FAMOUS HISTORIC TEXAN AND MEXICAN PERSONAGES STRODE THE STAGE OF BROWNSVILLE/MATAMOROS

From Encyclopedia de Mexico

MATAMOROS – By 1835, the rebellion by Texas settlers in northern Texas had become notorious. Stephen Austin had declared war was the only recourse against the central Mexican government and on October 2 armed conflict broke out in Gonzalez.

Although the settlers had been granted the land they desired, they apparently forgot that they had pledged allegiance to Mexico instead of the United States, to embrace the Catholic religion, and, most abhorrent to them, not to own slaves.

However, they decided to renege on those promises and pledges and declared war on the very government that had allowed them land to farm and a place to live in return.

The Texans made some attempts to attack and invade Matamoros, with the most serious attempt taking place Jan. 3-4 of 1836 headed by James Grant, Francis N. Johnson and James W. Fannin.

In response to these bellicose actions on the part of the settlers, the Matamoros municipal administration constructed Fort Vicente Guerrero. General Jose Urrea organized the troops and defeated the rebels in skirmishes in San Patricio, Aguadulce, and Arroyo Coleto.

However, his departure from the city opened it up for attacks by the Comanches, who received weapons and ammunition from the Texans. On April 14, the Comanches attacked La Costa and Arroyo Seco ranches, killing their inhabitants and stealing their livestock. In June of that year after the defeat of Santa Anna in San Jacinto, Mexican settlers abandoned Texas and about 5,000 of them under General Filisola.

Among these was the family of Ignacio Zaragoza, who would later achieve immortality with his victory over the French May 5, 1861 at Puebla. He lived in Matamoros for nine years, until 1845, when he left for Monterrey to continue his studies.

In January, 1837, General Nicolas Bravo took over as chief of the border military forces with standing orders to retake Texas but failed due to the penurious state of the national treasury. In fact, resources were so short that he could not even pursue the Comanches who killed one of his officers at the gates of the city, a Col. Cortina. Before he resigned out of frustration, he pardoned and released 14 Texan prisoners.

At the time, Matamoros had a population of 16,372 and the maritime traffic at the mouth of the Rio Grande and at Brazos Santiago had attained considerable volume.

In 1846, as a result of the invasion and resulting Mexican-American War waged by the U.S. military, Matamoros came under a 180-hour long artillery bombardment and the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de Guerrero took place May 8-9 within the communal lands of the city.

Many Matamoros residents took up a guerrilla insurgency against the invading army. Among the most notable for their feats against the Americans figured Román Falcón and Leandro Paredes, as did Camilo Manzo, whose name was inscribed in a meeting room of the city because of his heroism during the Battle of La Angostura Feb. 23, 1847.

Once the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the military hostilities Feb. 2, 1848, Matamoros and the entire northern Tamaulipas area suffered grave economic crisis. With no other communication with the central government than that by the sea, border residents rose in rebellion and proclaimed the Plan of La Loba, which called for a free-trade zone that would make products more affordable, and the expelling of military forces from the area.

However, general lawlessness broke out due to the arrival of filibusters with the revolutionaries who pillaged the city for 10 days running until the city’s residents rose in rebellion and defeated them Oct. 30, 1851 under the leadership of Gen. Francisco Avalos.

Because of these actions, the Tamaulipas Congress gave the city the motto of Heroic, Loyal and Undefeated. By 1855, Matamoros had a population of 11,233, but many left due to the violence caused by the war and subsequent troubles.

By March 17, 1858, Gov. Ramon Guerra issued a decree declaring the area free-trade zone which was later confirmed by President Benito Juárez July 30, 1861. With this declaration, Matamoros and Puerto Bagdad acquired a surge in commerce and trade unprecedented in the city’s history. Partly as a result of this, the city’s population boomed to 40,000 residents while the port surged to 12,000.

When the U.S. Civil War broke out (1861-1865), trade at the port received a huge boost. At any one time, from 150 to 200 ships would be at the mouth of the river waiting to unload arms, ammunition and manufactured goods for the Confederacy, and loading cotton bales, animal lard, hides, wool and other minerals for world markets.

It was from this period that great capital formations were initiated which subsequently made possible that large industrial growth that formed the industry of Monterrey.

After Oct. 21, 1861, Matamoros was laid under siege and suffered various military assaults during a period of 96 days as a result of the dispute between the Rojo and Crinolino political factions. It wasn’t until Gen. Ignacio Comonfort appeared to arbitrate their differences and formed the first Division of the North which was made up of military elements of both parties. This division would achieve national fame and respect because of its opposition and defeat of the invading French armies and its conservative allies.

The confederates entered Port Bagdad March 15, 1863, and lynched Union Capt. W.W. Montgomery, taking prisoners unionists A.T. Hamilton and E.J. Davis. Davis would later go on to become a governor of Texas. Gen. Albino Lopez protested this incursion into Mexican territory by the confederate forces and after subsequent meetings, received conciliatory protocols to his government’s satisfaction and Davis was returned to Matamoros.

That November, many Brownsville residents sought refuge in Matamoros to escape the massive fires set by the retreating confederate army. After a short naval bombardment, Puerto Bagdad fell into French hands on September 1864.

Juan N. Cortina, who was born in present-day San Pedro, Texas, was governor of Tamaulipas then and he and confederate commander John Salmon Ford reached an agreement establishing free passage on both sides of the river for the southerners and for Juarez supporters to flee the wrath of the French and imperialist armies.

On September 26, imperialist Gen. Tomas Mejia took control of the main Matamoros plaza. The following April 1865, Mejia finished the construction of Fort Casa Mata and earthworks and walls around the city. Nonetheless, on April 11 Cortina penetrated the city by surprise and recovering the weapons he had stashed in the city started hostilities against the imperialist army.

Liberal Gen. Miguel Negrete attacked the imperialist army but was repulsed by the French, who were aided by an artillery unit of the confederates who had been kicked out of Brownsville by Union forces.

On Jan. 5, 1866. a group of black unionists under the command of Col. Crawford invaded and sacked Puerto Bagdad for a period lasting a few days. The invasion and subsequent atrocities perpetrated by the band of soldiers were ended with the arrival of Gen. Mariano Escobedo. Escobedo later fought the imperialists without success and then departed to Monterrey leaving Cortina in charge of the assault against Matamoros.

On June 10, Escobedo ambushed a large force of imperialists in the hills of Santa Gertrudis defeating them and seizing a large amount of war materiel and booty. This victory was of critical importance for the retaking of Matamoros one week later since Mejia surrendered once he realized holding out was useless.

After this victory, the entire northern Tamaulipas border fell into the hands of the Mexican union constitutionalist forces. After the defeat of the imperialists and their conservative allies, the end of the U.S. Civil War, and the construction of a railroad at Point Isabel, Matamoros fell into a general economic decline and depression.

In 1870, only 13,000 residents remained in the city and only 1,020 in Puerto Bagdad.

The Plan de Tuxtepec, proclaimed by Gen. Porfirio Diaz, was restated March 21, 1876, in Palo Blanco near Matamoros. Diaz seized the plaza April 2 by Gen. Manuel Gonzalez, who would succeed Diaz as president Dec. 1, 1880.

