DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and friend, this one goes back a long way. Before Texas was Texas, before it was even a republic or a territory, this stretch of land along the lower Rio Grande was part of a colonial world called Nuevo Santander. That region was founded by a man named José de Escandón, and it was very much Spanish Texas.
That's the ground floor of what would become the McAllen Ranch. In 1790, a man named José Manuel Gómez — of Reynosa and Moncolova — received what they called the Santa Anita land grant. Ninety-five thousand acres.
Let that number sit with you a moment. Ninety-five thousand. He didn't just claim it and ride off.
He built fences, worker housing, water wells at San Juanito and Santa Anita, and he raised cattle, sheep, goats, and horses. The man was working that land. Gómez married Gregoria Ballí Domínguez, a widow who came with two sons of her own, and she would go on to inherit the majority of the Santa Anita grant.
A niece, María Salomé Ballí de la Garza, also came to acquire a share. The land was already becoming something that would pass through hands and generations — but it had a way of pulling back together. In 1848, Salomé married a Matamoros merchant by the name of John Young.
Together, they bought remaining portions of the Gómez grant and added more land on top of that. Things were looking substantial. Then in 1859, John Young died, and Salomé found herself managing a considerable estate.
She did it alongside Young's associate — an Irishman named John McAllen. In 1861, Salomé and John McAllen wed, and together they bought the remaining rights in the Santa Anita, reuniting the grant under one operation. Now here's the part that tells you what kind of outfit this was.
During the Civil War, the ranch supplied beef, tallow, hides, and refuge — to both Confederate and Union troops. Both sides. That takes a certain kind of nerve, or a certain kind of pragmatism, or maybe just the confidence of people who knew this land was going to outlast the conflict.
At one time, the family managed more than a hundred and sixty thousand acres. Salomé died in 1898, and at that point the two half-brothers — John J. Young and James Ballí McAllen, her sons — divided the land.
Young took the eastern Santa Anita portion. James took the western San Juanito portion and ran it with his father as the McAllen Ranch, under the SM brand — SM for Salomé Ballí McAllen. Even in her absence, her name was on every head of cattle that walked off that ranch.
James died in 1916, leaving the ranch to his widow, Margaret, and their four children. They kept it going. Their descendants kept it going after that.
The ranch went on to receive honors as one of the oldest Texas ranches in continuous operation by the same family. Ninety-five thousand acres in 1790. Fences, wells, and a widow who knew how to hold land together.
That's a long story to carry, and the McAllen Ranch has been carrying it ever since.
What the marker says
The McAllen Ranch has historic ties to Spanish Texas, when this region was part of Nuevo Santander, a colonial area founded by José de Escandón along the lower Rio Grande. In 1790, José Manuel Gómez of Reynosa and Moncolova received the vast (95,000 acres) Santa Anita land grant. He built fences, worker housing, water wells at San Juanito and Santa Anita, and raised cattle, sheep, goats and horses. He wed Gregoria Ballí Domínguez, a widow with two sons, who inherited the majority of the Santa Anita. A niece, María Salomé Ballí de la Garza, also came to acquire a share of the grant. In 1848, Salomé married Matamoros merchant John Young, and they bought remaining portions of the Gómez grant, as well as additional land. Upon Young's death in 1859, Salomé managed the estate with Young's associate, Irishman John McAllen, whom she wed in 1861. They bought remaining rights in the Santa Anita, reuniting the grant. Salomé's sons, John J. Young and James Ballí McAllen, worked with John McAllen to operate the ranch, which supplied beef, tallow, hides and refuge to both Confederate and Union troops during the Civil War. At one time, the family managed more than 160,000 acres. Upon Salomé's death in 1898, the two half-brothers divided the land, with Young inheriting the eastern Santa Anita portion and McAllen the western San Juanito portion, which he ran with his father as the McAllen Ranch under the SM (for Salomé Ballí McAllen) brand. James died in 1916, leaving the ranch to his widow, Margaret, and their four children. They and their descendants continued operating the ranch, which received honors as one of the oldest Texas ranches in continuous operation by the same family. (2006)