The Truth

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 Commissioner. These people thought Refugio was their Kingdom, apart from the United States. Below you'll see the why and how they could have prevented Becerra from receiving his legitimate title. Keep reading...

However, thanks to Lucile Fagan, by sheer accident, and the 500-page book they created on Refugio Co, I now feel that I am one step closer to unraveling the mystery. The following insight gives one a sense of proximity as it involves the usual suspects that I’ve been railing against these past few months.

What Fagan provides is the sentiment of the townspeople of Refugio at the time that Becerra submitted his land title. Here's how it plays out:

A Joseph Smith had infuriated their beloved James Power because he had determined that many of the tracts of land he was claiming around Copano Bay or old Aransas Bay were not properly surveyed.

As a matter of fact, Power did not have survey papers or field notes for the same land that Antonio de la Garza was situated on. So this Joseph Smith went at Power and convinced courts that there were headright certificates already placed against his land.

As a matter of fact, he had the legislature create a law that would require a re-survey of lands with only a two year period to do so. Powers did not do it.

Naturally, the people of Refugio were in an uproar and from 1849 to 1853 held a series of town hall meetings. These meetings, held in Refugio and San Patricio were about railing against any and all intruders with certificates of authenticity who tried to undermine or supplant the "good ole titles" held by the original Irish settlers.

Here's an excerpt of what these idiots were up to and what they were saying at these town halls:

"Resolved , that forbearance any longer ceases to be virtue; that we will not suffer, hereafter, any locater or third person to locate his land certificate upon patented land, nor any surveyor to receive a location or make a survey of any lands granted by the former government to colonists within these colonies, nor will we suffer, nor do we recognize or acknowledge the right of any third person to question or inquire into our land claims, nor will we allow any other person whatever but the state, by its lawful officers, to bring or institute suit for any such lands; and that, if necessary we will, for the maintenance of our invested rights, oppose or repel by force of arms any such persons as are disposed to make location and surveys on our old titled lands."

What I'm trying to show here is the rabid sentiment of these misguided souls was so toxic that anyone of character outside of what they considered normal was to be rejected. So, O'Connor was the County Commissioner, and the people were in a depraved state of mind. They were out for blood and Becerra's attempt to legitimize his land went nowhere. They were not going allow it to happen. Hope this makes sense...