That same day saw the start of massive railroad projects with the Matamoros-Monterrey rail route being the first of the projects inaugurated at the time.

However, the population of Matamoros continued to decline rapidly and capital flight was prevalent. The free-trade zone no longer existed and only agriculture and livestock remained. Even these industries were endangered by the chronic floods from the Rio Grande.

By 1900, only 18,444 residents lived in Matamoros and surrounding settlements. Despite the completion of the Matamoros-Monterrey railroad May 5, 1905, the population declined so that the census of 1910 found that only 7,390 residents remained in the city and another 8,649 lived in the surrounding area of the municipality.

BRADSHAW MAKES POLITICAL HAY OF SUPREME COURT HEALTH RULING, SMEARS ADELA IN CRASS CASH APPEAL

By Juan Montoya
The other day I was coming out of the municipal court on Levee Street and I ran into local gadfly and former city commissioner candidate Roman Perez.
Roman is one of those Brownsville residents peculiar to our city who has an opinion on most anything. In fact, he was one of those commenters at city hall back in the mists of time when the city would allow the public's comments to be aired. Folks the likes of Fernando Ruiz, Dagoberto Barrera, the Rev. Alex Resendez and Roman were the weekly fare on the public cable channel.
Opinionated? Somethat.
Well, Roman was walking in the door as I was on the way to the parking lot and after a greeting with a wave, reemerged from the door and asked me why I would be supporting Adela Garza instead of Jessica Puente Bradshaw in the Republican Party runoff. Now, I must confess that I am a moderate Democrat and generally vote in that party's primary. Come November, I vote for whom I think is the right candidate, Democrat, Republican, Independent or Libertarian.

Now, I didn't know Bradshaw from Eve until she ran for the newly-created Congressional District 34 that used to be District 27 and held for the better part of 28 years by Solomon Ortiz. I must confes that I didn't vote for Ortiz, and votes like mine helped Blake Frenthold upset the Corpus Christi perennial.

I haven't regretted that yet. I feel the same way about having voted for Tony Garza when he was facing former Cameron County Judge Ray Ramon. At the time, four out of the five sitting Democratic county commissioners endorsed Tony over Ray. We all had our reasons. I don't regret voting and campaigning for Tony, either.

Well, to say Roman is opinionated is an understatement. He questioned how I could support Adela against Bradshaw. And to prove his bipartisanship, he said he wasn't supporting Alex Torres in his race against Eddie Lucio III, citing some educational qualification shortcoming on the part of Mr. Torres.

Again, I have no love for Torres, but in light of the sorry track record that his self-serving daddy Texas Sen. Eddie Lucio has compiled, I could not vote for E-3 to continue the political bloodline that has so callously sucked the very lifeblood out of our political and representative system. 

To tell you the truth, if I was voting in the Republican, I would ask what kind of public service the community has received from Adela or Bradshaw.  

All we know about Bradshaw is that she comes down to Cameron County every two years when there is a congressional race. The rest of the time she spends in Austin, where she has her home and family and where – until 2012 – she is registered to vote. That and the fact that she is a vocal member of the anti-immigrant Tea Party (a kind of 21st Century Know-Nothing), round out her qualifications. In fact, when she ran an ad in the local daily she claimed to be a "Brownsville native," when it is a well-known fact that she was born in Matamoros. In other words, she lied hoping that the Matamoros stigma wouldn't hurt her chances to garner votes from local residents.

On the other hand, Adela has never denied her Mexican roots. Most of our local families have roots in Mexican ancestry and it's only logical since this area until some 168 yeara ago was Mexican territory.

Aside from that, Adela has actually served in many local boaord without pay.

These are boards like the non-partisan Los Fresnos CISD Board of Trustees, the Cameron County Irrigation District Board, the Texas Council of Community, the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Centers, and the Healthy Communities of Brownsville.

"Those boards make decisions that affect our rsidents and community immediately," she said. "There is no other reward than of having served your community. There is no fame, no glory. These positions are not stepping stones to anything. It's tiring, frustrating and time-consuming. But, it's very rewarding because you know that you have made a positive difference in the quality of life in your community." 

Nowhere was this more proven than in the separation of the Texas Southmost College Community District adn the UT System. For two decades, the UT System had used the district as a cash cow and as a taxing entity while compiling a dismal academic track record. She has been a member of the TSC board of trustees since 2008 and finally garnered a majority to throw off the UT System yoke and keep a strong community college system in Cameron County.

Not enough for you Roman?

How about the fact that Garza is also a businesswoman who along with her husband, Faustino, own Tino’s Prescription Shop, a small pharmacy in Brownsville that provides employment for local people. She is also a member of Lord of Divine Mercy Catholic Church, where she co-chairs the Building Committee.
Like the majority of South Texas residents, Adela grew up in a working class family where she learned the values of faith, education, hard work and strong family values. With her strong commitment to veterans, fiscal responsibility the rights of the unborn, and state's rights, she would seem the obvious choice.

But what is Bradshaw sending out to GOP voters?

In her latest pitch for campaign donations, she is sounding the alarm ove the Supreme Court decision on Obamacare, trying to tap into the righteous anger of the conservative bloc by draping herself in the mantle of patriotism and righteousness and vowing a la Travis that "they shall not pass."

"WE THE PEOPLE," screams her appeal, "must repeal this monstrous Obamacare tax on the middle class and small business owners at a time when our country is hurting economically."

"As your next Congresswoman, I promise to fight towards helping to repeal every word of Obamacare but I need your help! We are fighting to maintain our liberties and fiscally conservative values. Fight this battle with me today and help Friends of Liberty meet our goal of $5000 for this Repeal-Obamacare Money Bomb!"

Now, we all know that even th U.S. Senate cannot reverse a Supreme Court ruling made by a conservative majority. She takes the opportunity to call Adela "a career politician and a lifelong Democrat running in the Republican run-off. We do not need another RINO (Republican in Name Only) in Congress!"

Adela voted for Tony Garza way back then in the 1980s when Bradshaw was trying to put as much distance between herslef and the border and her Hispanic heritage as possible. It was only when it was politically convinient to reclaim her Spanish roots that she dusted off her "Puente" surname. Where was she in the 1980s when the first Republican inroads into the South Texas Democratic Party stronghold were made?

That's why her claim to fame when she asks " Do you want a fighter or a go along-to get along career politician?," rings hollow and false.

About the only time Bradshaw has fought hard is when she is trying to convince the far right fringe of her party to giver her money or to get her elected to office. For those of us who are moderate Democrats and who will ultimately decide as we did with Tony Garza and Carlos Cascos – and as it appears that we will have no viable choice emerging from the Democratic nominating process – the choice is a no-brainer: It's Adela hands down.

