownsville has a front page article headlined Judge E. C. Forto Dies in New Orleans, Louisiana Yesterday Afternoon. It went on to report that he was affectionately known as "Don Emelio", that he had been ill for only a week, had entered a sanitarium, and that his Brownsville funeral service would be held at Sacred Heart on 3/4/21. This Catholic church was near his Elizabeth Street residence.

The article then provided some of his background. He came from San Filu, Catalina when a mere boy, landing in New Orleans in 1863. He had spent a year there attending school, then moved to Matamoros, Mexico where he clerked in the Armendiez Grocery and Bakery. Coming to Brownsville he worked at the Ynaga hide yards for a year before opening a commission office for himself in a building opposite his present office and near where the passenger depot now stands. He started to study law under members, now all deceased, of the Brownsville Bar.

While working at his commission house he was first elected to the office of Justice of the Peace and later was a Cameron County judge for a number of years. "In the turbulent days of the border it was proving difficult to get men of the right character and ability to fill the office of county sheriff. Judge Forto left the bench and assumed these dangerous duties, performing them for a number of years."

"Upon the death of Thomas Carson, manager of the large Stillman interests in Brownsville, Judge Forto resigned from public life to accept the post of resident manager for the estate. This post he occupied until his death.

In addition to his official duties Judge Forto was active in business, civil, and social circles. He was one of the founders of the First National Bank of Brownsville and has always been a member of its directorate. At the time of his death he was vice-consul to Brownsville for the Spanish government.

Judge Forto married Miss Mary C. Kingsbury of Brownsville who survives him. Aside from his wife, a brother-in-law Martin Kingsbury, now in Cuba, some distant cousins in New Orleans and Spain, he leaves no family."

Three paragraphs of praise for his services, especially to the Mexican people, follow.

The following day the paper reports the arrival of Forto's body accompanied by Dr. Lucien Landry, stepson of Dr. Rudolph Mata, cousin of Judge Forto, and at whose sanitarium he died. Businesses were planning to close during the hour of the funeral that would have as pallbearers his close friends and associates Fugencio Lopez, J. K. Wells, Andres Cueto Jr., Antonio Alonso, John Scanlan, Joseph Webb, and A. S. Gimble. The paper's editorial praised his generosity. The Rotary Club also paid him special tribute.

On 3/4/21 the day of his funeral the paper headline read "Will Suspend All Businesses for E. C. Forto's Funeral—Schools, Banks, County and Business Houses Will Close This Morning". It noted that hundreds were at the railroad station when the body arrived. At least 200 Mexican people as is their tradition followed the body from Hinkley's undertaking establishment where he had been taken to his home on Elizabeth Street. Flags had been lowered to half-staff. Huge amounts of floral offerings were evidenced. Some beautiful hand woven ones had come from Mexican women in Matamoros.

The next day the Sentinel headlined "Largest Funeral in History of the City Marks the Burial of Judge E. C. Forto Friday". It spoke of the hundreds of automobiles and marchers who followed the funeral procession from the church to the cemetery. The attorneys of the county were later to pay their respects to the memory of Forto with three resolutions at the Cameron County Court Room.

In late October 1983 the U.S. Weather Bureau personnel from Brownsville held a weather meeting attended by key Valley agricultural people. Richard Hagen, head of the Brownsville office, told them that it would be unlikely that the 1983-84 winter season would be as mild as the last. Dr. Henze of the Citrus Center noted that for citrus, all-night watches would be initiated when a temperature of 25 degrees or less for four hours was anticipated. He reflected that freeze protection methods hadn't advanced much over time. Foggers, misters, under-tree heaters, propellers mounted on towers, removal of bacteria on leaves, and weed-free soil surfaces in orchards were listed as some methods to protect against freezes. For other crops, outside of flood irrigation of fields, little could be done to protect them.

By the third week of December 1983 some astute Valley eyes were paying attention to the huge, cold Canadian high pressure system edging into the country. On 12/23 recordings of -20 degrees were being registered along the U.S.-Canada border. Hagen had a theory about the direction fronts took once across the border. It was this: if the center of an arctic front was east of Rapid City, South Dakota as it edged southward, it would likely slide to the southeast and generally spare the Valley any pain. If, however, it was west of Rapid City, Texas was likely to be impacted. On the morning of 12/24 Rapid City saw a daily high of -2 and a low of -27, and the norther's center was to its west. This did not bode well for the Valley.

The 12/24/83 front page of the Valley Morning Star (VMS) showed a photo of a girl playing with icicles in Fort Worth. An article reported that the National Weather Service publicized eight low temperature records having been established in Texas on the 23rd. Ten weather-connected deaths in Texas had been reported over the previous seven days.

On the local scene Edd Clark's front page article was headlined "Growers Remain Braced For Frost—Forecasters Say Freezing Weather A Slight Possibility". The belief was that predicted drizzle and rain together with a heavy cloud cover would keep temperatures above freezing on Christmas Day. A drop of temperatures below freezing was anticipated but to be short-lived. On the 23rd Harlingen's low had been 38°.

The Christmas Day issue of the VMS had been distributed the night before, so it wasn't until the morning of the 26th that Valleyites learned of the nature of the freeze which had occurred. The paper's headline read "Citrus Growers Put Losses At $30 Million". Seventy percent of the Valley's citrus was still on the trees, the other 30% having gone primarily to gift packs. Readers then learned that the record Christmas cold wave had shattered all-time temperature marks in 14 cities across the state.

Some Christmas Day record lows were 6 in Abilene, 0 in Amarillo, 6 in Dallas, 10 in Austin, 11 in College Station and Houston, 15 in Beaumont, and 14 in Corpus Christi. Harlingen had a low of 19 and no measurable rain while Brownsville dipped to 20.

The rush was soon on to salvage oranges for juice before warmer weather set in and would cause the fruit to rot. The water works across the Valley were busy with repairs on broken water mains and frozen meters while Valley homeowners tackled similar problems in their residences. Local plumbers would be inundated with calls.

It would be a few days before winter vegetable crops, sugarcane fields, aloe vera plantations, and nurseries were evaluated for damages. The damages to ornamental plants in homes and parks were major. It was quite obvious that numerous plantings such as papayas, aloe vera, succulents, philodendron, ficus, crotons, and other non-native plants were harmed by the deep and prolonged cold temperatures.

Even the Laguna Madre had sections in which ice slush formed. Many red fish, trout, and drum were killed and others stunned, even as the lows on the morning of the 26th climbed to 28° in Harlingen but only 25 in Brownsville. It was the first major kill in the bay in 21 years. While some fish moved out to sea to find warmer water, the freeze took its toll as a 53-hour below freezing period extended from 5 a.m. on the 24th to about 11 a.m. on the 26th. Comparisons placed the 1983 freeze as worst than the 1951 and the January 1962 one when two million pounds of fish were killed. The 1983 fish kill was estimated at 65-80% of the fish left in the bay.

As the temperatures rose into the 40s, younger trees in many orchards were found to have splits and cracks in the trunks and branches. Valley citrus growers requested that the Department of Agriculture impose a 10 day embargo on Texas citrus, so freeze-struck inferior fruit not be sold. Financial aid for the many citrus pickers and packers was to be studied as the extent of the losses became known.

Before Governor Mark White visited the Valley on 12/31, the area's damage estimates ran as high as $200 million, and many lobbied for a Federal Disaster Declaration by the President in order to obtain low interest loans. The governor soon approved $1 million in emergency relief funds for the Valley workers. Part of this would involve clearing of dead trees. In a letter to President Reagan on 1/4/84 the governor compiled a shocking summation of losses to the Valley's economy. This included as many as 21,981 unemployed agricultural workers, with 6,000 of those ineligible for state unemployment insurance. The loss to the fishing industry was put at $300 million. Estimated ag losses totaled $200 million and the losses to local governments $10 million. On 1/7/84 the President declared the four counties in South Texas as disaster areas.

When the weekly thermographs charts from weather reporting stations across the Valley were finally assessed, it was seen that what had been destructive was not only the minimums reached but also the duration and persistence of the low temperatures. The 1983 had 31 straight hours below 26 degrees as part of 61 hours of consecutive 32° or below the freeze mark on December 24, 25, and 26. In comparison the Valley freeze of 1951 entailed 27 straight hours below 26° spread over a 72-hour period, and in 1962 the Valley experienced 17 hours below 26°. Lows on the 30th of 24 at Harlingen and 26 in Brownsville did not do additional harm; the damages had already been maximized.

In its 11th harvest campaign, the Rio Grandee Valley Sugar Growers, Inc. sustained its worst production year in its history due to the freeze. Before the effects of the freeze commenced the mill had harvested 17,836 acres producing 36.55 tons cane per acre (tca) and 2.99 tons sugar per acre (tsa). After 1/9/84 the decline in production was precipitous, and no sugar, only molasses, was produced after 1/24. In this latter period 16,525 acres were harvested averaging 26.66 tca and .31 tsa. In addition 778 acres were discarded as unsalvageable. It was estimated that 44.4% of the sugar and 15% of the projected gross tonnage were lost as a result of the freeze. The economic loss was in the neighborhood of $17 million, even neglecting the future negative impact on the following ratooning crop.

What had caught forecasters by surprise was the quick formation of a low pressure system in the northwest Gulf of Mexico on the evening of the 23rd. With its counterclockwise motion it rapidly sped cold air south to the Valley. The frigid air arrived 8-12 hours before anticipated, not that much could have been accomplished even if its arrival was exactly predicted. It was advective in that it involved a massive horizontal movement of the air mass. In this freeze the coldest air was actually about 100' above the surface. This is why even tall palm trees were killed.

The freeze had long-term implications for the citrus industry. While some citrus grove owners took the opportunity to replant destroyed orchards with newer, more attractive grapefruit varieties, others simply abandoned their groves. This frequently occurred with out-of-state or out-of-country owners.

The Valley weathermen gleaned quite a bit of empirical knowledge from the Great Christmas Day Freeze of 1983 and its predecessors. Whether a Stinger, Dinger, or Zinger, a winter norther is not welcomed by Valley growers. At minimum its arrival is currently more predictable than in the past. We know that a series of snowfalls to the north seems to grease the skids for the more serious high pressure outbreaks. In January, between the 10th and 15th, there appears to be a periodicity of the coldest air. One observation is that if a short wave breaks through the high pressure in Spokane, we can expect a Valley low temperature 6-7 days later. Also, as previously mentioned in Part I, if the center of an arctic system, sarcastically termed a Siberian Express, lies to the west of Rapid City, South Dakota, the system will likely penetrate the Valley rather than slide to the Southeast. If the pressure exceeds 1040-50 millibars in Western Canada, we are likely to be the recipient of cold air here.

Advective freezes have the winds bringing in the cold air. Radiational freezes occur on clear nights when the coldest air is at the surface which is reflecting or re-radiating any heat it receives.

The forecast for Friday 12/22/89 stated that brutally cold arctic air would invade the Valley that day. The cold, high pressure system's center was going to be close to the Valley the night of the 23rd.

By the Sunday 12/24/89 edition of the VMS, the paper was proclaiming "Valley Crops Devastated". Deputy Texas Ag Commissioner Mike Moeller, after a Saturday inspection, pegged direct damage from the freeze at $100 million. The estimated figure, while preliminary and tentative, included $40 to 60 million to the citrus industry, $30 million in lost sugar production, $3-5 million in ruined vegetable crops, and $15-20 million in losses to the nursery industry. Sugarcane did indeed sustain very serious damage as did aloe vera. About 50% of the citrus was lost. The Saturday lows were 17° in Harlingen, 18 in McAllen , and 16 in Brownsville. Across the nation the day before, 124 new record lows for the date had been established together with 34 all-time record lows. Bismarck's high was -10 and its daily low -28. Like the 1983 freeze, the 1989 freeze was also advective, but skies later did clear and radiational cooling added to the woes.

At Santa Rosa the thermometer hit 32° at 3 a.m. on 12/22 and stayed below freezing for 65 hours. The thermograph recorded temperatures below 26 for 33 ¾ hours and an extreme low of 16.5° F at one point. This freeze, with its unlikely probability of occurrence so close to that of 1983, now became the Great Freeze of December 22-24, 1989 and the second "once-in-a century" freeze to plague South Texas.

Brownsville ended December 1989 as its coldest December since records began there in 1878. At an average of 51.8 degrees, this was a full 10.5 degrees below the historical average.

The widespread intensity of the 1989 freeze can be visualized when it is told that its effects delved 400 miles south of the border into Mexico. There citrus, vegetables, and un- acclimatized varieties of sugarcane were injured and pasture grasses were lost to grazing. In Veracruz sugar mill personnel contacted their Valley counterparts in Texas to learn how to handle the frozen cane and its deteriorated juices. No one in living memory there could recall a freeze of this nature. At least eight sugar factories were affected.

In the Valley it was even worse. Here the sugar mill of the Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers, Inc. could recover no sugar whatsoever from 10,000 acres of cane. From the 17,550 acres harvested the average sugar content was a very low 126.5 pounds per ton of cane versus the normal 180 lbs. per ton.

Before freezes in 1949 and 1951 the Valley had 125,000 acres in citrus. This fell to 35,000 acres by December 1989 and then less than 17,000 acres after this year's knockout punch.

