In 1776, Salvador de la Garza "denounced" -- that is to say, made application to the authorities of New Spain for a tract of land north of the Rio Grande -- in the now State of Texas called sometimes the "Agostadero," and sometimes the "Potrero" of the Espiritu Santo. The lands asked for were described as bounded "on the east with the lagunes (lagunas) of the sea; on the west by a thick wood; on the south by the margins of the Rio Grande, and on the north by a ravine which comes out of the sea."
In June, 1779, the proper officer proceeded to take testimony as to the possession had of the land by Salvador and of its boundaries and character. There were five witnesses. They stated that the "potrero" asked for had as its boundaries and outlines (linderos), the Arroyo Colorado, the lagunes, the Rio Grande, and a thicket wood; three witnesses saying, "the lagunes," one saying, "the lagunes of the sea," and one, "the lagunes immediately communicating with the sea." The possession of the applicant being satisfactory to the judge, that officer proceeded, in company with Salvador, to make an actual survey.
The surveyor's record of this operation first describes the nature of the ground as fit only for grazing, on account of the many marshes made by the tides of the sea, and freshets of the Rio Grande and Colorado; that it had in many places a sort of grass which animals would not eat, "which usually grows on salt marshes near the coast of the sea," on which account (with others set forth), "it is only useful as regards horses and all other stock, by the security which and protection which is afforded, on account of the potrero's having but one entrance and exit through the dense thicket which runs across it from the Colorado to the Rio Grande."
After the survey was completed, the attorney of the Treasury advised the granting of the "59 sitios de ganadas mayor and eleven and a half caballerias of the Potrero Espiritu Santo, under the natural outlines which the surveys state," and a grant itself was made to Salvador in due time afterwards (September 26, 1781), of the same quantity of land, described in the same words, "within the limits of the colony of New Santander, and not exceeding its natural boundaries."
Salvador took possession, and lived on the tract till 1802. In that year he died, leaving three children, to whom his estate went, as it seemed, equally, and to the rights of one of whom, Cavazos, the present plaintiff, succeeded.
284,415.8 acres, Cameron County, Texas. Abstract C-2. Granted by Spain, 1781. Bourland and Miller Report, pp 47 and 48. Feliciana Goseascochea de Tijerina, for herself and other heirs, Doña Maria de los Angeles Garcia de Tarnava, Ramon Lafon and their heirs, Estefana Goseascochea and her heirs, Don Manuel Prieto and his heirs, Don Rafael Garcia Cavazos and his wife Doña Maria Josefa Cavazos and their heirs apply separately as specified in their petitions for the confirmation of a certain tract of land called “El Potrero” or “El Agostadero del Espiritu Santo” containing fifty-nine and a half leagues originally granted to Don Jose Salvador de la Garza by the old Spanish government in 1781. Witnesses prove the validity of the original grant, the occupation and cultivation of the lands by the original grantee and his descendants for the last sixty years, having thereon numerous herds of stock, many tenants and servants sufficient to occupy the whole extent of 59 ½ leagues; and that said original grantee’s descendants and tenants continued to occupy and hold absolute possession of said tract, never having abandoned it at any time because of Indian incursions, down to the approach of the U. S. Army in 1846; and all government dues were regularly paid by the parties interested. [Confirmed by Legislature, Act of February 10, 1852. Patented June 21, 1859; No. 968, Vol. 12. General Land Office File San Patricio 1-432.]
In 1849 Charles Stillman, a steamship magnate who founded Brownsville, challenged one south Texas ranchero, Rafael Garcia Cavazos, an heir to the 1781 Spanish grant, El Agostadero del Espiritu Santo, in court. Stillman claimed land title based on his purchase of squatter's land in the Espiritu Santo grant.
After years of legal battles, Cavazos prevailed, but was forced to sell to Stillman's lawyers several months later after the attorneys threatened to appeal the court verdict. Cavazos relented, as he could not finance further legal battles. Stillman later purchased the disputed land from his attorneys.
The Espiritu Santo litigation was indicative of the struggles of many Hispanic landowners in south Texas. Most historians believe that Juan Nepomuceno Cortina's rise as a bandit was a direct result of the Espiritu Santo court battle. Cortina's mother was one of the heirs to the El Agostadero del Espiritu Santo grant. Cortina protested the loss of Mexican land to Anglos by rustling cattle from ranches in south Texas. Cortina, a common thief to Texans, and a hero to Mexicans, was also known as, "the Red Robber of the Rio Grande"
In 1850, the Bourland-Miller Commission was established to consider all claims in the Nueces Territory and establish procedures for claimants. By 1852, the legislature approved the majority of claims in favor of the Spanish and Mexican applicants.
Stillman's son, James, had two daughters, both of whom married into the William Rockefeller family.
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