Essays
Moseying: History of the Southern Llano Estacado
In the graveyards little known history is revealed by learning the “rest of the story”
May 31, 2006
“Why Stop?” is the name of a book that has the text of several thousand historical markers in Texas. I usually stop at historical markers, but I keep the book in my bathroom for brief incidental reading. I find ideas for stories or trips, and learn a little about Texas every time I make a “pit stop.”
A number of the historical markers commemorate cemeteries, and often there is a listing of the notables in the graveyard. Many of the markers also comment that Civil War Veterans are buried in that particular cemetery. I had always thought that such markers must have been erected many years back – thinking to myself that it was very unlikely that anybody in the 21st century would be involved in memorializing someone dead over a hundred years.
I learned differently, in a very roundabout way. Last year the Sibley Nature Center hosted a living history event in October, and over 100 historical reenactors participating, educating over 800 school children and 400+ citizens. One of the reenactor groups was the Dunn-Holt-Midkiff Camp (#1441) of the Sons of Confederate Veterans of Midland/Odessa. One of their members, Chief Deputy Ed Krevit, of the Midland County Sheriff’s Department was a crucial participant – he arranged for the security of the event and the grounds at night.
Historical reenactors love to talk history, and even after talking to hundreds of people during the event, they kept talking history. Chief Krevit and I talked about not having any Hispanic historical re-enactors and he mentioned that the Dunn-Holt-Midkiff group had gone to Sanderson on Memorial Day of 2005 to honor seven Confederate veterans buried there, and that one of the men honored was Juan Hernandez of the 33rd Texas Cavalry.
As an afficionado of things West Texan, I knew that the Sibley Brigade had passed through the region coming and going from ignominious defeat at Glorieta Pass. I knew that the U.S. Army had abandoned its forts in West Texas and that the Confederacy had not maintained those forts to any extent, leaving frontier defense up to various militias and home guards. I knew that Charles Goodnight rode for such a group that chased retreating Comanche raiders that made life miserable for the settlers of the frontier. I also knew that deserters of the Confederacy and Union sympathizers avoiding imprisonment prowled around the northern Edwards Plateau as far west as Jim Ned Creek (near Brownwood) during the Civil War.
But by focusing my attention on West Texas history, I never learned much about the Civil War. Chief Krevit and others of the group filled me in on some very interesting facts. From their perspective the Civil War was more about the issue of states rights than slavery. To demonstrate proof of the primacy of that issue they mentioned the 33rd Texas Cavalry and a unit from Oklahoma. The ranks of these units were multicultural. The Oklahoma unit had Indians, Blacks, Hispanics, and Anglos, all fighting together. The 33rd had units that were mostly Hispanic.
Captain Santos Benavides, the great-great-grandson of the founder of Laredo (Tomas Sanchez del la Barrera y Garza) was assigned the Rio Grande Military District and in 1861 defeated General Juan Cortina. Cortina, owner of a large ranch north of the river, represented a portion of the Hispanic residents of the Rio Grande Valley who wanted to reclaim the region for Mexico. After witnessing an Anglo sheriff refuse to arrest a man who had killed a Hispanic, Cortina wounded the sheriff and fled to Mexico, where he raised an army and declared he would create the “Republic of the Rio Grande.” For Hispanic residents of the region he is known as “the Robin Hood of the Rio Grande.”
In November of 1863 Benavides was promoted to Colonel and led a regiment of “Partisan Rangers,” defending the region against Indian raiders and harrying Union soldiers that sought to stop the shipping of cotton from the region. In March of 1864 Benavides and 42 men defeated a Union contingent of 200 in downtown Laredo in San Augustin Plaza. Benavides arranged to protect Texas cotton being shipped to England during the Union occupation of Brownsville by having it offloaded in Matamoros.
Over 13,000 Hispanics fought for the Confederacy. Slavery had long been outlawed in Mexico, and many Hispanics of the region operated an “underground railroad” for escaped slaves long before the Civil War. The Hispanics were fighting for the right of self-determination for the citizens of the region.
Juan Hernandez mustered into the Confederate Army in 1861 and served throughout the war. Chief Krevit did not know when he settled in Sanderson, but his descendants (the Calzada family) still reside there, and in January of 2006 Chief Krevit and Lee Hise presented the family with a Confederate battle flag to be flown at the gravesite.
Sanderson began as a railroad town in 1882, and in 1905 became the county seat of Terrell County. Many West Texans have heard of the great Sanderson flood of 1965 in which 24 people died. Its population has been declining for years. The last train robbery in Texas occurred near Sanderson, and you can find Ben Kilpatrick and Ole Hobek are buried in the Cedar Grove cemetery. Their grave (they were buried together) is more of a tourist attraction than the grave of Juan Hernandez.
If you are ever in Sanderson visit the Santa Rita cemetery and find the grave of Juan Hernandez, and spend some time reflecting about the complexity of the issues of the Civil War. The Civil War was not a single-issue war just about slavery. The issue of state’s rights continues to this day.