What Mexican fan palms (Washingtonia robusta) hadn't been knocked out in the 1983 freeze were decimated by the 1989 one along with the Cocus plumosa queen palms (Syagrus romanzoffiana) though the latter can take temperature down to 25°. The native and more cold-tolerant Texas sabal (Sabal mexicana) held up much better. Many homeowners were surprised to find their tall and attractive Norfolk Island pine trees completely dead. They did not realize that this plant was not a true evergreen and was in fact a native of the South Pacific. We learned too that the Valley's guinea grass (Panicum maximum), the fast-growing clump grass which came to dominate abandoned orchards and then moved eastward across the Valley, had derived from Mother Nature a tolerance to cold. Its other strains would have died from the freeze, but the Valley selection rose from its desiccated crown to live another day.

There is no question that the most serious freeze of the century coming so soon on the heels of its devastating predecessor was an aberration. After experiencing extended periods of mild winters, people in the area tend to forget that the Valley is sub-tropical not tropical. All need to be reminded of the most frightening recorded Valley freeze in what was likely a 200-500 year event. During a three day period in February 1899, Brownsville registered temperature lows of 16, 12, and 18° on 2/12, 13, and 14 respectively while Rio Grande City saw 12, 7, and 23 on the same dates. Those that promote the planting of vegetative species native to the Valley need to be heard.

In the category on "unsung heroes" have to be the engineers responsible for transforming the Lower Rio Grande Valley from arid low-productive ranchland and scrub desert to one of America's breadbaskets. For this to have come about, the region had to be surveyed, massive canals had to be designed and constructed, and suitable machinery to pump irrigation water from the river selected, installed and maintained. This is Engineering Week, so in recognition of their contributions, I have chosen to pinpoint three outstanding individuals associated with progress in the Valley.

William Francis Shaw came to Mercedes in 1908. His ancestors were Texas Pioneers, his maternal grandmother's family, the Dutys, having come to Texas with Stephen F. Austin. Her husband was the son of General Francis Nash of Civil War fame. Born 8/1/1873 in Bastrop County, Walter was the first son of William and Martha Nash Shaw. His family moved to Hondo when he was nine years old. Walter attended public schools there, then one year at Baylor University. He left college to work several years in Mexico with the Mexican National Railway. He returned to the states and was graduated from the University of Texas in 1902. Shaw was a brilliant student and in his upperclassman years became a student instructor in math. Going on to Cornell University, he was graduated in 1904 with a degree in mechanical engineering and a specialty of railroad engineering.

Shaw worked in New York for several years but returned to Texas in 1908 because of ill health. He took on an engineering position with the American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company, a corporation chartered in September 1905 with a capitalization of $1.25 million. It would be the greatest of all land development companies in the Valley, establish the town of Mercedes, and eventually service over 82,000 acres.

In 1909 William was to marry Elizabeth Chaplin, the daughter of Dr. W. B. Chaplin, president of the company. She was to die the following year. Shaw, in 1911, then invited his mother and widowed sister and her son to move from Hondo to his new residence in Mercedes. They did so.

Shaw had his offices in the now historic two-story brick building housing the current water district offices on Business 83. He was to serve as chief engineer, vice president, and general manager from 1908 until 1930 when Water District No. 9 was formed and farmers on the land purchased the system. By 1920 the system had grown to consist of three large canals, five pumping plants, reservoirs and settling basins, and extensive drainage works. When, in 1912, two 60-inch pumps were installed, they were, at the time, the largest such pumps in the world.

Shaw was a member of numerous professional societies and received many honors for his achievements. He was also to become a philanthropist. In the 1950s he turned his estate over to the Baptist Foundation to be used to support Christian work. He died at age 84 in his Mercedes residence in March 1958.

Alfred Tamm of Harlingen took a longer path than Shaw to reach the Valley. He was born in Finland, December 6, 1881. His father was from Finland; his mother from Sweden. He immigrated to the United States in 1908 at age 26 or 27. He married Daisy M., born in Canada, January 3, 1888. Her parents were both from Ireland. She immigrated to the United States in 1908. They had at least two children, Marion Anna, born July 28, 1913, in Cameron County, Texas, and Alma, born 1917 in the same county. This indicates that the Tamms were in the Valley by at least 1913.

By 1920 the family is in Harlingen, as noted by the 1920 US Census. Some time prior to this Tamm has taken a position as engineer with the Cameron County Water and Improvement District No. 1 while also doing private civil engineering and surveying work. While we have no documentation on Tamm's professional education or on-the-job training, it must have been enough to satisfy state, city and the water district's requirements.

In February 1921 Alfred and Daisy Tamm are among the ten individuals who organize an Episcopal Mission in Harlingen. In June 1924 it will be organized into St. Alban’s Episcopal Church.

On May 1, 1922 came the first of several telegraph reports to the lower Valley. It warns of a rise in the river. Six days later predictions were made for San Juan River flooding. Nothing immediate comes to pass, but these warnings were a harbinger of things to come. Northern Mexico had been saturated by heavy rains. On June 17 the Monterrey section received a second series of high-precipitation storms. The U.S. Weather Service issued warnings for the Valley, especially applicable after Camargo and Mier were evacuated. Mission to Alamo farmers took action by moving stock and equipment to higher ground

By 6/24 the floodwaters were well upon the Valley. All businesses closed in Mercedes so everyone could work to shore up the levees in the vicinity. "Water Wins at Mercedes – South Levee Breaks" headlined the paper the following day. The water at the railroad depot at Mercedes reached 42" above the building’s foundation. The water then pushed on past Mercedes toward Sebastian and Lyford

On June 25 the river level reached its maximum. Breaks on the Mexico side ameliorated U.S. flooding, especially for Brownsville. Matamoros, as had been the case numerous times before, was a disaster when waters turned the city into a lake.

In the Harlingen area, flood fighters had also been galvanized into action. Alfred Tamm, the engineer in charge of the Harlingen Water District; H. A. Beckwith, water engineer; and C. P. Bobo, manager of the district were leaders of efforts to shore up the levees south of the city. Their efforts succeeded in keeping farmland from being flooded as well as the pumping station. The cost was $3,100 of which the city picked up $506. The city gave them a vote of thanks on 7/2.

To an American Society of Civil Engineers group meeting in Brownsville in the Spring of 1924, Tamm offered a paper titled "Engineers, Part of the Development of the Rio Grande Valley of Texas". It touches upon the first surveys in the area made in 1767 then goes on to talk of the various irrigation canals. It provided valuable data on the status of water districts at that time.

In 1930 Tamm listed himself as a civil engineer in the telephone directory. In a classified ad he offered engineers’ and architects’ supplies, blueprints and photostating. He is operating out of the Irrigation District Office at 209 ½ W. Jackson, Harlingen. He is also the city engineer. He and his wife Daisy live at 205 E. Tyler. Their house of more than 40 years was later to be purchased by attorneys Neal and Curtis Bonner and moved to 106 E. Taylor where it sits to this day after being sold. The current drive-in facilities of Bank of America occupy the former site of the house.

All through the years Tamm remained as Harlingen City Engineer until he relinquished the position between 1948 and 1949. In 1948 Tamm relocated his office to 216 E. Van Buren.

In October 1949 Mr. Tamm was elected vice president of the Texas Water Conservation Association. This group was dedicated to defending the state water rights as opposed to federal controls. He continued to advertise himself as a "consulting engineer" and will works until 1960. In 1961, at age 80, he retired. His dedication and love of his profession is unmatchable.

Mr. Tamm’s signature is to be encountered on numerous subdivision plat maps submitted to Cameron County. He was very active in this regard and therefore played a major part in the physical layout of many community neighborhoods and farms. Because of his surveying expertise he was called upon to testify or offer documentation in contentious lawsuits.

A road is named after him. It is Tamm Lane, a long country road which runs north-south, is on the west side of Harlingen and marks the east boundary of the Adams Gardens subdivision which Tamm laid out.

His last Harlingen telephone book listing is for 1972. He died May 13, 1973 in Austin, Travis County, Texas. His wife Daisy died December 1973 in Tomball, Harris County, Texas.

If Shaw and Tamm were responsible for Valley development and growth, it was Walter Owen Washington who played a major role in uniting its various parts and protecting them from Mother Nature's wrath.

Born in Travis County 9/24/1883, Washington was the son of Ella Maxwell and Thomas Pratt Washington. He attended a country school near Austin, was graduated in 1904 from the University of Texas with a degree in civil engineering, and returned in 1908 for graduate work in mining engineering. In 1909 he came to McAllen and opened an engineering office. During World War I he served in the Army Engineering Corps, and after his discharge he partnered in the San Antonio firm of Whitaker and Washington until 1923.

Cameron County Judge Oscar Cromwell Dancy served from 1921 through 1971 with the exception of one two-year term beginning in 1932. This is a record for any Texas county judge. Washington's service as Cameron County Engineer was to extend from 1920 to 1939.

Washington is credited with having pioneered "advanced practices in the construction of concrete highways, particularly in rigid control over water-cement ratios for strength in concrete pavement mixes." Dancy, in his lengthy tenure, had spent more than $10 million in paving roads in the county. He was prompted to claim that his middle initial "C" stood for concrete.

Within the county Washington supervised construction of the Rio Grande Valley's flood-control system of levees and floodways. In the latter years of the Great depression he was construction engineer for a Works Project Administration (WPA) federal control and irrigation project in Willacy County. Later, as Brownsville city engineer, he supervised the building of runway and facilities at the Municipal Airport. He worked outside the Valley 1943-45, but his last 35 years were spent in Brownsville.

Washington accumulated various awards for his work and was active in numerous professional and historic associations. Married to Bernice Beth Haskell, they had six children. He died July 4, 1954 and was buried in Austin.

These Valley engineers of note took nothing for granted. Their achievements surround us today and should not be taken for granted either.

In a period where the nature of citizenship and patriotism is being hotly debated, the role of immigrants (legal and illegal and especially those from Mexico) comes to the forefront. Surprisingly this is not by any means a new issue but one that has also confronted the various waves of immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Eastern Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

A mostly forgotten event that took place in Harlingen foretold some of the contentious issues with which we still struggle. Historians have given this story the title "Harlingen Convention." It began with a statewide political meeting called to discuss the action of "organizing against racial discrimination." The meeting was set up by El Comite Provisional Organizor Pro-Raza, headed by Alonzo S. Perales, who was president of the Loyal Mexican American Citizens of Brownsville. This organization also had as its leaders J. T. Canales and Clemente Idar.

The committee's members consisted of Americans of Mexican heritage, who were primarily skilled laborers, small business owners, and a few professionals, and also Mexican nationals living in the Valley cities and towns. One of the latter was M. Flores Villar of Harlingen. The venue for the August 14, 1927 meeting was the auditorium of the Harlingen High School. This is the 1922 structure built on 6^th Street between Polk and Tyler where the Travis Elementary School is now sited. It was subsequently damaged beyond repair in the 1933 Labor Day Hurricane.

Publicizing itself in the Spanish–language press, it was announced that the Pro-Raza conference would work to resolve several issues. While one McAllen newspaper reported that a society of Mexican Americans was to be formed, the conference planners extended an invitation to all persons of Mexican descent and other relevant organizations. These included sociadades mutualistas, the Orden Hijos de America, and the Order of Knights of America. In all, 200 delegates attended. It was no secret that prior to the convention Perales was promoting the formation of yet another organization, one broad enough in goals to encompass all others of a similar nature.

Speakers included Perales, Eduardo and Clemente Idar (sons of Nicasio Idar and publishers of the Laredo newspaper La Cronica) and Jose Tomas Canales, civil rights advocate, lawyer, and former state legislator.

Dissension was soon to occur at the conference. It centered on whether to let the Mexican citizens stay for the session or not. This conflict led to the exit of as many as 90 percent of the participants present. The remainder voted that membership in the organization to be formed necessitated the exclusion of Mexican citizens.

In the days to follow two Valley Spanish-language newspapers roundly criticized the conference. One was M. Flores Villar's El Comercio, being published in Harlingen, and the other Carlos B. Rocha's Mexico en El Valle out of Mission. Perales answered his critics in an article for El Cronista del Valle, a Brownsville newspaper. In a vindictive action he then worked with several Hispanic organizations to influence the Immigration Service to deport Villar and Rocha.

The background to the Harlingen Convention was that in November 1921 the Order of Sons of America (Orden Hijos de America) had been organized in San Antonio and then chartered by the state. Its charter stated its purpose was to use its "influence in all fields of social, economic, and political action in order to realize the greatest enjoyment possible of all the rights and privileges and prerogatives extended by the American Constitution." Six years later, the Order of Knights of America was founded by younger members of the preceding order. It was this group that comprised the largest single delegation at the Harlingen Convention. (Pictured is the Order of Sons of America Local Council 4, Corpus Christi.)

At the convention the remaining delegates debated long into the night but could not agree on a name for a new organization. In the weeks to follow Perales initially called it the League of Latin American Citizens (of the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo).

