The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 12, 1989 Page: 4 of 10
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F
RIO 6MNDE HERALD • Tkarsday, Jawait 12.19S9 • Page 4
Historical Society
Notes
M
By GEORGE H. EDGERTON
Escandon arrived at the mouth of
the Rio Grande on Feb. 24, 1747,
about 240 years ago.
While exploring the mouth of the
river, Escandon noted the possibili-
ty of developing an irrigation
system. A v?ry interesting find
near the mouth of the river was a
group of blacks who were undoubt-
edly of African descent.
Their presence at this location is
unexplained, but they might have
been descendants of survivors of
slave ships wrecked along the coast
or of abandoned slaves from the
Caribbean Islands. Escandon's
energy seemed boundless. By early
March, he had completed his
exploration around the mouth of
the river.
Expeditions from the south and
west arrived and their captains
presented their reports on the
areas covered.
The expedition from La Bahia
(today Goliad, Texas) had reached
present day Raymondville on Feb.
27, but on advice of Indians, turned
more westerly and terminated on
the Rio Grande at El Cantaro, a
river crossing near present day
Roma.
This group of approximately 50
soldiers was commanded by Cap-
tain Joaquin de Orobio Bazterra.
He had come south by way of the
San Antonio Bay area. Traveling
south from La Bahia to the San
Antonio River, they endured severe
winter weather, including an un-
usually heavy snowfall.
He noted that the lands were well
suited to raising cattle and sheep
and the San Antonio bay was deep
enough to accomodate small
vessels. He encountered two groups
of Indians in this area, the Cujanes
with about 60 families and the
Karankawa with about 100 fami-
lies.
He noted that the Karanhawa
had always resisted efforts to
congregate them at a mission.
They have generally been reported
as a rather fierce and sometimes
unfriendly tribe, even alleged by
some to be cannibals.
Bazterra, considering his mission
completed, forwarded his report to
Escandon. He reported that the
Nueces River emptied into the Gulf
and not the Rio Grande, as had
been previously thought, and added
that the bay (today's Corpus
Christi Bay) was well suited for the
establishment of a great city.
Among his many talents,
Escandon was an expediter. He
wanted to complete the exploration
of the entire Seno Mexicano within
30 days.
Presumably by April of 1747, he
started back south along the coast
crossing many small streams that
he considered might sustain ir-
rigation. The entire expedition
involved 765 soldiers and not a
single life had been lost.
Escandon returned to Queretaro
to draft his extensive report and
recommendations. He completed
this on Oct. 26, 1747. His list of
recommendations started with the
proposed founding of 14 settle-
ments, including a villa at Corpus
Christi Bay. He proposed 12 set-
tlements in present day
Tamaulipas. including one at the
junction of the San Juan River with
the Rio Grande, across from
present day Rio Grande City.
Escandon was a meticulous
planner. He took into account
transportation routes, streams for
both water and boat traffic as well
as locations between Indian tribes
to keep these disunited and thereby
lessen the danger.
To attract colonists, he proposed
generous land grants and 100 to 200
pesos to cover first year supplies.
He did not favor founding presidios
for protection, believing that the
settlers would have sufficient mili-
tary experience to protect
themselves. Accordingly, he gave
his soldiers who had explored the
area first choice.
He estimated the total cost to the
Crown for settling 500 families in
the area would be about 58,000
pesos. He further proposed that
each settlement have a captain
with both civilian and military
duties and that each such captain
would report to a captain-general
Employers!!
Save Up To 50%
HIRE JTPA PARTICIPANTS
Call 487-5617
South Texas Private Industry Council
Starr County Industrial Foundation
at a headquarters he thought
should be located on the Santander
River, today the Soto La Marina
River.
Escandon submitted his report as
soon as it was completed in
October 1747. Though he had made
his exploration and submitted his
report within about 10 months, it
would be two years later on Oct. 23,
1749 before it would gain approval
through the extended bureaucratic
process and be issued as a royal
decree.
