Pre-Harlingen History Prior to the Twentieth Century

When the Spaniards of New Spain () commence exploring to the north along the coast in the early 1500s they find that the area of what was to become the South region is sparsely populated by various Indian groups. These include the Atastagonie (probably the same as the Taztasagonie), Cacalote, Garza, Pacuache (also given name variants such as Campacua, Paachiqui, Pacao, and Patzau), Pajarito (also called the Pacaruja), Pinanaca (Pimanco, Pinaca, Piranca), Tecahuiste, and Tepachuache. These peoples were all part of the Coahuitecan language group that may have encompassed up to 200 tribes.

The notorious Karankawa, who constituted a separate language group, did not inhabit the Valley area, but they did make periodic incursions into it. In the mid 1840s, remnants of the Karankawa tribe moved from the Corpus Christi area into Tamaulipas, Mexico. Besieged by Mexico authorities after being accused of plundering Reynosa, they moved into Texas in 1850 and settled near City. In 1858 a Texas force led by Juan Nepomuceno Cortina annihilates the small remaining band of Karankawas.

In the late 1800s the area which was to become Harlingen was bounded on its south and east sides by the Spanish land grant called Concepcion de Carricitos awarded (1781) to Eugenio and Bartolome Fernandez. This boundary was delineated by the Arroyo Colorado.

To its north lay the 12 league Ojo de Agua tract, which had once been a part of the land grant parcel, Las Mestenas, Pititas, y la Abra owned by Vincente Ynohosa (Hinojosa), but assigned by him later to Rosa Maria Hinojosa de Ballí in payment for her survey expenditures. To the west lay her La Feria Grant with lands already being assigned to various descendents and relatives.

At the time of Texas independence in 1836 what was to become the Harlingen area has not been awarded to anyone either as a Spanish or Mexican land grant. It is claimed by the Republic of Texas as unappropriated public domain. In 1839 the Texas Congress fulfills a suggestion by President Mirabeau B. Lamar and sets aside land from the public domain for the support of the public schools. Three leagues are awarded each county and the next year an additional league is added.

The unclaimed area described above encompassed about 64.35 square miles or 9.3 leagues. A league is 4,428 acres or about 6.9 square miles. Since the remainder of Cam- eron County was previously Spanish and Mexico land grant areas, the school lands awarded to the county were restricted to this tract. The geographic coordinates for Harl- ingen are: 26° 12' north and 97° 42' west.

12/29/1845 U.S. President James Polk signs legislation making Texas the 28th state in the union. 3/19/1846 The first confrontation of what is to become the Mexican War occurs at the Paso Real. As described by the Stambaughs: Taylor's forces camped three miles from the Arroyo Colorado, east of Harlingen. Mexican ranchers sta- tioned on the south side warned an American reconnaissance officer that crossing would be considered a hostile act. Bugles were blown at several points south of the Arroyo Colorado to give invaders the impres- sion that there was a sizeable force to oppose them. As a precautionary measure General Taylor placed his artillery in position along the north bank. Shortly thereafter he proceeded south to the Rio Grande. Captain W.S. Henry in his 1847 book describes the Arroyo Colorado at this time as a "beautiful stream, about 100 yards broad with bluff banks some 20 feet high, and bor- dered for a depth of two or three miles on each side with a dense growth of mesquite and prickly-pear." 4/25/1846 The war between the and Mexico is ignited over disputed claims to Texas boundaries. One was Mexico's claim to its border at the Nueces River and the U.S.'s claim to the boundary of Texas at the Rio Grande. 5/46 The Mexican War is declared. Thirteen thousand Americans will die in it due to battles or disease. 2/12/1848 3,308 square miles are carved out of Nueces County to form Cameron County named after Captain Ewen Cameron of the failed 1842 Texian Expedition against Mier, Mexico.

2/20/49 The Cameron County Court issues a license to Hamlet Ferguson for a ferry at Taylor's Crossing.

5/2/51 F.W. Latham establishes a ferry at the Upper Crossing, now Rio Hondo, and in its short existence is allowed by the Court to charge the same rates as other ferries.