AT LA PALMA, A WELCOME SPRUCING UP OF CAMPO SANTO

By Juan Montoya
A little more than a year ago (March 2011), we posted a note on the condition of La Palma Cemtery out on Alton Gloor across the ditch from the new Su Clinica Familiar.
At the time, we noted that the cemtery where local folks have buried their dead for many deacades had fallen on some hard times and was littered with unsightly piles of trash (see second picture on the right below).
We had walked among the graves and read some of the names, surprised that we actually knew some of them.
We recall that we came upon one with a large cross decorated with teddy bears and flowers. A sign on the top said "El Guerrillero," the warrior. A black Farmworkers Union blocked eagle sat atop the cross. When I read the name – Odilon Garcia – I remembered that I met him once during a chicharroneada that the Cameron Park Colonia many years ago.

A small white stone, halfway submerged below the creeping grass, belongs to Victor La Chappelle, who served as a private in Vietnam. Whether this Hispanic warrior lies below the stone or under a large rectangular block of concrete is not clear. He did go on to survive the war and died years later. The small stone is his survivors' remembrance of this soldier.

On another head stone a little farther into the cemetery, an unopened bottle of beer and some loose change stand untouched where the donor left them. One can almost imagine him (Agustin) asking for "una bironga y una feriecita."

Well, we went back just recently (Thursday, to be exact) and were pleasantly surprised to see that the final resting place for many local (and obviously poor) local residents has had a good sprucing up and some of the graves of veterans even have flags adorning their final resting place. The road leading to the graveyard still needs paving and a good grading to fill the potholes, but the appearance has improved considerably.We remember that we said that illegal dumping at this holy place was above our culture and apparently, enough people took heed so that the dumping has apparently stopped. Today, if you maneuver past the potholes and high grass next to the drainage ditch between the new clinic and La Palma, you will come upon a clean, well-kept campo santo where the souls of our dearly departed rest in peace.

GARZA-PEREZ: IS FAVORING ONE CANDIDATE UNITING THE PARTY?

"I ask that we all come together and bring unity to the party not division. Lets remember that unity brings people together..division benefits no one..." Sylvia Garza-Perez, chmn.-elect, Cameron County Democratic Party

By Juan Montoya

If one is to believe Sylvia Perez-Garza, the Democratic party chair(person)-elect, she is going to be a different chairman than Gilberto Hinojosa and be inclusive, uniting, etc.,
So how does she explain that she is brazenly taking sides in some campaign races on behalf of her favorites, namely Erin Hernandez Garcia, in the runoff race for Justice of the Peace 2-2?
She is the same Sylvia who told a blogger recently that we would have to live with the politiquera system as a necessary evil until we find a better way to do it, distancing herself carefully from her relative (distant she says), politiquera extraordinaire Herminia Becerra?
At a recent function for a Democratic Party candidate, Garza-Perez twice came up to Erin's opponent Yolanda Begum and accused her of "trying to buy the election." and left before the startled candidate had a chance to ask what prompted her allegations.
Then, later in the same function, she accused Begum of being in contact with Republican candidate Raul Lopez, who will face the winner of the Democratic Party runoff in November.
"Raul is my cousin and he tells me everything," she said accusingly.
Perez-Garza is feeling her oats and feels that she has a mandate in the county after she garnered an incredible  11,126 votes for chairman, far outstripping her closes opponent Jared Hockema who got 6,373. John Shergold languished a far third.
In her victory statements, she waxed about seeking the position "she wanted to unite and re-energize the party, which she sees as somewhat disorganized."
She told reporters that she wanted to remake the Democratic party and remove the party offices from the law offices of the chairman and set up satellite offices in Harlingen as well.
"I'd like to reorganize every group of precinct chairs and make them a little bit more responsible and more accountable," she said. "We have some precinct positions that people have been in there for 10 or 15 years and they don't come to any of the meetings."
Another goal is to get more young people involved and engaged with the party, Garza-Perez said, noting that civic responsibility isn't emphasized in schools as much as it should be.
It might help if the party would vet candidates and decide which ones best represent the party's interest, Garza-Perez told reporters.
So is this what she is doing now, before she even takes office? If it is, then she has apparently decided that she would rather have Erin Hernandez Garcia, the daughter of Cameron County Pct. 2 commissioner Ernie Hernandez as justice of the peace than she would Begum.
"Sylvia actively lobbied for the Latter Carrier's Union to endorse Erin instead of Begum when they were trying to come to a decision," said a party activist. "She is making no bones about who she is supporting in that race."
If so, Garza-Perez would be wise to note that at the recent Loteria hosted by Tony "La Peca" Rocha at his salon off the frontage road in Brownsville, more than 300 Begum supporters crowded the site in support of the candidate.
Also, the core of Begum's support are middle- and upper-middle class business-oriented people who have traditionally not gotten involved in local politics, content to remain commercially active with their concerns in northern Mexico even though they live in Brownsville and their families and children live here and attend local schools.
Should this group feel that Garza-Perez is campaigning against their candidate – Begum – that will not sit well with them and they might look for a more welcoming party such as the Republicans, who would welcome them with open arms. And all this before she even takes over the helm of the Democratic Party.
She, echoing another Brownsville female elected official, said her election appears to be historic: Garza-Perez believes she's the first woman and the first non-attorney to be elected to the position.
If she starts off on the wrong foot as she apparently is doing now, she might just be the last.

SPARKS FLY IN CONSTABLE RUNOFF: PETE SUED FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT; GOMEZ PART OF LIMAS PROBE?

By Juan Montoya

With less than a month before early voting begins in the runoff elections – and more than a year since she resigned her position – a former secretary of Pct. 2 Constable Pete Avila has filed a sexual harassment suit against him in Hidalgo County alleging that he sexually harassed her and then forced her to resign.

Melinda Henderson, whose resignation was accepted on April 14, 2011, alleges that the Texas Worforce Commission and the U.S, Equal Employment Opportuity Commission rules allow her to file a lawsuit after her complaints alleging unlawful termination from Cameron County were turned down.

In her lawsuit filed June 15 in Hidalgo County Court-At-Law #5, Henderson oultines a list of alleged violations of her civil rights that she said she endured at the hands of Avila while she was employed with Cameron County.

Henderson begin working for Avila and Cameron County June 2009. Avila in the past has said that he hired Hendreson because at least three sitting county commissioners asked him to consder her employment and gave their recommendations. However, after a time, she was written up at least twice for not following directions (locking the office doors). There were also some confrontations reported between her and other bailiffs at the courthouse.

