COMMISSION APROVES ESPIRITU SANTO LAND GRANT MARKER

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

The Brownsville Historical Association has received word that the Texas State Historical Commission has approved the application for a historical marker to be placed on the remnants of the original Espiritu Santo Land Grant.

The Original Grantee of the 59.5-leagues of land (284,415.8 acres) known as the Potrero del Espiritu Santo Land Grant by the Spanish Crown in 1781 was Jose Salvador De la Garza. That was 236 years ago.

Eugene Fernandez, chairman of the state's market program said all that is left to do before the marker is erected is for the applicants to pay their marker fee and settle on the size and text to be approved. The projected date for the marker to be placed is sometime early next year.

The boundaries of the grant lay between the Rio Grande on the south and the Arroyo Colorado on the north, bordered on the east by three separate land grants; on the south by the Potrero of San Martin, the Potrero de Santa Isabel, and the Potrero de Buena Vista; on the north also abutting the Arroyo Colorado. The Espiritu Santo land grant’s western boundary extended from the Rio north to the Arroyo Colorado.

The descendants of the original grantee and tenants continued to occupy and hold absolute possession of said tract, never having abandoned it at any time because of Indian incursions, down to the approach of the U. S. Army in 1846; and all government dues were regularly paid by the parties interested. [Confirmed by Legislature, Act of February 10, 1852. Patented June 21, 1859; No. 968, Vol. 12. General Land Office File San Patricio 1-432.]

Today, after countless legal disputes, land sales and transfers of property between numerous parties, all that is left of the original 284,415.8 acres granted in 1781 in the hands of the original grantee’s descendants, is this seven mile-plus long, 300-foot wide strip of land now known as the De Los Santos-Vera Strip.

Unlike other sites of similar age, this land has never left the descendants of the original owner who received the land 236 years ago.

That in itself is noteworthy since the United States had come into being in 1776, 241years ago, only seven years before the Crown issued Jose Salvador De la Garza title to the land.

Also noteworthy is that the grant predated the 1836 establishment of the Republic of Texas by 55 years, and the annexation of Texas into the United States in 1855 by 64 years.

The original boundaries of the grant included the site of present-day Brownsville, Harlingen, San Benito, Rancho Viejo, and the Ft. Brown Military installation. It is also recognized as the first ranch established north of the Rio Grande (Rancho Viejo).

Virtually all of the ancestors and descendants of the original settlers who lived and ranched on this land – in a straight line of decent from Blas de la Garza Falcon through Salvador de la Garza, his daughter Doña Estefana de la Garza Goseacochea, her sons Sabas Cavazos and Juan Cortina down through Andrea de los Santos Vera, daughter Amelia de los Santos Vera de Leon (deceased) son Ramon de Leon Jr. (deceased), daughter Nora de Leon Ramirez, and her brother Ernesto de Leon and their offspring – have remained loyal stewards to their heritage and history.