DUANE
Duane's take
Here's what the official marker has to say, and I'm going to do it justice. Out here in Duval County, if you know where to look, there's a patch of ground that goes all the way back to a world built from scratch on granted land and family roots. The La Mota de Olmos Cemetery.
Begun in 1894. And to understand what this place is, you've got to understand where it came from. The land itself was once part of Rancho La Mota de Olmos — which, if your Spanish is a little rusty, translates to The Cluster of Elms.
That name is doing a lot of quiet work. The ranch was settled by the Bazan family, and the man who started it all was Francisco Bazan Villarreal, a native of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, who received a land grant here in the 1870s. He built something out here.
A ranch, a family, a place where people were born and lived and, in time, were laid to rest. Now, when a cemetery begins, there's always a first burial. And here's where the story takes one of those turns that reminds you history is full of surprises — the first person buried in the La Mota de Olmos Cemetery was not a Bazan.
It was a ranch hand. No name recorded on the marker. Just a working person, first into that ground, before any of the family that owned the land.
After that, the cemetery became very much a family place. Some of those buried here were actually born on the ranch itself. Juan Bazan, son of Francisco Bazan, had his oldest child buried here among the early burials.
Francisco Bazan himself was laid to rest here, passing in 1909. And then there is Don Pedro Bazan, who died in 1934, remembered on the marker as a well known curandero — a healer. That word carries real weight in South Texas.
A curandero wasn't just someone who knew remedies. He was someone a community turned to. Don Pedro Bazan was that person.
Today the cemetery covers approximately two hundred and fifty feet by two hundred and fifty feet. More than a hundred graves. And here's the thing that maybe says the most — it remains active.
This isn't a relic. It's still in use. Still receiving.
A ranch hand went in first. A healer rests within. And the Bazan family, stretching back to a man from Nuevo Leon and a land grant in the 1870s, is woven through nearly every row.
That's La Mota de Olmos Cemetery — and some ground, once consecrated, just keeps its hold on the living.
What the marker says
Begun in 1894, the La Mota de Olmos Cemetery sits on land originally part of the Rancho La Mota de Olmos (The Cluster of Elms). The ranch, settled by the Bazan family, was founded by Francisco Bazan Villarreal, a native of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, on land granted to him in the 1870s. Several of those buried here were also born on the ranch with one of the earliest burials being the oldest child of Juan Bazan, son of Francisco Bazan. The first person to be buried, however, was a ranch hand. Other burials include Francisco Bazan (d. 1909) and Don Pedro Bazan (d. 1934), a well known curandero, or healer. The cemetery, approximately 250 feet by 250 feet, contains more than 100 graves and remains active. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2009