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News and Updates! |
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New 2/27/07 |
| Cano Family History | Llano Grande Grant and Derived Porciones (Later) |
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Nuestra Señora del Refugio in Guerrero Viejo |
| Family Cemetery History and Census Updated Census Link 7/11/98 | About that Cano Coat of Arms... |
| Spanish Settlement in the Rio Grande Valley | This page is dedicated to... |
| The Story of the "Lost Missionary" | Favorite and Useful Links Updated 1/13/01 Balli Links Added |
This work started simply enough by listening and writing down the history of the Family from my Grandparents, Great Aunts and Uncles. Several have passed on since I began collecting their stories but they're recorded here for other generations of Cano's from the mid-Valley area. I've validated most of the names and lineage's with cemetery records and Hidalgo County records in Edinburg. Please e-mail me for corrections and additions.
This page includes history and a perspective of the Spanish and Mexican pioneers that settled in the Ranchos north of the Rio Grande River. After visiting a few of the Valley web sites covering the history of the Valley, it was amazing that they only say a sentence or two about Jose Escandon's general settlements in the region in 1749 which led to the establishment of 23 communities along the river including Mier, Camargo, Reynosa, and Guerrero. The thread of history then picks up with the arrival of John McAllen in McAllen, the Stiles in Brownsville, Sheriff Closner in Edinburg, Captain Richard King in Brownsville etc. While it is true that these men were a big part of Valley history, about 150 years of Spanish and Mexican settlement history had gone before the Anglos arrived.
The lands north of the Rio Grande River were awarded by the King of Spain to settlers who petitioned for land or as rewards for Spanish military officers for services to the Crown. These lands were at first generally not considered desirable because they pushed beyond the frontier of Spanish settlements on the south side of the Rio Grande River. There was no water except for the Rio Grande River, no civilized communities, hostile Indians, thick dense scrub brush country on the west and grassland plains in the mid-Valley area. The Spanish desperately wanted to entice settlement north of the river to counter the threats of French territorial encroachment. History showed that the threats were real with the establishment of Fort St. Louis by La Salle close to Matagorda Bay in present day Lavaca County. Fortunately for the Spanish, the Fort failed and foiled French plans to stake an ownership claim of the lands north of the Rio Grande. Even before Escandon's "Entrada" to settle the area, Spanish families had already established scattered ranchos in the area. As more families moved into the area, the abundant grasslands north of the river became choice grazing grounds for cattle and sheep.
The legacy of the Spanish and Mexican settlers in the Valley was "El Rancho", a way of life that laid out the working model for Ranch life. The settlers brought practices that had evolved from Spanish cattle ranches in Spain and those practices continued in establishing the ranch culture in the New World. Contributions from this included the lasso, rodeos, spurs, saddlehorns, chaps, sombreros, round-ups, branding, cowboys and many others. The American Southwest in the 1800's was built on these elements in establishing the cattle industry of the period.
The earliest records start with Don Antonio Cano (1812-1877) and his wife, Doña Mauricia Fernandez de Cano (1814-1906), as settlers of the Tampacuas Ranch just north of Mercedes, Texas on a portion of the Llano Grande Land Grant. They married in Reynosa on April 18, 1836. It is not known exactly when he left Reynosa but his first purchase of property on the Llano Grande grant was in 1862. Don Antonio had a brother, a half-brother and four half-sisters. His older brother, Andres, remained in Reynosa. His younger brother, Eugenio, also moved to the ranch and his descendants are buried in the family ranch cemetery. His sisters were Maria Antonia Cano b1824, Jesusa Cano married in 1852 to Carlos Castaneda, Maria del Rosario Cano b1833, and Maria Salome Cano b1837.
Based on a review of the Marriage records of Reynosa in the early 1800's:
The Hidalgo County Tax Roll records for 1865-1890 provide the
record
of ranch size and growth spanning those 25 years for the Guadalupe or
Tampacuas
Ranch. In 1875, for example, the records show that Antonio and
Guillermo,
his oldest son, with the following assessed values:
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The cemetery contains many of the descendants from Don Antonio's family. The plot was laid out in the rising sun shadows of the Ranch Chapel or "Capilla". The site has been closed to any more burials because of lack of space. The cemetery was dedicated on November 5, 1988 as an Hidalgo County Historical Landmark and it provided a magnificent example of the early Rancho cemetery monuments. Sadly, the cemetery has recently been brutally vandalized and many of the burial plots, elaborate granite and marble carvings, statues and brick/stucco monuments have been smashed and defaced. The area survived for almost 200 years without being disturbed only to be wrecked by thoughtless idiots who wouldn't respect history or the dead.
Another interesting story with ties to the Tampacuas Ranch can be found below about Fr. Pierre Keralum. It relates a sad tale of the death of a Catholic Oblate Missionary while doing God's work to minister to the Mexican people in the wild Rio Grande Valley in the mid-1800's. The story is fascinating in and of itself but historically it provides terrific insight to the hardships and life of those years.
