1st Cold Front in the Rgv Funny
December 2014 ...
The Civil War Era in the RGV
After the end of the Mexican-American War the population of Texas grew rapidly as migrants poured into the cotton lands of the state. In addition to Americans moving into Texas, thousands immigrated from Germany and Czechoslovakia.
Cotton plantations brought with them slavery, and in 1860, 30% of the total state's population of 604,215 were slaves. Texas declared its secession from the United States on February 1, 1861, and joined the Confederate States of America on March 2, 1861.
It is estimated that in 1861 only one third of the white population in Texas supported the Confederacy.
Those loyal to the Union were mainly from the northern counties, the German districts and the Mexican areas. Large scale massacres against these unionists caused many to flee south across the Rio Grande River into Mexico.
During the Civil War, the Rio Grande River delta was a vital depot for the Confederate cotton trade.
With Union ships blockading ports from Virginia to Texas, Confederate leaders transported their "white gold" across the Rio Grande, loaded it onto Mexican flagships in the Port of Bagdad and sailed it safely past the blockading forces.
Fort Brown, in Brownsville, became a strategic location for this thriving trade. In November 1863, Union troops invaded Texas at Brazos Island and marched inland successfully occupying Brownsville in an attempt to halt the flow of cotton. They held the territory until July 1864 when Confederate troops recaptured the city. Union forces were forced to withdraw to Brazos Island where they remained stationed for the remainder of the war.
Few battles actually took place in Texas during the civil war. However, the Rio Grande Valley is the site of the last battle of the war. The Battle of Palmito Ranch was fought in May 1865, one month after the surrender of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in April 1865. Ironically, the Confederate troops claimed a victory in this the final conflict of the Civil War.
The Lost Cities of the Rio Grande Valley
The Port of Bagdad Bagdad, Tamaulipas, Mexico was a town established in 1848 on the south bank of the mouth of the Rio Grande River inside the municipality of Matamoros. In 1861 Matamoros had a population of about 40,000 and the Port of Bagdad population was nearly 12,000.
Prior to the American Civil War, Bagdad was but a recreational destination for the residents of Matamoros. When the Mexican- American War broke out, Matamoros was split into two cities.
Those residents with loyalties to the United States moved north of the Rio Bravo (the Rio Grande) and created Brownsville. However, Bagdad continued on as a destination for recreation for the people of both cities.
During the American Civil War, Union warships bottled up Southern ports. In response, the Confederacy opened a back door on the Rio Grande River, which by treaty was an international waterway.
Cotton was the "white gold" that would sustain the Confederacy during the Civil War, and cotton was literally "King" in south Texas. Richard King, owner of the famed King Ranch, along with several partners, was a major player in the cotton trade during this time period.
Cotton was hauled by wagon, oxcart and mule cart to Matamoros where many speculators and agents vied for this valuable commodity to ship to Europe. They offered in exchange vital goods: guns, ammunition, drugs, shoes & cloth. At Bagdad, cotton was loaded from small boats onto ships in the Gulf of Mexico. Goods crossing here played an important role in the South's war effort.
Clarksville
Clarksville, Texas was near the mouth of the Rio Grande, opposite the Mexican city of Bagdad. During the Mexican War a temporary army camp stood there, with William H. Clark, a civilian, in charge.
Clark set up a country store and served as agent for the steamship lines using the port. The town quickly developed; houses were built up on stilts to be above high water. During the early part of the Civil War Clarksville thrived on the trade of the Confederate blockade- runners, but in 1863 it was captured by federals, who held it most of the time until the end of the war.
Brazos Santiago
The Port of Brazos Santiago was located on Brazos Island in what is now Cameron County, across Brazos Santiago Pass from the south end of Padre Island.