In February 1929 in Corpus Christi the RGV/Laredo league merged with two councils (Corpus and Alice) of the Sons of America and with the Knights of America to create the organization formally known as the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). Its motto was "All for one and one for all." (At right is a Texas LULAC gathering on April 29, 1929. At left are participants at the first LULAC convention in Corpus Christi on May 18, 1929)

Since that time LULAC, with its base primarily in Texas, has become the "oldest and largest continually active Latino political association in the United States and the first nationwide Mexican-American civil rights organization."

LULAC has promoted veteran issues along with defending against and protecting from racism, pushed for what would become Head Start, was involved in school desegregation, established a national scholarship fund, pushed for the abolishment of poll taxes, and supported immigration rights while opposing the Bracero Program due to, it was said, the exploitation of braceros, and used the courts as a recourse against discrimination and other adverse actions involving Latinos.

LULAC women, though showing interest from the very start, were in auxiliaries, and it took decades before they were wholly integrated into the organization. Still they have played a major role in civic concerns specifically involving children, the poor, and the elderly. Historically LULAC has encompassed classical liberalism, individualism, free market capitalism, anti-communism, and U. S. patriotism.

In the eight decades since the Harlingen Convention the Mexican American communities across the country have traveled a long road toward fairness and unity, yet ever-changing social mores and economic factors continue to offer challenges.

In the Lower Rio Grande Valley the name Military Highway is given by old timers and residents along the Rio Grande to the road that runs parallel to the river but irons out its many bows. It is officially that portion of U. S. Highway 281which runs from Northwest Brownsville to south of Pharr where it then turns north.

Through time the antecedents of this road have been lost in garbled history. In the early 1840s, before Brownsville came into existence, maps give no indication of even a rudimentary trail connecting the sparsely populated ranches north of the border in San Patricio County. There was, however, a well-defined road from Matamoros to Reynosa and onward to Camargo, Mier, Revilla, and, then crossing the river, to Laredo.

The Mexican American War brought changes. In an 1859 map, by which time ranching activity north of the river had accelerated, numerous ranch communities had sprung up along the river in Cameron, Hidalgo, and Starr counties. While a well-worn trail of sorts now extended from Brownsville west-northwest to Vela in Zapata County, it did not reach Laredo and was very primitive north of Roma, if not elsewhere too.

The reason that a traversable road wasn't developed and exploited was that steamboats initiated by General Taylor to move supplies to a string of forts along the river were more efficient and speedy. Indeed, the river shipping monopoly of Richard King, Mifflin Kenedy, and Charles Spillman helped to establish their fortunes. The completion in 1881of the Texas-Mexican Railway from Corpus Christi to Laredo and the subsequent development of the port at Corpus Christi signaled the demise of Rio Grande steamboating. Shipping off Brazos de Santiago nearly came to a standstill. The last paddle wheeler, the Bessie, made her final scheduled trip in 1902.

There was, of course, also a lack of technology and funds to construct such a road. The area had little political clout, and its economics didn't warrant a major expenditure. By 1884 a high concentration of ranch communities from Brownsville northwest to Santa Maria did bring this section a wider road but one still subject to the vagaries of wet weather.

Because of the old deteriorating remains of a building near Santa Maria said to have been used by General Taylor's soldiers as a warehouse and the pre-Civil War cannon set in place by the DAR along the highway near Bluetown, many confusingly believe the Military Highway is so named because it was regularly used by General Taylor patrols when this was never the case. However, during the "Cortina War" of 1859-60 the trail was used in October 1859 by Cameron County Sheriff Browne as he and his posse attempted to apprehend Juan Cortina at Rancho del Carmen. In December Federal forces under Major Samuel P. Heinzelman and Texas Rangers used the trail and the river to pursue Cortina and his army to Rio Grande City where they defeated him and sent him scurrying across the river into Mexico. Stationed in San Antonio at this time, Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee commanded the Federal forces of the Department of Texas. After cattle rustling north of the river escalated from 1859 to 1875, Texas Rangers were sent to the border to corral raiders, and Federal troops were garrisoned along the river. The formers' activities ranged up and down the trail and even into Mexico to retrieve stolen cattle and apprehend thieves. Lastly, activity on the road once more saw Federal action when the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920 precipitated numerous incursions north of the border.

The current usage actually comes from a shortening of its first given real name, "The Military Telegraph Road." The telegraph was the first modern electric communications system. The first telegraph line was built in 1844. It was revolutionary for its time and by 1861 had connected both coasts to one another. In this period, however, Texas was lagging in its implementation and use. The state was first connected to the outside world by telegraph when a line reached the East Texas town of Marshall in 1854. The important port of Galveston wasn't connected until 1859 and the state capital Austin not until 1865.

It was a multi-year succession of Indian raids that stirred Texas to seek "an important auxiliary to the defense of the Texas frontier." A Texas Parks and Wildlife Department handout provides some of the background. It states:

In December 1866, Company K of the 9^th Cavalry was attacked at old Fort Lancaster where the Texas Buffalo soldiers then faced their foes "toe to toe."(The fort was located on the lower road from San Antonio to El Paso.) It was the most massive force that the Ninth Cavalry would ever encounter in their 18 years in Texas. They proved to be effective fighters due to their "hard work, discipline, and sense of purpose."

The handout goes on to note that "During the course of the Indian Wars, 1866-1892, enlisted men of the Ninth Cavalry were awarded 11 medals of honor; an additional four being awarded to officers of the Ninth. This was the highest number per regiment than any other regiment in the field at that time."

Not until June 1874 however was a federal bill approved authorizing the Secretary of War to construct and operate telegraph lines between various Texas military posts. The bill provided the sum of $100,000 to begin the work. By January 1875 only 40 miles of line had been built from the supply depot established in Denison, North Texas along the Red River.

In March the Office of the Chief Signal Officer placed First Lieutenant Adolphus Washington Greely in charge. The background of this Newburyport, Massachusetts soldier was somewhat unique. In the Civil War he saw action in several major battles, in which he sustained serious wounds on three occasions. He rose from the rank of private to Brevet Major of Volunteers. At the end of the war he was mustered out. In March 1867 he reentered the army as a second lieutenant.

Greely was, in the following eleven months, to almost complete the entire line before asking to be relieved in March 1876.

The Denison line met a line from Fort Sill, Oklahoma at Jacksboro, Texas and then was routed southwest through Fort Grifffin, Camp Colorado, Fort Concho, and terminated at Camp Stockton. At Fort Concho another segment of the line moved generally southeast connecting Fort McKavett, Mason, Fredericksburg, San Antonio, Castroville, Uvalde, Fort Clark, Fort Duncan at Eagle Pass, Fort McIntosh 33 miles above Laredo, the Ringgold Barracks at Rio Grande City, and then along the river to Fort Brown at Brownsville. Portions of the line were erected simultaneously. This latter portion was why the route warranted its name, the Military Telegraph Road, on lower Valley maps. By 1908 some mapmakers had already shortened the name simply to Military Road and in its 1923 soil survey map, the USDA called it the Old Military Road.

It was on June 28, 1875 that a 24^th Infantry detail from Fort Brown commenced work from there to the Ringgold Barracks. They were under the direction of U.S. Military Academy graduate Lt. W. H. W. James. Initially the work was delayed about three weeks due to the tardy shipment of poles from Virginia. The poles used from Brownsville to Fort McIntosh were juniper costing $2.20 each. Elsewhere local timber had been utilized. These included post oak, ash, red mountain cedar, elm, juniper (white cedar), and to a much lesser extent pecan, hackberry, and walnut. The poles were 20' in length and 4½ inches in diameter. They carried Kenosha insulators which were of grooved wood for the wire and had a petticoat bottom. These proved to be inefficient and were replaced after being in service from 1872 to 1876. The conductor line was No. 9 galvanized iron wire. On every fifth pole a lightning rod was affixed. Those that were improperly attached gave trouble when they were bent across the transmission wire after being struck by lightning.

On July 15 the line from Rio Grande City to Laredo was commenced by a second detail of the 24^th under the leadership of Lt. John I. Kane. This unit accomplished the unequaled construction speed of two miles per day. The Brownsville connection reached the town on August 28, exactly two months after it was started. Mainly for repair purposes an office with Sgt. Edward A. Lewis in charge was opened 9/12/75 in Edinburgh (now the town of Hidalgo). This same month on the 22^nd the line was damaged about thirteen miles above Brownsville. Bandits or rustlers were likely responsible for pulling up two poles and cutting the wire in eight places. The final connection of the line from San Antonio to Brownsville would occur on February 2, 1876 when the segment from Fort Duncan at Eagle Pass going to Laredo was completed.

The Brownsville to Ringgold Barracks line distance was just under 100 miles. From the latter to Laredo was 111 miles. The whole frontier network ran 1,218 miles. The local portion cost the government $96 per mile. This was higher than the $72 per mile cost in the plains where little to no brush had to be cleared.

Together with experienced signal service personnel the military labor responsible for construction was furnished by the Black "Buffalo Soldiers" of the 24^th Infantry. The latter have not been given sufficient credit for their meritorious work. The 24^th Infantry Regiment had been established on 9/21/1866 as part of the 10^th Cavalry Regiment. It was the first peacetime all-Black regiment in the regular U.S. Army.

Lt. Greely has to be given great credit for successfully organizing and implementing the line's construction. His performance was to foreshadow events later in his career. In 1881 he volunteered for a scientific expedition to the Arctic. He was placed in command of a 25-man party sent to establish a meteorological station off Ellsmere Island. It came to known as the Lady Franklin Bay Polar Expedition. Due to the ice packs in 1882 and 1883 supply ships were unable to reach Greely at Camp Conger. With provisions running low in the third year he broke camp and made his way south by boat. When finally discovered in June 1884 only Greely and six others had survived, and one of these died soon after. Severely criticized at first, his courageous actions were later recognized to have been the correct ones.

In June 1886 he was promoted to Captain and then under President Cleveland (1889) became Brigadier General and Chief of the Signal Corps of the Army. "In that post he was responsible over the next 20 years for the construction of tens of thousands of miles of telegraphy lines and submarine cables in Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Philippines, Alaska, and elsewhere and for the Army's earliest adoption of wireless telegraphy (i.e. radio)." He was also head of the Weather Service until it was transferred to the Department of Agriculture in 1891. He retired from the military in 1908 and then helped found the National Geographic Society and the first free public library in Washington, D.C. In addition to many scientific publications and reports, he authored six books. By a Special Act of Congress March 21, 1935 he was belatedly awarded the Medal of Honor for "his life of splendid service." He was to die 10/20/35 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

The telegraph connecting towns along the river was to play an important precautionary role. It was usually the telegraph post at Roma that provided the first warning of impending flood dangers. The telegraph served to alert down-river communities of floodwaters racing down the river. Knowledge of high waters coming down the San Juan River close to the lower Valley in Mexico was especially critical. Before the construction of a system of river levees and floodways, communities, and especially Brownsville, had to take evacuation and sandbagging action to protect lives, livestock, and property.

As the Valley entered the 20^th Century the Military Road continued to be barely worthy of bearing the name "road". This is well-illustrated by the story told by W. L. McElwain in a 1955 appreciation dinner for Lon C. Hill, Jr. The anecdote is as follows:

In a 1930 map by Cameron County the road was named "Border Highway" with Military Road in parentheses. For a time it was State Highway 4 and then 48, but already in the 1930s right-of-way acquisitions were made along it for U.S. Highway 281. Even after designation as a U.S. highway parts of it in Cameron and Hidalgo Counties remained unpaved. It took until the 1940s before the Military Road was wholly paved. The road west of Mission was paved fairly early and designated State Highway 2 before it became U.S. 83. Those who pioneered the use of the trail in the 1800s would be hard put to visualize that some day this path would be part of an 1,872 mile route, the longest three-digit U.S. route in the country, stretching from Brownsville to the Canadian border of North Dakota.

The General Brant Highway
Norman Rozeff
Harlingen Historical Preservation Society, April 2007

The highway that runs 30 miles east from Rio Hondo to the Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge is designated FM 106 on most maps. It was used during World War II as the route between the Harlingen Air Force Base and its satellite facility, the gunnery range on the Laguna Madre. It recently made the news because of its deteriorated condition at a time when the volume of traffic on it has increased due to the popularity of the large federal refuge bordering the water. The five mile stretch on its east end is in the worst shape with numerous potholes causing any traffic to slow down to a snail's pace.

On March 1, 1952 this road was re-christened and dedicated to honor Major General Gerald C. Brant. The ceremonies took place at "Cholick Corner" about one mile east of Rio Hondo. Gen. Brant had spent nearly 14 years as commanding general of the Central and Gulf Coast Flying Training Command during World War II and following. Retired at this time Gen. Brant came to the ceremonies from his home at Medina Lake near San Antonio.

Gen. Brant's military career extended back to the first 30 aviators in the nation's Army Air Corps. Over time he had commanded every major air base around San Antonio. He was born in Chariton, Iowa June 29, 1880 and had entered the US Military Academy at West Point in 1899. He was graduated as a second lieutenant in the cavalry in 1904. He later received his wings at Kelly Field, San Antonio.

During WWI he commanded Kelly No. 2 where 27,000 recruits turned up in December 1917 as the US entered the European war. Years later he was a member of the planning group for the Air Corps Training Center to be built at Randolph Field, San Antonio. Objecting at first to have hangars along runways and houses in the middle of the field, he later reflected that Randolph's novel layout now makes it one of the best in the Air Force.

