The Eubanks Family: a Porción of Edinburg
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The Eubanks Family: A Porción of Edinburg i Discovering the Rio Grande Valley Reports from the Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools Program Report # 1 The Norquest Family: A Porción of Edinburg Report # 2 The Cantu Family: A Porción of Edinburg Report # 3 Atwood Acres: A Porción of Edinburg Report # 4 The Eubanks Family: A Porción of Edinburg Report # 5 Bair Farms: A Porción of Edinburg For more information on the CHAPS Program, visit us at www.utrgv.edu/chaps The Eubanks Family: A Porción of Edinburg A report prepared for The Eubanks Family And for UTRGV and the CHAPS Program class titled: Discovering the Rio Grande Valley: The Natural and Cultural History of South Texas Edited by Janette Garcia Santiago Lopez Rolando Silva Principal Investigators from the CHAPS Program: Juan L. González, Bobbie Lovett, Kenneth R. Summy, Russell K. Skowronek and Roseann Bacha-Garza Cite as: Garcia, Janette, Santiago Lopez, Rolando Silva, Jose Aguinaga, Mark Allen, Jose Barrera, Ezgar Chavez, Elizabeth Garza, Saira Gonzalez, Pedro Guajardo, Felix Guerra, Sarafin Hernandez, Tim Hinds, Raul Lopez, Denise Martinez, Elisa Mora, Tom Perez, Alfredo Puente, Kassandra Reyes, Arnulfo Rodriguez, Gerry Salinas, Chris Scott, Miram Silva, and Mariana Vazquez 2016 The Eubanks Family: A Porcion of Edinburg. A report prepared for the Eubanks Family and for the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Community Archaeology Project with Schools Program. The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, Texas. Published by CHAPS Program at The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX 2016 Copyright © 2016 by UTRGV’s Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools Program (CHAPS) All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal. First Printing: 2016 ISBN 978-0-9982070-0-1 UTRGV’s CHAPS Program 1201 W University Drive Edinburg, TX 78539 www.utrgv.edu/chaps Dedication This report is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Kenneth Wayne Eubanks who passed away on January 31, 2016, prior to the publication of this report. He was the patriarch of the Eubanks Family and played and instrumental role in the development of this publication. He and his wife Irene were married for 63 years. He is survived by his wife and two sons, Thomas Mark and Kenneth Scott and many grandchildren. Dr. Kenneth Wayne Eubanks obituary in The Monitor Newspaper, February 4, 2016, p. 2B. Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ vii Foreword ..................................................................................................................................ix Preface.......................................................................................................................................xi Chapter 1: The Land Beneath our Feet ........................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: The Eubanks Family ......................................................................................... 3 Chapter 3: Regional History and Land Tenure .......................................................... 17 Chapter 4: Regional Industry and Trade Development ......................................... 27 Chapter 5: Regional Geology ........................................................................................... 29 Chapter 6: Regional Biology ............................................................................................ 43 Chapter 7: Regional Archaeology .................................................................................. 53 Chapter 8: Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 59 Appendices ............................................................................................................................ 62 References .......................................................................................................................... 224 Acknowledgements We would like to thank Daniel Cardenas, Assistant Art Director for the design of the front cover of this report as well as to Elisa Flores and Dr. Kimberly Selber of UTRGV’s Studio Twelve01 Marketing and Communications Department for their support of all projects developed by the CHAPS team. Thanks to CHAPS Program graduate assistant Miriam Cepeda who was helpful with the layout of this report for publication. We would also like to thank the Border Studies Archive for their ongoing support of this project. Thank you to Dr. Christopher Miller for his assistance in formatting the Eubanks Family Tree which appears in the appendix. vii Foreword The Eubanks Family: A Porción of Edinburg report is the latest testament to the com- mitment of the Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools (CHAPS) Program to the concepts of engaged scholarship and transdisciplinary collaboration that are central to the mission of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Following previous reports on the Norquest, Cantu, and Atwood families, it is noteworthy that the CHAPS Program’s commitment to quality scholarship, community and students in fact predates the existence of UTRGV! By bringing together anthropologists, archaeologists, biologists, geologists, geogra- phers, and historians, in collaboration with undergraduate and graduate students from a variety of disciplines to address broad questions and issues that are of interest to both schol- ars and the community, the CHAPS Program continues to lead the way in showing what the academy can and should be and what it can and should do. All too often academics are ac- cused, sometimes rightfully so, of working in an ivory tower. The CHAPS Program shows us how to tear down the tower, and the walls, that separate and isolates the academy from the communities that nourish it. In this particular case, the CHAPS Program team examines thousands of years of histo- ry, prehistory and biology, and millions of years of geology, in one relatively small porción (portion) of land belonging to the Eubanks family in Deep South Texas to greatly enrich our understanding of how and why the region has developed along the lines it has taken. In do- ing so, CHAPS Program researchers have not only produced academic knowledge, they have also provided applied knowledge that communities can, and have, incorporated into their economic development plans. Just as importantly the CHAPS Program effort has also exposed hundreds of students to the value of transdisciplinary and applied research and how they, through their academic work, can directly benefit their communities, as well as en- hance their own opportunities for success. As Dean of the College of Liberal Arts which is the CHAPS Program home college at UTRGV, I am honored to support the work presented in this Report. I can only hope that others follow its lead. Walter Diaz, Ph.D. Dean College of Liberal Arts ix Preface Nearly forty years ago in the late 1970s Kenneth and Irene Eubanks purchased 120 acres of land just north of Monte Christo Road in Edinburg, Texas. They joined thousands of other migrants from the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Europe who had transformed the lower Rio Grande into the “Magic Valley” since the opening decade of the twentieth century. Their crop of choice was citrus which they would grow, pack, and ship. Although the region was known for its salubrious climate, the family arrived at what many would term the end of the best years in the citrus industry. Freezes in 1983 and 1989 destroyed their orchards and those of many others. In its wake their citrus nursery would “blossom” and the family would sell thousands of trees to foreign growers. Over the course of a few months in 2014 and 2015 the Eubanks family graciously opened their homes and properties to our investigations. The result is this snapshot of the archaeological, biological, geological, and familial history of another “Porción of Edinburg.” In a world that is constantly changing communities need to recognize remember their founding families. We on the CHAPS Program team are honored to provide primary information on local geology, archaeology, fauna, flora, and history while telling the story of the Eubanks Family and others. Thanks are extended to the Norquest Family, Dr. Lisa Adam and the Museum of South Texas History, Ruby de la Garza and the USDA, the Border Studies Archives at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and our many donors for their on-going support of the CHAPS Program. We hope you will enjoy this “Porción of Edinburg,” and in it find a story which resonates across the disciplines and the decades providing a snapshot of our changing world in south Texas. Roseann Bacha-Garza, MA Juan L. González, Ph.D. Bobbie L. Lovett, MA Kenneth R. Summy, Ph.D. Russell K. Skowronek, Ph.D. Director of the CHAPS Program www.utrgv.edu/chaps xi List of Figures and Appendices Figures Figure 1 The Eubanks Family 1957………………………………………………………….2 Figure 2 Google Maps location of Eubanks’ homesteads……………………………………3 Figure 3 Kenneth Wayne Eubanks before enlisted in the U.S. Army………………………..4 Figure 4 Ken Eubanks & family photographed on Ph.D. graduation day in 1962…………..6 Figure 5 Ken Eubanks and family at Hoover Dam…………………………………………..7 Figure 6 Irene is posing with produce and managing the business…………………………12 Figure 7