She claims in her lawsuit that Avila constantly harassed her and touched her inappropriately on several occasions, including once entering her home. Avila has disputed the claims and said he was forced to ask Henderson for her resignation and gave her a 30-day and a further 15-day extension when she said she couldn't find work. In the end, he said he was forced to ask her for the office keys in the presence of other constable deputies after she had first refused to hand them over.
After she left the constable's office, Henderson filed an unemployment claim with the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division which was denied. However, she obtained a plaintiff's dismissal and right to sue from the Workforce Comission on April 12, 2012, almnost a year to the date of her resignation.
The letters were received in Edinburg and gave her the right to file in Hidalgo County. Cameron County is also listed as a defendant in the action.
Avila's supporters say that the timing of the lawsuit indicate a political motive since Avila is locked in a heated runoff with former constable Abelardo Gomez. They also say that the woman's credibility has been questioned during her unemployment hearing and that she has also been sanctioned in the past for fraudulently claiming Medicaid and Food Stamp benefits by stating in her application that her daughter lived with her when in fact she was living and attending high school in Austin, Texas.
Documents indicte that she voluntarily signed a statement admitting she signed the fraudulent applications for benefits.
"She had to pay back more than $2,350 in food stamp and Medicaid benefits when she was caught," said one. "The only reason she was able to negiotiate that was because Rene Oliveira was representing her and he negotiated a deal."
The same supporters also hint that Henderson might have political motivations for filing the lawsuit hoping that any ensuing controversy might result in his loss to his opponent in the runoff. They also hint – as other have in the local blogs – that Gomez might be the subject of an investigation related to the ongoing Limas corruption case and of the Cameron County District Attorney's office.
"Gomez has been seen going to the US Attorneys's office and there is even a report that he might have been taken to San Antonio for questioning," said a commenter on a blog.
Avila said he had been served Monday as had been county's legal counsel.
"They told me not to worry about it," he said. "I didn't believe it when she left the county that she was going to cause trouble for me in the election."
Observers say that the Hernderson lawsuit will probably not be heard for months after it was filed, but that the timing of the filing and the service was meant to generate a negative impact in the constable's bid for re-election.
"What other reason could there be for the filing and publication of it now?," asked one. "It's like the rumors against Gomez. It's curious it all comes out right at election time."

J.L. SAENZ'S DIARY OF WWI MEX-AM VET TO BE PUBLISHED

(Ed’s. note: After we published an article about LULAC founder Jose de la Luz Saenz in the December 2003, we received a pleasant surprise.Dr. Emilio Zamora, the University of Texas historian and Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science called us to touch base. Zamora is currently translating the diary Saenz wrote about his service in World War I. He expects to publish the translation though the Texas A&M University Press. The following is taken from a paper published based on the Saenz diary. We extends our gratitude to Dr. Zamora.)

By Emilio Zamora, Ph.D.
Special to El Rrun-Rrun
 AUSTIN – In the midst of World War I, a 30-year old Mexican from Texas named José de la Luz Saenz recorded his thoughts and observations in a diary entitled "Los México-Americanos y La Gran Guerra y Su Contingente en Pro de la Democracia, la Humanidad y la Justicia: Mi Diario Particular." Luz began making entries when he enlisted in the army in February 1918; he made his final entry at his discharge, 17 months and 298 pages later.
Luz’ diary is the only such personal account by a Mexican soldier in the U.S. military.
That distinction alone would make the work worthy of attention. What is even more significant, however, is the author’s appropriation of the wartime rhetoric of democracy and the sacrifice of the Mexican soldier to craft an argument of his own. Luz returned over and over in his diary (and elsewhere) to the idea that the democratic ideals sustaining the effort at the front were equally applicable at home. He explicitly conjoined the rhetoric of democracy with the call for the equal treatment of Mexicans in Texas.
Luz’ commentary was part of a general discourse on minority rights emanating from Mexican communities throughout the southwestern part of the United States.
Luz elaborated on his reasons for joining the military when he was being transported for duty. As his train passed by the farming community of Dittlinger, he remembered that the suffering of the Mexican people in the area had moved him to act on their behalf. He would continue invoking another motif: the enemy in France and in Texas as one and the same by virtue of its ethnic background and despotic ways.

Although not as explicit here as elsewhere, Luz reminds us that he joined the army so that he could use his war experience as a justification to wage a more effective battle against injustice at home. His sacrifice against totalitarianism would demonstrate Mexican loyalty and provide the protest community a moral advantage over “the bad citizens that we often encounter.”
“As the sun was setting we passed by Dittlinger, a community where many Mexicans worked and where I taught their children for one year. For me, that farming area is another battleground. I fought battles there until I convinced county officials to pay the teacher for the schooling of our children.

"Those were the triumphs that I sought in civilian life, to open the school doors for the workers’ children. Now that I wear the uniform of a warrior I have the hope of winning other battles that will bring justice for our people, one of many groupings that make up the suffering humanity that reclaims the sacrifice of their sound-minded and free men. It was exactly here, in this farming community, where it occurred to me to pick up a rifle. I was driven by the mistreatment that our people face in these parts, where the Teutonic and German races predominate. 

"They are ungrateful, they deny us equality as a people, and they forget the thousand and one guarantees given their ancestors when they came to colonize these lands. . . And I think that those of us who have offered our services to fight the unjust and prideful Germans across the ocean could begin by making an example of the Izcariots, the bad citizens that we often encounter.”
W. E. B. Dubois, one of the most distinguished early leaders of the African American civil rights leaders, recognized this soon after the WW I. Like Luz, Dubois urged his compatriots to now fight the home front war: “We are cowards and jackasses if now that the war is over, we do not marshal every ounce of our brain and brawn to fight a sterner, longer, more unbending battle against the forces of hell in our own land.”
 Military service also made it possible to serve the young in a more general way: “My country’s call took me from where I was, teaching the children of my people, and placed me where I could defend their honor, their racial pride, where I could assure them a happier future.”

His plans were to return to Texas and to point to the military contribution of Mexicans to justify a civil rights agenda. Luz thus called on Mexicans to consciously link the wartime language of democracy and the Mexican civil rights cause.
 Luz also defined the Allied cause and the fight against discrimination in Texas as one war. Although the conflict was occurring in different places and involved different issues, the fighting was joined by a general concern for the rights of the dispossessed, both in France and in Texas.

Luz makes this connection especially clear in a passage where he is lamenting the unjust treatment of a soldier from Martindale, Simón Gonzalez. Gonzalez had been denied an exemption, although he was the only caregiver for his incapacitated father. The father died, presumably alone, while his son was overseas. Addressing Gonzalez in his diary, Luz promised, “The war for you and for me will not end when we finish with the Germans, unless they finish with us first. For us the worse war will remain, the one back home against the ones from Martindale that killed your father and unjustly sent you to war.”
The tragedy of the senior Gonzalez’ lonely death was not the end of the story; the son was killed in battle soon after Luz made his diary entry.
In another contemplative moment, Luz ponders the war back home as an immanent challenge: “As I see it, we will soon see our brothers in the grip of the “German” back home. This time, however, without a rifle to defend ourselves as we did against the Germans in Europe.”
The diary might never have had an audience beyond Luz’ immediate family, except that he eventually became a founder and leading spokesperson for a Mexican civil rights organization, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

In 1933, with the help of financial contributions from LULAC members and supporters in South Texas, Luz published the diary along with additional materials that he had written during the war.

Luz’ work merits scholarly interrogation on several counts…most importantly because his subtext, which argues that Mexicans served honorably and earned the right to equal treatment, is more than a personal view. He shared it with other soldiers and with fellow LULAC founders, who initially adopted this assessment as part of the emerging ethnic identity and accommodationist strategy of the postwar period.
Excerpts from his newspaper articles and other writings of the 1930s and 1940s suggest that, despite Luz’ high-level involvement in LULAC, he continued to reject the flag-waving brand of patriotism and the narrow definition of loyalty that historians usually attribute to this organization of upwardly mobile Mexican Americans.