By 1867 the north end of Brazos Island was a well-developed military port with three wharves on Brazos Santiago Pass, a railroad south to Boca Chica and on to Whites Ranch on the Rio Grande, four barracks, a hospital with four outbuildings, two gun emplacements, numerous warehouse buildings, and a lighthouse. After the Civil War the troops left Brazos Island, and the small town of Brazos faded away. 
Natures Fury
On October 7, 1867 an intense hurricane struck the mouth of the Rio Grande with great fury and devastated the towns of Clarksville, Texas, Brazos Santiago, Texas and Bagdad, Tamaulipas, Mexico. In 1874, another storm roared ashore at the mouth of the Rio Grande River. A storm surge of over twenty feet inundated much of the shore from the mouth of the river north. These natural disasters spelled the end of the Lost Cities of The Rio Grande Valley and very little physical evidence remains today to prove their existence.
January 2015 ...
Early Development of the Rio Grande Valley as an Agricultural Center
The lower Rio Grande contains good agricultural land, the region being a true delta and the soil varying from sandy and silty loam through loam to clay. The area of about 43,000 square miles witnessed a tremendous development in a period of about thirty years from the late 1800s to through the early 1900s.
This spectacular development is attributable to two factors: the introduction of irrigation on a large scale in 1898 and the building of the railroad in 1904.
Before that time the Valley was little more than quasi-desert rangeland. When the Spanish first occupied the area around 1750, they settled on the right bank of the river and divided the area north of the river into great cattle-ranch grants. The first American settlement in the area was Brownsville, which was founded as a result of the invasion of Zachary Taylor and the United States Army in the Mexican War (1846). The town, which sprang up around Fort Brown, remained practically the only settlement of size or distinction in the Valley for over half a century. The coming of the railroad and irrigation made the Valley into a major agricultural center. In Hidalgo County, land that had been selling for 25 cents an acre in 1903, the year before the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway arrived, was selling for $50 an acre in 1906 and for as much as $300 an acre by 1910.
A large-scale migration of midwestern farmers in the teens and twenties, matched by a growing surge of Mexican immigration during the same period, led to dramatic population growth in Valley counties.
The population of Cameron County grew from just over 16,000 in 1900 to 77,540 in 1930; that of Hidalgo County climbed from 6,534 in 1900 to 38,110 in 1920 and just over 77,000 in 1930. By 1930 the population of the four lower Rio Grande valley counties exceeded 176,000.
After the arrival of the railroad in 1905 the town of McAllen began developing. With the introduction of an irrigation system vegetable farming was now possible. The Valley became a truck garden center for tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, beets, corn, green beans, and onions.
Cotton and sorghum became important staples early on, but the most important crop in the region is citrus fruit.
Introduced commercially in the region in 1904, citrus fruit culture has survived severe freezes in 1949, 1951, 1961, 1983 and 1989.
Soon McAllen had a hotel, a grocery store, a Presbyterian church, a bank, and a weekly newspaper. In 1916 after bandits caused border trouble 12,000 soldiers were sent here to restore law and order. Business boomed with the increased population.
The Casa de Palmas Hotel, opened in 1918 and served as a business, social, and civic center for the Rio Grande Valley.
February 2015 ...
THE "MAGIC VALLEY"
When it comes to understanding how the Rio Grande Valley became The Magic Valley, two pioneers stand in the forefront: John H. Shary and Lloyd Millard Bentsen, Sr.
John H. Shary
John Harry Shary, the son of Bohemian immigrants was born on a Saline County, Nebraska, farm on March 2, 1872. At the age of 22, John joined a California redwood lumber firm for which he traveled throughout the United States and in Canada.
He became interested in land investments and development, particularly in Texas.
Between 1906 and 1910 he and George H. Paul developed 250,000 acres in the cotton producing area around Corpus Christi, operating from out-of-state offices with special trains transporting prospective buyers to South Texas on a weekly basis.
Impressed by the commercial potential of citrus-growing experiments in the lower Rio Grande Valley region John Shary bought and subdivided more than 50,000 acres of land in the Valley and installed an irrigation system.
