Author: Alfredo E. Cardenas
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
ISBN: 1574419544
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 449
Book Description
In Texas, to hear the words “Duval County” evokes Archie and George Parr, politics, and corruption. But this does not represent the full truth about this South Texas county and its Tejano citizens. Duval County Tejanos accentuates the significance and meaning of place, showcasing Tejanos as historical actors, not bit players. This cultural region comprises la familia, las costumbres, la fe católica, y las comidas. And we must not leave out la política. Tejanos were engaged in community life: they organized politically, cultivated land, and promoted agriculture, livestock raising, the local economy, churches, schools, patriotic celebrations, and social activities. Americano newcomers sought to start and develop a trade economy, but Mexicanos wanted to make sure they held on to their land. The Civil War stunted economic and governmental development but did not prevent the population growing in numbers and diversity, including the arrival of Americanos in more significant numbers. Still, old-time pioneers and newcomers joined hands to build a faith community, develop schools, improve transportation, and bring commerce to serve their needs. In 1876 Duval County citizens formally petitioned Nueces County for the opportunity to organize themselves. When the railroad rolled into the county seat, San Diego, in 1879, their world changed forever. During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the Duval County economy exhibited vitality and adaptability—sheep and cattle raising and cotton farming anchored and sustained the local economy. Moreover, Texas land programs opened opportunities to previously landless Tejano farmers. Duval County Tejanos continued to be alarmed as Americanos were cementing their political influence out of proportion to their numbers. In the 1870s Tejanos pursued organized politics to attain fairness and acquire political power corresponding to their population. In the twentieth century the political atmosphere intensified as Tejanos pushed forward their agenda of assuming their proper role, consistent with their numbers. Ultimately, the Americano actors were replaced by new faces more willing to share in the power structure, both politically and economically, and Tejanos achieved political strength commensurate with their numbers.
Duval County Tejanos
Author: Alfredo E. Cardenas
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
ISBN: 1574419544
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 449
Book Description
In Texas, to hear the words “Duval County” evokes Archie and George Parr, politics, and corruption. But this does not represent the full truth about this South Texas county and its Tejano citizens. Duval County Tejanos accentuates the significance and meaning of place, showcasing Tejanos as historical actors, not bit players. This cultural region comprises la familia, las costumbres, la fe católica, y las comidas. And we must not leave out la política. Tejanos were engaged in community life: they organized politically, cultivated land, and promoted agriculture, livestock raising, the local economy, churches, schools, patriotic celebrations, and social activities. Americano newcomers sought to start and develop a trade economy, but Mexicanos wanted to make sure they held on to their land. The Civil War stunted economic and governmental development but did not prevent the population growing in numbers and diversity, including the arrival of Americanos in more significant numbers. Still, old-time pioneers and newcomers joined hands to build a faith community, develop schools, improve transportation, and bring commerce to serve their needs. In 1876 Duval County citizens formally petitioned Nueces County for the opportunity to organize themselves. When the railroad rolled into the county seat, San Diego, in 1879, their world changed forever. During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the Duval County economy exhibited vitality and adaptability—sheep and cattle raising and cotton farming anchored and sustained the local economy. Moreover, Texas land programs opened opportunities to previously landless Tejano farmers. Duval County Tejanos continued to be alarmed as Americanos were cementing their political influence out of proportion to their numbers. In the 1870s Tejanos pursued organized politics to attain fairness and acquire political power corresponding to their population. In the twentieth century the political atmosphere intensified as Tejanos pushed forward their agenda of assuming their proper role, consistent with their numbers. Ultimately, the Americano actors were replaced by new faces more willing to share in the power structure, both politically and economically, and Tejanos achieved political strength commensurate with their numbers.
