DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and it's a story worth hearing. Now, you might think the Rio Grande Valley always had towns and roads and a name on every crossroads. But go back to 1849, and it was a whole different kind of country down here.
That's when the Catholic priests of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate came into Texas — missionary work, hard traveling, all of it under the direction of Bishop Jean Marie Odin. Out of Brownsville, they moved through the lower Rio Grande Valley, ministering to whoever they found along the way. And somewhere in that work — reaching all the way into Northern Mexico — they crossed paths with a Frenchman.
His name was Rene Guyard. A Reynosa merchant. A Texas landowner.
A man with enough land and, apparently, enough goodwill that he made part of his Rancho La Lomita available for the establishment of a mission to serve his ranch workers. Right here on this ground. The first chapel went up in 1865.
Now, Rene Guyard died in 1871. And when he did, he left La Lomita and the nearby Nogalito Ranch to the Oblates. They later purchased a third connecting tract with the help of an overseer.
Three pieces of land, stitched together. The priests had a vision for what this place could be — grow their own food, turn a profit, fund the missionary work spreading further across the region. The mission itself?
Successful. That part worked. The farming operation?
That's where the ground got soft under their feet. It proved a financial burden — the marker's words, and they're careful words — and by 1909 the Oblates sold all but four hundred acres to a man named John J. Conway.
Conway founded a town five miles to the north. That town was later named Mission — named in honor of the pioneer La Lomita Chapel, the very center of early Catholic missionary work in this part of Texas. The site was abandoned in 1911.
Later restored. A Frenchman's generosity, a chapel built in 1865, a mission that outlasted the farming that was supposed to sustain it — and a town named for all of it, still sitting five miles up the road. Some legacies don't announce themselves.
They just stay.
What the marker says
In 1849 Catholic priests of the missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate began mission work in Texas under the direction of Bishop Jean Marie Odin. From Brownsville, they traveled throughout the lower Rio Grande Valley, ministering to the residents of the area. Through their work in Northern Mexico, they met a Frenchman named Rene Guyard. A Reynosa merchant and a Texas landowner, Guyard made this part of his Rancho La Lomita available for the establishment of a mission to serve his ranch workers. The first chapel was constructed here in 1865. The Oblates inherited La Lomita and the nearby Nogalito Ranch following Guyard's death in 1871. A third connecting tract was purchased later with the help of an overseer. The priests hoped to produce food for their needs and to provide a profit to fund further missionary work in the area. Although the mission was successful, the farming operation proved to be a financial burden on the Oblates. In 1909 they sold all but 400 acres to John J. Conway. A town he founded (5 mi. N) was later named Mission in honor of the pioneer La Lomita Chapel, the center of early area Catholic missionary work. This site was abandoned in 1911, but later restored. (1981)