DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one doing the tellin'. Now, out here in Zapata County, beneath the waters of Falcon Reservoir, there are towns that used to breathe. Five of them, swallowed up in the 1950s when the reservoir filled.
Urireño was one of those five — and its story reaches back a long way before the water ever came. It starts in 1803, when Porción 41 was granted to José Nicolás Clemente Gutiérrez de Lara, born in 1770. The grant came from the Spanish crown, given in recognition of his service in the Spanish army.
But the land didn't come free and easy. The terms of the grant required José Nicolás Clemente to actually work that property — to build something out of it. And building something out of it meant going up against Indian raids, scorching heat, drought, and the Rio Grande's habit of flooding whenever it felt like it.
That is a formidable list of adversaries for one man and one ranch. He did what he could. But before it was finished, he returned to his hometown of Revilla in Mexico — and it was there, in 1805, that he died.
He left behind his widow, María Josefa Martínez, and six children. The ranch on Porción 41 sat waiting. Development was delayed even further.
Spain still held Mexico, and that particular war had not yet been settled. It wasn't until Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821 that the story could move forward again. After the war, some of José Nicolás Clemente's sons made their way back to that ranch.
And by 1826, all of his children had married and moved onto the property. The ranch now had a name — Urireño. By 1860, the community of Urireño had grown to a population of 152 people.
It sat about two miles west of where this marker stands today. Small, the marker tells us, and poor — its people were primarily farmers, herdsmen, and laborers. There was no permanent church, but visiting priests would come through and hold worship services when they could.
There was a cemetery, a schoolhouse, and a small grocery store. That was Urireño — modest, rooted, real. Then the United States government built Falcon Dam.
And Urireño met the same fate as its neighboring towns. The water was coming regardless. But here is the thing that sets Urireño apart from the others: its residents chose not to move the community to another site before the waters rose.
They didn't relocate and rebuild. They let it go. All of it except one thing.
The cemetery was relocated — pulled out from the path of the reservoir and set down somewhere the living could still find it. A physical reminder, the marker says, of this early border community. Everything else — the schoolhouse, the store, the ground where those six children built their lives after their father's death — all of it rests under Falcon Reservoir now.
Urireño began with a land grant in 1803 and ended beneath the water. The cemetery endures. Sometimes that's all a town gets to leave behind.
What the marker says
One of five Zapata County settlements inundated by the waters of Falcon Reservoir in the 1950s, Uribe��o traces its origin to 1803, when Porci��n 41 was granted to Jos�� Nicol��s Clemente Guti��rrez de Lara (1770-1805) for his service in the Spanish army. As required by the terms of the grant, Jos�� Nicol��s Clemente worked to establish a ranch on his property against the odds of Indian raids, scorching heat, drought and periodic river flooding. He returned to his hometown of Revilla in Mexico just prior to his death, leaving behind his widow, Mar��a Josefa Mart��nez, and six children. Development of the ranch on Porci��n 41 was delayed until after Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821. After the war, some of Jos�� Nicol��s Clemente's sons returned to the ranch; by 1826 all of his children had married and moved to the ranch, which was named Uribe��o. By 1860, the population of the Uribe��o community, which took its name from the Guti��rrez ranch, was 152. Located about two miles west of this site, it was a small, poor community, comprised primarily of farmers, herdsmen and laborers. Although no permanent church existed, visiting priests periodically held worship services. A cemetery, a schoolhouse and a small grocery store existed to serve the residents. When the United States government built Falcon Dam, Uribe��o met the same fate as its neighboring towns, but its residents chose not to move the community to another site before the waters flooded the town. Only the cemetery was relocated to serve as a physical reminder of this early border community. (2001)