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
ISBN: 1574419544
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 449
Book Description
In Texas, to hear the words “Duval County” evokes Archie and George Parr, politics, and corruption. But this does not represent the full truth about this South Texas county and its Tejano citizens. Duval County Tejanos accentuates the significance and meaning of place, showcasing Tejanos as historical actors, not bit players. This cultural region comprises la familia, las costumbres, la fe católica, y las comidas. And we must not leave out la política. Tejanos were engaged in community life: they organized politically, cultivated land, and promoted agriculture, livestock raising, the local economy, churches, schools, patriotic celebrations, and social activities. Americano newcomers sought to start and develop a trade economy, but Mexicanos wanted to make sure they held on to their land. The Civil War stunted economic and governmental development but did not prevent the population growing in numbers and diversity, including the arrival of Americanos in more significant numbers. Still, old-time pioneers and newcomers joined hands to build a faith community, develop schools, improve transportation, and bring commerce to serve their needs. In 1876 Duval County citizens formally petitioned Nueces County for the opportunity to organize themselves. When the railroad rolled into the county seat, San Diego, in 1879, their world changed forever. During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the Duval County economy exhibited vitality and adaptability—sheep and cattle raising and cotton farming anchored and sustained the local economy. Moreover, Texas land programs opened opportunities to previously landless Tejano farmers. Duval County Tejanos continued to be alarmed as Americanos were cementing their political influence out of proportion to their numbers. In the 1870s Tejanos pursued organized politics to attain fairness and acquire political power corresponding to their population. In the twentieth century the political atmosphere intensified as Tejanos pushed forward their agenda of assuming their proper role, consistent with their numbers. Ultimately, the Americano actors were replaced by new faces more willing to share in the power structure, both politically and economically, and Tejanos achieved political strength commensurate with their numbers.
Early Tejano Ranching
Author: Andrés Sáenz
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 9781585441631
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 196
Book Description
For two and a half centuries Tejanos have lived and ranched on the land of South Texas, establishing many homesteads and communities. This modest book tells the story of one such family, the Sáenzes, who established Ranchos San José and El Fresnillo. Obtaining land grants from the municipality of Mier in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, these settlers crossed the Wild Horse Desert, known as Desierto Muerto, into present-day Duval County in the 1850s and 1860s. Through the simple, direct telling of his family’s stories, Andrés Sáenz lets readers learn about their homes of piedra (stone) and sillares (large blocks of limestone or sandstone), as well as the jacales (thatched-roof log huts) in which people of more modest means lived. He describes the cattle raising that formed the basis of Texas ranching, the carts used for transporting goods, the ways curanderas treated the sick, the food people ate, and how they cooked it. Marriages and deaths, feasts and droughts, education, and domestic arts are all recreated through the words of this descendent, who recorded the stories handed down through generations. The accounts celebrate a way of life without glamorizing it or distorting the hardships. The many photographs record a picturesque past in fascinating images. Those who seek to understand the ranching and ethnic heritage of Texas will enjoy and profit from Early Tejano Ranching.
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 9781585441631
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 196
Book Description
For two and a half centuries Tejanos have lived and ranched on the land of South Texas, establishing many homesteads and communities. This modest book tells the story of one such family, the Sáenzes, who established Ranchos San José and El Fresnillo. Obtaining land grants from the municipality of Mier in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, these settlers crossed the Wild Horse Desert, known as Desierto Muerto, into present-day Duval County in the 1850s and 1860s. Through the simple, direct telling of his family’s stories, Andrés Sáenz lets readers learn about their homes of piedra (stone) and sillares (large blocks of limestone or sandstone), as well as the jacales (thatched-roof log huts) in which people of more modest means lived. He describes the cattle raising that formed the basis of Texas ranching, the carts used for transporting goods, the ways curanderas treated the sick, the food people ate, and how they cooked it. Marriages and deaths, feasts and droughts, education, and domestic arts are all recreated through the words of this descendent, who recorded the stories handed down through generations. The accounts celebrate a way of life without glamorizing it or distorting the hardships. The many photographs record a picturesque past in fascinating images. Those who seek to understand the ranching and ethnic heritage of Texas will enjoy and profit from Early Tejano Ranching.
