DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just the same. Out here where the Rio Grande bends through Hidalgo County, there's a quiet piece of ground called El Granjeno Cemetery, and its story begins the way a lot of the best stories do. With a burial.
The year was 1872, and a man named Don Antonio Garza was laid to rest here. That moment, right there, is when this cemetery began. But the story doesn't stop with Don Antonio.
His brother, Don Juan Garza Escheverria, looked at that ground and decided it ought to serve more than just one family. Don Juan, born in 1854, a native of Reynosa, Mexico, donated the surrounding land so the communities of El Granjeno and nearby Madero would have a place to bring their own. That's the kind of decision that outlives a man by generations.
And Don Juan is buried here himself, along with many of his descendants. So the land he gave, he also joined. Now, this cemetery has gathered the stories of more than one era.
Veterans of the Civil War rest here. So do veterans of World War I. And veterans of the Vietnam War.
Three wars, separated by decades, all finding the same ground in the end. El Granjeno Cemetery has served families on both sides of the Rio Grande, and that tells you something about the life of this place. It isn't just a local cemetery.
It's a meeting point, a reflection, the marker says, of the history of the area's small working villages. Simple words for something that runs pretty deep. The Rio Grande keeps moving.
This ground holds still.
What the marker says
El Granjeno Cemetery was established in 1872 with the burial of Don Antonio Garza. His brother, Don Juan Garza Escheverria, donated the surrounding land for use by the communities of El Granjeno and nearby Madero. A native of Reynosa, Mexico, Don Juan (b. 1854) is buried here, along with many of his descendants. Also interred here are veterans of the Civil War, World War I and the Vietnam War. El Granjeno Cemetery has served families on both sides of the Rio Grande and is a reflection of the history of the area's small working villages. (1985)