DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Felix de Leon — born 1806, died 1850 — and already the years alone hint at a life that burned fast and bright. He came into this world in Texas, the third son of Don Martin de Leon, the Empresario himself, founder of De Leon Colony and the City of Victoria.
That's the kind of family name that carries weight before you've done a single thing to earn it. But Felix, it turns out, was not content to let his father's reputation do all the work. Around 1822 — Felix still just a young man — he was taken hostage aboard a pirate ship.
Not kidnapped on land, not grabbed in some back alley — held on a pirate ship, out on the water, while buccaneers used him as leverage to force his father to comply with their demands. Think about that for a moment. Somewhere out there, Don Martin de Leon is weighing whatever it is the pirates want against the life of his third son.
We don't know what was demanded. The marker doesn't say how it resolved. What we do know is that Felix de Leon lived to tell the tale.
He came back, and he came back with something to prove. He became active in the Colony's affairs — his father's colony, his family's legacy — and he made himself useful in ways that mattered on the Texas frontier. They called him a skilled Indian fighter, and he put that skill in service of Texas when the time came, serving in the War for Independence.
And when the fighting was done, Felix de Leon turned to commerce. His business was supplying horses, mules, and cattle to the New Orleans market — moving livestock across the land his family had helped build. Born in Texas in 1806.
Gone by 1850. A hostage, a fighter, a tradesman, and a son of the colony. That's Felix de Leon.
What the marker says
(1806-1850) Born in Texas; third son of the Empresario Don Martin de Leon, founder of De Leon Colony and City of Victoria. Felix de Leon was held hostage on a pirate ship about 1822, to force his father to comply with buccaneer demands. Later he became active in Colony's affairs. A skilled Indian fighter, he served Texas' cause in War for Independence. His business was supplying horses, mules, and cattle to the New Orleans market. (1972)