Personal Commentaries

Generational Wealth I took average unit ($) per acre for 10 Refugio ranches. Antonio's land would have more or less fetched:  $14,357,790.00 . So, I'd say yes, it matters...

  Snake Eyes Just really quick, remember that there's two parts to this story. Part 1 is about  Becerra  and his land grant. We all know now; it was 100% legit. We also know his quarrels with  Powers  led to  Becerra's  grant being sabotaged.  Powers  would "pay" the family back one day. Part 2  is tied to  Part 1 . His nephew,  Thomas O'Connor  carried the torch and O'Connor's son  Dennis,  was the ignition. It's all tied together. It's a hell of a story. You couldn't make it up. Oh, don't forget about  Henry Scott.  lol. Mark

  Imagination So let's imagine for a moment, that  Daniel Day-Lewis  represents  O'Connor . Imagine the bearded man represents one of the Refugio County clerks. This is how he and his son  Dennis  might have run it. When he asks towards the end about the  Bandy tract , metaphorically, he could be saying the  Garza tract . This is how I imagine it happening. I honestly don't think I'm far off the mark. I see it happening this way. Imagination is power...

Power's Revenge To the historians in the family. This is damning proof that this man would never allow Becerra to claim legitimacy to his land. Power was a very powerful man in the region and eventual state of republic of Texas. His network of connections ran deep, and he was adored and mythologized amongst the town locals, not only in Refugio, but in Goliad, St Mary's, Rio Grande, Aransas, Corpus Christi, you name it. He was the gringo's darling. He didn't forget the faithful, he didn't forget who crossed him, he didn't forget who was loyal. So when you see his name, it carried a lot of weight in the region. He absolutely detested the officials of Goliad and Victoria for giving him a hard time. He lived until 1853 and exerted an extreme amount of weight in the surrounding area. Mark

Keeping a Watchful Eye One must remember that during that era, the people were agrarian, rural and very tight knit. They were all about loyalty and whether you aligned with their values or not. We now know that Carlos de la Garza obviously aligned with their values and was considered their contemporary (gringo). We know now that Becerra was looked upon unfavorably. Power lorded over the region and his word resonated with these people. His disdain for what Becerra, de Leon and the Goliad officials had put him through was never to be forgotten. However, Becerra's high standing as an official kept them all at arm's length. I don't think they fooled with him and so they went on with their business. But deep inside they knew that he did not align with Power and others in the community. They also knew who his daughter Francisca, would go on to marry. The gringos were conflicted with her choice in husband and said nothing.  To be continued.

Working With Wolves Here are the complexities of the story. Yes, the gringos of Refugio knew the Becerra family all too well. Yes, James Power in all likelihood held it in check when Becerra was around. Yes, he disliked him and let the others know. Of course the problem here is the complexity and the lack of information, the gaps. For instance, there is a  Libro Becerra  at the Refugio Courthouse (somewhere). Sources I've read indicate that Becerra would travel to the courthouse and assist with parceling out of land grants to those receiving them. Therefore, Working alongside James Power. I believe he was acting like a notary and as so, signed off on nearly 60,000 acres of land distribution (59,000 acres to be exact). He kept a meticulous book for the county entitled:  Libro Becerra . But the rub is that he worked in some fashion alongside Power. Becerra's pull and status was strong enough to keep the wolves at bay. He was in all likelihood classified as an "untouchable....

Watering the Seeds of Discontent In April 1833 James Power sailed to Wexford Ireland to bring back as many colonists as possible to settle in Refugio. During the 6 month voyage back he would bring his nephew Thomas O'Connor who was only 17 years old at the time. There is no doubt in my mind that he had many conversations with his nephew. Of those, he discussed the promise of land by the Mexican government and the possibility of obtaining more. In all likelihood he also discussed Becerra and Goliad.

The Whitewashing of History In my research I recently came across this page in a book I'm reading. It's a history of Refugio and it was written by the "Refugio County Extension Homemaker Council" way back in '85. I was fortunate to come across it at the local college where I teach. The Chairman and person driving this book is a descendant of the Fagan's. Her name is Lucile Fagan Snider. It's like over 500 pages and a collection from many of the prominent and local families of Refugio. They gave me everything I needed and some. Believe me, this book is loaded. In of the pages, Fagan is fawning over and adoring who else, but James Power. Yes, he is a "God" in this neck of the woods. In this part of the passage Fagan is discussing how Indians and Mexicans were apparently already situated on Refugio lands. I can only imagine that Becerra was one of the Mexicans that already had cattle and horses out there by 1828. Fagan describes the Mexicans as stir...

