University of Texas Rio Grande Valley ScholarWorks @ UTRGV UTRGV & TSC Regional History Series University Publications 2020 Fresh studies in Rio Grande Valley history Milo Kearney The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, [email protected] Anthony K. Knopp The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, [email protected] Antonio Zavaleta The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Thomas Daniel Knight The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/regionalhist Part of the Anthropology Commons, Latin American History Commons, Latin American Languages and Societies Commons, Military History Commons, Social History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation UTRGV & TSC Regional History Series, UTRGV Digital Library, The University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at ScholarWorks @ UTRGV. It has been accepted for inclusion in UTRGV & TSC Regional History Series by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ UTRGV. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Fresh Studies in RIO GRANDE VALLEY HISTORY RIO GRANDE VALLEY RIO GRANDE VALLEY HISTORY Edited By Milo Kearney Anthony Knopp Fresh Studies in Antonio Zavaleta Thomas Daniel Knight Illustrated By Myrna Ellison and Mary Ausburn The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Volume Seventeen UTRGV.edu of Studies in Rio Grande Valley Kearney Regional History Series Knopp Texas Southmost College and Texas Southmost College Zavaleta The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Knight Copyright©2020 Texas Southmost College The editors appreciate the contributions of Dr. Elia Garcia Cruz, Supervisora de Secundarias en Matamoros, Tamaulipas, to the editing of the Spanish-language articles in this volume. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley UTRGV.edu Texas Southmost College The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Printed in the United States of America Table of Contents “Cumbia Crazy,” a poem Susana Nevarez Marquez .................................................................. vii POLITICAL HISTORY .......................................................................... 1 “Jim Wells, George Parr, Pepe Martin, and Gene Falcón: The Spirit of ‘’El Patrón’’ along the Rio Grande of South Texas” Billy Hathorn ..................................................................................... 3 “The Other Underground Railroad” Rolando Avila .................................................................................... 33 BIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................... 51 “Frank Ellis Ferree, Humanitarian” Norman Rozeff .................................................................................. 53 “Chip Dameron’s Rio Grande Valley: Center of a Narrowing Universe” Ronny Noor ....................................................................................... 59 EDUCATIONAL AND LITERARY HISTORY ..................................... 71 “Historia de la Educación Superior en la ciudad de H. Matamoros, Tamaulipas” Miguel Sesin Botti y María Elena Flores Montalvo .............................. 73 “The Quest for a Public Library for Brownsville” Anthony K. Knopp and Alma Ortiz Knopp .......................................... 95 NATURE HISTORY ........................................................................... 123 “Las Palomas Wildlife Management Area: A Hidden Natural Jewel of the Rio Grande Valley” Noe E. Perez .................................................................................... 125 “La Beulah: Remembering the Eye of the Storm” Manuel F. Medrano .......................................................................... 141 MIGRATION SOUTH OF THE BORDER ........................................ 149 “Migración en Matamoros: un laboratorio de la complejidad migratoria en la frontera México-Estados Unidos” Cirila Quintero Ramírez................................................................... 151 “Coyotes en acción: Relatos de traficantes de migrantes en Reynosa” Oscar Misael Hernández-Hernández ................................................ 175 iii MIGRATION NORTH OF THE BORDER ........................................ 195 “Border Walls, DREAMers and Trump: Politics, Policy and the Banality of Evil” Terence M. Garrett and Paul J. Pope ................................................. 197 “The Social, Political, and Environmental Forces Contributing to the Immigration Crisis at the Texas-Mexico Border” Mitchell A. Kaplan .......................................................................... 233 CRIMINAL ACTIVITY ....................................................................... 255 “Las violencias sociales y la impartición de la justicia en Valle Hermoso, Tamaulipas” Arturo Zárate Ruiz ......................................................................... 257 “U.S.-Mexico Border Spillover Violence 2010-2019” Antonio N. Zavaleta ........................................................................ 283 “La Fiebre Polca,” a poem Susana Nevarez Marquez ................................................................. 307 iv Illustrations by Myrna Ellison “A mariachi skeleton” ...............................................cover and title page “An accordianist” .................................................................................. 1 “A trumpet player” ............................................................................... 51 “A violinist”........................................................................................... 71 “A flautist” .......................................................................................... 123 “A singer at a microphone” ................................................................ 149 “A guitar player” ................................................................................ 255 by Mary Ausburn “A cumbia couple” ................................................................................. vi “A little boy and a little girl dancing in mariachi costumes” ............ 195 “Polka dancers” .................................................................................. 307 v vi Cumbia Crazy by Susana Nevarez-Marquez My name isn’t Juana, and I’m not a Cubana. But if you’re interested, cumbias make me crazy! Some girls like the polca and dance them al Norteño. They don’t entertain me, but cumbias make me loca! When the band plays a cumbia, the music give me chills. I look for my partner and call him with a whistle. Come on, Green Eyes, I like the way you’re dressed. I like your little hat. Your rhythm calls me now! Loosen up those feet. Get those hips a-moving and dance with me la cumbia crazy! vii POLITICAL HISTORY 1 Jim Wells, George Parr, Pepe Martin, and Gene Falcón: The Spirit of ‘’El Patrón’’ along the Rio Grande of South Texas by Billy Hathorn The “political boss” in the United States was not confined to populous urban areas, although New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia, among other cities, have at times had a glaring history of machine government. Along the Rio Grande in Texas emerged a powerful group of politicians known individually as “el patrón.” Some patrones were county judges; others, state sen- ators, mayors, or sheriffs. All patrones were Democrats whose strength came from the absolute loyalty of their large Mexi- can-American constituencies. The patrónes were oligarchs who used democratic catch-words, but their public policies were of- ten determined by “the rich and well born.” The influence of the patrónes tended to expand regionally but had largely dissipated by the beginning of the 21st century. A key characteristic of the patrónes was their strong family connections. Often a patrón had at least one relative and, in some cases, multiple family members holding public office or working in government jobs. This arti- cle examines the life and times of four South Texas patróns, all of whom wielded similar political operations, but each with his own style of leadership. Highlighted are James Babbage Wells, Jr., in Brownsville, George Berham Parr, II, in Duval County, Joseph Claude “Pepe” Martin, Jr., of Laredo, and—the last of the patrones—Eugenio Falcón, Jr., in Starr County. Jim Wells, the namesake of Jim Wells County, was born on July 12, 1850, on St. Joseph Island in Aransas County on the Texas Gulf Coast. Now largely uninhabited, St. Joseph Island 3 (also called San José) is separated on the north from Matagorda Island by Cedar Bayou and on the south from Mustang Island by Aransas Pass.1 Both of Wells’ parents were born in the South but descended from New England sailing families. His father, James Wells, Sr., was a Georgia-born naval officer reared in Boston, Massachusetts, who became the captain of a steamboat operating on the Mississippi and Red rivers. He raised a company of men to fight in the Texas Revolution at the critical 18-minute battle of San Jacinto in Harris County. The senior Wells participated in the destruction of a Mexican supply depot at Cox’s Point, named for Thomas Cox, an early settler of Calhoun County. Cox’s Point is located on what is now Texas State Highway 35 at the end of a peninsula that reaches into Cox’s Bay, which in turn is bounded by the larger Lavaca Bay.2 Under the Republic of Texas, the senior Wells was given command of the schooner ‘’Brutus,’’ the second of the first four