At the same time, this decree
honored Escandon by awarding
him the title of Count of Sierra
Gorda, as well as making him a
Knight of Santiago, the most
distinguished military order in
Spain. The crown also offered
financial support for the coloniza-
tion venture.
Escandon at 49 had already
reached a peak in his career and
still his work was just beginning.
He had wasted no time during the
long bureaucratic processing of his
report. A year earlier in 1748, he
started preparations for the coloni-
zation. This will be further de-
scribed in the next column.
Pet. 4J.P. S
Monthly
R eport
Precinct Four Justice of the
Peace Hector "Ivo" Perez has
issued the December 1988 financial
report for his office.
A total of $4773.15 was paid to the
county on Jan. 6 with check
number 2954.
The total of $4773.15 is broken
down as follows: Fines, $2567.65;
Department of Public Safety, $144;
Sheriff's Fees, $144; Operator-
Chauffeur's Fund, $450; Constable
No. 4, $60; A/B/C, $21, Game
Warden Fees, $30; Crime Victim's
Fund, $459; Judges and Court
Personnel Training Fund, $113;
Criminal Justice Fund, $615; Law
Enforcement Fund, $169.50.
A total of $632.78 in Game
Warden Fines was paid to
Guillermo R. Gonzalez on Jan. 6
with check number 2955
A total of $59.07 in Game Warden
Fines was paid to Dennis Gazaway
on Jan. 6 with check number 2956.
Cabbages apparently are for kings,
not babies. According to the Beech-Nut
Nutrition Corp., cabbages and brussel
sprouts are not good for babies because
they can interfere with the infant's
ability to use the essential mineral,
iodine, necessary for growth.
Trimming trees around power lines
can be a shortcut to tragedy.
You know the power line
is there. And, you know
you need to he careful.
Rut, it's so easy to get
distracted. Don't.
It vou must trim trees
near power lines, keep
your priorities straight.
Safety first; then the
job. Better yet, call an
expert. Whatever the
cost, it's worth it.
One brush with a power
line could be a shortcut
to tragedy.
The newly constructed parking area adjacent to Rio Grande City High School
and the new gym is pictured above.
Rio High Expanding
Student Parking Area
——
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Rio Grande City High School has
begun a project designed to in-
crease parking space for students,
maximize security and safety, and
make it easier for parents to drop
off and pick up their children.
Rio Grande City High School
Assistant Principal Ricardo Recio
said, "The old lot has been a
parking lot for faculty, students,
and visitors. It was getting so
congested that it was beginning to
endager the students. The buses
clogged up the area between the
junior high and high school in the
past. At school closing time, it was
a bumper-to-bumper situation."
Recio said, "To solve the pro-
blem, I came up with the idea to
make a brand new parking lot for
the 150 students' cars. We're using
the same concept as the McAllen
ISD in keeping student parking in
the same area. The number one
objective is guaranteeing the stu-
dents' safety."
Recio said, "I came up with this
idea, and it was a joint effort
between me, Mr. (Ruben) Saenz
(the Rio High Principal), Mr
(Romeo) Lopez (Business Manag-
er), and Dr. (A.E.) Garcia (the
superintendent)."
Not long after its conception, the
idea of increasing student parking
was approved by the Rio Grande
City CISD board of trustees
Construction of the new parking
area was recently completed,
allowing for parking of 150 to 200
additional cars, all of them pos-
sessed by students.
Recio said, "Another purpose of
the expansion is the fact that the
district is growing, and the athletic
department is growing. This area
will serve as parking for football
games, basketball games, and
baseball games. This will provide
more space for visitors parking at
athletic events."
Recio said, "This is also to
reroute our bus loading and un-
loading, and making it easier for
parents to leave and pick up their
kids during the day."
Another important purpose, said
Recio, is maximizing security. He
stressed, "The ideal is for them to
use the new gate (southeast of the
high school) so traffic within Fort
Ringgold can flow easier. This
maximizes student safety, dis-
cipline, and protection of the
students' vehicles."