THE TRUTH What I discovered in Fagan's detailed and annotated book on Refugio Co helped open my eyes to the possibility of what happened to Becerra's land title back in 1848. If we recall, on that fateful day, back on June 6th, 1848, Becerra arrived with his wife to have the land title converted to a legal deed by the county clerk McFarland. This special occasion occurred on June 6th, 1848. I had always kept asking the why. Why, if it was converted to a legal document did it not make it to the General Land Office? Why weren't his 2 leagues or 8,848 acres put on the maps? I knew that there was missing information, gaps in the story. You have to remember that Becerra's land was filed as a deed in the Refugio County Clerk's Office on September 6th, 1848. However, as you'll read below. You will soon see that this is a BIG PRIMARY REASON why Becerra's land was not sent to the General Land Office. They despised this man already; O'Connor was the County Commiss...

THE TRUTH: A MARKED MAN Yes, there was all this rabid sentiment about anyone wanting to claim a land title, over what Fagan calls, " the good old titles ." But besides that, the story of Becerra's fate is complicated. Yes, there was rabid anti-Mexican sentiment after the Mexican American War. The county was in disarray. Yes, they actually held town hall events to vent their hatred and frustration against anyone trying to supersede their land claims. But more than that, I believe it was more complicated, far more complicated when it came to Manuel Becerra. If you've been following my posts, James Power detested him and spread his dislike amongst others in the county, especially the prominent ranching families. I do think Becerra was marked from the beginning. I firmly believe Power spread his dislike of him to O'Connor and others. But again, Becerra was an  untouchable , he had to much  clout . All they knew throughout the 1830's, 40's was that somewhere ou...

Proof Further proof of "guilty by association." In the previous postings title Truth, I spoke of the toxic, overzealous and aggressive town hall meetings. Well, look no further than the proof that  Henry Scott ,  James Power  and  Thomas O'Connor  all comingled with each other. They were all part of the townsfolk trying to protect the "good old titles." As I've said from the beginning, Henry "Hank" Scott was the rich prominent rancher who ran vigilante group in the area. He's the only one people. I have copies of Henry's land dealings with Thomas O'Connor. Now look, they were present together in meetings. Bingo.

Part I: Power's Promise of Paradise You know before I explain, I'd like to make a point. It's heartbreaking to know that such an individual could wreak so much havoc over our people and future generations to come. It takes looking at it very closely, to see truths. So let me explain a preliminary fact. This is the kind of man he was. When he was getting desperate, because they (Power & Hewetson) had one year left on their empresario contract, Power decided to make the voyage to Ireland because he needed to rapidly meet his quota of 400 families or settlers,  of which he never did . But he went to several counties up in Ireland, including Wexford and Ballygarett and made promises to these people, simply lied. He promised those poor souls that there would be riches waiting for them, green pastures and wonderful times. Well, when they made the voyage, very few knew it was going to take over 6 months by sea to finally get to the Gulf of Mexico. I believe over half of the pa...

What I'm trying to aim at and hit the mark repetitively, is the idea of " connections ." We've come so far these past few months. The psychology of this story, the sentiment, the tendencies and biased assumptions is what galvanizes me. I discovered a little snippet of a  connection . But I want you to hear it till it is obviously glaring as a fact. So, here's a small gem that I discovered during my lunch break. Of you course you have to remember that the  Mrs. Fagan  is driving these discoveries at the moment. lol In the post reconstruction, following the Civil War many in the community were grateful to and hailed these men as heroes who had fought in the confederacy. So, here's the snippet. Refugio's Judge Rea voted " Major Rogers,  Captain Scott  and  Thomas O'Connor  as the three most outstanding citizens of the county who were personally known to him. " This is probably circa 1867, just 8 years before they came after Antonio de la Garza. ...

Blood - N - Roses Blood ties are stronger than granite. In the midst of all the chaos, the revolutions, the invasions, the insurrections, and turmoil stood someone that was in all likelihood not palatable to the ranchers of Refugio. Becerra in my opinion, was marked and watched closely. As we all know from previous posts, Becerra had drawn the ire of Power's and he in return had made Power's life a living hell during the initial years of the empresario's rule. It was also a fact that none of the Tejano politicians liked Power's, and so the feeling was mutual. Yet Becerra continued making his presence in Refugio, even after the others had faded away. It was the fall of 1834 and the  fake  empresarios needed assistance with keeping a notary on staff to record all the inchoate land titles they were passing out. Becerra being a loyal servant to the Supreme Govt of Mexico, assisted with the task of documenting all the grants into a book entitled: Libro Becerra. It was during...

A Perfect Butchery It was right after  Francisco de la Garza  died in the  Spring of 1870  that strange things started to happen. Francisco was laid to rest on their ranch between Alamita Creek and Copano Creek. It was the start of the 1870's and Thomas O'Connor was done snapping up cattle. He was thinking about land and more land. Legend has it that it was during the early 1870's that he started fencing up all his different tracts of land into these so-called pasture's. The early 1870's was his rampaging years in  Refugio ,  Goliad  and  Victoria . He was hell-bent on snapping up as many tracts of land as humanly possible. He didn't care if it was a small tract or a mega-size tract of land, he was determined, and no one would get in his way. It was at this very moment, in-between the fencing of lands into pastures that he was  conveyed  the coveted  Power tract , all 6,642 acres. As expected, he was given a heads-up that a young ma...