A close reading of Luz’ work thus helps us see that identity is not a single, static construct but an evolving constellation of attributes and ideas that often either overlap or contradict one another. Notions such as the Mexican homeland, US citizenship, inequality, and an imagined community back home may coexist neatly as abstractions. In real-life, however, they may prove much less mutually agreeable partners.
The small print run of his book and the general practice of excluding the Mexican voice from recorded Texas and U.S. history effectively restricted Los México-Americanos y La Gran Guerra to the Spanish-speaking readers of his own generation and region.
Luz was born in May 17, 1888, in the South Texas rural community of Realitos. His family migrated from central Mexico to the border area in the late 1860s. Luz’ widowed grandmother brought the family into Texas during the early 1870s. Luz’ father, Rosalío, did ranch work in shepherding in the Hebbronville area. Around 1880 a San Antonio family that Luz affectionately described as having “gachupín,” or Spanish, features passed through the area. They stopped long enough to earn enough money to continue on their trip to Mexico. They left, however, without one of their daughters, Cristina Hernandez, who stayed to marry Rosalío.
Luz spoke fondly of his parents. Rosalío was a hard worker, a fair-minded person, and highly responsible husband and father. Luz especially admired the caring and uncomplaining nature of his father who worked as a laborer in ranches, farms, and railroad lines throughout South Texas. Earnings were low and work often took Rosalío away from the family for months at a time. In part because of limited resources and his absence, Rosalio expected everyone in the family to always behave with the same sense of family responsibility.
 Cristina inculcated this value too. She was a highly independent and resourceful person who labored hard in her home and in her garden, often as a single parent. Luz attended the local public schools and became, in 1905, the first Mexican American male graduate of Alice’s high school.

His earliest venture into public life allowed him to embrace his indigenous identity and to launch a career as a teacher and leader in the Mexican community of South Texas. At about the same time as his graduation, Luz and a small group of friends established a literary club and organized a formal celebration commemorating the birth and life of Benito Juarez, a member of an indigenous community who became one of Mexico’s major historical figures.
Local papers gave wide publicity to the Juarez festivities and acknowledged Luz’ role as the president of the literary club and one of the program’s major orators. A group of parents in the adjoining working class community expressed deep admiration for the public leadership role that Luz had played. Years later he wrote in his characteristically humble manner, they “received me so well and with such respect that I may not have deserved.”
The parents proposed that he teach the children during the day and the adults in the evenings. He agreed, and this is how Luz began his career of over forty years as a teacher and a public figure concerned with issues of inequality and discrimination in the Mexican American community of Texas. Soon after the school term at Oso, Luz attended a business school in San Antonio and obtained a teaching certificate. He taught in numerous places, beginning in the area around San Antonio and ending in the Rio Grande City and McAllen region.
He joined the Mexican Protective Association during the 1910s and served as its president in Moore. He married María Petra Esparza, a descendant of Gregorio Esparza of Texas revolutionary fame, and they eventually had nine children. Although Luz may have been able to obtain a deferment from military service because of his occupation and his young family, he volunteered for military service in 1918.
 When he joined the military, Luz was the parent of three young children. He had eight years’ experience as a teacher in predominantly Mexican schools and sophisticated language skills in English and Spanish. Luz was posted to the Intelligence Section of the 36th Infantry Regiment of the 90th Division, which allowed him the opportunity to use his translation skills primarily in English and Spanish, but also French, which he learned once he landed in that country.
 After his discharge, he led an effort to build a monument in San Antonio to commemorate the contributions of the Mexican soldier.
The group, however, diverted the enlisted funds to support the famous desegregation fight against the Del Rio Independent School District, which became known as the Salvatierra case of 1930. A local court favored the plaintiffs, however, a state court reversed the ruling and decided that the school district was not segregating children on the basis of race. In his private moments Luz must have seen this early legal challenge against school segregation as a symbolic tribute to Mexican American veterans of WWI.
In 1924, Luz, Alonso Perales from San Antonio, and José T. Canales from Brownsville attempted to form a statewide organization that could effectively address discrimination and inequality. He joined Perales in a speaking tour in the Rio Grande Valley with this in mind.
During the first failed attempt in 1927 to form this organization in Harlingen, Luz served as the Secretary of the convention. 

Two years later, Luz delivered a key address during the Corpus Christi Convention that was to successfully unite various organizations as LULAC. According to his family, Luz wrote the first constitution of what was to become the leading Mexican American civil rights organization.

He remained one of LULAC’s most active members as evidenced by his membership on the organization’s Board of Trustees between 1930 and 1932. He also served as the president of the McAllen chapter in the 1930s, and throughout the 1930s and 1940s Luz promoted and expanded the views of LULAC with numerous articles in English and Spanish-language papers.
 Luz retired from teaching soon after WW II. He did not remain inactive, however. Luz wrote two manuscripts; an autobiography that focused on his childhood and a philosophical treatise on life here and in the hereafter. He also accompanied his youngest son at Sul Ross University and used the opportunity to complete his B.A. studies. Luz continued using his pen to comment on issues affecting the Mexican community. In 1947, parents and community leaders from Alice successfully petitioned the naming of an elementary school after Luz. 

He received this recognition for his long years of service to the teaching profession as well as for his tireless work on behalf of the Mexican community through LULAC, the American G. I. Forum, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Texas Council on Human Relations, and the American Council of Spanish Speaking Persons.

IS IT ABOUT TIME TO REVISE THE TEXAS RANGER MYTH?

"One riot, one Ranger? Hardly. That chestnut can be laid to rest, for there is a considerable gap between the myth of the Texas Rangers and the reality,"  authors, Charles H. Harris III and Louis R. Sadler, The Texas Rangers and the Mexican Revolution: The Bloodiest Decade, 1910-1920. University of New Mexico Press