Most Valleyites have long-forgotten who Gen. Brant was, what he accomplished, and why this rural road is so named. Now you know.

Quietly going about its important business, but in plain sight is the Valley's only short line railroad. This is the Rio Valley Switching Company (RVS) headquartered in McAllen. In a talk to the Harlingen Historical Preservation Society on July 13, its general manager, Juan Lerma, revealed many operation aspects of the unique company. This Class 3 railroad operates a little over 70 miles total of track. It does so under contract with Union Pacific. The company receives managerial and administrative services from Ironhorse Resources, Inc. of O'Fallon, Illinois. This firm provides the same to Border Transload and Transfer of Las Cruces, New Mexico; Southern Switching Company of Abilene , Texas; the Mississippi Tennessee Railroad of New Albany, Mississippi; and the Caney Fork and Western Railroad of McMinnville, Tennessee. All are short line railroads.

From the Union Pacific (UP) switching yard in Harlingen RVS has a 41-mile run to Mission on the old Missouri Pacific tracks paralleling Business 83. This operation began in March 1993. An 8.1-mile branch began the same date moves traffic from Mission to the McAllen Free Trade Zone in Hidalgo. Here freight may be transloaded into trucks for ferrying into Mexico. A 12.8-mile branch started in September 1997 moves freight from McAllen to Edinburg. Last is an 11.4 mile branch that runs from Harlingen over old Southern Pacific tracks beyond Santa Rosa to Rogers Lacy or to be exact the Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers mill where it picks up molasses tankers.

The company owns its six locomotives. These were manufactured by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in the 1950 and 60s. The successor company is now Electro-Motive Diesel. Among locomotive models being operated are a GP16 and a SW1200. Equipment maintenance is being conducted by company employees in Donna where a 35-acre former packing shed facility has been acquired.

Freight is carried on MO-PAC's original 75 to 90 lbs/yd. weight railroad track. This suffices because the maximum train speed is only 10 mph. The maximum weight capacity on the track is 286,000 lbs. Cars average 150,000 to 230,000 lbs. Consists on the line may range from 20 to 110 freight cars whereas UP goes as high as 150. Eight tracks in UP's switching yard are dedicated to RVS operations.

Carloads handled the first year of operation numbered 2,500 but by 2006 had risen to 11,600 moved. Goods are being handled for over 170 customers. Mainly these are incoming items. They include: construction material (such as lumber, gravel, sand, and steel), grain, high fructose corn syrup, paper and paper products, plastics, and fertilizer. No hazardous materials are transported on the line.

The company is currently budgeting $1.8 million on revamping the physical line. This goes primarily for new railroad ties and ballast and the labor connected with these. Eight track maintenance people are presently on contract. Maintenance of existing track is considerably more economical then laying new continuously-welded track at a cost estimated at $130/linear foot.

The company employs 25 individuals. These include those in the five crews that rotate. Unlike old train crews consisting of an engineer, fireman, conductor, two brakemen, and frequently flagmen, remote radio-controlled locomotive systems can sometimes reduce the manning to a single person. Such a crewman can couple/uncouple cars while still dictating locomotive actions. A 12-hour shift is the maximum allowable stint for a crew.

With the continuing growth of the Valley and NAFTA trade, RVS expects to expand its role as a signifcant partner and player in the Valley's economy.

One major question looms in the shortline's future. When the current switch yard in Harlingen is relocated to Olmito, in what manner will the line's tracks interchange with those of the Union Pacific?

Trivia question: What President devoted two chapters in his memoirs to the Valley? Answer: read on.

Since the beginning of the written word, many military leaders have set down their exploits for posterity. The "Commentaries of Julius Caesar" was so well received and well written that it changed the usage of the Latin language by the Romans. With a military background, Winston Churchill was a prolific and capable writer of military and other history. American Presidents with military careers and who have written of their experiences are not numerous in number. One of the first is Zachary Taylor in his "Letters of Zachary Taylor from the Battle-Fields of the Mexican War." Theodore Roosevelt was to write of his Spanish-American War encounters in Cuba in his "The Rough Riders." Dwight Eisenhower would produce a best-seller with his treatise on World War II titled "Crusade in Europe." However, it is in "Personal Memoirs" by Ulysses S. Grant that he tells of the Valley.

After Grant served as two-term President (1869-1877), he left the office that at that time offered no pension to ex-Chief Executives. His son talked him into entering an investment banking partnership with Ferdinand Ward. The firm was named Grant and Ward. In 1884 it went bankrupt after Ward swindled both Grant and investors in the business and fled the scene.

Soon after a near destitute Grant learned that he had throat cancer. He had over the years submitted a few articles on his Civil War experiences to various magazines. These were readily enjoyed by readers. Mark Twain, among others, urged Grant to do a full treatment of his life and adventures. Grant set out to do so with an urgency to complete the task which fulfillment might provide for his family after his death. He was to write his last chapter one month before his demise at age 63 on 7/23/1885.

With its straight forward, succinct, and easy to grasp language, this memoir was an immediate success. For its time it was a "best seller" reaching 300,000 copies sold and earning over $450,000. The book had a ready market in the many surviving Union soldiers and their families.

Chapter VI of the memoir is titled "Advances of the Army-Crossing the Colorado-The Rio Grande." Grant at this time (March 1846) is a second-lieutenant but a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He commences this chapter by recounting how General Zachary Taylor's army of not more than 3,000 men marched, without its heavy siege guns that were to be shipped by vessel to Brazos Island, from Corpus Christi to the north bank of the Arroyo Colorado. He called this body of water the Little Colorado. His description of the immense herd of wild horses that ranged between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande gives credence to the area's name "Wild Horse Desert."

Grant notes the often-repeated account of the Mexican on the south side of the arroyo and their deception by having concealed buglers sound "assembly" and other military calls. When the troops did cross the water that was up to their necks, they met no opposition whatsoever. Passing the teams and wagons was a difficult engineering feat that Grant explains. Although he fails to mention it, it seems probable that had the Mexican army been aligned in force on the south side of the arroyo, further passage at this point and time by Taylor's forces would have been impossible. Perhaps history would have had a different outcome had this come to pass.

The establishment of a small fort, later to be named Fort Brown after the death of its commanding officer Major Jacob Brown, opposite Matamoras (often spelled this way the next decades) is explained. Grant tells us: "While General Taylor was away with the bulk of his army, the little garrison up the river was besieged. As we lay in our tents upon the sea-shore, the artillery at the fort on the Rio Grande could be distinctly heard. The war had begun."

Just as important was the earlier capture upriver of two companies of Taylor's while on a scouting mission. The associated deaths of two U. S. officers, "Americans killed on American soil", gave President James Polk the excuse he needed for an all-out assault on Mexico with one goal being the establishment of the Texas border on the Rio Grande, not the Nueces River to the north.

In Chapter VII titled "The Mexican War-The Battle of Palo Alto-The Battle of Resaca de la Palma-Army of Invasion-General Taylor-Movement on Camargo" the reader is given a first-hand account of two key battles. Grant starts off the chapter with remarkable honesty and modesty—"… but for myself, a young second-lieutenant who had never heard a hostile gun before, I felt sorry that I had enlisted. A great many men, when they smell battle afar off, chafe to get into the fray. When they say so themselves they generally fail to convince their hearers that they are as anxious as they would like to make believe, and as they approach danger they become more subdued. This rule is not universal, for I have known a few men who were always aching for a fight when there was no enemy near, who were as good as their word when the battle did come. Bu the number of such men is small." Described in some detail, good descriptions of the terrain and vegetation set the scene for both battles. As an example he outlines the initial position of U. S. forces at Palo Alto thusly: "Where we were the grass was tall, reaching nearly to the shoulders of the men, very stiff, and each stock was pointed at the top, hard and almost as sharp as a darning-needle." The confrontations are spelled out as are the strategies for victory. Naturally some gory events during the battles are portrayed.

As Grant later writes "The battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma seemed to us engaged, as pretty important affairs; but we had only a faint conception of their magnitude until they were fought over in the North by the Press and the reports came back to us." Indeed the repercussions of the battles and what was to follow led to some of the most significant developments in the country's history and the fulfillment of its "Manifest Destiny."

With the declaration of war by the U.S. Government, General Taylor's forces soon occupied Matamoras where no opposition was made. Grant writes, "It was the policy of the Commanding General to allow no pillaging, no taking of private property for public or individual use without satisfactory compensation, so that a better market was afforded than the people had ever known before."

After reinforcements arrived in August of 1846 Taylor and his army then commenced to move inland to confront Mexico's military forces. The chapter ends with the army leaving Camargo for Monterrey and so ends Grant's comments relating to the Valley.

Readers interested in reading the Valley portions of Personal Memoirs may do so by Clicking.
Other parts of it may be viewed online by going to the link:

Date	Article	Photo	Extended Obituary
5/22/03	Pineda Stone	L.C. Hill, hunting party	Manuel R. Barrientez, Willacy
5/29/03	Border Radio	Port Isabel	Lola Jayne McHenry, Harlingen
6/5/03	Issac Neville Fleeson	Service Club-HAAF	Willard Wayne Potter, Harlingen
6/12/03	Rockets Across the Rio; Travels of Cabeza de Vaca	The Pig (restaurant /store)	Lorenzo Ayala, Weslaco
6/19/03	Snake King; Pig Memories		Senovia Cantu, San Benito
6/26/03	Snake King; Sociedad Benito Juarez	Mexiquitta,Port Isabel	Henry C. "Hank" Schute, Brownsville
7/3/03	Joseph Chance Misc.; Pioneer families in 7/4 parade	Farm Security Administration Labor Campschool	Hector Edmundo Casas, San Benito
7/10/03	Railcars in Brownsville	Valley Mid-Winter Fair Parade	Bob Dietz, Bayview
7/17/03	Mid-Winter Parade	Beulah Flooding	Martha Oekerman, La Feria
7/24/03	Port Isabel Museum Loans	Sebastian Dominoes Players	Juanez Fountain, Harlingen
7/31/03		1915 Troops in Brownsville
8/7/03	1915 Infantry to the Rescue	TX Int'l Fishing Tournament, 1930s	Jose Ricardo Gonzales, La Tina
8/14/03	Fishing Tournament	"	Aurora Gonzales, San Benito
8/21/03	" "	Gateway Bridge 1940s; Old Cypress	Abraham Solis, Sr., Los Fresnos
8/28/03	Search for Old Farms; Sam Ringgold	Battle of Palo Alto	Daniel Cavazos, San Benito
9/4/03	Del Mar Beach	Jackson Street, Harlingen, 1930s	Virgil Lashbrook, Rio Hondo
9/11/03	F.Z. Bishop; Remains near Ft. Victoria	La Nueva Libertad Bldg., Brownsville	Gloria Robles, San Benito
9/18/03	Brownsville Downtown; HAFB Reunion	HAFB photos	Jerry Beach, South Padre Island
9/25/03	Base Activities	Pharr Movie Theater	Craig Cross, Harlingen
10/2/03	Texas Movie Houses	El Jardin Hotel	Rev. Aldegundo Alfaro Marguez, Valley
10/9/03	El Jardin Events; Arroyo RR. Bridge	1930s Fast Food Stand	Baldemar P. Rodriguez, Harlingen
10/16/03	Boo Koo Eatery; Historic Cemeteries	Reese-Wil-Mond Hotel 1930s	Miriam Vale, Rio Grande City
10/23/03	Pharr, Main Street City	Runyon's Brownsville	Guadeloupe C. Galvan, Harlingen
10/30/03	Letters on San Benito	Harl. Fire Dept. & Municipal Auditorium	Wallace Basse, Harlingen
11/6/03	Harlingen Auditorium	Yacht Club, Port Isabel	Dottie Burton, Weslaco
11/13/03	Yacht Club and Apts.; LULAC	Champion Store, Port Isabel	W. Raymond Cowley, Weslaco/Harl.
11/20/03	Champion Store; Edinburg Museum	Harl. Filling Station 1930s	Faustino Guetzow, San Benito
11/27/03	Depression Era Photographers in Harl./Weslaco	Depression Era Photos; Cemetery
12/4/03	San Diego, TX Photo Book	Rothstein Photo of Musical Drake Family	Hector Medellin, Harl./La Feria
12/11/03	Anglin Family (Harl.); Rangerville Labor Camp	Service Gin Fire, Weslaco
12/18/03	Labor Camp North of Rangerville		Joseph Frankie, Jr., Los Fresnos
12/28/03	Memories of the Labor Camp	Labor Camp Nursery	Leon Tolliver "Tol" Boswell, Jr., San Benito
1/1/04	Naming of Harlingen; BooKoo Eatery		Emilio Anzaldua Villarreal, Raymondville
1/8/04	About Hill	Hill and William Jennings Bryan; Fort Ringgold Photos
1/15/04	Hill Memories; Comments on Bryan	Old Miller Hotel, Brownsville	Harold Fassold, South Padre Island
1/22/04	Medieval Book Review; Lew Wallace, Miller Hotel	1958 Gateway Bridge Photo
1/29/04	Bridge Photo Comment	De Molay Chapter in Harlingen	Irene Faye Green Place, Harlingen
2/5/04	De Molay IDs	J.W. Rhone Store	Merle Cowart Goode, San Benito
2/12/04	Rhone Photo Feedback	La Feria Little Brown Church	Robert Sims, Harlingen
2/19/04	Rhone and La Feria Church Feedback		Bob Buford, Harlingen
2/26/04	"Rails to the Rio" Book Review	Laguna Madre Ocelot Kill	Willis Hudson, Bayview
3/4/04	H.E. Butt House; RGC Home	Highland School, San Benito; Butt House
3/11/04	Silk Stocking Row	Taylor Street Houses; Donna High School
3/18/04	Giants Roared in Hanger 38; Donna High School; Silk Stocking Correction	MA-IB Crop Duster	Mike J. Till, La Feria
3/25/04	Feedback on Donna Schools	Donna Schools; Pharr Hotel	Irving Rieff, Rio Hondo
4/1/04	Memories of Commerce and Taylor Streets	Alamo Defended; Edinburg School	Julian Flores, Jr., Weslaco
4/8/04	La Providencia Plat Map & Story; Pharr Main Street; Alamo Tourist Club History	Calle Victoria; Harlingen Ice House
4/15/04	Ice House Comments; Court House Grants		Sharon Shanahan Frys, Harlingen
4/22/04	Mexican –American War Book Review		Buster Atkins, Harlingen
4/29/04	Valley Ice Business; Review of "Cattle Brands"	Ice Industry Pictures
5/6/04	Book Review of " The Wings of Change"		Dewey "D.M." Mark, Harlingen
5/13/04	Ice and Cold Storage in Harlingen		Jimmy Stone, Weslaco/Harlingen
5/20/04	Mercedes Shell Button Industry; Courthouse Restoration Funding	1942 Girls' Knitting Club
5/27/04	First Year "Our Heritage" Page Showcased; Part II Shell Buttons		1944 Obituary of Navy Man Marcelo Casa, San Benito