1/24/1852 Cameron County loses territory as Hidalgo County is formed from western portions of it.

1850-1900 The area is the border of two climate zones i.e. the dry tropical and subtropical steppe to the south and the humid meso-thermal subtropical zone to the north. Generally then it is characterized by hot summers and mild winters with a 25-40 % departure from normal in its variability of annual rainfall. The climax vegetation is composed of grass and other herbaceous plants. Broadleaf deciduous and shrub forms grow singly or in groups or patches. When, over a period of decades in the last half of the 19th Century, the area was overgrazed by flocks of sheep and herds of goats then the natural grasslands were invaded by xerophytic trees and shrubs. Coupled with periodic drought, soon large areas were overrun by heretofore rare and foreign species. This is when cattle ranching came to dominate the local scene.

On 9/27/55 the Court issues a license for the Taylor's Crossing site to Gomez and Bar- clay. It is then Morgan Barclay to whom licenses are issued by the Court over a number of years. Records note 1/16/60; 2/18/63 when his temporary "license about to expire and the court being of the opinion that it would promote the public convenience greatly to have said ferry continued."… charge same rates as 22 November 1861 upon his paying sum of $25 and complying with the law regulating and governing ferries; Dec.1865-1879 at the Paso Real or Taylor's Crossing…upon posting of a $1000 bond with the presiding judge and license to be fixed at $5.00 per annum; 2/13/77, Court raises "license to $25 in currency per annum for privilege of running ferry at Taylor's Crossing"; 11/28/70; 11/18/70; 1/6/75; 2/1/77; 1879; and 5/10/80. On 1/19/81 James G. Browne is issued a license for Paso Real, and the following year Morgan Barclay's widow, Benigna Flores de Barclay, is issued one on 2/13/82. Records indicate that licenses were issued to her 1/8/83, 2/11/84, 2/13/89, 2/11/91, 1892, and then in her now married name, Mrs. Benigna Flores de Hodges 2/17/93, 1894, 1895-1899, and 1905. James G. Browne is issued licenses for the same location 1886, 2/1/91, 1892, 2/17/93 and 1894. It is Mr. Browne who operates a stage line carrying mail back and forth to Corpus Christi. Locked mail pouches are delivered to the stage coach drivers. He is one in a succession of stage operators. In 1854 Francis M. Campbell had stages on call to go to Corpus Christi. It was after the Civil War that Thomas Baynon, Richard King's general foreman, operated a stage line between Brownsville and Collins. Finally, in 1899 it is Santiago A. Brown who inaugurates a stage coach service and begins to carry U.S. Mail. The Brownsville to Corpus Christi trip by stage is a six day one. All must transit the Paso Real.

It is prior to 1870 that the Court issues a license to Justo Treviño to operate a ferry at El Palmetal. The community is just south of the Arroyo Colorado in what is now the Treasure Hills subdivision. His crossing served those coming from the west and northwest enroute to Brownsville. There is record of the license being renewed 11/28/70.

In a location that was once part of the sprawling Armendaiz Ranch, the Paso Real stage- coach stop on the north bank of the Arroyo Colorado is built to service the Alice Stage Coach Line or perhaps an earlier predecessor said to call it the third stop on a route from San Antonio to Brownsville via Banquette. Some say it was built in 1887 while others put it as early as 1860. A rough surveyor's map dated 1884 does not show the inn build- ing later adjacent to the ferry crossing, which may have been started as early as 1854 by a Senior Gomez. A 1887 construction date for the Paso Real Inn is strongly probable. The inn ceases functioning in 1904 when the railroad line from Robstown to the Valley is completed. Prior to the railroad it was the receiving point for mail destined for what will be Harlingen, much of it addressed to, or in care of, Lon C. Hill. For a time Jesus Lopez has a store at Paso Real before moving on to Brownsville. In 1975 salvageable parts of its structure are moved to the Museum complex in Harlingen for restora- tion and subsequent display. According to S.P. Rodriguez, once an educator in Harl- ingen, his father owned and operated the ferry for a time. It was hand–powered along a cable tether and was said to be fifty-five feet long and thirteen feet wide. The fare was eight cents for a stage or wagon with four horses or mules and four cents for smaller wagons and carts.