By Juan Montoya
 Everyone is familiar with the braggadocio associated with the Texas Rangers.
They like to repeat the “One riot, one Ranger” myth to show their toughness. But not everyone is familiar with their real performance under fire.An enlightening example of their claim to fame is their role in the confrontation with Juan Cortina, the much-maligned “Red Rogue of the Rio Grande” who made war against the crooked settlers and their cohorts who dispossessed many Mexican Americans of their land.
An impartial picture of the real nature of their “courage” is given in Major Peter Heintzelman's “Fifty Miles and a Fight,” thediary/book by the U.S. Army commander sent to stop Cortina after he took over Brownsville and its citizens called on the government for help.
Below are excerpts from Heintzelman’s diary as he confronted Cortinas and his followers and examples of the Rangers’ performance under fire.
“Some 100 Rangers started out for Cortina's camp,” he wrote Dec. 11, 1859. “They went out until they met the pickets and then after being fired upon, turned and came home. It is reported that one man had his gun shout out of his hand and then with a bullet through his hat.”
“I cannot get the Rangers to do anything effective in the way of scouting,” Heintzelman wrote Dec. 13, 1859, in page 138 of his book.
Then, several days later, in hot pursuit of Cortina on Dec. 16, he wrote “I halted and went near as proper with a small party and then tried to have the ground reconnoitered. With much delay I got a small party of Rangers, but they did not wish to move until daylight. The Rangers were not quite confident and held back, until I rode ahead and being joined by several officers we rode into the works and found them abandoned.”
In that same day, Heintzelman wrote, “We passed on some two miles or more. I all the time tried to keep the Rangers in advance and on the flanking, but with poor success.”
On page 139, the major again comments on the brave Texans, “We entered a dense chaparral of ebony in what is called ‘El Ebonal.’ Here I dismounted most of the Rangers with orders to flank through the bushes. With the guns and wagons we passed slowly up the road. We soon left the Rangers behind.”
That same sense of self-preservation is evident again on page 140 of the book where the major said, “A few of the enemy fled to the Rio Grande and crossed. The balance with their gun went up the road. Here the Rangers had an admirable opportunity for capturing the gun, but within 40 yards stopped and dismounted. The guns with the two horses and mules soon ran off.”
On page 141, Heintzelman again reported, “I am mystified at the little we have done with near 300 men. It’s very mystifying to us, but no doubt it has had a depressing effect on the enemy. We would undoubtedly have done better without the Rangers.”
Again and again the professional soldier complains about the unscrupulousness and vindictiveness of the brutal Rangers. In page 143, he writes “On Cortina's rancho there was a heavy fence that made an excellent cover for the enemy. I had that burned down but strictly forbade burning anything without my express order. This is setting a very bad example to Cortina and the Rangers were burning all – friends and foes.”
Of particular note, Heintzelman singles out Ranger William Tobin as one of the least effective and most brutal members of the Rangers. He said, “Capt. Tobin got in from Point Isabel this afternoon. Some of his men or stragglers hung a poor Mexican man. Tobin says he knew nothing about it and that it was done without his orders or knowledge. It will have a very bad effect.”
Tobin was in direct competition with John “Rip” Ford for command of the divided Rangers. Heintzelman refers to this by saying; “The Rangers are holding an election today for major. William Tobin says if he is not elected, he will resign. If he doesn't keep better order and do something I will write to the Governor and have the Rangers recalled. They are doing no service and bring only disservice to the country.”

GARZA: PRI'S PENA NIETO WILL BE MEXICO'S NEXT PRESIDENT

Tony Garza

It’s Wednesday, June 27^th, and with only four days until the July 1^st presidential election here in Mexico, the Dallas Morning News takes one last pulse of the electorate in a poll released late last night.

Judging from this survey and other analysts’ reports I’ve been following, the PRI’s Enrique Peña Nieto will be Mexico’s next president. Peña Nieto’s campaign has been aptly described as an uninspired but focused one, and he’s deftly succeeded in creating an air of inevitability.

For JP Morgan’s view on the election and Mexico’s near-term economic prospects, you can read “Mexico: Views from our Research Trip”.

After a 12-year absence in the wake of a 7-decade grip on power, some have expressed reservations about the return of the PRI to Los Pinos. But, Jorge Castaneda, who served as Mexico’s foreign minister under President Vicente Fox, asserts that the country and its democracy are vastly different than in 1994, when the PRI was last elected to the presidency.  For Jorge’s recent piece on this issue, click here.

Beyond the focus on Mexico’s upcoming elections, the fact is an increasing number of investors and analysts view the country as an economic success story.  And, even with headlines like the Financial Times’ “Bloody but booming,” there’s good reason for optimism. 

Morgan Stanley analysts point to the present as “Mexico’s moment,” with strong prospects across its manufacturing, energy and domestic sectors.  The days of Brazil being the lone star in the region are gone; you can find a good side by side of these two countries’ relative strengths online here.

From my office here at White & Case/Mexico, I tend to focus a great deal on matters here in country. But, without question, there’s plenty of opportunity in the region and our White & Case/Latin America group’s reach and reputation is truly unparalleled.  With more than 200 attorneys and offices in São Paulo, Mexico City and Monterrey (and, of course Miami), White & Case’s Latam practice has earned its share of industry accolades.  It’s a group I’m proud to be a part of, and I think you can see why.

Lastly, back in the U.S., my Vianovo colleague in Washington, Billy Moore, turns his sharp eye toward the fall and whether the Obama Administration and our U.S. Congress can avert jumping off a fiscal cliff.  Billy’s been around the U.S. Capitol for nearly 3 decades and, while Bloomberg notes that congressional leaders are weighing whether or not to delay the budgetary actions he writes about, his latest piece is worth reading.

I look forward to staying in touch and, I hope you’ll follow me on Twitter (@aogarza), join me on Facebook (@AntonioOGarza) or connect via LinkedIn.

Sincerely,

Antonio Garza
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Garza, a former Cameron County Judge, is from Brownsville)

ZAPATA KNEW: PLAY THE GAME, TAKE YOUR CHANCES

By Juan Montoya

We have named a street after him, a boat ramp on the way to Padre Island, and his family has received the highest honors a nation gives its slain warriors, including a call from the commander-in-chief and that of his boss, the secretary of Homeland Security.

And, without even knowing for sure, we're confident that his family has received the financial benefits usually afforded to the survivors of one of its slain agents.

But apparently, that isn't enough for the family and the attorneys representing the survivors of Jaime Zapata, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent killed in Mexico and have filed a $25 million wrongful death claim against the U.S. government.

Other cities and towns around Texas and the rest of the country have also honored the memory of the young agent.
His family says officials with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) knew that the men who bought the guns used in Zapata's murder were buying weapons bound for Mexico, but did nothing to stop them.
Zapata, of Brownsville, was serving as U.S. adviser in Mexico when he and Agent Victor Avila were gunned down on a highway in Mexico between Mexico City and San Luis Potosi by members of Los Zetas drug cartel. Avila survived and has joined the case.
Zapata’s parents and Avila retained attorneys to pursue claims against the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI “arising out of their wrongdoing.”The attorneys are Benigno “Trey” Martinez of Martinez, Barrera & Martinez of Brownsville; Raymond L. Thomas of Kittleman, Thomas & Gonzales of McAllen; and Magdalena A. Villalobos of the Rad Law Firm of Fort Worth. Jaime Zapata was killed February 2011 in a roadside attack.

In the lawsuit, the family maintain that a Texas-based operation similar to Operation Fast and Furious is responsible for allowing the weapons that killed Zapata and injured Avila to get into the hands of known killers.
That gun sale plan, known as Operation Fast and Furious has been widely criticized by lawmakers.
Those of us who have served in the military or other law-enforcement occupations with the government know that once you pin on the badge and take the oath, you voluntarily enter a world where danger is at every turn. Bad guys all around the world see you as the representative of their worse enemy. It comes with the territory.

Certain political factions in the U.S. have made it nearly impossible to halt the sale of assault weapons at gun shows with the minimal identification on the part of the purchaser. The Fast and Furious programs were undertaken by the government to try to track the illegal "gunwalking" of these weapons to cartels and organized crime groups in Mexico.

Zapata and Avila knew this. In fact, news reports indicate that Zapata had actually participated in operations that detected such sales. In fact, he described such an operation in an ICE Report of Investigation (ROI) from August 2010 describing 80 weapons seized in an arms smuggling interdiction between Phoenix, Arizona and San Antonio, Texas. 