Early Tejano Ranching in Duval County
Author: Andrés Sáenz
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Architecture, Domestic
Languages : en
Pages : 186
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Architecture, Domestic
Languages : en
Pages : 186
Book Description
The Strange Career of Bilingual Education in Texas, 1836-1981
Author: Carlos Kevin Blanton
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 9781585446025
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 220
Book Description
Awarded the Texas State Historical Association's Coral Horton Tullis Memorial Prize; presented March 2005 Despite controversies over current educational practices, Texas boasts a rich and vibrant bilingual tradition-and not just for Spanish-English instruction, but for Czech, German, Polish, and Dutch as well. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Texas educational policymakers embraced, ignored, rejected, outlawed, then once again embraced this tradition. In The Strange Career of Bilingual Education in Texas, author Carlos Blanton traces the educational policies and their underlying rationales, from Stephen F. Austin's proposal in the 1830s to "Mexicanize" Anglo children by teaching them Spanish along with English and French, through the 1981 passage of the most encompassing bilingual education law in the state's history. Blanton draws on primary materials, such as the handwritten records of county administrators and the minutes of state education meetings, and presents the Texas experience in light of national trends and movements, such as Progressive Education, the Americanization Movement, and the Good Neighbor Movement. By tracing the many changes that eventually led to the re-establishment of bilingual education in its modern form in the 1960s and the 1981 passage of a landmark state law, Blanton reconnects Texas with its bilingual past. CARLOS KEVIN BLANTON, an assistant professor of history at Texas A&M University, earned his Ph.D. from Rice University. His research in Mexican American educational history has been published in journals such as the Pacific Historical Review and Social Science Quarterly.
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 9781585446025
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 220
Book Description
Awarded the Texas State Historical Association's Coral Horton Tullis Memorial Prize; presented March 2005 Despite controversies over current educational practices, Texas boasts a rich and vibrant bilingual tradition-and not just for Spanish-English instruction, but for Czech, German, Polish, and Dutch as well. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Texas educational policymakers embraced, ignored, rejected, outlawed, then once again embraced this tradition. In The Strange Career of Bilingual Education in Texas, author Carlos Blanton traces the educational policies and their underlying rationales, from Stephen F. Austin's proposal in the 1830s to "Mexicanize" Anglo children by teaching them Spanish along with English and French, through the 1981 passage of the most encompassing bilingual education law in the state's history. Blanton draws on primary materials, such as the handwritten records of county administrators and the minutes of state education meetings, and presents the Texas experience in light of national trends and movements, such as Progressive Education, the Americanization Movement, and the Good Neighbor Movement. By tracing the many changes that eventually led to the re-establishment of bilingual education in its modern form in the 1960s and the 1981 passage of a landmark state law, Blanton reconnects Texas with its bilingual past. CARLOS KEVIN BLANTON, an assistant professor of history at Texas A&M University, earned his Ph.D. from Rice University. His research in Mexican American educational history has been published in journals such as the Pacific Historical Review and Social Science Quarterly.
Tejano Legacy
Author: Armando C. Alonzo
Publisher: UNM Press
ISBN: 0826328504
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 371
Book Description
This is a pathbreaking study of Tejano ranchers and settlers in the Lower Río Grande Valley from their colonial roots to 1900. The first book to delineate and assess the complexity of Mexican-Anglo interaction in south Texas, it also shows how Tejanos continued to play a leading role in the commercialization of ranching after 1848 and how they maintained a sense of community. Despite shifts in jurisdiction, the tradition of Tejano land holding acted as a stabilizing element and formed an important part of Tejano history and identity. The earliest settlers arrived in the 1730s and established numerous ranchos and six towns along the river. Through a careful study of land and tax records, brands and bills of sale of livestock, wills, population and agricultural censuses, and oral histories, Alonzo shows how Tejanos adapted to change and maintained control of their ranchos through the 1880s, when Anglo encroachment and changing social and economic conditions eroded most of the community's land base.
