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When I taught eighth grade social studies (American History), I had my students memorize the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
The phrase “promote the general welfare” has caused great argument and disagreement over what it means. I won’t get too deeply into that discussion here; however, I know it means that we take a responsibility to preserve our history. That is a heritage we must leave to edify later generations. Whether local, state or national governments (or private individuals or groups) do it, it needs to be done.
Let me give an example. Texas is proud of our cattle heritage, our ranches and cowboys. This is the case with other Western states too. Texas even honors the cowboys in the name of one of our favorite professional football teams! What would you think, then, if you learned that the evidence of one of our very earliest Texas ranches, possibly the very first one, was lost? The name of the ranch is Rancho de las Cabras, and it is located about 30 miles southeast of San Antonio near one of the city’s famed missions, Mission Espada. Espada earlier was called San Francisco de los Neches. When the Spaniards moved up into the present Texas from Mexico in the early eighteenth century and established missions, they had three goals: Christianize the natives, assimilate them into subjects of the king, and hold the land for Spain. Therefore, priests encouraged the Indians to raise cattle or sheep on the land surrounding each mission. The adobe missions became the living quarters and worship place, but large ranch lands surrounded them.
Archaeologists are worried about the Mission Espada complex. The mission itself is safe and is visited by many tourists each year along with the other San Antonio outlying missions. However, unexcavated stone structures remain of the 100-acre ranch. The restoration of these buildings would indicate the early existence of large commercial livestock operations in the area. Because the missions are a part of the National Park Service, money must come from Congress to complete the excavation, restoration and presentation of what could become a living history lesson for future generations of Texans and Americans. Currently the ranch structures remain buried and locked behind a gate in order to protect them from vandals or deterioration. Archaeologist Susan Snow with the National Park Service said, “It’s one of these kind of once-in-a-lifetime sites. You’re not going to be able to see something like this anywhere in the world... The mission ranches brought what we know as the modern cattle industry.” Neither the NPS nor the state of Texas when it owned it had the money to restore the buildings, so they remain covered with sand for protection. Even feral hogs in the area pose a threat. Estimates are that it would take from $3 to $4 million to restore the site and then from $300,000 to $400,000 each year to open it to the public. By law, federal employees of the park service cannot lobby for the money! That means that some of the rest of us should. After all, this was one of the first ranches in America, and those Indians at Mission Espada were some of the first Texas cowboys. They raised Texas Longhorns, Andalusian cattle brought from Spain. Records reveal that the Rancho de las Cabras (which means goat ranch), had 1,272 cattle and 4,000 sheep and goats when at its largest production in 1762. The population of the mission complex totaled about 170. It is the only ranch complex of the Texas missions that survived because its buildings were made of stone, not the adobe or wood of the others. If this lone example of the first ranches of Texas were lost for lack of funding, I think that the “general welfare” of not only Texas but the nation would suffer. Isn’t securing the story of our heritage vitally important? We need to get our priorities straight. (Information for this column came from an Associated Press article by Michelle Roberts, published on Christmas Day.) Retired history professor J’Nell Pate of Azle has authored several books, many of which are on sale in the lobby of the Azle News. |
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