Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-02-12
Valley Historical Outline

NOTE-This history was pre-
pared by Judge T. r. Harwood OF
Gonzales, president Of the Texas
Historical association, and read at
the Rio Grande Valley Federation
of Women's clubs at the December
meeting held in Edinburg. Due to
lack Of time, Judge Harwood was
unable to complete the reading of
the entire paper, but the interest
in his subject was so great, that q
motion was made to have the paper
published in Valley papers.
This is the second installment,
the first having appeared in The
Herald last Sunday, Feb. 8.
As stated by DR.. Balton, Texas had
it's share in the romance, myth and
fable. which everywhere attended the
Spanish conquest Of America. In
Florida the Spanish sought the Foun-
tain of Youth; in South America, the
Guided Nan Gel Dorado; on the
West Coast Of Mexico, the Isles of
the Amazon; in Arizona and New
NJ 1xico. the seven cities Of Cibola; on
the California Coast. the Straight Of
Anisn. Likewise in Texas, they
searched for ths Kingdom of Gran
Quivira, "where every one had
their ordinary dishes made of
wrought plate and the jugs and bowls
we're Of gold; for the Seven Hills
of the Aijados or Aixios, where gold
was so plentiful that the natives not
knowing any of the other metals,
make Of IL everything they needed,
such as vessels and the tips of ar
rows and lances. for tine Sierra or
(Cerrc) de la Plata (Silver Noun
tain), somewhere north of the Rio
Grande; for the pearls of the Jumano
county; and for the "Great Kingdom
Of Texas" a people who, like the
JImanos, had been miraculously con-
verted by the women in blue. who
lived next door TO the K>iom of
Gran Quivira, were ruled by a fkwer-
full lord, had we'll built towns. each
several miles in length, and raised
grain in such abundance that they
YER fed IL to their horses. All these
various quests and Beiiefs had made
the Texas country an object of inter
est to the Spanish, long before il
became a field Of polfi cal contest
with France.
Urged by these ny obtained
were made int )fezks, ven
but failing Find this
source Of 70. they returned to
villas )exico without making per-
man gomes OF actually occupying
Iese expeditions are described
BE- by DR.. Herbert Z. Bolton in his
Eie "The Spanish Occupation OF
~" 15le-16s0 Quarterly Volume
page ~.
followed the mission p
d. which upwards of twenty
miS3Ys and presidios we're founded
fir Fand last on Texas soil. But
Will the Anglo-American began to
pour in, there were only three cen
ter of Spanish population between
the Sabine and the Rio Grande-San
Antonio, Goliad and Nscogdoches.
The Lower Rio Grande Valley car
scarcely be said to have participated
in the colonial period Of Texas, the
organization Of the Revolution and
the formation Of the republic of Tex.
as. There was no Anglo-Americar
settlement between the Nueces and
the Rio Grande rivers and no repre-
sentative by il in the consultation
the Texas army or the convention
which remained the Texas constitu.
ton. The nearest colony was that OF
the Irish in San Patricio at the cross
ing of the Nueces. This territory
was claimed by the Mexican state OF
Tamaulipas and Texas being occupied
was somewhat in dispute and indefi.
mite and not until after the defeat OF
Santa Anna in the battle of San ia