With the financial help of Jesse H. Jones he bought most of the early experimental citrus groves, especially grapefruit, and from them he harvested some of the early commercial citrus crops after World War I.
John became very influential in the Valley. He headed numerous commercial firms, including banks, land companies, and newspapers, and was a director of the Intercoastal Canal Association and the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway Company. John and his wife Mary lived on the Shary Estate in Sharyland, northeast of Mission. They also maintained homes in Omaha, Nebraska, and Branson, Missouri, thus qualifying them as what we today call "Winter Texans".
Lloyd M. Bentsen Sr.
In 1918, heeding medical advice, Peter and Tena Bentsen left their homestead in Argo Township, South Dakota and drove by car for 17 days and 1,675 miles to Sharyland, Texas. They were accompanied by their son Lloyd and his wife, Dolly. Arriving penniless, Peter Bentsen rented a place in Mission and began working as a land agent for John Shary.
Lloyd and his brother Elmer Bentsen became the premier colonizers and developers of Hidalgo County, which led all counties of the United States in cotton production and raised a good part of the Valley's 1948 $100 million citrus and vegetable crop. In 1952 the county centennial program described the contribution of Lloyd and Elmer's stake in the county's economic development. The Pride O Texas citrus trademark contributed substantially to the fortune that the Bentsen family began amassing.
Elmer and Lloyd were principals in the Elsa State Bank, Elmer a president and director and Lloyd on the board of directors.
Lloyd was also a principal in the First National banks of McAllen, Mission, Edinburg, Raymondville, and Brownsville. He served as president of the Rio Grande Valley Chamber of Commerce from 1944 to 1946 and was instrumental in uniting and developing Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, and Willacy counties. Later in life he became sensitive to preserving the natural environment of the Valley and donated land that became the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Scenic Park.
May 2015 ...
The Forgotten Americans ... The Story of Rio Rico
In 1906 the Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company owned the tract of land south of Mercedes, TX which is now known as the Horcon Tract. Located on this tract of land was a small Texas town called Rio Rico. Owners of the company were concerned that the Rio Grande River, the official boundary between Texas and Mexico, would shift its course leaving their new irrigation pumping station high and dry.
Without legal authorization, they diverted the river's course manually by blasting and digging a new channel north of the town of Rio Rico. When all was said and done, Rio Rico, TX was left south of the river.
American authorities charged the company with violating treaties with Mexico that forbade artificial water diversions. Those treaties also stipulated that while such diversions might change the course of the river, they did not change the international boundary. The company paid a $10,000 fine in 1911, and also paid $2,000 to survey and mark the international boundary in the nowdry riverbed.
Even though the tract of land was legally still a part of the United States, its location, now south of the river, caused it to come under the jurisdiction of Mexican authorities in the area.
Local Texans paid little attention to this situation. In fact the town of Rio Rico prospered as a gambling community during the prohibition years. A Chicago syndicate, rumored to have ties to Al Capone himself, developed Rio Rico in 1928. They built a greyhound race track and saloons and welcomed Texans to come and enjoy themselves. Some say that they may have smuggled narcotics out of Mexico by hiding the drugs under the blankets placed over the dogs after a race.
For 10 cents, anyone could cross a two lane, 260-foot suspension bridge built in 1928 linking Rio Rico, on the south end of the bridge, and Thayer, Texas. "The story goes, in one year they paid back the bridge completely on that 10-cent fee. That's how many people went over there," said Laurier McDonald, retired Edinburg attorney and local historian.
The town's resort status plummeted at the end of prohibition in the mid-1930s. When a storm washed away the bridge in 1941, the town became just another small border town.
Legal Ramifications
When the Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company paid the fines imposed and the cost of surveying the international boundary, they neglected to pay an additional $200 to place markers defining those boundaries.
