La Noria Cardenena

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about La Noria Cardenena, out here in Hidalgo County. Now settle in, because this one goes back a long way. We're talkin' Spanish land grants, a business loan that outlasted the man who took it, and a ranch family that just flat refused to quit.

Parts of what are now Hidalgo, Cameron, Willacy, and Kenedy counties were once folded into two Spanish land grants. One was called San Juan de Carricitos. The other, San Salvador del Tule.

The original grantee of the Carricitos grant was Jose Narciso Cavazos. When Cavazos died, ownership passed to his heirs. That's how land moved in those days.

You built it, you left it to your people, and they carried it forward. Now the Tule lands, those went a different direction. Juan Jose Balli received that grant in 1798.

But Balli had taken out a business loan from a man named Antonio Cardenas, of Reynosa, Mexico. And here's where the story takes a turn. Balli died.

Litigation followed over that loan. And when the dust settled in 1828, those Tule lands had reverted to the Cardenas heirs. The very next year, 1829, the Cardenas family established La Noria Cardenena Ranch, named for the fresh water wells, the norias, found in that region.

A ranch with water in dry country. That's no small thing. Now, the Cardenas family didn't stay separate from the Cavazos family for long.

Gradually, the two families were joined by a number of marriages, and with those marriages came combined property interests. Two old land grant families, woven together. They endured a great deal, those families.

The marker doesn't soften it. Years of Indian and bandit attacks. Years of hardship.

And still, they ran a strong ranching operation. Out on part of that ranch today, there is a small cemetery. It was begun in 1835, and in 1863 it was named Nino Jesus de Praga.

Still standing, too, is the mid-nineteenth century main ranch house. And right next to that cemetery, a church built in 1944. From a Spanish land grant to a family cemetery to a church beside it, this ground has been held, named, buried in, and prayed over for a long, long time.

Some places just keep going.

What the marker says

Parts of present Hidalgo, Cameron, Willacy, and Kenedy counties were once included in two Spanish land grants, San Juan de Carricitos and San Salvador del Tule. The original grantee of the Carricitos grant was Jose Narciso Cavazos. After his death, ownership of the land passed to his heirs. The Tule lands were granted to Juan Jose Balli in 1798. Balli obtained a business loan from Antonio Cardenas of Reynosa, Mexico. Following Balli's death and subsequent litigation over the loan, the lands reverted to Cardenas heirs in 1828. The Cardenas family established La Noria Cardenena Ranch in 1829, so named because of the fresh water wells (norias) found in the region. Gradually, the Cardenas and Cavazos families were joined by a number of marriages, which also combined property interests. Although the families endured many hardships, including years of indian and bandit attacks, they continued to run a strong ranching operation. Still in existence on part of the ranch is a small cemetery, begun in 1835 and named Nino Jesus de Praga in 1863. Also surviving are the mid-19th century main ranch house and a church built next to the cemetery in 1944. (1988)