Publisher: UNM Press
ISBN: 0826328504
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 371
Book Description
This is a pathbreaking study of Tejano ranchers and settlers in the Lower Río Grande Valley from their colonial roots to 1900. The first book to delineate and assess the complexity of Mexican-Anglo interaction in south Texas, it also shows how Tejanos continued to play a leading role in the commercialization of ranching after 1848 and how they maintained a sense of community. Despite shifts in jurisdiction, the tradition of Tejano land holding acted as a stabilizing element and formed an important part of Tejano history and identity. The earliest settlers arrived in the 1730s and established numerous ranchos and six towns along the river. Through a careful study of land and tax records, brands and bills of sale of livestock, wills, population and agricultural censuses, and oral histories, Alonzo shows how Tejanos adapted to change and maintained control of their ranchos through the 1880s, when Anglo encroachment and changing social and economic conditions eroded most of the community's land base.
The Mexican Texans
Author: Phyllis McKenzie
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 9781585443079
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 158
Book Description
In The Mexican Texans, author Phyllis McKenzie uses historical narrative and a wealth of photographs to explore how time has shaped the identity of Mexican Texans and their continued contribution in the Lone Star State through more than six generations. With vivid descriptions of the language, music, values, and celebrations that enrich Mexican Texan life, this book will appeal to readers young and old who are interested in Texas and Mexican history. Features include · 58 illustrations · boxed biographical sketches · Spanish poetry with English translation · recipes for traditional Mexican Texan dishes The Mexican Texans is part of a five-volume set from the Institute of Texan Cultures. The entire set, entitled Texans All, explores the social and cultural contributions made by five distinctive cultural groups that already existed in Texas prior to its statehood or that came to Texas in the early twentieth century: The Indian Texans, The Mexican Texans, The European Texans, The African Texans, and The Asian Texans.
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 9781585443079
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 158
Book Description
In The Mexican Texans, author Phyllis McKenzie uses historical narrative and a wealth of photographs to explore how time has shaped the identity of Mexican Texans and their continued contribution in the Lone Star State through more than six generations. With vivid descriptions of the language, music, values, and celebrations that enrich Mexican Texan life, this book will appeal to readers young and old who are interested in Texas and Mexican history. Features include · 58 illustrations · boxed biographical sketches · Spanish poetry with English translation · recipes for traditional Mexican Texan dishes The Mexican Texans is part of a five-volume set from the Institute of Texan Cultures. The entire set, entitled Texans All, explores the social and cultural contributions made by five distinctive cultural groups that already existed in Texas prior to its statehood or that came to Texas in the early twentieth century: The Indian Texans, The Mexican Texans, The European Texans, The African Texans, and The Asian Texans.
Tejano South Texas
Author: Daniel D. Arreola
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292793146
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 374
Book Description
On the plains between the San Antonio River and the Rio Grande lies the heartland of what is perhaps the largest ethnic region in the United States, Tejano South Texas. In this cultural geography, Daniel Arreola charts the many ways in which Texans of Mexican ancestry have established a cultural province in this Texas-Mexico borderland that is unlike any other Mexican American region. Arreola begins by delineating South Texas as an environmental and cultural region. He then explores who the Tejanos are, where in Mexico they originated, and how and where they settled historically in South Texas. Moving into the present, he examines many factors that make Tejano South Texas distinctive from other Mexican American regions—the physical spaces of ranchos, plazas, barrios, and colonias; the cultural life of the small towns and the cities of San Antonio and Laredo; and the foods, public celebrations, and political attitudes that characterize the region. Arreola's findings thus offer a new appreciation for the great cultural diversity that exists within the Mexican American borderlands.
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292793146
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 374
Book Description
On the plains between the San Antonio River and the Rio Grande lies the heartland of what is perhaps the largest ethnic region in the United States, Tejano South Texas. In this cultural geography, Daniel Arreola charts the many ways in which Texans of Mexican ancestry have established a cultural province in this Texas-Mexico borderland that is unlike any other Mexican American region. Arreola begins by delineating South Texas as an environmental and cultural region. He then explores who the Tejanos are, where in Mexico they originated, and how and where they settled historically in South Texas. Moving into the present, he examines many factors that make Tejano South Texas distinctive from other Mexican American regions—the physical spaces of ranchos, plazas, barrios, and colonias; the cultural life of the small towns and the cities of San Antonio and Laredo; and the foods, public celebrations, and political attitudes that characterize the region. Arreola's findings thus offer a new appreciation for the great cultural diversity that exists within the Mexican American borderlands.