After prohibition was repealed Rio Rico faded into the past and became just another sleepy border town. Persistent flooding caused residents of the town to relocate farther south to where it is presently located. Mexican authorities continued to govern the area even though officially it was still in United States territory.
For three decades Texans virtually ignored Rio Rico as though it never existed. Then in 1967 James E. Hill Jr. was writing a scholarly treatise and stumbled upon the forgotten EI Horcon Tract. Calling the tax assessor of Hidalgo County, Hill asked if they were collecting taxes on the Texas land. He was told they weren't since the county had no control of Rio Rico because it was south of the river, Mexico territory.
Though the residents of Rio Rico were nicknamed the Lost Americans, the Forgotten Americans, nothing more was done until Homero Cantu Trevino entered the picture, walking into the Edinburg, TX law office of Laurier McDonald to inquire about immigration papers. As fate would have it, McDonald had been talking to the County Tax Assessor and knew of the stories of Rio Rico and the Horcon Tract.
When Cantu stated his birthplace as Rio Rico, McDonald's interest was piqued. "As far as I'm concerned, based on what you told me, you're an American citizen," McDonald told Cantu.
As a result of this chance encounter and the litigation that followed, Cantu was declared an American Citizen by Interim Decision No. 2748 in Hidalgo County.
In 1970, the U.S. ceded the territory to Mexico in the Boundary Treaty of 1970, the American-Mexican Treaty Act of October 25, 1972 authorized the U.S.'s participation and the handover to Mexico took place in 1977.
At the announcement of Rio Rico being American soil from 1906 to 1972, Rio Rico became a virtual ghost town overnight as residents flocked to the U.S. to gain their rightful citizenship. From around the world, non-Americans called, claiming Rio Rico as their birthplace hoping for that elusive U.S. citizenship. McDonald helped over 250 claim their legal rights as Americans.
If only the land and irrigation company had paid the $200 for those silly little markers, copious amounts of time and money would have been saved.
On a final note... in 1978, Hidalgo County received a check in the amount of $7,873 for back taxes for Rio Rico.
May 2016 ...
Crisis On The Border ... 100 Years Ago
Crisis is defined as a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger.
While the Valley has certainly faced a challenge during the past few years regarding the increasing numbers of Central American refugees, it can hardly be considered a crisis as referred to by mainstream media throughout the country. If you want to understand what a true crisis on the border is, you only need to go back in time one hundred years.
On the night of October 18, 1915, around 10:45 pm, the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railroad train suddenly derailed about seven miles north of Brownsville. 
A group of sixty men swarmed the passenger cars shooting Anglos on sight. In a span of only about fifteen minutes the train's engineer and three passengers were killed and the fireman and three other passengers were wounded. The raiders made off with about $325 in cash in addition to jewels, watches and even shoes. They then headed across the Rio Grande returning to Mexico.
History books declare that the holdup was the work of Tejanos and Mexican renegades, using the chaos of the Mexican Revolution for their own purposes; to get money, to kill whites or maybe even to wrest control of the Southwest from America. But this was more than just an extreme case of banditry. The wreck and robbery was part of a Mexican invasion of Texas as laid out in the Plan de San Diego resulting in the Bandit War.
The Plan de San Diego called for a popular uprising of American Blacks, Hispanics and Indians in February 1915. They would capture Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and California which would all revert to Mexican control. Most alarming to American residents living near the border was the fact that the Plan ordered all Anglo males over the age of 16 to be killed. 
It is widely believed that the man behind this sinister plot was none other than Venustiano Carranza, the brilliant, devious and ruthless de facto ruler of Mexico at the time. It is unlikely that he really believed that Mexico could regain control of Texas and the Southwest. But the Plan could get him diplomatic recognition from the US government. The key, of course, was to keep Carranza's role hidden from the Americans and to blame his rivals or his Tejano allies for the violence that was to come. He played on the arrogance of U.S. and Texas officials, who believed that no Mexican was smart enough to pull off such a deal.
