DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official Cameron County marker has to say — and friend, this one's got some range to it. Created February 12, 1848. That's the birthday of Cameron County, down on the southernmost tip of Texas where the Rio Grande meets the Gulf.
But the marker doesn't start there. It starts in 1535. Because the story of this valley is older — much older — than any county line ever drawn.
Since 1535, the marker says, men of all nations of the earth sailed the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the green valley of the Rio Grande in search of happiness. And each found it in his own time and in his own way. Now that's a line worth sitting with a minute.
Each found it in his own time and in his own way. Some found it in cattle and land. Some found it at the end of a rifle.
Some found it and then had it taken clean away. First name on the list: 1535, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca. A man who'd already survived more of Texas than most people would care to imagine.
Then 1686 — Alonzo de Leon and Father Damian Manzanet making their way through. 1749, Jose de Escandon. 1771, Jose Salvador de la Garza. 1787, Jose Goseascochea. 1794, Nicolas Balli. This valley was being mapped, named, settled, and claimed — name by name, year by year. 1818 brings Manuel Yturria, Cristobal Longoria, and Jose Antonio Esparza. Then 1823, Martin de Leon and Ramon Lafon. 1828, Charles Stillman and James McGloin arrive. 1834, William Neale and Reuben M.
Potter. And then — 1846. Now there's a year with some weight behind it.
Because riding into this valley in 1846 came Zachary Taylor, George B. McClellan, Ulysses S. Grant, Mariano Arista, and Mifflin Kennedy.
Four men who would go on to shape the fate of a nation, and one who would build an empire along this very river — all of them here, in the same valley, in the same year. 1847 adds Jefferson Davis, Winfield Scott, Thomas J. Jackson, Stephen Powers, Richard King, and John S. Ford.
Think on that roster a moment. Men who would end up on opposite sides of the most devastating war this country ever fought — and here they all are, listed side by side on a marker in Cameron County, Texas. 1849, Simon Mussina and John Young. 1850 brings a wave: John R. Butler, Franklin Cummings, Joseph Kleiber, Francis W.
Latham, Jose San Roman, Simon Celaya. 1855, Edmund J. Davis. 1856, Robert E. Lee. 1859, Samuel P.
Heintzelman. The war years now. 1863, John B. Magruder and Hamilton P.
Bee. 1864, Raphael Semmes. 1865 — Phillip H. Sheridan and Lew Wallace. And still they come. 1872, Richard Henry Savage and John L.
Haynes. 1875, Lee H. McNelly — a name the border country remembers in its bones. 1876, Porfirio Diaz. 1878, James B. Wells. 1881, William C.
Gorgas and Enoch H. Crowder. The State of Texas erected this marker in 1936, but the names reach back nearly four centuries.
Generals and priests, ranchers and rebels, men who built things and men who burned them, conquerors and the conquered — all of them drawn to the same green valley, the same blue water. Each found happiness, the marker says, in his own time and in his own way. I reckon Cameron County's seen just about every kind of both.
What the marker says
Created February 12, 1848 Since 1535 men of all nations of the earth sailed the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the green valley of the Rio Grande in search of happiness, and each found it in his own time and in his own way. 1535 Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca 1686 Alonzo de Leon, Fr. Damian Manzanet 1749 Jose de Escandon 1771 Jose Salvador de la Garza 1787 Jose Goseascochea 1794 Nicolas Balli 1818 Manuel Yturria, Cristobal Longoria, Jose Antonio Esparza 1823 Martin de Leon, Ramon Lafon 1828 Charles Stillman, James McGloin 1834 William Neale, Reuben M. Potter 1846 Zachary Taylor, George B. McClellan, Ulysses S. Grant, Mariano Arista, Mifflin Kennedy 1847 Jefferson Davis, Winfield Scott, Thomas J. Jackson, Stephen Powers, Richard King, John S. Ford 1849 Simon Mussina, John Young 1850 John R. Butler, Franklin Cummings, Joseph Kleiber, Francis W. Latham, Jose San Roman, Simon Celaya 1855 Edmund J. Davis, 1856 Robert E. Lee, 1859 Samuel P. Heintzelman 1863 John B. Magruder, Hamilton P. Bee 1864 Raphael Semmes 1865 Phillip H. Sheridan, Lew Wallace 1872 Richard Henry Savage, John L. Haynes 1875 Lee H. McNelly 1876 Porfirio Diaz 1878 James B. Wells 1881 William C. Gorgas, Enoch H. Crowder Erected by the State of Texas 1936