Author: abuelosdetexas
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Fact & Myths of The Alamo
MYTH: That Texans were the good guys and Mexicans the bad guysFACT: The Mexicans were fighting to defend their country and to hold it intact. While Texans were fighting for certain freedoms and a more liberal judicial system. One of the freedoms they were seeking was the right to own slaves. MYTH: There were no survivors…
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The Forgotten Sacrifices of Tejanos in Texas’ Fight
The Forgotten Sacrifices of Tejanos in Texas’ FightBy David McLemore©1989, Dallas Morning NewsSAN ANTONIO — A Texas Independence Day pop quiz: On which side did Gregorio Esparza and Toribio Losoya fight during the siege of the Alamo? If you answered, ‘the Mexican army, you’re wrong. They were among seven Tejanos who died defending the Alamo…
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Kate Rogers & Dan Patrick Alamo Drama
The current controversy surrounding the Alamo is many things — but above all, it is heartbreaking to Tejanos, both past and present. Tejanos are the very blood and soil of Texas. Texas is Tejano — the horses, the cattle, the rodeo, the lasso, even the BBQ — all Tejano. This culture, brought from Spain by…
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Cristobal
G1 — Cristóbal Colón (Christopher Columbus) (1451–1506)Admiral of the Ocean Sea; Discoverer of the New WorldMarried Doña Filipa Moniz de Perestrelo, Portuguese noblewoman.└── G2 — Diego Colón, 1st Duke of Veragua (1479–1526) Married Doña María de Toledo y Rojas, niece of the Duke of Alba, member of the royal Toledo–Osorio house (and thus related to King…
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“Pedro the Priest” — Padre Pedro Esparza (José Pedro Esparza y Aríspe)
A Catholic priest, active in Lampazos de Naranjo and the mission of San Juan Bautista during the mid- to late 1700s. Son or brother of Manuel Elijio Esparza Aríspe (b. 1730). He officiated the 1775 marriage of Manuel Elijio Esparza Aríspe and María Rita Guajardo Quintanilla, and appears in parish baptismal registers for their children.…
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Padre José Nicolás Ballí (c. 1770–1829)
The namesake of Padre Island, Texas. Descended from the Ballí family of Reynosa and Matamoros Granted the island by King Carlos III of Spain (1759); formal title confirmed under Mexico in 1827. Served as priest and missionary along the lower Río Grande / Matamoros frontier. Built the chapel of Nuestra Señora de la Concepción on…
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Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (1510-1554)
Lineage of Esparza de Navarro y Coronado G1 — Don Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (c.1510–1554) — Conquistador & Governor of Nueva Galicia; explorer of the American Southwest (Palo Duro Canyon, Grand Canyon). Married Doña Beatriz de Estrada y de la Cerda, daughter of Governor & Royal Treasurer Alonso de Estrada (natural son of King Ferdinand…
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Hernán Cortés (1485–1547)
Lineage of Esparza de Navarro y Cortés de Moctezuma G1 — Emperor Moctezuma II (c. 1480–1520) — Aztec Emperor of Tenochtitlan.Married Queen Tlapalizquixochtzin of Ecatepec. └── G2 — Princess Tecuichpotzin (Doña Isabel Moctezuma) (1500–1551)Married (in Indigenous custom, not recognized by the Church) Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), Conquistador. └── G3 — Doña Leonor Cortés y Moctezuma…
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Juan Nepomuceno Cortina Cavazos (1824-1885)
Juan Nepomuceno Goseascochea Cortina1. JUAN NEPOMUCENO GOSEASCOCHEA2 CORTINA (TRINIDAD1) was born 16 May 1824 in Camargo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and died 30 Oct 1894 in Mexico City, Mexico. He married (1) DOLORES GOSEASCOCHEA TIJERINA 01 Jul 1846 in Matamoros ,Tamaulipas, Mexico, daughter of JUAN TIJERINA and FELICIANA GOSEASCOCHEA. She was born Abt 1830 in Matamoros, Tamaulipas,…
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Don Jose Esparza (1856-1926)
Today in Border History November 23, 1970 Esparza Park built at El Ranchito, San Benito José Esparza, entrepreneur and political activist, son of Francisca (García) and Carlos Esparza, was born on July 8, 1856, at Rancho de San Juan el Encantado. His maternal grandfather, Ramón García, was one of Juan N. Cortina’s spies, and his…