Date	Subject	Photo	Extended Obituary
6/2/05	Baseball Guru Shares Historical Collection	Rene Torres	Leopoldo G. Torres, Raymondville
6/9/05	Flames Fostered Town of Palm Valley		Fred Deyo, Harlingen
6/16/05	Juneteenth; Restoring RGC Architecture		Jim Ghilain, Harlingen
6/23/05		1909 Harlingen Flood	Reymundo Y. Anciso, Harlingen
6/30/05	Fort Ringgold Mural	Mural; Historic Paso Real
7/7/05	Paso Real History Feedback and also the Rogers Massacre	Three of the Paso Real
7/14/05	Weslaco Glowed Brightly in Gloomy Period	Architect Newell's portrait, his work in Weslaco and Los Fresnos
7/21/05	Couch Made Mark as Prominent Developer	1933 Hurricane Damage on Jackson Street
7/28/05	1933 Hurricane Recollections	Dr. George Lee Gallaher	Larry Lee Danner, Harlingen
8/4/05	1933 Hurricane on Brazos Island	Old Brazos Island Structures
8/11/05	More 1933 Hurricane Stories		Frances Domanski, El Ranchito
8/18/05	Another 1933 Hurricane Story; Brownsville Raid Display	Champion Building, Port Isabel	Mary Champion Henggeler, Brownsville
8/25/05	Famed Sculptor, Lincoln Borglum, Farmed in Harlingen Area	Mount Rushmore, L. Borglum sculptures
9/1/05	1933 Hurricane; History Information Sought	Harvey Richards Airport	Francisca V. Chavez, Raymondville
9/8/05	1933 Hurricane in Los Fresnos	Damron photos	Allan Wayne Damron, Raymondville & Terlingua
9/15/05	McAllen's Historic Resources Survey	McAllen downtown	James Leroy "Eddie" Grayson, Harlingen
9/22/05	Issac Bennoni Bigelow of 1800s; Disastrous 1940 Alamo Labor Truck/train Collision	Grave of Bigelow
9/29/05	Reuse of Old Brownsville Jail; Origin of Garrett Road, Harlingen Name	Photo of Two Border Bandits to be Executed in 1916 and Another of the Gallows
10/6/05	Community Heritage Workshop by the THC to be held in Harlingen	San Benito House of Alba Heywood	Carlos Flavio Vela, Harlingen
10/13/05	Dias de los Muertos, RGV Museum Exhibit; Heywood House Feedback.	Day of the Dead sugar skulls; Heywood Hog Ranch Exhibit
10/20/05	Betty Murray feedback on Heywood and her family history in San Benito	Bledsoe Music Company
10/27/05	Lino Hinojosa, Union Soldier; When St. Louis Bankrolled the Valley; Valley's First Lutheran Church, Mercedes; Ghosts of Fort Brown	Great-great granddaughter and grave of Hinojosa in Rio Grande City
11/3/05			Tobin Armstrong, Armstrong
11/10/05	Dr. John Crockett		Aurel John "AJ" Neese, Raymondville
11/17/05	Robb Kendrick Tintypes; Historic Signs for San Benito's Aztec and La Especial Bakery Buildings	Tintype and historic building photos
11/24/05	S. W. Brooks, Border Architect; Mission Museum Curator, Cynthia Lopez	S. W. Brooks
12/1/05		Simmons Family (4)	Leonard Pierce "L.P." Simmons, Jr., Rangerville
12/8/05	Nathaniel White: La Feria's Man of Mystery; Donna Newspaper Marker	White Ranch road signs
12/15/05	UTB/TSC Lease Endangered Kraigher House		John Kent Swan, San Benito
12/22/05	100 Years of Edelstein Furniture Business; Brownsville RR Line May Become Park	Edelstein Furniture Photos
12/29/05	Mercedes Irrigation District Office, 1925	Building, Dr. Caballero	Dr. Eduardo Caballero, Mercedes
1/5/06	Book review of "Seldom Heard: Ranchers, Ranchos, and Rumors of the South Texas Brush Country"; Record Digitization in Brownsville Heritage Complex	Related photos on both subjects
1/12/06	Brownsville Historical Association Annual Meeting	Medrano Family	Dolores Medrano, Lasara
1/19/06	PBS History Detectives and the Chisholm Trail; Auto- Rack Trains in the Valley	McAllen Ranch
1/26/06	Al Escalante, Valley Golfer; Sanderson's "Nevin's History"	Manix Family; Al Escalante	Glenda May Manix, Rio Hondo
2/2/06	Al Escalante, Golf Pro; Historical sites of Hidalgo County; Underground Civil War Railroad Art	Maples Family; Al Escalante	Dorothy 'Fina' Maples, La Feria, Santa Maria, Bluetown
2/9/06	Arroyo Colorado Dredging	Dredge Temple & Model of It
2/16/06	Rio Grande Museum Name Change; Tropical Trail Meeting In San Benito	Bard Photos	O.N. "Buddy" Bard, Harlingen
2/23/06	Bert Nosler, San Benito Industrialist; Rio Grande City Trolley Rides	Nosler; Rio Grande City
3/2/06	Texas Artifact Auction; Brownsville Heritage Museum "Sufferage" Exhibit & Open House	Contreras' Tortilla Machine, Family; 1881 Colt Revolver	Jesus L. Contreras, Sr., Harlingen
3/9/06	Santa Rosa Bell; Padre Island Painting by Robnett	Painting; Bell
3/16/06	Santos Garcia, Harlingen Tortilla Pioneer	Terhune photos	Claude Mitchell "Terry" Terhune
3/23/06	Brazos Island Military Camps	Baker photos	Billy Jo Baker, Mission, Arroyo City
3/30/06	Amberson Book on Mier and John C. C. Hill	Fuente Family	Angelica De La Fuente, Santa Rosa, Combs
4/6/06	Lafitte's Well in Laguna Vista	Well Photo; SoRell Photos	Myrtle Leona Cowart SoRell, Harlingen
4/13/06	Jimmy Cocke's Fairway Memories; 1953 Movie Ride, Vaquero	1930s Golfing; Br. Movie Premier
4/20/06	Valley Baptist Hospital on F Street; S. Padre Island Quarantine Station; Austin's Tejano Monument	Hospital (2); Quarantine Station
4/27/06	Harlingen's Early Doctors; Stillman Family Work at Brownsville Hospitals	Valley Baptist Hospital on F street and Doctors
5/4/06	Nursing School at VBH,1949-50; Brownsville Heritage Museum Digitization	Nurses in Training
5/11/06	"Crossing the Rio Grande: An Immigrant's Life in the 1880s"; Oñate Trail Exhibit; Dr. Davidson Recalled	Guadelupe Valdez, Jr. and Grandfather's Book
5/18/06	Sorrento Restaurant, Harlingen's First Italian One	Guerra Family	Maria Villarreal Guerra, San Benito
5/25/06	Start of Valley Baseball (by Abner Doubleday?)	1952 Sorrento Restaurant Postcard

Date	Subject	Photos	Extended Obituary
6/1/06	Valley Baptist Hospital Article Feedback	VBH Old Nurse Residence, Nurse Capping Ceremony
6/8/06	Mack, Rickey Brought Baseball to the Valley	Doane-Miller Family	Margaret Doane Miller, Stuart Place
6/15/06	"She Came to the Valley", Book and Movie
6/22/06	124 W. Jackson St. Restoration; RG City Cemetery; St. Historical Marker Program	Restoration Work of Tony and June Ramirez
6/29/06	Domingo-Laiseca House, Brownsville Demolished	Demolition; Spradlin	Lena Ruth Spradlin, Harlingen
7/6/06	August Weller and Early Harlingen Banks	Harlingen State Bank & Early Harlingen, 1915
7/13/06		Wittenbach Family	Robert Tro Wittenbach, Harlingen
7/20/06	Arnaldo Villareal Ramirez Sr., 'Mr. Falcon', of Mission	Mr. Falcon
7/27/06	San Benito's Aztec Roof Garden	Aztec Building
8/3/06	Brownsville Raid Centennial; Joe Chance's new book, "Maria de Jesus Carvajal"	Garcia Family	Jesus L. Garcia, Mercedes
8/10/06	Gregg House Restoration, Brownsville; Pharr Demolitions; Runyon Postcards at Brownsville Heritage Complex	Gregg House Work
8/17/06	Brownsville Raid Revisited and Reconsidered after 100 Years	Black Soldiers of the 25th Infantry Regiment; Its Last Survivor
8/24/06	Harlingen Hubs 1938 Baseball Team	Hubs Team Photo; Cantwell Photos	Douglas Cant-well, Harlingen
8/31/06	1933 Hurricane: Part I; J.W. Daniel, Santa Rosa, account of storm	Fernandez Beach House, Boca Chica Island, 1932
9/7/06	1933 Hurricane: Part II	Destroyed Municipal Auditorium
9/14/06	1933 Hurricane: Part III; Personal Recollections	Harlingen Downtown Destruction
9/21/06	Hurricane Recollection: Mildred Bennett	Hoverson Photos	Richard Roy Hoverson, La Feria
9/28/06	Gen. Zachary Taylor and Fort Polk; Sisters of Mercy Hospital Chapel	Early Port Isabel Lighthouse; Hospital Chapel
10/05/06	Valley Hispanic Icons: Part I
10/12/06	Valley Hispanic Icons: Part II; Americo Paredes	Aerial View 77 & Morgan, Harlingen
10/19/06	Flags of Our Fathers; Harlon Block , Iwo Jima	Iwo Jima Flag Raising
10/26/06	The Letzerich Building; Feedback on Old 77 Sunshine Photo	Letzerich Building
11/2/06	More Feedback on 77 Sunshine Photo; Harlingen Concert Assoc. (2 articles)	Old Municipal Auditorium; Famed Performers Here
11/9/06	Feedback on Concert Article	Rodriguez Family	Hector Eduardo Rodriguez, Harlingen
11/16/06	Feedback on Concert Article and on 77 Sunshine Photo	Continental Oil Co. Station on Harrison
11/23/06	Feedback on Conoco and 77 Sunshine Photos	Lopez Family; Conoco Station	Magdaleno Torres Sr., La Feria
11/30/06	State Applications for Markers	Noriega Family	Juan Jesus Noriega, Mercedes
12/7/06	Candlelight Ceremony Resaca de la Palma Battlefield for Mexican War Soldiers	Garcia Family	Hilario B. "Larry" Garcia III, San Benito
12/14/06	The International Style Kraigher House in Brownsville	Flados Family	Norman Flados, Palm Valley
12/21/06	Port Isabel Mexiquito 1933 Hurricane Memories; Valley Students at Seton Hall in the 1860s.	Mexiquito Scene of the 1920s
12/28/06	Civil War Landing at River's Mouth	Gregory Family	Ophelia Gregory, Harlingen
1/4/07	Runyon Family Genealogy; Matamoros Bullfights; Heritage Briefs	Matamoros Bull Ring; Early Valley Home
1/11/07	General Taylor's Legacy; St. Joseph Academy Exhibit	Painting of Taylor; Academy Memorabilia
1/18/07	La Lomita Mission, Mission	Mission Scenes
1/25/07	Robert E. Lee at Fort Brown	Lee Portrait, Castillo Family	Dora I. Salazar Castillo, Harlingen
2/1/07	Luvenia's Journal, Part 1 of 3	Burk & Bloss Families
2/8/07	Luvenia's Journal, Part 2 of 3; Tip-O-Texas Genealogy Society 45^th Anniversary; Brownsville Raid Tour; BHA Exhibit	Luvenia & Friends
2/15/07	Luvenia's Journal, Part 3 of 3	Schupp-Tomlin Family	Mary Christina Schupp-Tomlin, Harlingen
2/22/07	Brownsville Union Blockade in Civil War; Port Isabel Historic District Expansion; TSTC black History Month Events	Blockade Map; Old Point Isabel Lighthouse, Champion Building
3/1/07	Brownsville Convent School; Mexiquito Neighborhood of Port Isabel; Reese-Wil-Mond Feedback	Mexiquito Area Map & Tendajos; Convent Building
3/8/07	3 Shaped the Valley; Port Isabel/Island Ferry Boats; Library Gems (part 1)	Canal; Ferry
3/15/07	Gulf Squadron (1846 Warships); Library Gems (part 2); King of Rivers Exhibit	1848 Engraving; Exhibit Offerings
3/22/07	Alba Stimson Heywood of San Benito	Two Heywood; Two Bates	Lois Bates, Rio Hondo
3/29/07	VBMC Chapel in Brownsville Restored; Founding of LULAC: J. T. Canales Program	Chapel; Lulac
4/5/07	James B. Wells; Nopalitos Lenten Fare	Wells; Nopalitos
4/12/07	F. Yturria's Book "The Patriarch"; VMS History Award	Yturria; Goette Family	Harry J. Goette, Port Isabel
4/19/07	RV Living, Tradition in RGV	1930s RV Camping
4/26/07	La Lomita Mission Restoration; RV Feedback	La Lomita Mission
5/3/07	Lozano Building Sign Dedication	Peables Family	Woodrow "Woodie" Peables Jr., La Feria
5/10/07	Lozano Plaza Dedication; Palo Alto 161^st Anniversary; Rozeff Book Review	Lozano Family, Lozano Building
5/17/07	130^th Year Hispanic Presbyterian Church, Brownsville	Fonseca Family	Evangelina Cantu Fonseca, San Benito
5/24/07	Port Isabel Early History; Show of Brownsville Postcards	Port Isabel Aerial; VMS Honor Award
5/31/07	Pharr Heritage Tourism; Port Isabel Museums	Pharr Landmarks	Yturria Book Review

