DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, picture a young man from Ohio stepping off a train into South Texas heat — no roots here, no connections, just whatever he carried with him after the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad laid its tracks through the region. That man was Joseph French Green, and South Texas was about to find out exactly what it had let in.
The first test came in 1886. Green found himself on the wrong side of a lawsuit — or at least the other side — from a man named David Sinton. And here is where the story takes one of those turns that makes you believe the world occasionally has a sense of humor.
Sinton, the opposing counsel, watched Green work that courtroom and was so flat-out impressed that when it was all over, he turned around and hired the man. Just like that. Green was put in charge of the Catarina Ranch near Gregory — two hundred and twenty-four thousand acres of South Texas soil.
Four years on, Sinton came back to Green with a bigger ask. He appointed him manager of the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company, a spread that ran across both Aransas and San Patricio counties. Green got to work — introducing new farming methods, new crops, new cattle breeds.
He was renovatin' a whole ranching world out there on the coastal plain. And somewhere in the middle of all that, Joseph Green married Mae Mathis. Now, Mae was the daughter of Thomas Mathis, a founder of the Coleman, Mathis, Fulton Cattle Company — so Green had built his career right into the family that anchored the land.
For his new bride, he built something worthy of the occasion. La Quinta mansion went up in 1906 and 1907, three stories tall, sitting on a rise overlooking Corpus Christi Bay, three miles south of Gregory. Twelve bedrooms.
Six baths. A gallery on the second floor. An observation deck crowning the top, where on a clear day you could probably see all the way to forever.
The place was built to hold people — important people. And sure enough, in October of 1909, President William Howard Taft came to stay. He was half-brother to Charles P.
Taft, who held majority ownership of the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company, so this wasn't exactly a stranger walking through the door. The ranch rolled out everything it had — a rodeo, a barbecue, all of it in the President's honor. La Quinta became known as the White House of the Taft Ranch.
The core of the whole region, they called it. And you can see why. Joseph French Green kept building.
By the time of his death, he was president of the Taft Bank and the First National Bank of Gregory, and sitting on the boards of both the Odem and Sinton banks. The man from Ohio had his hands in just about everything that mattered in this corner of Texas. On November 20, 1926, Joseph Green died from complications following surgery.
He was laid to rest in the Taft Cemetery. La Quinta stood on without him — for a while. In January of 1938, the mansion was ruined by fire.
That three-story home overlooking Corpus Christi Bay, the one built for a bride, the one that hosted a president, the one that anchored a region — gone. Some places carry their whole era inside them. La Quinta was one of those.
And now all that's left is the telling.
What the marker says
Ohio native Joseph French Green arrived in South Texas after the building of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad. During a lawsuit in 1886, the opposing counsel, David Sinton, was so impressed by Green that he hired him to manage the 224,000-acre Catarina Ranch near Gregory. Four years later, Sinton appointed Green the manager of the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company, which spanned Aransas and San Patricio counties. Green was responsible for renovating the ranch by introducing new farming methods, crops and cattle breeds. Joseph Green married Mae Mathis, the daughter of Thomas Mathis, a founder of the Coleman, Mathis, Fulton Cattle Company. Green built his new bride La Quinta mansion in 1906-07. The home was a three-story mansion overlooking Corpus Christi Bay three miles south of Gregory. The mansion was built large enough to accommodate guests to the ranch, with twelve bedrooms and six baths. The second floor included a gallery, and the top floor had an observation deck. President William Howard Taft, half-brother to Charles P. Taft, majority owner of the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company, was one of the first guests to stay at La Quinta. During his stay in Oct. 1909, the ranch hosted a rodeo and barbecue in his honor. On Nov. 20, 1926, Joseph Green died from surgery complications. At the time of his death, he was president of the Taft Bank and the First National Bank of Gregory, and on the board of both the Odem and Sinton banks. He was laid to rest in the Taft Cemetery. La Quinta was the core of the region, and was known as the “White House of the Taft Ranch.” In Jan. 1938, the mansion was ruined by fire. (2013)