Balli Family Link? Updated 5/26/98For those interested in exactly what the Balli connection is...you'll need to refer to the genealogy outline listed in this page. Two of Felis Cano's sons, Gregorio and Guadalupe married two Lopez sisters, Rosalia and Librada respectively. The Lopez sisters were the daughters of Francisco Lopez and Refugia Balli. In keeping with the old style, with the father's surname as a middle name and the mother's maiden name as the last name, Refugia's full name was Refugia Balli Rubalcaba.
The Catholic Order of Oblate Priests served the wild frontier area north of the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas in the 1800's. The first Catholic Church was established in Brownsville in 1862 with the building of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral. Father Keralum was, in fact ,the architect of this Church and he oversaw it's construction as well. He also used his talents to design several other Churches in the Valley area including Roma and Laredo. For over twenty years, he was in charge of some seventy Ranchos which he visited regularly. The Priests found it necessary to minister to the many Ranchos in the far-flung area by riding a horseback circuit that made it possible for them to hold Masses and administer the Sacraments of the Faith. They were a hardy and dedicated Order that came to be known as the "Cavalry of Christ" riding out of the main base in Brownsville and a secondary mission at Roma. The Ranchos for their part would offer up the finest house for holding Mass around the family altar or build a Chapel for the Church. The Valley in those years was nothing like the tamed, cultivated and irrigated land now dotted with citrus and vegetable fields. It was a wild, arid land full of mesquite, cactus, thorns, dense underbrush and grassland plains. People lived by raising cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, pigs and horses and by cultivating small subsistence plots of corn, beans, squash, melons and sugarcane along the river. Against this backdrop, the following story is about one of those hardy Oblate Priests, Father Pierre (Pedrito) Keralum. The people of the Ranchos preferred to call him "El Padre Pedrito".
From the Memoirs of Father Jean "Juanito de la Costa" Bretault, O.M.I.
Besides the administration of La Lomita, Father Keralum was in charge of the whole mission north of the Arroyo Colorado; all in Cameron County and in Hidalgo County as far west as where Mercedes now stands and from there another 50 miles north. In the beginning of November 1872, Father Keralum went to a ranch about 12 miles north of the present site of La Feria called "El Cotillo" to perform a marriage. When he arrived, he was told that the future bride's foster-father had died and that the wedding was to be postponed for a week. Father Keralum decided to spend his time by visiting several other ranches. From Cotillo, he went to a ranch called Tampacuas, located about 4 miles north of Mercedes. From Tampacuas he left for a ranch called La Piedra, 18 miles further northwest. This was on November 12, 1872. He never reached La Piedra and nobody knew what had become of him. Since Father Keralum had always been so punctual in returning to Brownsville after his mission visits, Father Gaudet, Superior of the Oblate House, grew full of anxiety and he sent Father Bornes up the Rio Grande to tell Father Olivier to go in search of the missing Priest. Father Olivier was familiar with the families and ranches of the northern area. Father Olivier went first to Tiocano about 10 miles northeast of La Feria. They could give him no information but when he visited at Tampacuas he was told that Father Keralum had left on the 12th for La Piedra. Arriving at La Piedra, he confirmed that Father Keralum had never arrived. Moreover; he was scared because he met a bunch of vaqueros (cowboys) on horseback at La Piedra who he most likely thought were bandits. Father Olivier returned to Tiocano and from there to Brownsville without an explanation for Father Keralum's disappearance. Rumors soon began to circulate in the region that Father Keralum had been murdered. Father Olivier himself was firmly convinced of it. The rumor received great support in the fact that in those same days that Father Keralum had disappeared, a Mexican who had served the Oblates at La Lomita had been killed by a renowned cattle thief and his accomplices. It was said that Father Keralum had happened to pass on the spot where they were about to kill the poor Mexican because he had refused to take part any longer in their thieving. The story had gone that Father Keralum had tried to save the poor man's life and had lost his own as well for his efforts. Later events proved this story not to be true.
Cowboys roaming the wild country in thick mesquite underbrush trying to round up stray cattle in November of 1882 finally solved the 10 year mystery. They found Father Keralum's rotted saddle on a mesquite branch along with his personal effects and Church instruments. They found his altar-stone, a smooth slate used as a portable altar base, as well as his Oblate cross, chalice, Holy oilstocks, candlesticks, and a bottle of altar wine. Father Keralum's remains were also found and they were first interred in Brownsville and later moved to the Oblate College in San Antonio where they now rest. It was apparent to his discoverers that the old priests' eyesight had failed him and that he'd become lost in the wilds and had perished alone unable to find a trail to safety.
Danny
Villarreal's Site (Harlingen)
Guillermo
Guerra's Site (South Texas Hispanic Genealogy)
Joe
Guerra's Site (Houston Hispanic Genealogical Society)
Mercedes'
Nuevo Leon Page: Lots
of great contact info for Nuevo Leon. Mercedes is also a Reynosa CANO
descendant.
Ancestors
of Pedro Rodriguez's Page More
Reynosa connections, great information.
J
J Gallegos Guerrero Viejo Page: Great
history and links to pictorial collection
Balli
Family Heritage L. L. C.: Look
here for case update information and all the background history.
Excellent
site!
Balli
Family Genealogy:
Another great site showing the Balli genealogy descendants.
Cano
Generations: A
great
new page (9/00) showing another Reynosa CANO branch by a new
cyber-primo,
Jorge Cano.