Date	Subject	Photos	Extended Obituary
6/7/07	Port Isabel Fishing History; Mexiquito Area History	Fishing, Now and Then
6/14/07	Vela/Zamora Reunion	Dodie Fowler	Dorothy "Dodie" Meade Fowler, Harlingen
6/21/07		Antonio Aguilar	Antonio Aguilar, Mexico & RGV
6/28/07	Early Laguna Madre Promotion; Manautou House, Brownsville Restoration	Shary Yacht Club, Port Isabel
7/5/07	Historic Brownsville Palm Trees	Brownsville Palms
7/12/07	Brownsville Early Wooden Road Tiles	Biggerstaff Family; Road Tile	Margery and Cecil Edwin Biggerstaff, Harlingen
7/19/07	1910-1925 Visits to South Padre Island	South Padre Island
7/26/07	Joe Sanchez's "VIPs of the Barrio"; Brownsville's Lopez-Sanchez Grocery Store; Preservation America Grant to Brownsville	Barrio Memories
8/2/07	Rio Valley Switching Company History; Port Lavaca Archeology	Donahue WWII	Archie Glen Donahue, Harlingen
8/9/07	Fresno Scraper History	Coleman Family	Bert Coleman, La Feria
8/16/07	Champion Family, Port Isabel; HAAF History	Champion & P.I. Scenes
8/23/07	Border Bandits Film	Wiggins Family	James Michael Wiggins, Harlingen
8/30/07	Port Isabel Beulah Memories I; Sams Stadium 57^th Anniversary	Beulah Devastation
9/6/07	Port Isabel Beulah Memories II; Estefana Goseascochea Cemetery	Beulah Devastation
9/13/07	Preservation Texas Nominations	Carmona and The Cruisers	Manuel Nunez Carmona Jr., Harlingen
9/20/07	Hurricane Beulah Memories	Hurricane Beulah
9/27/07	More Beulah Memories; The Valley in Grant's Memoirs	U.S. Grant, Beulah
10/4/07	Cocke's Beulah Memories Part III; Daily Sentinel (Brownsville) Found	Corona Family	Abel Corona, Rio Hondo
10/11/07	Cocke's Beulah Memories Part IV; Mercedes Beulah Experience	Beulah Scenes
10/18/07	Cocke's Beulah Memories Part V; Kraigher House, Brownsville Restoration	Kraigher House
10/25/07	Cocke's Beulah Memories Part VI; Modernist Harlingen Church Architecture	Church views
11/1/07	Cocke's Beulah Memories Part VII; Book Review "John B. Armstrong"	Beulah Damage; Armstrong Book cover
11/8/07	Rivoli Theater, San Benito, Transformation; Roberts Jewelry History	Roberts Jewelry
11/15/07	The Bell of the Bessie; Hugh Ramsey Bio; Beulah Feedback	Church Bell
11/22/07	Brownsville School Music Museum; Recovered 1955 Weslaco Middle School Time Capsule	Museum; Capsule Items
11/29/07	Ross-Bobo House History, Part I; Dyers Island; HHPS Awards	Gov. Sul Ross; Dyers Is. Map
12/6/07	Ross-Bobo House History, Part II	Ross-Bobo House
12/13/07	City Cemetery History	Sparrow Family	Howard Gaines Sparrow, Mercedes
12/20/07	Border Theater, Mission; Cinema in Harlingen, Part I	Border Theater; Rialto Theater
12/27/07	Cinema in Harlingen, Part II; Agrasanchez Mexican Movie Book	Harlingen Theaters; Mexican Film Poster
1/3/08	Cinema in Harlingen, Part III; Resaca de la Palma Preservation	Movie Theaters
1/10/08		Jackson Family	R.C. "Bob" Jackson, Harlingen
1/17/08	Forty Niners Through the Valley, Part I; SB Methodist Church Marker Unveiling	49ers Illustrations
1/24/08	Forty Niners Through the Valley, Part II	49ers Illustrations
1/31/08		Tolinger Family	Enoch Harrison "E.H." Tolinger, Jr., Lyford/Harl.
2/7/08	Farm Security Administration in the Valley	FSA Valley Scenes
2/14/08		Leston Family	Albert "Tito" Leston, Jr., Harlingen
2/21/08	Blacks in the Valley; West Columbia Park	Park Scenes
2/28/08	Blacks in the Valley: Part II	Tapia Family	Feliciano Tapia, La Encantada
3/6/08	Billy Boomerang, S.P. Island	Boomerang
3/13/08	Lonnie Davis & Black RGV History	Espinoza Family	Carmela Espinoza Rodriguez, Raymondville
3/20/08	Brownsville Buildings Restoration; Ft. Worth Cemetery Milestone	Stegman Building, Brownsville
3/27/08	Young F. Yturria with Rodeo; Calvin Walker, Brownsville Preservationist	Yturria & Gene Autry, Roy Rogers
4/3/08	Harlingen Barbers; 1971 Pharr Riots	Barbers
4/10/08	Immaculate Conception Cathedral; USS Brownsville	Cathedral; USSBrownsville
4/17/08	WWII Airman	Muniz Family; Gene Person,Veteran	Leofredo G. Muniz, Harlingen
4/24/08	1934 McAllen-Mexico Baseball Games; S. F. Austin Papers	Baseball; Austin
5/1/08	Cartas de Hidalguia Collection; Alamo Survivor Remains	Libro de Hidalguia; Susanna Dickerson
5/7/08	Soldiers in Harlingen, 1915-1917; Valley Centenarians	Runyon Soldier Photos; Centenarians
5/18/08*	Soldiers in Harlingen: Part II	Runyon Soldier Photos
5/25/08	Memorial Day History; Valley Medal of Honor Recipients; Searching for the Stuarts	Valley Medal of Honor Winners & Their Graves
6/1/08	Brownsville Old City Cemetery; Early Valley Lawman	Cemetery

Date	Subject	Photos	Extended Obituary
06/08/08	TX Role WWII; Juneteenth; Site Managers	Rodriguez Family	Ruben Rodriguez, San Benito
06/15/08	Harlingen Cemetery Survey; McAllen Historic Designation; CCHC	Harlingen Cemetery; McAllen Neighborhood
7/22/08	Heritage Festival	Gafford Family	Diana Gafford,Weslaco
7/29/08	55^th Algodon Club Ball	Algodon Participants
7/6/08	Restoring Mission Chapel; McAllen Heritage Center; Heritage Festival	Chapel
7/13/08	Ft. Brown's Commandant's House; Mexican Circus; Valley Indians	Commandant's House, Parade Grounds
7/20/08	History Junior Ghost Camp (Brownsville); Texas Buffalo Soldiers; Harlingen Cemetery	UT-Brownsville; Old Brownsville Cemetery
8/3/08	Earliest Valley Baseball; Governor's Mansion Preservation	1915 Brownsville Players
8/10/08		Weekley Family	Charles Francis Weekley, San Benito
8/17/08	Major League Baseball in Valley	Major Leaguers
8/24/08	Seacoast Folklore; Preserving Memories in a Hurricane	1910 Fishermen on Shore
8/31/08	Monty Stratton in Brownsville	Stratton as Charro Baseball Player
9/7/08	Brownsville Junior College Football, 1930s	Scorpion Football Team
9/14/08	None
9/21/08	Screwworm Program Reunion	Screwworm Workers
9/28/08	Harlingen's Skyscraper	Tower Portraits
10/5/08	Zachary Taylor & the Valley; The Forto Family (Part I)	Point Isabel Scene
10/12/08	Bollack Bldg. & Brownies Baseball Team, Brownsville; Forto Family (Part II)	Brownies Baseball Team ; Bollack Bldg.
10/19/08	Harlingen's Road History	Early Main Street, Harlingen
10/26/08	1907 German Touring Car of Mexico President Diaz	Touring Car
11/2/08	John W. Gardner, Photographer	Gardner Scenes
11/9/08	Birds of the Arroyo Colorado	Water Species Birds
11/16/08	Edcouch-Elsa School Protest Walkout, 1968	Student Protestors
11/23/08	1930s Santa Rosa Girls Basketball; Uriah Lott, Railroad Builder	Santa Rosa Team; Uriah Lott; Early Valley Locomotive
11/30/08	No articles
12/7/08	No articles
12/14/08	A Century of Change—Hidalgo County	McAllen in 1908; McAllen Now
12/21/08	Location of Lon C. Hill's Brick Kiln
12/28/08	1940 Military Exercise in Valley	Two Photos of Army Activities
1/4/09	No articles
1/11/09	No articles
1/18/09	San Benito Spiderweb Railroad	Two Railroad Pictures
1/25/09	Two Great Freezes of the Late 20^th Century	Harlingen Snowfall Fun (2)
2/1/09	San Benito's Catalyst	Col. Heywood, His Home & Farm
2/8/09	1921 KKK Presence in Valley; Restoration of Old Santa Maria Church	Founder of 2^nd KKK, Col. William Joseph Simmons
2/15/09	Origins of the Military Highway	Commemorative Cannon on 281 near Los Indios
2/22/09	York & Taniguchi, Two Famous Harlingen Architects	York House; Taniguchi House
3/1/09	Who Was Clay Davis?	Clay Davis Portrait
3/8/09	History of Harlingen's Five and Dime Stores	Various five & dime stores
3/15/09	The Amazing Story of Rose Wilder Lane, Liberty's Belle	Rose Wilder Lane
3/22/09	Al Escalante, Winner on the Links & in the Air	Escalante Golf and WWII Bombers
3/29/09	Trouble on the Border-Forto Letter	1916 Brownsville Bridge, 4 Photos
4/5/09	KKK Man's Apology	Period Photos & Man
4/12/09	56^th Algodon Ball	Algodon Participants
4/19/09	Port of Brownsville Ship Dismantling	Decommissioned Navy Ships
4/26/09	Harlingen Hardware & 302 W. Jackson History; Dona Estefana History	Two Old Ewing-Phillips Hardware Store Scenes
5/3/09	A Jewish Immigrant to South Texas & Spanish Proverbs	Edelstein Store & 100 Year Logo
5/10/09	Jewish Immigrant, etc. Part II
5/17/09	Civil War in the LRGV	Four Valley Civil War Era Prints
5/24/09	Two Lives of Service—The Porters	Civil War Sanitary Commission Print & Photo
5/31/09	Historic River Flooding in the Valley, Part I	Two Brownsville Flooding Photos
6/7/09	Historic River Flooding in the Valley, Part II	Three Rio Grande Dam Pictures

