DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and friend, it's a good one. The Ranchero — that was a newspaper, published in Corpus Christi and elsewhere across south Texas during and after the Civil War. And the man behind it was Henry Alonzo Maltby, born in 1830, died in 1906, who first rolled into Corpus Christi in 1852 as, of all things, a circus promoter.
Now I don't know what act he was peddling, but whatever it was, he put down roots. Henry Maltby became a district surveyor, a deputy county clerk, a deputy sheriff, and eventually the mayor of Corpus Christi. A circus promoter turned mayor — Texas has always had a gift for that kind of arc.
When a paper called the Nueces Valley ceased publication in 1858, Maltby saw his opening and started his own newspaper the following year. He even brought his brother William down to help — William, born in 1837, died in 1880 — and together the Maltby brothers built the Ranchero into something the region took notice of. Four pages, published weekly, out of a building at the corner of Water and Lawrence Streets.
It ran editorials, poetry, recipes, and — this being south Texas — a register of area cattle brands. A yearly subscription ran you three dollars. By 1861, though, the brothers were committed secessionists, and the Civil War did not treat the Ranchero kindly.
William was captured by Union soldiers while defending Mustang Island. Henry, meanwhile, grabbed his press and his type and ran — first to Santa Margarita, up in northern Nueces County, then all the way to Matamoros, Mexico, and then to Brownsville, all the while still publishing that paper. Now even in federally occupied Brownsville, Henry kept at it, kept writing those controversial editorials, until Colonel Ranald Mackenzie ordered the Ranchero suppressed.
When you've got a military officer personally shutting down your newspaper, you have to reckon you were saying something that stung. Henry held on. He kept publishing through occupation, through suppression, through exile, and when Federal occupation of Texas finally ended and the state was readmitted into the Union in 1870, Maltby sold the Ranchero that same year.
He'd started it to fill a gap left by another paper's death. He'd carried it across a war, across a border, and back again. And when the fight was finally over, he set it down.
The Ranchero had said what it had to say.
What the marker says
The Ranchero was a newspaper published in Corpus Christi and elsewhere in south Texas during and after the Civil War. The publication’s editors were ardent supporters of the Confederacy and they later used the newspaper to express their opposition to federal military rule in Texas during the period of Reconstruction. The publisher of the Ranchero was Henry Alonzo Maltby (1830-1906), who arrived in Corpus Christi in 1852 as a circus promoter. Maltby settled in the city and became a highly respected member of the community, serving as district surveyor, deputy county clerk, deputy sheriff and mayor. When the Nueces Valley ceased publication in 1858, Maltby seized the opportunity to begin his own newspaper the following year; his brother, William (1837-1880), joined Henry in Corpus Christi to aid in the venture. The four-page weekly, originally published in a building at the corner of Water and Lawrence Streets, included a register of area cattle brands, as well as editorials, poetry and recipes. A yearly subscription cost $3.00. By 1861 the Maltby brothers were committed secessionists, but the resulting Civil War caused periodic disruptions in the newspaper’s publication. William was captured by Union soldiers while defending Mustang Island, and Henry fled with his press and type first to Santa Margarita, in northern Nueces County, and later to Matamoros, Mexico and then to Brownsville, where he continued to publish the Ranchero. In federally occupied Brownsville, the Ranchero was suppressed for a time by order of Col. Ranald Mackenzie because of its controversial editorials. Maltby sold the Ranchero in 1870, the same year that Federal occupation of Texas ended and the state was readmitted into the Union. 175 Years of Texas Independence * 1836-2011