Handy Ranch

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it — the Handy Ranch, Hidalgo County. Now, Thomas J. Handy was born in 1843, and if you'd told him as a young man that he'd end his days as a Rio Grande Valley landowner, he probably would have looked at you sideways.

He came down here from Wisconsin — not for adventure, not for land — but as a Union soldier during the Civil War, riding with Co. F, 4th Wisconsin Cavalry. And that's where the story takes its turn.

While he was stationed along that military highway running parallel to the Rio Grande, Thomas Handy met a woman named Angelita Cavazos. Born around 1844, she was the daughter of a family with deep roots along that river — her family's place was an asadores ranch, right there alongside that same military highway where Thomas was posted. You couldn't have scripted a more fitting meeting place.

On April 25, 1866, the two of them were married at her family's ranch. The war was behind them. A life along the Rio Grande was ahead.

After the war, Handy didn't wander back north. He stayed. He became a farmer, a rancher, and a U.S.

Customs inspector — still working that military highway, still rooted to that stretch of river. And in 1878, he made his intentions permanent: Thomas purchased two thousand, two hundred and fourteen acres of land along the Rio Grande. Then Angelita inherited her own family property on top of that, and just like that, the Handys were among the significant landowners in the area.

Thomas Handy lived until 1927. Angelita until 1925. Between them, they'd built something that stretched back to a Civil War soldier from Wisconsin who simply never went home.

By the 1960s, most of the Handy property had been sold off — a large portion of it going to the city of Alamo. The land changed hands. But the story of how it all came together, one Union cavalryman and one Rio Grande family at a time, that part endures.

What the marker says

Thomas J. Handy (1843-1927) first came to the Rio Grande Valley from Wisconsin as a Union solider during the Civil War. While stationed with Co. F, 4th Wisconsin cavalry, handy met Angelita Cavazos (ca. 1844-1925). The two were married on April 25, 1866 at her family’s asadores ranch, located along the military highway that paralleled the rio grande. After the war, Handy became a farmer and rancher and U.S. Customs inspector, stationed along the military highway. Thomas purchased 2214 acres of land along the Rio Grande in 1878 and Angelita later inherited family property, making the Handys significant land owners in the area. By the 1960s, most of the handy property had been sold, with a large portion sold to the city of Alamo.