Date	Subject	Photographs/Illustrations
6/14/09	Brazos Island Post-Civil War Maps	Three Island Pictures, One Island Chart
6/21/09	Harlingen Flooding Part I	Four 1909 Flood Scenes, One 1933 One
6/28/09	56^th Annual Algodon Club Ball	Numerous Club Personalities
7/5/09	Harlingen Flooding Part II	Parkwood Area Inundation
7/12/09	Bowling History of Harlingen; City Cemetery History	Two Early Bowling Scenes
7/19/09	Harlingen Parks History Part I	Casa Del Sol, Gordon Hill Park
7/26/09	Harlingen Parks History Part II	Pendleton Pool (3)
8/2/09	Harlingen Parks History Part III	Skateboarding on Arroyo Trail
8/9/09	Harlingen Parks History Part IV	Municipal Auditorium, Soccer Complex (2)
8/16/09	Ship & Rig Construction at the Port of Brownsville	Barge Construction (3), Coastal Patrol Boat
8/23/09	Zoos in Harlingen	Hippopotamus (2)
8/30/09	Feedback: Zoo, Bowling
9/6/09	World War II Heroes; Seeking Military Artifacts	Sinking of USS Shaw (6), Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941
9/13/09	Radio Development & Wireless Stations, Part I	Navy Ships with Radio Towers, A Typical Early Wireless Setup
9/20/09	Point Isabel Wireless Station, Part II	Point Isabel & Navy Wireless Personnel
9/27/09	Two Notable Jurists of the Valley; National Hispanic Heritage Month	Reynaldo Garza, Filemon Vela
10/4/09	The Armendaiz Ranch	Three S. Texas Ranching Pictures
10/11/09	The Canals of Harlingen	Two Main Canal Scenes
10/18/09	Guinea Grass in the Valley	Guinea Grass Patches (2)
10/25/09	Harbert Davenport, Historian	Harbert Davenport, Goliad Monument
11/1/09	When the Union Helped Regain Mexican Independence, Part I	Gen. Sheridan, Gen. Grant, Benito Juarez
11/8/09	When the Union Helped Regain Mexican Independence, Part II	Generals Cortina & Mejia, Emperor Maximilian
11/15/09	Medal of Honor Winners with Harlingen Ties	Five Photos of Recipients and their Arlington Cemetery Graves
11/22/09	Airplanes, Airports and Airlines in Harlingen, Part I	WWII Control Tower, 1959 HAFB Open House, Modern Control Tower
11/29/09	Airplanes, Airports, and Airlines in Harlingen, Part II	Blackwell School of Aviation Hangar with Kreidler-Ashcraft Air Ambulance
12/6/09	Temple Beth Israel	Three Temple Exterior Scenes
12/13/09	Americo Paredes, Part I	Paredes, Middle & Two Old Age
12/20/09	Americo Paredes, Part II	Paredes, Laura Bush, Tish Hinojosa
12/27/09	Santa Rosa History Part I	Defunct Cotton Gin, old Rio Theater
1/3/10	Santa Rosa History Part II	1923 and 1928 Santa Rosa Schools
1/10/10	State Champion Trees in the LRGV	Six Examples of Local Trees
1/17/10	Rio Hondo and Its Once Wild Side	Nelson Algren (3)
1/24/10	P. E. Blalack, Early Valley Promoter	Blalack, His Wife, Hill Family and Friends (2)
1/31/2010	The New York Store and the Diana Shop: A Sweet Connection	Diana Shop Window Display and Entrance
2/14/10	Ross-Bobo House: Back From Near Oblivion	House Exterior, House Interior (3)
2/21/10	The Weed Kindergarten School and the Valley Ice Cream Company	Senior Weeds, School/Ice Parlour, Children at Tom Thumb Wedding
2/28/10	Lt. Walter H. Chatfield, Visionary	Jacals Common to the Valley (2)
3/7/10	James Henry Dishman	Dishman & Nephew, Dishman School
3/14/10	Lon C. Hill Part I	Harlingen Pumping Plant; Lon C. Hill in Middle Age
3/21/10	Lon C. Hill Part II	Hill at Canal; Canal Construction
3/28/10	Lon C. Hill Part III	Giant Flume Across Arroyo Colorado; First Land Preparation for Planting
4/4/10	Algodon Club Royal Court 2010	Numerous Court Participants
4/11/10	Lon C. Hill Part IV; Harlingen's Centennial, Special Sections AA & BB	Hill Sugar Company Mill; Lon C. Hill Building
4/18/10	Lon C. Hill Part V	Sugar Mill Yard; Juice Heaters for New Mill
4/25/10	Where the Name of Harlingen, TX Originated	Two 1907 pictures of Harlingen, New Jersey
5/2/10	Osco Morris, Early Harlingen Pioneer, Character Part I	1909 Postcard of Family on Buggy, St. Louis Brownsville & Mexico Railway Locomotive No. 1
5/9/10	Osco Morris, Early Harlingen Pioneer, Character Part II	1910 Harlingen New Bungalow; Boy Goat Herder along Harlingen Main Canal
5/16/10	The Lipan apache & Chief Flacco the Younger	THC Apache Mission Marker, Two Apache Braves
5/23/10	Betty Murray, A Generous & Gracious Lady of the Old School	Four Recent Photos of Mrs. Murray
5/30/10	Sugarcane and the Valley Part I	Three early sugarcane scenes
6/6/10	Sugarcane and the Valley Part II	Brulay Mill, RGVSG, Inc. Mill
6/13/10	The Japanese Texans of the Valley Part I Strangers in a Strange Land	Isamu Taniguchi, Isamu and Alan Taniguchi