Of these weapons, the majority (approximately 50) were noted to have come from Operation Fast and Furious in Arizona, purchased by Uriel Patino and Jacob Chambers. The ROI was written and signed by Zapata. In other words, when he agreed to wok in Mexico, he knew what he was getting into.
For his family now to sue the federal government equates to a U.S. soldier suing the government for the Taliban killing Americans using weapons originally provided clandestinely to the mujahdeen to fight the Russians.
What's next from these lawyers? Will they find Mexican victims killed with these weapons and sue the government again?
We wish the Zapata family the best in their quest to get money from the government. But there is a gnawing sense among some of us that this is more of a lawyers' ambulance-chasing effort than any crusade to right a wrong or to honor the memory of someone who died in service of his country.

UT SYSTEM: LEASING FACILITIES NOT IN BEST INTEREST OF UTB, WE'D RATHER YOU GAVE THEM TO US AS A GIFT

Statement by UT System on Texas Southmost College Board of Trustees' Decision Not to Sell Real Estate

AUSTIN – The following statement from University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., was issued today (June 26) regarding Texas Southmost College Board of Trustees’ decision not to sell any real estate for future use by The University of Texas at Brownsville.
Statement from Chancellor Cigarroa:

Francisco G. Cigarroa

“The University of Texas System proposed to Texas Southmost College (TSC) an “Educational Village” concept with facilities owned and operated separately by TSC and the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) campus alongside one another within the historic Ft. Brown campus.
“At a meeting of the TSC and UT System transition teams in Brownsville on Monday (June 25), TSC representatives announced that the community college district would not sell any real estate at this time or in the next three to five years, and that leasing facilities for use by UTB is the appropriate solution.
“The UT System stated early in the transition team negotiations that leasing facilities is not in the best interest of UTB’s educational mission as it is not conducive for a prosperous and growing four-year university. The UT System’s priority remains to build a vibrant four-year university campus that one day can rival the best universities in the state. Doing so on borrowed land and with leased facilities does not allow UTB to appropriately advance its educational mission. Without access to land for expansion in Ft. Brown, the proposed ‘Educational Village’ would not be practical; therefore, the UT System will move quickly to evaluate alternative sites in Brownsville for future expansion of the main UTB campus and build the required infrastructure necessary to accommodate its students by Fall of 2015.
“Transition activities in preparation for the separation of the two institutions will continue as before, through the interim period until the August 31, 2015 termination date.”

MARCHAN SINGING FOR HIS SUPPER, WILL HE GET BREAK(FAST)?

By Juan Montoya

It ain't the fat lady that you hear when you pass by the federal courthouse in Brownsville.
Insiders say that in view of his seven-count racketeering and bribing conviction related to the Abel Limas judicial corruption investigation, the virtuoso voice you may hear singing is that of Port Isabel attorney Ray Marchan.
Marchan, who fought the federal government's charges that he paid Limas kickbacks and bribes for appointments to lucrative cases, is the first defendant in the federal slate who fought the prosecution aggressively, but now – facing a long time in prison – is moving quickly to make points (literally) with the federal government.

During Marchan's trial, tantalizing glimpses into the scope of the government's judicial corruption probe were given the public when the names of a handful of Cameron County judges and prosecutors, including DA Armando Villalobos, came up in testimony and cross-examination by the defense. Federal Judge Andrew Hanen limited the questioning of the witnesses when they strayed away from the case before them against Marchan.
However, while on the stand, Limas did implicate some prominent jurists.
Already, his testimony is known to include several district judges who he said committed unspeakable "crooked" and unethical acts. Limas, in his attempt to save his skin, his wife's, and his son's freedom, has spilled his guts to the federal government.
Those judges – 138th District Judge Arturo C. Nelson, 444th District Judge David Sanchez, 357th District Judge Leonel Alejandro and 404th District Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez – can only guess what's contained in the dossier folders waved by federal prosecutors before the jury that convicted Marchan, except that Limas claims the allegations contained therein are true.
Already, Nelson has disputed Limas' version of the events leading to his name being linked to the alleged corruption and a former Asst. DA (Doug Pettit) also claims he was unaware that he was being drafted to be part of a Limas-Marchan scheme to generate ad litem fees for him and Marchan. Whether other evidence linking Nelson ad Pettit to the probe is in the hands of the feds is not known.
And now that Marchan can almost hear the clanging of the prison cell doors behind him on the way out of the Rio Grande Valley, whose head will he seek to deliver to the government is anyone's guess.

TSC TO UTB: NO SALE: PAY YOUR RENT AND WE'LL TALK

The transition teams of Texas Southmost College (TSC) and the University of Texas System (UT System) met on June 25, 2012, to discuss the important business of real property, facilities, furniture, fixtures and equipment.
At that meeting, Dr. Lily F. Tercero, President of TSC, expressed that “the TSC Board of Trustees is committed to ensuring the successful completion of the transition process and looks forward to having two very prestigious educational institutions in our community.”
She stated that “TSC embraces the concept of an educational village, as proposed by the UT System.” According to Dr. Tercero, “It is a financially viable and student-friendly concept that would entail the sharing of certain student-related services.” Additionally, this collaboration would allow TSC and UTB students continued access to existing facilities.
Dr. Tercero did point out that, “At first glance, some operations might be viewed as viable candidates for consolidation or may appear to be redundant, but in actuality, it may be necessary to keep these operations separate for various reasons. For example, the mission of the community college is different from that of a university. Each institution has been purposely designed to serve different populations and different community needs. As a result, service needs and program offerings at both institutions differ, as do reporting requirements at the local, state and federal levels.”
According to Dr. Tercero, “Although the UT System has expressed interest in purchasing certain buildings and land, TSC sincerely believes their proposed concept and educational space requirements can be fully accomplished by leasing rather than selling TSC property.” “It is too early to determine the level of growth that will occur at TSC and UTB; therefore, the TSC Board of Trustees believes that it is fiscally prudent and in the best interest of the College District and UTB to retain the flexibility of a leasing program at this time.” While the Board of Trustees is committed to ensuring the long-term viability of TSC, it is also strongly committed to assisting UTB as it moves to becoming operationally independent from the partnership. “TSC is ready to work with UTB to ensure that it has the space it needs to implement its academic program as both institutions move to becoming operationally independent in fall 2013,” she stated.
TSC was initially established in 1926 and entered into a partnership with the University of Texas at Brownsville in 1991. In early 2011, the UT System Board of Regents and the TSC Board of Trustees voted to terminate the partnership. TSC is scheduled to become operationally independent by fall 2013 and separately accredited by August 31, 2015.

BARTON COUNTERS ERIN'S "SHE'S NOT A LAWYER" CLAIM

By Jim Barton
www.meanmisterbrownsville.blogspot.com
Certainly you heard the story.
 Yolanda Begum was handing out push cards in the Villa Del Sol Senior Living High Rise on E. St. Charles Street when Erin H. Garcia walked in with her team, stepping in front of Ms. Begum and shouting: "Don't vote for her. She's not a lawyer!"
 One Hernandez supporter shouted out to the whole room: "Don't vote for Begum. She's not a lawyer. She can't give you legal advice."
Ignoring the boorish, ill-mannered behavior for a minute displayed by Norma, Erin and their followers, what about the question: Should a Justice of the Peace be a lawyer? Does it help?
Recently, a longtime Houston Justice of the Peace commented on the matter: "Actually, being a lawyer does NOT help you to be a good justice of the peace. This common court is not about lawyering, but about common sense and life experience. Law school doesn't qualify you as a JP. In fact, every elected justice of the peace, lawyer or non-lawyer has to immediately receive 80 hours of training, then 20 hours annually about the role. It's a different set of skills."

