Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1927-11-13
BY PHIL HOPKINS

ElEto<F+ GoLllIlIt .o4u IGM@ llMb
she IL. often repeated herself. When
she does this. il IL not TO utter trivI-
but ID express forgotten truths
with ever more emphasis than before.
She always rises to occasion and cir
c~unstance.
This IL the real reason for the
comeback Of Point Isabel. Lang
SINE past. IL was u port or narae and
fame. the most southern IN the " -
handling the commerce Of q large
area in northern Mexico. and con-
tested strategic point during three
wars. La-er-business going into the
discard--it was known far and wide
a. the finest tarpon fishing-grcund
IN the world and now, the Incredibly
rich delta behind 1.-THE wonderful
Valley " the Lower Rio Grande-has
been discovered and developed .
vast vegetable and fruit industry u
being carried On hy constantly aug
mentcd population, with great need
ar water inlet and outlet; tfor which
too the trade 0f Mexico IS but wait
irg) paved highways and rail extern
sionx fresult OF the recent railroad
war; point the way more than ever
10 sports-lovcrs and investors, ma
tional end international.
was Old Grant
Romance invests II, too. When the
Port Isebel Company purchased. not
long ago. the entire eight hundred
acre townsite. it, abstract ~ title
reached back 20 the royal -Cedula"
made BY His Majesty az Spain 70 the
first ornament settler. Musty parch-
ment archives III the City Of Mexico
and in CASTLE record this "Espiritu
Santo Grant" OF seventy-five square
miles-stretchirg from Point Isabel
and the lakes Of the sea" inland and
10 the Rio Grande. Jose Salvador de
Ia Cara was the grantee and the
date OF his final deed, eleven years
later, was 1881. the chief consider
alton az this gift OF public domain
being that he occupied II in person,
b. tenants and Indians whom he had
Christianized." A single unit. was
Don Jose. In the fnr-reaching scheme
Of coIonizine these New Philip
pines" a. Spanish maps labeled the
region az the lower Gulf.
The first such map was made In
1919 By Pineda, a captain sem BIZ the
governor OF Jamaica 10 run the west
ern coast OF the Gulf, seeking n
strength Of this chart Surprisingly
accurate. by the way) the delighted
governor was granted the Province
of Amichel," resching from modern
Alabama 70 Tampicol This he tried
70 colonize.
Gossip or Past
What tales this coastland has to
tell. Gossip Of dead centuries,
strange Is the runor carried from It's
sands by Teguaya Indians, who saw
white men enter BY water. in houses
made Of trees" Those houses"
sailed I'D the shore from Cortez' town
Panuco, now called Tampico- Between
1922 and 1928 two such expeditions
had explored beyond the Rio Grande's
mouth. Where now steel dredges
labor, biting out q channel with
stcam-driven jaws, four hundred
years ago there rode at anchor Cara
wells Of Conquest From their mast
heads floated SPANS gold and Grim
son banner; upon their poops stood
helmeted. m~ustachioed men, armed
with sword and arouebus. And the
brown folk. watching from thicket
and beach. stored Up the wonderful
legend ~ "trae-houses" 70 tell Father
Alnedo. il 1854.
He came with one OF those caval-
cades that trarpled northward from
Monterrey. fording the brRwling
Bravo" (now called the Rio Grarde).
League uror league Of wilderness
was traversed by conquistador and
friar. erecting wooden crosses and
taking possession Of plain. chaparral.
and Laguna de- Ia Madre's sunny wat
ers In the name or church and rown.
Ia the Indios b~arbaros were offered
gifts: red cloth. Jumps Of sugar Ia
luxury unknownll small mirrors.
Childlike. the natives we're attracted:
some we're instructed by the Francis
cans in mysteries az the faith and
baptized. But they were far too
fresh from trail and forest. 10 long
endure restraint. The war-cry echoed
often. there were rfassacres and most
n the Tray-walled Missions along the
Bravo vanished. Over against these
ri0us efforts stands the record OF D
famous Cor UNANIMOUSLY sIsve-hunt,
when a Spanish band came north on q
grand roundup ~ the Cacaxtle tribe.
From 1919 "a 1890 the exploration
continued. with planting Of the tall
timher-crosses which served 20 hand
iiv - symbols Of Santa Fe. siErp posts
~ Empire. and landmarks for the re-
turn journey.
Port Established
~ 174s there had been organized
Nuevo ~Santander OF the Mexican
Cult" Within this q port was es-
tahiished. TO encourage settlement.