Rainfall Data Through 2010

	Year		Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
Brownsville		Ttl Yrs
	1871	1	0.90	0.00	0.30	0.10	3.40	0.78	0.40	1.40	2.80	8.50	1.82	0.00	20.40
	1872	2	0.00	0.00	1.64	0.82	0.27	1.78	1.92	4.19	4.56	3.61	1.60	1.98	22.37
	1873	3	0.00	0.15	0.47	0.59	0.96	0.43	1.10	1.98	15.35	2.81	1.71	2.10	27.65
	1874	4	0.86	1.47	1.90	0.30	1.34	1.50	2.81	0.30	10.96	0.48	4.76	0.16	26.84
	1875	5	0.56	3.72	1.62	0.05	1.45	0.16	0.40	2.25	4.20	0.50	2.35	1.10	18.36
	1876	6	0.10	1.03	0.98	0.00	4.36	1.26	2.10	0.97	8.85	0.22	2.43	3.51	25.81
	1877	7	1.27	7.99	0.51	0.14	1.03	0.95	0.90	1.52	0.69	3.33	1.21	6.32	25.86
	1878	8	3.67	0.63	4.15	1.25	2.96	0.74	6.58	7.20	5.21	0.86	1.76	1.34	36.35
	1879	9	1.03	1.03	0.33	1.57	0.05	2.55	1.59	9.48	11.64	4.70	0.14	0.62	34.73
	1880	10	3.87	1.06	0.58	0.01	1.56	1.03	3.64	16.58	1.90	3.89	3.44	0.58	38.14
	1881	11	2.73	1.18	0.20	0.30	3.43	0.00	1.49	3.01	5.02	8.72	3.74	1.92	31.74
	1882	12	2.95	1.24	3.54	1.63	7.07	1.69	0.70	2.21	2.68	3.19	3.28	2.38	32.56
	1883	13	1.22	1.01	0.63	0.38	0.83	5.69	4.02	1.97	7.74	1.65	3.32	2.59	31.05
	1884	14	1.10	0.00	0.07	0.57	5.86	2.74	0.23	0.88	8.96	15.71	3.45	1.31	40.88
	1885	15	3.87	2.52	1.54	0.67	7.17	0.54	0.22	2.04	3.55	8.29	0.20	1.12	31.73
	1886	16	1.81	2.33	1.15	0.17	6.57	7.78	4.88	3.08	30.57	0.55	0.48	0.69	60.06
	1887	17	0.22	0.68	2.87	0.07	3.94	13.80	0.33	1.45	13.65	16.27	1.67	4.89	59.84
	1888	18	1.98	1.09	2.31	4.79	1.77	2.95	1.30	0.94	7.46	2.04	4.99	0.91	32.53
	1889	19	2.72	3.27	3.61	2.69	1.26	4.43	0.50	7.03	7.44	0.20	1.44	0.02	34.61
	1890	20	0.69	1.23	0.14	5.48	3.33	2.32	3.97	1.51	1.51	3.67	1.32	0.38	25.55
	1891	21	1.65	1.02	1.80	3.05	1.21	0.26	3.00	2.47	6.73	3.13	0.82	3.11	28.25
	1892	22	0.77	1.73	1.79	0.50	1.20	0.70	1.50	6.20	0.46	1.58	3.21	1.19	20.83
	1893	23	3.87	2.13	0.16	0.00	0.33	2.12	0.72	0.18	1.02	0.59	2.53	0.71	14.36
	1894	24	1.67	0.68	0.89	0.04	2.20	0.55	6.39	2.78	2.66	0.10	0.29	0.11	18.36
	1895	25	0.47	1.10	1.60	0.00	3.26	0.70	0.02	2.98	5.72	0.79	1.84	0.72	19.20
	1896	26	0.81	0.98	0.35	1.30	0.04	0.85	1.63	0.16	4.21	3.48	4.09	1.50	19.40
	1897	27	0.70	0.00	1.00	1.75	0.20	1.75	0.85	4.63	2.38	1.99	3.03	0.71	18.99
	1898	28	0.00	2.43	1.40	0.75	1.10	0.08	0.35	0.00	4.39	0.08	1.55	0.18	12.31
	1899	29	0.46	1.09	0.13	1.61	0.00	2.39	0.20	0.00	2.70	5.96	3.42	1.54	19.50
	1900	30	2.43	0.42	2.05	1.75	0.10	1.00	1.20	0.20	0.70	3.00	0.40	1.74	14.99
	1901	31	0.30	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.80	1.00	4.00	1.00	8.00	1.90	2.20	0.00	19.20
	1902	32	0.50	1.30	0.00	0.80	2.35	0.60	0.60	0.00	6.90	1.25	3.32	0.00	17.62
	1903	33	2.35	1.72	6.46	0.93	2.17	2.54	0.53	3.45	2.03	0.10	0.00	0.50	22.78
	1904	34	0.40	0.46	0.04	2.78	0.83	1.15	4.59	4.47	4.50	1.38	1.24	1.26	23.10
	1905	35	1.61	2.26	1.73	1.98	0.98	2.30	2.23	0.00	3.92	3.17	5.32	3.85	29.35
	1906	36	0.24	2.29	0.10	3.39	1.57	4.45	0.91	7.92	1.01	2.70	0.24	1.30	26.12
	1907	37	0.50	0.45	1.90	2.50	1.75	0.00	1.75	0.87	1.59	0.78	2.24	1.35	15.68
	1908	38	0.71	0.37	0.13	5.98	0.71	1.82	2.63	0.61	5.01	3.59	4.32	0.74	26.62
	1909	39	0.00	1.30	0.15	0.78	3.11	3.72	1.60	5.60	1.21	0.31	0.58	2.10	20.46
	1910	40	0.35	0.25	0.23	0.81	1.41	0.08	0.48	7.26	10.71	3.31	0.20	0.77	25.86
	1911	41	0.45	2.05	1.78	2.05	1.84	1.21	0.63	0.00	2.75	0.66	1.54	2.16	17.12
	1912	42	3.28	0.17	0.20	1.76	1.59	12.78	0.13	0.12	2.35	13.53	1.40	1.51	38.82
	1913	43	2.05	1.00	1.86	0.38	1.12	4.96	0.28	1.04	14.38	1.76	0.64	1.17	30.64
	1914	44	0.10	2.28	1.86	1.16	9.03	0.63	0.00	0.68	0.86	2.58	5.13	2.19	26.50
	1915	45	3.35	0.04	1.99	1.04	0.50	0.00	0.15	2.58	2.54	0.82	0.14	4.30	17.45
	1916	46	0.19	0.08	0.07	1.28	0.37	0.17	4.52	5.58	3.21	2.23	1.39	0.69	19.78
	1917	47	0.28	0.20	1.51	0.43	2.57	0.71	4.52	0.29	1.03	0.00	0.29	0.32	12.15
	1918	48	0.08	0.81	0.94	2.59	4.31	1.39	1.34	0.40	0.97	3.37	2.16	3.55	21.91
	1919	49	4.56	1.08	0.44	2.39	1.97	5.08	6.79	0.25	7.69	4.52	2.34	1.08	38.19
	1920	50	1.13	0.75	0.76	0.00	2.90	6.70	2.18	0.00	0.34	3.56	2.42	0.05	20.79
	1921	51	2.26	0.65	0.88	0.52	2.40	4.59	2.81	0.14	3.82	1.90	1.22	0.17	21.36
	1922	52	1.51	3.17	1.29	1.52	3.90	5.55	1.92	2.43	12.61	0.74	3.67	0.38	38.69
	1923	53	0.13	7.64	1.32	0.35	0.48	1.98	1.53	1.34	4.55	5.45	3.34	2.86	30.97
	1924	54	3.42	0.87	0.12	0.11	3.60	7.00	1.40	0.28	7.29	5.12	0.03	3.53	32.77
	1925	55	0.42	0.10	2.64	1.65	2.91	2.59	0.04	1.96	19.21	3.99	1.75	3.72	40.98
	1926	56	2.72	0.02	1.96	2.97	2.89	3.35	3.81	1.84	4.27	2.68	0.30	5.62	32.43
	1927	57	1.46	0.46	0.17	0.87	0.28	6.51	1.19	0.41	4.82	2.56	1.32	2.61	22.66
	1928	58	1.33	1.73	0.16	1.70	6.48	2.68	0.71	0.51	8.91	2.93	4.88	1.64	33.66
	1929	59	0.46	0.27	0.26	0.88	8.60	1.54	4.69	3.29	5.16	1.23	1.72	0.62	28.72
	1930	60	0.56	1.09	1.41	3.09	5.07	3.01	0.42	0.53	2.80	9.36	5.95	0.42	33.71
	1931	61	4.56	0.81	1.19	0.57	0.86	1.02	2.79	2.23	1.43	4.47	0.88	1.85	22.66
	1932	62	1.48	1.80	2.39	6.59	0.56	3.48	0.17	1.12	9.88	6.36	0.59	0.75	35.17
	1933	63	0.22	0.84	0.40	0.53	4.85	0.41	4.50	8.06	13.58	3.10	2.42	0.05	38.96
	1934	64	2.37	0.82	2.31	2.35	1.50	0.27	3.64	0.98	7.49	0.35	0.66	1.18	23.92
	1935	65	0.90	0.27	0.88	2.04	1.64	4.97	0.85	1.14	5.20	2.28	0.95	3.93	25.05
	1936	66	0.41	1.56	0.58	2.02	4.05	0.66	5.43	6.70	8.15	0.61	0.45	2.41	33.03
	1937	67	2.07	1.29	0.84	0.29	4.99	0.01	4.40	1.28	1.76	3.38	0.92	5.84	27.07
	1938	68	0.83	0.20	1.90	0.59	5.05	2.60	0.20	4.20	0.73	2.02	1.17	1.68	21.17
	1939	69	2.88	0.19	0.53	2.27	5.07	6.17	1.48	2.38	4.96	2.12	0.22	0.50	28.77
	1940	70	0.76	0.36	3.63	0.03	2.02	0.64	0.60	0.30	1.87	3.96	2.49	9.45	26.11
	1941	71	0.65	1.40	4.27	2.77	4.13	11.35	0.38	0.77	5.91	6.66	1.70	4.09	44.08
	1942	72	0.85	1.51	0.28	0.10	1.67	13.06	0.62	2.64	2.46	0.61	0.86	0.40	25.06
	1943	73	1.80	0.03	0.31	0.04	5.46	0.27	0.34	0.24	7.27	1.62	3.11	4.82	25.31
	1944	74	0.52	0.41	1.26	1.59	5.26	1.91	2.41	7.08	6.54	3.59	0.65	1.65	32.87
	1945	75	5.11	0.50	0.20	1.23	2.26	1.08	1.51	5.61	3.13	5.62	2.76	0.72	29.73
	1946	76	2.75	1.51	0.03	5.85	0.52	2.89	0.09	2.09	8.05	3.72	0.67	0.38	28.55
	1947	77	0.22	1.09	0.32	1.44	3.65	0.14	2.81	6.93	2.34	1.54	1.76	1.74	23.98
	1948	78	1.50	1.67	0.57	0.02	2.78	1.46	3.02	1.38	8.90	1.29	0.32	0.02	22.93
	1949	79	0.39	3.10	0.41	1.49	1.85	1.77	5.59	4.14	7.40	0.56	0.01	2.14	28.85
	1950	80	0.18	0.71	1.96	0.44	1.16	7.58	0.11	0.49	2.82	2.23	0.75	0.02	18.45
	1951	81	0.68	1.10	1.27	0.31	2.37	1.37	0.40	6.11	4.97	5.35	0.20	0.08	24.21
	1952	82	0.10	0.27	0.16	0.45	2.47	3.63	1.39	0.50	5.56	1.78	1.90	0.62	18.83
	1953	83	0.00	0.42	0.26	0.68	0.21	0.01	0.53	4.99	0.50	2.97	0.38	0.64	11.59
	1954	84	0.27	0.00	0.29	0.92	0.26	2.89	0.18	0.60	4.73	10.95	0.89	0.08	22.06
	1955	85	1.15	0.84	0.18	0.22	0.01	0.01	3.61	1.85	8.30	2.05	0.55	0.09	18.86
	1956	86	0.00	1.94	0.29	4.75	0.48	4.02	0.05	0.57	3.25	0.67	0.67	0.05	16.74
	1957	87	0.35	5.20	1.97	1.85	2.24	6.34	0.10	3.45	1.34	2.03	6.26	1.27	32.40
	1958	88	3.98	10.25	0.84	0.06	1.71	0.77	1.68	1.28	6.18	17.12	1.61	2.03	47.51
	1959	89	2.98	2.92	0.60	2.62	0.07	4.90	1.09	1.07	0.07	3.21	2.71	0.61	22.85
	1960	90	0.65	1.51	1.10	2.52	1.78	3.19	0.34	2.83	4.88	3.67	1.18	2.65	26.30
	1961	91	1.95	0.30	0.04	2.68	0.47	0.48	0.91	3.10	13.30	0.34	1.63	0.77	25.97
	1962	92	0.60	0.05	1.12	1.21	3.20	3.98	0.00	0.13	1.98	1.04	0.84	1.84	15.99
	1963	93	0.23	0.65	0.08	0.09	4.51	2.99	0.76	0.14	4.31	1.03	1.23	2.74	18.76
	1964	94	0.35	1.32	0.26	1.05	3.12	0.39	0.22	0.11	4.94	0.40	0.60	2.76	15.52
	1965	95	0.51	1.57	0.13	0.10	1.16	0.07	1.83	3.12	5.40	0.74	2.60	3.98	21.21
	1966	96	3.45	0.83	0.53	0.80	6.05	2.18	1.58	0.50	0.52	7.45	0.02	0.68	24.59
	1967	97	1.69	1.05	0.44	0.00	0.64	1.51	0.58	5.95	19.26	2.82	0.63	1.10	35.67
	1968	98	3.00	0.80	1.08	1.27	5.90	4.71	1.20	2.70	4.44	3.39	0.85	0.10	29.44
	1969	99	0.51	1.81	0.32	0.24	6.69	0.08	0.23	7.76	3.80	3.25	3.10	0.00	27.79
	1970	100	4.12	0.22	0.34	2.22	3.28	1.64	2.35	1.79	6.95	3.28	0.14	0.12	26.45
	1971	101	0.22	0.30	0.00	1.82	2.47	3.44	1.08	2.64	10.78	3.11	0.74	1.08	27.68
	1972	102	1.30	2.72	1.14	1.54	2.02	8.52	5.16	0.90	4.22	3.33	1.25	0.74	32.84
	1973	103	2.07	4.74	0.13	0.69	1.24	7.57	0.59	2.80	4.61	3.77	0.88	0.53	29.62
	1974	104	0.65	0.01	0.20	0.52	1.82	4.59	1.02	0.02	4.93	2.60	0.65	0.78	17.79
	1975	105	0.60	0.09	0.01	0.01	2.22	2.19	4.78	9.56	4.77	0.51	1.66	2.17	28.57
	1976	106	0.48	0.03	1.28	5.71	4.95	0.80	9.43	3.08	3.11	8.34	2.11	1.47	40.79
	1977	107	1.24	1.37	0.12	6.62	0.76	4.73	0.27	1.27	2.84	2.87	4.07	0.14	26.30
	1978	108	1.94	1.29	0.01	2.39	0.00	2.25	0.39	3.20	8.28	4.45	0.82	1.86	26.88
	1979	109	1.43	1.10	0.14	3.91	0.59	1.52	2.10	5.25	8.84	1.18	0.12	2.04	28.22
	1980	110	1.05	1.74	0.28	0.01	1.78	0.02	1.46	7.29	1.48	2.26	2.50	1.90	21.77
	1981	111	1.79	0.76	3.47	0.34	5.88	2.29	2.65	4.47	5.05	2.47	0.33	0.75	30.25
	1982	112	0.04	0.75	0.19	4.08	9.12	0.18	0.00	1.04	2.42	1.63	3.11	2.70	25.26
	1983	113	1.10	2.62	0.61	0.00	1.41	1.78	6.11	2.34	8.61	2.53	0.52	0.48	28.11
	1984	114	4.79	0.42	0.13	0.00	6.18	2.44	1.59	1.80	20.18	0.93	0.02	1.85	40.33
	1985	115	1.49	0.54	0.40	1.91	4.21	6.47	4.18	2.10	6.04	4.04	1.02	0.42	32.82
	1986	116	0.00	0.21	0.00	0.87	2.89	3.72	0.35	2.14	1.71	4.61	7.69	2.42	26.61
	1987	117	2.46	2.26	0.58	1.39	1.52	4.78	1.64	0.73	4.70	4.44	3.83	0.42	28.75
	1988	118	3.97	1.53	1.42	0.00	0.25	2.86	1.00	2.56	7.48	1.80	0.14	0.07	23.08
	1989	119	1.94	0.08	0.17	3.83	1.23	2.35	2.13	1.25	2.46	3.06	0.93	1.73	21.16
	1990	120	0.58	0.56	0.81	1.55	2.72	1.08	1.53	2.87	3.90	2.29	0.91	0.05	18.85
	1991	121	0.47	2.50	0.02	10.35	2.97	1.93	2.36	0.89	5.57	3.33	0.15	1.18	31.72
	1992	122	3.55	1.99	0.12	4.15	5.55	1.50	0.40	3.71	3.62	0.85	5.61	0.85	31.90
	1993	123	1.79	2.86	1.68	0.34	3.64	6.72	0.00	0.04	1.93	4.69	1.25	2.29	27.23
	1994	124	2.01	0.44	1.84	0.71	1.25	3.32	0.15	3.39	4.09	3.94	1.42	1.54	24.10
	1995	125	0.64	0.57	0.64	0.13	0.17	5.82	0.07	8.25	2.11	8.79	1.83	0.98	30.00
	1996	126	0.07	0.15	0.01	0.50	0.08	0.01	0.65	5.77	8.57	11.49	0.66	0.77	28.73
	1997	127	0.61	0.42	5.94	4.78	2.06	1.47	0.01	1.80	4.77	13.03	0.87	0.46	36.22
	1998	128	0.37	1.72	0.62	0.04	0.01	0.30	0.01	1.36	7.82	3.59	3.72	0.29	19.85
	1999	129	0.26	1.49	3.01	0.14	3.59	2.30	1.86	2.61	3.99	0.69	2.77	0.32	23.03
	2000	130	0.85	0.19	2.89	0.39	1.87	0.85	0.28	4.29	0.66	2.71	0.41	1.10	16.49
	2001	131	0.48	1.43	0.36	1.10	0.49	2.21	1.81	1.8	3.25	0.36	2.42	1.02	16.73
	2002	132	0.09	0.98	0.22	0.64	1.96	1.88	0.07	1.87	6.04	8.31	4.22	1.24	27.52
	2003	133	0.69	0.55	0.56	0.41	0.19	3.24	2.58	2.74	15.13	6.90	0.44	0.31	33.74
	2004	134	1.84	0.79	3.63	2.85	5.37	3.19	0.38	2.35	4.05	1.98	1.82	1.46	29.71
	2005	135	0.57	0.78	0.24	0.03	1.17	0.06	3.32	0.77	2.70	1.43	1.84	1.50	14.41
	2006	136	0.68	0.14	0.42	0.05	3.47	0.24	1.90	2.89	3.67	5.02	1.16	2.04	21.68
	2007	137	1.84	0.90	5.50	0.56	1.91	5.23	4.73	3.16	5.32	1.02	0.77	0.11	31.05
	2008	138	1.34	0.04	0.28	3.35	0.61	0.62	13.24	2.61	9.57	3.26	2.98	0.47	38.37
	2009	139	0.11	0.47	0.11	0.00	5.42	0.49	0.24	0.60	9.43	3.12	1.46	5.64	27.09
	2010	140	0.61	4.08	0.90	1.53	2.99

Years			140	140	140	140	140	139	139	139	139	139	139	139	138
Average			1.33	1.26	1.06	1.46	2.51	2.63	1.83	2.60	5.56	3.39	1.78	1.50	27.09

Automaker/Plant Name	Year Plant Opened	Models/Vehicles Manufactured
General Motors
Ramos-Arizpe	1981	Buick Rendezvous, Pontiac Aztek
Silao	1994	Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe, Avalanche, GMC Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade EXT, ESV
Toluca	1994	Chevrolet, GMC medium–duty commercial cab-chassis trucks (C series)
Ford
Cuautitlan	1970	F-250, F-350 pickups, F650/F-750 cab and chassis, Ford Ikon
Monterrey	1988	F-53 Class
DaimlerChrysler
Saltillo Truck	1995	Dodge Ram, Ram Quad Cab
Santiago Tianguistenco Mfg.	1997	Freightliner M2, Mercedes-Benz FLD and FLN trucks
Toluca Car	1968	Chrysler Sebring convertible, Dodge Stratus, Dodge Cirrus, Chrysler PT Cruiser
Nissan
Aguascalientes	1982	Nissan Sentra, Tsuru, Tsubame, Platina; Renault Clio
Cuernavaca	1966	Nissan Sentra, Tsuru, Tsubame; Renault Scenic
Volkswagen
Puebla	1964	VW A4 Jetta, New Beetle