Dukes of Duval County
Author: Anthony R. Carrozza
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806159553
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 570
Book Description
The notorious Parr family manipulated local politics in South Texas for decades. Archie Parr, his son George, and his grandson Archer relied on violence and corruption to deliver the votes that propelled their chosen candidates to office. The influence of the Parr political machine peaked during the 1948 senatorial primary, when election officials found the infamous Ballot Box 13 six days after the polls closed. That box provided a slim eighty-seven-vote lead to Lyndon B. Johnson, initiating the national political career of the future U.S. president. Dukes of Duval County begins with Archie Parr’s organization of the Mexican American electorate into a potent voting bloc, which marked the beginning of his three-decade campaign for control of every political office in Duval County and the surrounding area. Archie’s son George, who expanded the Parrs’ dominion to include jobs, welfare payments, and public works, became a county judge thanks to his father’s influence—but when George was arrested and imprisoned for accepting payoffs, only a presidential pardon advocated by then-congressman Lyndon Johnson allowed George to take office once more. Further legal misadventures haunted George and his successor, Archer, but in the end it took the combined force of local, state, and federal governments and the courageous efforts of private citizens to overthrow the Parr family. In this first comprehensive study of the Parr family’s political activities, Anthony R. Carrozza reveals the innermost workings of the Parr dynasty, a political machine that drove South Texas politics for more than seventy years and critically influenced the course of the nation.
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806159553
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 570
Book Description
The notorious Parr family manipulated local politics in South Texas for decades. Archie Parr, his son George, and his grandson Archer relied on violence and corruption to deliver the votes that propelled their chosen candidates to office. The influence of the Parr political machine peaked during the 1948 senatorial primary, when election officials found the infamous Ballot Box 13 six days after the polls closed. That box provided a slim eighty-seven-vote lead to Lyndon B. Johnson, initiating the national political career of the future U.S. president. Dukes of Duval County begins with Archie Parr’s organization of the Mexican American electorate into a potent voting bloc, which marked the beginning of his three-decade campaign for control of every political office in Duval County and the surrounding area. Archie’s son George, who expanded the Parrs’ dominion to include jobs, welfare payments, and public works, became a county judge thanks to his father’s influence—but when George was arrested and imprisoned for accepting payoffs, only a presidential pardon advocated by then-congressman Lyndon Johnson allowed George to take office once more. Further legal misadventures haunted George and his successor, Archer, but in the end it took the combined force of local, state, and federal governments and the courageous efforts of private citizens to overthrow the Parr family. In this first comprehensive study of the Parr family’s political activities, Anthony R. Carrozza reveals the innermost workings of the Parr dynasty, a political machine that drove South Texas politics for more than seventy years and critically influenced the course of the nation.
