SPANISH TEJAS My maternal grandfather Rosendo Perez-Cadena told me a branch of the Cadenas came to Texas in 1800 when it was still part of New Spain. They settled in the area that is now Premont, Texas. Genealogists from Corpus say the Cadenas had thousands of acres of land in south Texas once. That land is now part of the King Ranch. The Texas–Indian wars occurred during this time. These were various conflicts between Tejano and Texan settlers and Southern Plains Indians. Dad told me his elders said Indians had always been troublesome and the Apaches in south Texas were the worst. They killed, robbed, and kidnapped women and children. This is fairly well documented. Dad added they tortured their victims by burying them alive, standing, with their heads sticking out atop ant hills. The ants would eat victims alive. The Apache would skin their victims alive too. The Aztecs did this. Xipe Totec or Xipetotec (the flayed one) was a life, death, and rebirth deity. A god of agriculture, vegetation, the east, disease, spring, goldsmiths, silversmiths, LIBERATION and the seasons. TLAXCALANS, Spanish allies, moved north with the Spanish. The Huexotzincas also worshipped a version of the deity under the name of Camaxtli. When I mentioned these atrocities to cousin Yvonne Cadena-Rivera, she said her research indicated native Americans were often demonized, and this may be untrue. Whites spread stories as an excuse to kill Indians. Brad says Ive told this story so many times, I seem to enjoy retelling it! I added that from now on Im going to put both hands around my neck when I do. We both laughed. The Indian raids began when the first Spanish and mestizo settlers came to Tejas. This was as early as 1690 when Alonso de León arrived with several Catholic missionaries in East Texas. They left when the Indians attacked and didnt return for another 20 years. When the Spanish returned in 1716, they established several missions and founded San Antonio in 1718. The Lipan Apache raids lasted 30 years until the Apache made peace with the Spanish in 1749. This angered the Comanche, Hasinai and Tonkawa tribes. Tejas remained mostly empty as a result of continued Indian attacks. My uncle Alonzo Lopez gave me family records in the early 1990s. They date back to the early 1700s. I headed for the Library of Congress, and researched English language books, but could find anything (at that time) about the Lopez de Jaen settlers. I looked on the internet and found Tejano history in Spanish. In so doing, I learned the dialect we speak in Texas is archaic, perhaps from the 1500s. It has many Spanish-Jewish words (ladino). One example, mucho (much) is Castillian, muncho, the form we use in south Texas, means the same thing in Spanish-Jewish or Sephardic. Orfa Salinas, a Facebook pal, has also researched our dialect. Spanish and Mexican records are massive. The land grants are porciones in Mexico. In the 1700s, both sides of the Rio Grande were New Spain. I found the Lopez de Jaen portiones across the Rio Grande, near Roma Texas. There were three numbers 31, 32, and 33. The father was at no. 32, with his sons on either side. Settlement Land Grants for Camargo in 1767 (East to West on the south side of the Rio Grande): Porciones: No. 12--don Francisco Lopez de Jaen m. Maria Longoria No. 15--Jose Benito Lopez No. 16--Francisco Lopez (North to South on the East side of the San Juan River (MX now)) Porciones: No. 31--Juan [Jose] Lopez de Jaen (son) m. Isabel Sanchez No. 32--don [Juan] Bautista Lopez de Jaen (the father) No. 33--Pedro Lopez de Jaen (another son) The El Sauz land grant is mentioned in our records, thats in Texas. Ref: Family records and S.A.G.A. Corpus Christi. These was a difficult era, akin to a terrorist age, but things eased in 1785, when Spain made peace with the Comanche. They in turn helped defeat the Lipan Apache and Karankawa tribes. Its interesting to note the Spanish used cruelty as a war tactic in the Canary Islands when eliminating the Guanches. They did it in Mexico too, and got help from the Tlaxcalans, enemys of the Aztecs. Its believed the Aztec allowed the Tlaxcalan tribe their territory to have a continual supply of sacrificial victims. The Indian raids continued after Mexican Independence from Spain, and the Texas Republic, and did not end until 30 years after Texas joined the union. Many Indian tribes lived in Texas. (See map) The Karankawa, and Mescalero Apache lived in So. Texas. The Comanche Lords of the Plains, were a large tribe in northwest Texas, and their raids extended as far south as Mexico City. So many Tejanos or Texans were killed or enslaved, that most pioneer families lost someone in the Indian Wars. Peta Nocona (d. 1864?), chief of the Noconi (wandering) Comanche, was the son of Chief Iron Jacket. He was so named because he wore a Spanish mail-couriers jacket. He was the father of Chief Quanah Parker. Quanah Parker, was half White, his mom was Cynthia Ann Parker (born ca. 1827). Her family had settled in east Texas in the 1830s. She was captured and taken (enslaved?) at age 9 in a raid of Fort Parker (present-day Groesbeck, Texas) in 1836. She was renamed Nadua (someone found). Nocona, is southeast of Wichita Falls. The Comache and Kiowas pushed the settlers back more than 100 miles during American Civil War. This happened as our nation struggled to supply men, horses, food, and other supplies for the war effort in the south. Chief Quanah Parker eventually did surrender and was moved to a reservation in Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. His tribe ceased to exist. Many Indians died of disease, others were peacefully converted to Christianity in Spanish missions. Hunting and slaughtering native Americans is well documented as late as the 1800s. The Karankawa were but a handful of people living in the valley in the early 1900s. My great great great grandfather Santos Canales Cadena (married Juana Garcia) was a second lieutenant in the Union Army during the Civil War. He lived in Nuevo León according to the document Dr. Montalvo Cadena found. Santos resigned his post after his wife died of a fever, and remarried. Santos parents were Rafael Cadena and Clara Canales. The Canales from Alice are relations. Grandmother Rita Saldaña-Lopez said her ancestors bred and sold horses to the Union Army. Mom and dad added she was raised as a lady, lived in a large fully furnished home with servants. By 1926, she was widowed, they had lost everything little by little dad said, every time they moved. She took in laundry to support her family. I asked her to tell me the story when I was a teen. She refused and just said things were sad, and difficult. That was her only comment, ever. (Damn) The livestock industry began when Juan de Oñate brought horses and cattle with him to Santa Fe in 1598. Rodeos were their horse round-ups. Chile con carne, sold in San Antonio streets, were made by Latina women making ends meet, and not a cowboy recipe. Spanish names for many rivers, and towns, still exist, although many have been renamed. New settlers did this without regard for any previous historical significance. Spanish architecture, terrazzo tiles, stuccoed walls, patios with fountains or pools still exist. Perfect structures for the arid or semi-tropic climate that is South Texas. Photos: Quanah Parker, his mom Cynthia Ann Parker.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 20:00:40 +0000
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