The JP went on to say that most justices of the peace are not lawyers and that's for a reason.
"Being a lawyer actually is a hindrance. It creates a conflict of interest. Let's say a woman comes into your court as a victim of domestic abuse. You might say privately, as a lawyer, 'I can help you.' But as a JP we're not allowed to give legal advice. We offer rulings, settle disputes, but we don't give legal advice. Maybe fatherly or motherly advice, from our life experience, but not legal advice. About the only place being a lawyer might help would be in evicting people from their homes, but those rules are not difficult to learn."
Perhaps, this is why in Cameron County:
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1, Bennie Ochoa, is NOT a lawyer.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2-1, Linda Salazar, is NOT a lawyer.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2-2, Kip V. Johnson Hodge, is a lawyer.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3-1, Julian Sanchez, is NOT a lawyer.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3-2, David Garza, is NOT a lawyer.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4, Manuel Flores, Jr. is NOT a lawyer.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 5-1, Sally Gonzalez, is NOT a lawyer.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 6, Juan Mendoza, is NOT a lawyer.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 7-1, Adam Gonzalez is NOT a lawyer.

Erin Hernandez Garcia would have you believe that MOST of those serving as Justice of the Peace in Cameron County are not qualified to serve because they are not lawyers. Actually, the opposite is true. The above folks have life experience, compassion and empathy; the very traits Erin lacks. Yolanda Begum, on the other hand is respected in the community because of her kindness, compassion and understanding. Many in Cameron Park and throughout Brownsville remember her patience and understanding in working with truant students, teaching them art and life skills. Those are the traits and life skills necessary to be an effective Justice of the Peace.

RUNYON'S COLLECTION OF LOCAL HISTORY, FLORA, NEEDS TO COME HOME

By Juan Montoya

In one of my former lifetimes when I was a newspaper reporter for the Brownsville Herald we used to have something called a "Lifestyle" page assignment.
The Lifestyle page was basically a long feature with a handful of photos by one of our photographers and could run the gamut of topics as it pleased the writer or photographer.
This was in the 1980s, before newspapers started cutting back on such frivolities.
It was then that I ran into Delbert Runyon and did a Lifestyle feature on his dad, Robert Runyon, the photographer, botanist and former mayor of the City of Brownsville. I was reminded of him when I saw Delbert's obituary in the local daily.
When I visited the old homestead at 808 E. St. Charles, glass photographic plates were strewn about the in a wooden utility shed that had seen its better days. Some of the plates and post cards lying around the ramshackle building showed some damage from leaks in the shingle roof. On the alley side of the house, a tall tree stood behind the house. Delbert Runyon said it was a tree that his dad had been given credit for discovering as a new species of the citrus family.
Time has since past and now we know that the Runyon family donated the entire collection now called the Robert Runyon Photograph Collection of the South Texas Border Area and made up of the a collection of over 8,000 items.
It is designated as "a unique visual resource documenting the Lower Rio Grande Valley during the early 1900s"


The Runyons donated the collection to the Center for American History in 1986 and it includes glass negatives, lantern slides, nitrate negatives, prints, and postcards, representing Robert Runyon's the life's work. The photographs document the history and development of South Texas and the border, including the Mexican Revolution, the U.S. military presence at Fort Brown and along the border prior to and during World War I, and the growth and development of the Rio Grande Valley.
The UT-Austin page says that some 350 unique images in the Runyon Collection document one chapter of the revolution which Runyon witnessed in Matamoros, Monterrey, Ciudad Victoria, and the Texas border area and surrounding area.
"As various political and social factions within Mexico fought to topple a 30-year dictatorship to establish a constitutional republic, the struggle quickly spread to the northern border with the United States," the narrative continues. "In the north, rebel leaders such as Pancho Villa mobilized armies and began to raid the Federal government garrisons of then dictator Porfirio Díaz to aid in the cause of the 'constitutionalists'. Nervous U.S. officials along the border stood by and watched the conflict take shape."

In Matamoros, Runyon photographed the Constitutionalist armies as well as the major military figures of the campaign. On June 4, 1913, the day after General Lucio Blanco and his rebel forces captured the Federal garrison at Matamoros, Runyon moved throughout the city photographing the victorious soldiers, Federal casualties, and political executions.
Later reports indicate that the Runyon Collection at the Center for American History at the University of Texas was selected by the Library of Congress as one of 10 collections in the United States to become a part of the American Memory project.This means that it will be digitized, and is available on the Internet
Runyon was also known as an avid botanist, and some of his work has preserved the knowledge of Lower Rio Grande Valley flora.
He is credited with discovering several cacti, but the crowning achievement would have to be the plant named Esenbeckia runyonii, a species of flowering tree in the citrus family, the same that is growing by the alley on St Charles.
 The plant is native to northeastern Mexico, with a small, distinct population in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in the United States. Common names include Limoncillo and Runyon's Esenbeckia.
The specific epithet honors Runyon who collected the type specimen from a stand of four trees discovered by Harvey Stiles on the banks of the Resaca del Rancho Viejo, Texas, in 1929.
Conrad Vernon Morton of the Smithsonian Institution received the plant material and formally described the species in 1930.
An entry under the name in Wikipedia states that "the fruit is a thick-skinned, woody capsule roughly 1 in (2.5 cm) in length that has five carpels. When mature, carpels dehisce (break apart) to eject black, up to 1⁄3 in (0.85 cm) long seeds. Green capsules are distinctively orange scented, while leaves smell like lemons."
In 1994, a Brownsville Herald report stated that "fewer than 10 of the trees survive in the wild in Texas, all along a resaca bank near Los Fresnos. Others were planted by Runyon in Brownsville."
(We went to look for the tree in preparing this post, but we could no longer find it. Does anyone know whether it was cut down?)
After Alton Gloor and other developers razed the vegetation along the resacas to build subdivisions, that part of our culture no longer exists. Runyon's work is about the only thing that can take us back to the days when the region was still "green" and the convulsions in northern Mexico – as they are now again – spilled over to the U.S. side. Alas, there is now nothing locally that can give our local students and visitors a hands-on example of that glorious past.
In fact, his entire collection of botany pamphlets, books and specimen samples was also donated to the Runyon Botany Collection gift to Jernigan Library Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, in Austin.
Ever since I wrote the feature for the Herald in the early 1980s, I've wondered why a home in Brownsville couldn't be found for the two collections, even if they could be reproductions of the stuff the have in Austin. It is, after all, a crucial record of our area's historical and botanical story.
But now with the UT System voicing its commitment to the area's education, could it be possible that they could bring some of Runyon's work back home where it belongs?

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