In spite of the February start date, the offensive didn't really begin until July 1915. A band of 30 Mexican raiders roamed across south Texas, robbing and threatening residents, and killing at least one Anglo. Under pressure from residents and commercial interests in the region Texas Gov. James Ferguson created Texas Ranger Company D and appointed Henry Lee Ransom as its first captain. Ransom was ordered to clean things up using all means necessary. With a "shoot first and ask questions later" reputation he was more than happy to comply.
On August 3, 1915 U.S. forces and a group of raiders battled at Aniceto Pizaña's ranch, about 18 miles north of Brownsville. Pizaña, along with former Cameron County Deputy Sheriff Luis de la Rosa, would become known as combat leaders of the Plan de San Diego.
In the town of Sebastian, on August 6, a store was robbed by bandits who captured and murdered two Anglos. Rangers and local law officers responded by attacking the ranch of a suspected Plan member, killing him and one of his sons. Responding to reports that a Plan raid was in the works, a detachment from the Army's 12th Cavalry, along with some customs inspectors and the local deputy sheriff, went to Norias, home to the sub-headquarters of the legendary King Ranch. On the evening of August 8 about 60 riders attacked.
The American defenders held out for more than two hours, even though four of them were wounded. The bandit leader was shot and killed during the fighting and his followers decided to retreat, leaving seven Mexican corpses behind.
Tensions were running high. The Anglos were in fear of a local uprising, while Tejanos feared brutality from the Rangers. Governor Ferguson responded to the crisis on the border by increasing the size of the Ranger force and ordering almost all of it to south Texas.
General Frederick Funston, the commander of the Army's Southern Department, believed that more raids were imminent. He positioned 40 small Army detachments, a total of 2,500 men, throughout South Texas.
Brutality was present on both sides of the conflict. Some Tejanos and Mexicans who were thought to be tied to the Plan were simply killed, no trial necessary. The Mexicans attempted a number of assassinations of U.S. officials; a couple of which were successful. On September 24, nearly 100 Plan fighters, accompanied by Carranza soldiers, crossed the Rio Grande and attacked the town of Progreso. They looted and burned the place, and captured Army Pvt. Richard Johnson, taking him with them when they retreated back to Mexico. Johnson was executed, and two Carranza men removed his ears as souvenirs. His head was cut off and placed on a pole for the Americans to see.
On October 19, 1915 the United States gave diplomatic recognition to Carranza as president of Mexico. Five days later, he ended the Bandit War. True to his ruthless nature, Carranza abandoned his Tejano allies leaving them to be captured or killed.
It is not clear just how many people died during the four months of the Bandit War. Some estimates go as high as 5,000. What is clear is that this was truly a time of crisis along the border and the challenges we face here today pale in comparison.
August 2016 ...
Pancho Villa's Forces Fire Upon American Pilots Near Brownsville
In September 1914 the 1st Aero Squadron was organized based at North Island, San Diego, California. In response to tensions along the Texas - Mexico border four pilots and three planes, Curtiss JN-2s, were transferred to Ft. Brown in Brownsville, Texas in March 1915.
On April 20, 1915 Byron Q. Jones took off from Fort Brown with aviation pioneer, Lt. Thomas D. Milling. Their mission was to scout the forces of Pancho Villa who were staging in the Mexican city of Matamoros.
About 15 minutes into the flight, the U.S. aircraft drew the attention of Villa's forces, who opened fire with at least one machine gun, as well as small arms. Jones was able to maintain his composure under fire. He opened the throttle and nosed up, climbing to 2,600 feet to avoid the gunfire. He maneuvered away from the river and was able to return safely to Fort Brown.
This marked the first time ever that an American pilot was fired upon during an aerial combat mission.
Source: https://rgvaff.com/series_history.html
0 Response to "1st Cold Front in the Rgv Funny"
Post a Comment