2/1/1861 Texas secedes from the Federal Union. 5/13/1865 Last engagement of the Civil War is fought at the Battle of Palmito Ranch southeast of Brownsville. This occurs a month after Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Confederate forces under Col. John "Rip" Ford are victorious.

3/30/1870 The U.S. Congress readmits Texas into the Union, but reconstruction contin- ues for the state for another four years. 1870 In this year the Lower Rio Grande Valley lies in an area termed "The Frontier of the Cattlemen", that is, it contains less than 100 persons per 1,000 square miles. 1871 The military telegraph following the river from Brownsville to the Ringgold Bar- racks in Rio Grande City is completed. This gives the subsequent road its name, the Military Telegraph Road, and later shortened to the Military Highway. Its name, there- fore, had nothing to do with Zachary Taylor and his 1836 troop movements. 1873 The winter of this year is severe without precedent and results in the death of thou- sand of cattle. To later add to local woes, the year 1894 experiences an extreme drought. 1874 Donna Benigna Hodges' first husband, Morgan Barclay buys first of two tracts from the Matamoros heirs of Jose Narciso Carvazos. He is licensed by Cameron County Commissioners to operate the ferry at Paso Real. When her second husband, Mr. Hodges, dies she maintains the ferry until the coming of the railroad ends stagecoach travel. Years later, bed-ridden in her home above the Paso Real crossing she appeals to Santos Lozano, Harlingen merchant, to care for her after two ranch hands are killed by bandits. The Lozanos take her to Harlingen and care for her. Having no heirs she wills her ranch to Micaela Lozano. Thus the mercantile Lozano family also becomes ranchers. 1875(Spring) L.H. McNelly and the Special Force of Rangers "brings a measure of security to several South Texas counties", primarily by limiting the brigand activities of Juan Cortinas, who is hero or villain or both depending upon the historian. The slaying of twelve cattle thieves by McNelly's men on the Palo Alto Prairie is a prime episode in restoring order as is a separate incursion into Mexico to recover stolen cattle. 1/20/1879 The Georgetown Railroad Company, which had earlier been awarded land in the area by the state as an incentive to build a rail line, sells Certificate No. 128 of the General Land Office of the State of Texas to Antonio Guerrero for $53. This is Survey No. 22 of 640 acres in Cameron County. On 4/2/1898 James H. Dishman will purchase it for $1.50 an acre. 3/13/1879 Cameron County makes application for survey of school lands, namely to locate 2 ½ leagues belonging to the county. Adolphus Glaevecke, Clerk of Cameron County, attests to the Commission order. 9/29/1879 W.C. Walsh, Commissioner of the General Land Office issues a Land Script to Cameron County to take possession of Survey 36 with its 1,107 acres or quarter league. On 9/12/85 Governor John Ireland issues a letter patent to the county for this same parcel.

By 1880 Cameron County has a population of 14,959, which grows very slowly. In 1887 it has risen to 17,001. In 1880 Francisco Saldaña filed a patent on Survey 45 and officially was granted the land after occupation and improvements in 1886. Various members of the Saldaña family likely owned a total of about 510 acres south of survey 27. They called it La Providencia Ranch. Plats of about 170 acres each were numbers 45 (F. Saldaña), 46 (E. Contreras), and 47 (S. Saldaña). The "F" may have been Francisco, who was to marry Anselma Suarez and upon her death Josefa Abrego. The "S" was his son Secundino from his first marriage. E. Contreras was Estevan (also spelled Esteban) Contreras, who had married Librada Saldaña. Their daughter Josefa, who was baptized in the Presbyterian Mexican Church, Brownsville on 3/7/86, lived on the ranch until 1896-98. Another daughter was to be Anita Saldaña Contreras de Rosales. Herlinda Saldaña of the ranch family was to marry Joaquin S. Sanchez, have a son Jose, and live at 831 Curtis Street, Harlingen. Paulo Saldaña, Sr. and Jr. were other family members. 1885 It is this year that the state turns over some of its land to Cameron County. This "school land" can be sold to raise funds to support local schools. 9/12/1885 Richard King receives, as assignee of the Corpus Christi, San Diego and Rio Grande Narrow Gauge Railroad Company, land patents, from John Ireland, Governor of the State of Texas, for Survey 287 640 acres, Survey 289 640 acres, Survey 299 320 acres, Survey 305 68 acres, and Survey 303 60 acres. On 2/17/1887 he similarly receives a patent for Survey 291 640 acres. All are north of, and many abut, the Arroyo Colorado. The parcels interspersed with other owners appear to follow the granting by the state to railroad companies of alternating parcels of land in order to encourage the railroads to lay the infrastructure and reward them with saleable land.

