July 2001 Vol. 4, Issue 46
	Editorial
July 2001 Vol. 4, Issue 46	Our main story this month is on Rancho Las Animas founded by don Jorge Alanis in the mid 1860s in what is now northcentral Duval county on the Animas Creek. I want to thank Mrs. Jane Brennan, present owner, for allowing me to visit the former ranch of my great-greatuncle. I commend her for keeping and upkeeping most of the original sillar block house in its original form. An impressive fortified home. While there, I could almost imagine what it was like in the turbulent era of the 1870s when there was still raiding bandits and Indians attacking the settlers in these remote ranches. The information obtained on Jorge Alanis as a constable and the hidepeelers came from the book, "The Crosswinds of Duval County", by Forrest H. Clark, Sr. I want to thank all of our contributing writers, Lauro Canales for his great poem on the Rio Grande River, a river we are all too familiar with; Ernesto Uribe for taking us back to the good old days of chamuscando the old fashioned way; and María E. Garza for reminiscing on the originator of the Ranchera music, Lucha Reyes, which inspired me to do a little biographical research on her. I want to see what kind of feedback I get from my story on the founding of the Villa of Vedoya, the first settlement planned on the Nueces River by José de Escandón in 1749. Most historians say that even though it was planned it never happened. Read what I theorize with my research. While writing on Vedoya it seems like someone else is doing research on a newly found Spanish settlement near the Santa Margarita Crossing on the Nueces River in western Nueces county. A group from the Corpus Christi Museum is doing archaeological research at the present time. We will be anxiously awaiting their findings. Be sure to check out the advertisement on the back page for the upcoming 22nd Annual Texas Hispanic Genealogical Conference in Houston. It looks to be a great one. Hasta la próxima, Homero S. Vera
July 2001 Vol. 4, Issue 46	In This Issue Want ALL the Stories? click here. page Features 4-5 Rancho Las Animas of Jorge Alanis- Duval County 6 Family Tree of Jorge Alanis 8 Agostadero de Vargas 15 Poem - Birth of the Rio Grande By Lauro Canales 16-17 Chamuscando - By Ernesto Uribe 18 My Search for Lucha Reyes - By María E. Garza page   Happenings 13  Calendar of Events  page  Departments 9 Map of El Paraje de Vargas 11 El Mesteño Bookstore 12 Livestock Brands-Duval County, Texas 1876 - 1882 14 Proverbs - Books: The Life and Death of Juan Coy by Charles L. Olmsted & Edward Coy Ybarra The Day They Took My Uncle and other stories By Lionel G. Garcia 19 Nature - Crested Caracara 20 Recipes 21  Internet Links 22 Mexico — New Spain —Villa de Vedoya, 1st Settlement in Nueces county
	return to: Archives | Home Page | Stories | Subscribe

.