By Juan Montoya
Odds are that if you ask any Brownsville school children, or for that matter, teachers, who Doña Estefana Goseacochea de Cavazos de Cortina was, or what she did, you'd get a blank stare.
Not only have the accomplishments of this great Latina woman gone unnoticed by Texas and local history, but the importance of her family's pioneer efforts in South Texas have been obscured by time and the myopia of Anglo historians.
Doña Estefana was one of the pioneer Latinas who came to South Texas bringing with them the civilizing agents of education and religion. She was born in Camargo, Mexico, in 1782 (the Rio Grande wasn't a border then) and died in 1867 on her El Carmen ranch at 85.
Until the settlers came, the land was inhabited by wandering nomads who neither cultivated the land nor developed it. With the coming of Salvador de la Garza (her father and grantee of the Espiritu Santo Land Grant), all that changed.
P. G. Cavazos, her Great-great grandson, from San Pedro, was instrumental in getting the Texas Historical Commission to erect a marker on Doña Estefana's family cemetery off Military Highway where she and her family once operated her ranching empire.
Hers was one of the first ones established in Cameron County. El Carmen Ranch was named after Doña Estefana’s daughter. Rancho Viejo was established by her father in 1770. El Carmen Avenue, named after her daughter, connected these two ranches. Santa Rita (now Villanueva, and the first seat of Cameron County) was also founded by Doña Estefana.
Cavazos said Doña Estefana would always make sure a chapel was built on every new ranch that was founded. Also, she made sure her children received an education, and they, in turn, would set up schools in the ranches for the sons and daughter of her ranch hands.
Thus, this pioneer woman, in fact, initiated the custom and culture of education long before the State of Texas, Cameron County, the City of Brownsville, or even the Brownsville Independent School District, existed. One of her sons (Jose Maria) went on to become a tax-assessor collector for the eventual Cameron County and another (Sabas) would become a wealthy and successful rancher dominating the local agrarian economy. Her deeds and accomplishments are often overshadowed by the activities and controversy surrounding her youngest son, Juan Cortina. However, there is no reason why her impact on the economic and social development of the area should take a back seat to his activities.
The new Veterans Memorial High School built buy the Brownsville Independent School District is literally in the old La Carmen ranch's front yard. Carmen Avenue is on the property’s east side. Her son’s (Sabas) historical cemetery lies in San Pedro, on the north side of the school. Her historical cemetery lies on the school's southeast side. Rancho Viejo, her father’s ranch, lies to its north.
In other words, this is the very land where Doña Estefana was proselytizing and spreading the good message of religion and education.
Her descendants include members of virtually every original family in South Texas. The Cavazos, Cortinas, Olivieras, Trevinos, Zavaletas (Dr. Tony Zavaleta, Dean of Exterior Affairs at UTB-TSC is her great-great-great grandson), Salinas, Tijerinas, De la Garzas, etc., all trace their distinct roots to this great woman who came to South Texas and built it with her own hands.
It would be appropriate that if the BISD (and Stone over at the BHA) wanted to honor the contributions of this pioneer Latina woman, some sort of recognition for her could be placed in the very land that she helped to settle and make productive. It would constitute a source of pride and self-esteem to our young Hispanic female students and provide a role model to emulate. It would also recognize the contributions of Latina women to our area, a subject that has been neglected for way too long.
5 comments:
You've written about this broad many times before! What's wrong with you?
Why would there be anything wrong about writing about who he thinks is deserving? Is there an unwritten rule in Journalism 101 that states, "once you write about a person, you can never write about them again". That would be pretty stupid.
What does this gobbledygook mean?: Why would there be anything wrong about writing about who he thinks is deserving?
No problem I can translate the "gobbledygook" for you. The author clearly states she is deserving of being recognized as a "source of pride and self-esteem to our young Hispanic female students and provide a role model to emulate".
No need to thank me, I'm always glad to help those that failed the English Comprehension Section of the GED test.
Just reading about the historical aspects related to any contributor to the Brownsville area should be of interest to anyone in the area. I only wish that BISD would have an elective class where someone could teach all there is to know about our local history. I don't remember every studying about Brownsville in any of my history classes. All I know is what I have read in books, oddly enough, written by people who are not even from Brownsville.
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