1899 In what would later become the north side of the Stuart Place Tract, Jesse Thomas Avary builds a one-room schoolhouse and teaches the area's children in it.

1893 James Henry Dishman, a native of Alto, Cherokee County, East Texas (and later Kaufman County), purchases undeveloped school land in what will later become the Combes area. He builds a homestead and by 1895 has established a working ranch. He gradually increases his area holdings to four square miles or more. Wounded by a cattle rustler in 1897, Dishman is aided in his recovery by brothers Doctors Fred and Joe Combes of Brownsville. While rcovering he teaches school at the Las Alames Ranch. In 1904 he donates land for a railroad right-of-way. In 1924 he donates five acres to the Combes Community as a site for a Baptist church and cemetery. In 1932 he gifts money and a site for the construction of an elementary school. It is named in his honor when completed in 1928. He was born 2/22/1858 and received his education at public schools and the Masonic Institute. His forefathers had migrated from England to Virginia before the Revolutionary War. He served on numerous committees in the Great War and for 35 years was a Democratic Party committeeman along with serving as deputy sheriff as needed. Never having married, he dies 7/30/34. This first white settler of the Harlingen area is buried in the Harlingen City Cemetery along side his mother, Geogiana, also a rancher. 1895 Christian Balduf (also spelled Baldauf), a German, operates a small store and post office at the Paso Real. 5/22/95 boll weevil discovered in Lower Rio Grande Valley. 6/24/95 Sheriff E. C. Forto receives multiple wounds from outlaws near La Tasa Ranch. This is located on the south side of the Arroyo Colorado where some day the F Street Bridge will cross it. It is this year that Mrs. Georgiana M. Dishman arrives with her seven year old granddaughter, Lena Templeton, and her bother Edwin Templeton. Accompanying them from Corpus Christi are Mrs. Dishman's married daughter Isabel and her husband Edwin Madeley, and their four children, Edwin, Ewing, Neil Shaw, and Helen. Mrs. Dishman would sell most of her Kaufman County property and buy 2,500 acres adjoining her son's land to the west. Mrs. Dishman, the former Georgia Murdock Berryman, was born 11/2/1835 and is to die 12/26/22. Neil Madeley, who had been born in Kaufman County in 1894, would serve in WWI and return to Harlingen in 1919, where he would be elected three times as City Commissioner. Dying in 1956, this First Christian member leaves his wife Eunice, son Neil Jr. and daughter Dorothy. In 1901 Lena, who will one day become Mrs. Sam Grant of Harlingen, lists "neighborhood" people as Ivey Brewer, Belle Ogan, Annie Apel, Mammie Thomas, the two Johnson girls, Lawrence Brewer, and Lennard Thomas. Lena will die 1/21/63 leaving one son James D. Grant and four daughters, including Georgiana Grant Davis.

1/2/86 The Last Will and Testament of Richard King is probated and all of his property is left to his widow, Henrietta M. King.

5/25/97 Col. Uriah Lott announces that he will build a railroad line from San Antonio to Tampico, Mexico via Brownsville.

