Our Home: Maverick County
Several weeks ago, the Maverick County Historical Commission requested permission to submit a series of historical stories for publication to the Eagle Pass Business Journal, which was graciously given and supported by Publisher Ricardo E. Calderon.
These stories are meant to honor the people that separately and together made a difference in their own, neighbors, and children’s lives. The people that lived, worked and struggled and died – created a land that we call home – Maverick County. Our goal is to show that democracy thrives when we participate in it and soars when we work together.
These stories are about brave and courageous people who through their various contributions have made this specific geographic location we call Maverick County, Texas our home. It is about ordinary people doing extra-ordinary things, finding new ways to work together to build and rebuild our home, and learning to interact with each other in order to make a difference.
Good citizens make good neighborhoods and places in which to live. in. A good representative on a city council or a local hospital board can bring resources to our home, but they cannot make it a good home alone. The job can only be done by the people who live in and call that place home. Citizens who work together to build the underlying web of trust and commitment that creates the collective value of a community’s wealth and security can only do that job.
This is our home. It is ours to make of it whatever we can, and if we don’t do our part we get the home we deserve. Our home is an unfinished project. It has its flaws, deficiencies, and strengths. But, it is ours; it thrives and has great promise. We invite you to share with us in the coming months the stories of the people who lived, created, and passed on a legacy to us, the people in whose care this home was bequeathed.
“Since I offered to narrate the story, I shall start at the beginning, which is as follows.”
Pedro De Castaneda, of Naxera
The Rio Grande River rises on the eastern face of the great Continental Divide in southern Colorado. The river winds eastward across southern Colorado, turns southward across the whole length of the enchanted state of New Mexico, which it slices down the middle, turns southeast until reaching the international border of the United States and Mexico through the Lone Star state of Texas serving as the boundary between Texas and Mexico, discharging its majestic waters into the vast sea known as the Gulf of Mexico.
The main physical circumstances of the Rio Grande seem timeless and impersonal. They assume meaning only in terms of people who came to the river. These are the people who laid the first foundation stones of what is today our home – we are indebted to them.
Trace the way from Mission San Juan Bautista (Fort St. John the Baptist) in the mountains of Mexico, up the Comanche Trail to the great river – crossing at France Way and hence to what is now Maverick County, Texas. This is where our story begins.
Our Maverick County ancestors left Asia by crossing through the Bearing Straight near modern day Russia and Alaska and entered a new land full of promise, hope, and prosperity. This great journey took many lifetimes. The people travelled light, were efficient, and imaginative. These people were farmers and hunters. Corn needed water, which the Rio Grande gladly provided in abundance. These unknown people settled in and began a life that developed over centuries into what today is Maverick County, Texas.
Future articles will feature the people who built this home of ours. We will not write this story in any chronological order nor feature only the great and famous. The story will be about the real heroes – the farmers, ranchers, teachers, carpenters, military people, blacksmiths, masons, wives, husbands, children and grandparents – generations of them and culminating with you.
We urge all of you readers to contribute articles or stories concerning the people, heroes, and leaders for printing in one of our future columns. This column is a great way for all to share our genealogy and family history and it’s another way of preserving it for future generations. In addition, the Maverick County Historical Commission is seeking authentic photos, paintings, audio recordings or films dating back to the beginnings of Maverick County in order to preserve the past for our future.
Please contact us to preserve your family’s heritage and history at:
Attention: D.B. Williams
Maverick County Historical Commission
P.O. Box 2858
Eagle Pass, Texas 78853-2858
Lacopita@stx.rr.com
Sincerely,
Don B. Williams, Chairperson
Maverick County Historical Commission