Quiet Revolution in the South
Author: Chandler Davidson
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691225192
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 520
Book Description
This work is the first systematic attempt to measure the impact of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, commonly regarded as the most effective civil rights legislation of the century. Marshaling a wealth of detailed evidence, the contributors to this volume show how blacks and Mexican Americans in the South, along with the Justice Department, have used the act and the U.S. Constitution to overcome the resistance of white officials to minority mobilization. The book tells the story of the black struggle for equal political participation in eight core southern states from the end of the Civil War to the 1980s--with special emphasis on the period since 1965. The contributors use a variety of quantitative methods to show how the act dramatically increased black registration and black and Mexican-American office holding. They also explain modern voting rights law as it pertains to minority citizens, discussing important legal cases and giving numerous examples of how the law is applied. Destined to become a standard source of information on the history of the Voting Rights Act, Quiet Revolution in the South has implications for the controversies that are sure to continue over the direction in which the voting rights of American ethnic minorities have evolved since the 1960s.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691225192
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 520
Book Description
This work is the first systematic attempt to measure the impact of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, commonly regarded as the most effective civil rights legislation of the century. Marshaling a wealth of detailed evidence, the contributors to this volume show how blacks and Mexican Americans in the South, along with the Justice Department, have used the act and the U.S. Constitution to overcome the resistance of white officials to minority mobilization. The book tells the story of the black struggle for equal political participation in eight core southern states from the end of the Civil War to the 1980s--with special emphasis on the period since 1965. The contributors use a variety of quantitative methods to show how the act dramatically increased black registration and black and Mexican-American office holding. They also explain modern voting rights law as it pertains to minority citizens, discussing important legal cases and giving numerous examples of how the law is applied. Destined to become a standard source of information on the history of the Voting Rights Act, Quiet Revolution in the South has implications for the controversies that are sure to continue over the direction in which the voting rights of American ethnic minorities have evolved since the 1960s.
Tejano Tiger
Author: Jerry Thompson
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 087565665X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 541
Book Description
Riding the rough and sometimes bloody peaks and canyons of border politics, Santos Benavides’s rise to prominence was largely the result of the careful mentoring of his well-known uncle, Basilio Benavides, who served several terms as alcalde of Laredo, Texas, and Chief Justice of Webb County. When the Civil War erupted in 1861, Basilio was one of only two Tejanos in the state legislature. During Santos’s lifetime, five flags flew over the small community he called home—that of the Republic of Mexico, the ill-fated Republic of the Rio Grande, the Republic of Texas, an expansionist United States, and in March 1861, the rebellious Confederate States of America. It was under the Confederacy in the disputed Texas-Mexico borderlands that Santos Benavides reached the pinnacle of his military career as the highest-ranking Tejano in the entire Confederate army. In the decades that followed the Civil War, he became an esteemed political leader, highly respected on both sides of the border. This is the first scholarly study of this important historical figure. At the pinnacle of his political career in 1879, Benavides held the distinction of being the only Tejano in the Texas legislature. Through strife, sweat, blood, and heroism in defense of the border, Benavides rose to economic and political heights few could dream of. As a friend and confidant of two Mexican presidents, he was one of the single most influential individuals in the nineteenth-century history of the border. His life was one of enduring perseverance as well as binational leadership and skilled diplomacy. He was without doubt the single most important individual in the long and often violent history of Laredo. The niche he carved in the tumultuous transnational history of the Texas-Mexico borderlands seems secure.
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 087565665X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 541
Book Description
Riding the rough and sometimes bloody peaks and canyons of border politics, Santos Benavides’s rise to prominence was largely the result of the careful mentoring of his well-known uncle, Basilio Benavides, who served several terms as alcalde of Laredo, Texas, and Chief Justice of Webb County. When the Civil War erupted in 1861, Basilio was one of only two Tejanos in the state legislature. During Santos’s lifetime, five flags flew over the small community he called home—that of the Republic of Mexico, the ill-fated Republic of the Rio Grande, the Republic of Texas, an expansionist United States, and in March 1861, the rebellious Confederate States of America. It was under the Confederacy in the disputed Texas-Mexico borderlands that Santos Benavides reached the pinnacle of his military career as the highest-ranking Tejano in the entire Confederate army. In the decades that followed the Civil War, he became an esteemed political leader, highly respected on both sides of the border. This is the first scholarly study of this important historical figure. At the pinnacle of his political career in 1879, Benavides held the distinction of being the only Tejano in the Texas legislature. Through strife, sweat, blood, and heroism in defense of the border, Benavides rose to economic and political heights few could dream of. As a friend and confidant of two Mexican presidents, he was one of the single most influential individuals in the nineteenth-century history of the border. His life was one of enduring perseverance as well as binational leadership and skilled diplomacy. He was without doubt the single most important individual in the long and often violent history of Laredo. The niche he carved in the tumultuous transnational history of the Texas-Mexico borderlands seems secure.