1898 Three families come to western Cameron County from the (Oklahoma). The Jesse Thomas Avary family has two small daughters and a son, Henry Avary, was to be born in the area now known as Palm Valley where the Averys constructed a home. At a 2003 reunion Margaret Fox, a 1935 Harlingen High School graduate and descendent of the Averys relates an oral history. She recounts that 15 families were on their way to Veracruz, Mexico from Oklahoma. Their plans were to embark for Brazil where each family was to be awarded 694 acres. While camped in the Lower Rio Grande Valley the Averys were robbed, so they did not continue onward.(Grandson Jesse Reynolds of Primera says the robbery story may be an embellishment and that it is more likely that border difficulties upon trying to enter Mexico may have discouraged the family from travelng further.) The family patriarch, Jesse Thomas (aka. T. S.) Avary (1/29/69-4/8/16), is buried in the Harlingen City Cemetery as is his mother, Catherine E. Avery (6/4/46-12/16/18), "Tender Mother and Faithful Friend." The Avarys purchased a half section of land in what is now Palm Valley and later bought a second half section bring their total to 640 acres. On it they built a log cabin. In 1901 they went back to Oklahoma but in 1905 returned by train to their old homestead. From her obituary, a young Avary coming here in a covered wagon to near the Wilson Tract from Winnewook, OK was to be Mrs. Vernie Belle Avary Payne. Born 9/7/95 she is to die at age 66 on 3/27/62. After marriage she moved to Mercedes, but on 1/1/43 became postmistress of the Combes Post Office. This member of the First Methodist Church, Combes left two sons, one of whom was J. Paul Payne of Harlingen. Mr. and Mrs. Jesse L. Adams and Mrs. Adams' parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ogan, are the other two families. The latter settle in the Tiocano Lake area where the Adam's daughter Carrie is soon born. Later the Ogans return to Oklahoma to be followed in1912 by the Adams. Before the year 1900 others living to the southwest of James Dishman were a Mr. Douglass with his family and an old single gentleman from Kentucky named Parkhill who had come for his health. These soon departed when unable to cope with the harsh conditions of frontier life. Two other families were the Watts and Haynes. Mr. Haynes was Lucy Adams' father. Other neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Adams. Their son Jess lived with them together with his wife Taney and their two tiny daughters. This family had come in 1898.

4/15/99 More talk about railroad building to the area but no action. In this year T. S. Avary hauls lumber from Brownsville to what will become the Primera area, and a one room school house is erected. He will pick up students from the area and transport them to the school. He goes as far north as Mrs. Dishman's Rodeo Ranch.

The first of the Lozanos to come into the area are Geronimo and his wife Luisa Rodriguez Lozano. She had been born at Santa Rosalia, southeast of Brownsville. They likely came to the El Muerto Ranch which was located along what is now Godwin Road running north from FM508 and east of Combes. Some time after 1906 when his brother Santos started a mercantile store in newly developing Harlingen , Geronimo was to do the same, also on Jackson Street, thereby starting only the second mercantile store in town. He will die in 1918, but the family will continue to live in their dwelling at the corner of C and Van Buren Streets. Later son, also Geronimo, will long have his home at 122 W. Madison. It has since been torn down. The senior Lozanos will parent sons, Luiz (father of Yolanda L. Gonzales, a lifelong Harlingenite), Geronimo, and Zaragosa, together with Mrs. Felipa Lozano de la Villareal, and Mrs. Eloisa Lozano de la Rosa. Luisa Lozano, who was born in 1877, will die in Harlingen on or about 11/21/51 at age 74.

It was sometime before the turn of the 20th century when the El Muerto Ranch was in existence. It was located in former School Lands about four miles north-northwest of where the center of Harlingen would be. It was in survey 28 platted to one J.M. Gonzales. Here Don Julian Villareal and his wife Guadeloupe Montalvo Villareal built a house of sod, mud and sticks termed a jacal. They were soon joined by Calixtro Rosales (1859- 1947) and his wife Modesta Villegas Rosales (1859-1944) who also built a simple abode. Their daughter was Leonor Rosales Alvarez would be 100 on 2/2/00. At age 48 on 10/18/1882 Julian would die. His son of the same name would later remove to Harlingen to establish a dry goods store with his brothers. This Julian was born 8/26/76 and died 3/8/38. Both are buried in the El Muerto Cemetery located on Godwin Road.. In 1990 descendent Ofelia Olsson would compile a brief history of the cemetery and a comprehensive list all those buried there.