He emphasized, "Now , the
students have no way to leave
without us knowing it...Students
cannot leave (during the day)
without a proper pass from my
office...We have two guardhouses
now."
The new parking lot is located
directly to the east of the new high
school gym, to the south of the
baseball field, and west of Rattler
Stadium.
Recio expressed hope that "the
second phase of the project will be
next year, and will mean more
parking spaces, at least 100 addi
tional parking spaces. I will submit
that proposal to the board "
Recio continued, "My goal is to
use the space immediately next to
the high school for loading and
unloading buses It will strictly be
used for that and parents dropping
off and picking up their kids "
Recio added, "It will make
things easiftr and safer during
inclement weather "
Rio High To Revise
Tardy Policy
B\ DANNY VASQUEZ
Assistant Principal
On Jan. 18, the second semester
begins and Rio Grande City High
•School will put into operation a new
plan for dealing with unexcused
tardies.
The present policy is very
effective in minimizing tardies, but
puts a strain on teachers who have
to send assignments to the ISS
room and also keeps the truant
students from getting classroom
instruction when they are assigned
to ISS.
The new policy will alleviate both
situations as there will be no more
assignments to ISS Under the new
policy, when a student does not
attend supervised study or the
student has at least three unex
cused tardies, the student will be
assigned to an afternoon man
datory supervised tutorial from
3:45 to4:45.
The student may be placed a
maximum of three times in
tutorial After the third time, a
student will be suspended for three
days and if the student continues to
be tardy, he or she will be
recommended for expulsion and/or
loss of credits for the semester
The following is a breakdown of
the new policy:
1st tardy - supervised study.
2nd tardy- supervised study
3rd tardy - supervised study, and
1 hour supervised tutorial.
4th tardy - supervised study, 2
hours supervised tutorial, a
personal contract, and a parent
conference
5th tardy- three-day suspension
6th tardy- recommend expulsion
and/or loss of credits for the
semester
The new policy should improve
student performance academicalK
because they will get an hour of
supervised time to complete
assignments and/or remedial work
in Math or English
Parents waiting to find out more
about the policy should come b\
the high school and visit with one
of the principals
In the language of the Aboriginal
people of Australia, koala" means
the animal that does not drink," for
the furry marsupials get the moisture
they need from their diet of eucalyptus
leaves
cpL
Central Power and Light Company
People on the line lor you
RIO GRANDE CITY CISD
OFFERS
VOCATIONAL PROGRAMS
THE RIO GRANDE CITY CONSOLIDATED INDEPENDENT
SCHOOL DISTRICT OFFERS VOCATIONAL PROGRAMS
IN OFFICE EDUCATION, AGRICULTURE SCIENCE,
HOMEMAKING EDUCATION, MARKETING EDUCATION
AND INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION.
IT IS THE POLICY OF THE RIO GRANDE CITY CISD NOT
TO DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF SEX, HANDICAP,
RACE, COLOR AND NATIONAL ORIGIN IN ITS
EDUCATIONAL AND VOCATIONAL PROGRAMS, ACTIV-
ITIES, OR EMPLOYMENT AS REQUIRED BY TITLE IX,
SECTION 504 AND TITLE VI.
THE RIO GRANDE CITY CISD WILL TAKE STEPS TO
ASSURE THAT THE LACK OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE
SKILLS WILL NOT BE A BARRIER TO ADMISSION AND
PARTICIPATION IN ALL EDUCATIONAL AND VOCA-
TIONAL PROGRAMS.
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS OR
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES, CONTACT THE TITLE IX
COORDINATOR, MR. GILBERTO GARCIA, AT RIO
GRANDE CITY, TEXAS (512) 487-5591 EXT. 225.
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Roberts, Kenneth. The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 12, 1989, newspaper, January 12, 1989; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth195167/m1/4/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.