Jesus Trevino Home

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way down in Zapata County, there's a stone wall that's been keeping secrets since 1830; and one of those secrets is written right into its face, if you know where to look. The man behind it all was Jesus Trevino, founder of San Ygnacio, and he didn't build this home to be comfortable.

He built it to survive. In 1830, with Indian raids coming frequent and hard, Trevino forted up: not just himself, not just his family, but his neighbors too. That's the kind of man you want founding your town.

The walls went up, and the people inside them lived to see another day. Now, a story like that could end right there and still be worth telling. But it doesn't end there.

Trevino's son-in-law, Blas Maria Uribe, took what his father-in-law had built and kept building. Uribe added a loopholed fort to the property; those narrow slits in the stone that let a man look out, or aim out, without giving much of a target in return. Practical architecture, you might say.

The kind that makes a point. And then, in 1851, Uribe did something that stops you cold when you think about it. He took a piece of native stone and had it made into a polished sundial (smooth and precise) and set it right into the north wall of that fort.

Same walls built for raids and rifles, now holding something that does nothing but tell time and catch the light. Out here on the road, that's the kind of detail that stays with you.

What the marker says

Jesus Trevino, founder of San Ygnacio, built this home in 1830, forting up family and neighbors here during frequent Indian raids. Later Blas Maria Uribe, his son-in-law, built the loopholed fort and in 1851 had a native stone made into a polished sundial and set into the north wall of the fort.