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CHAPTER SEVEN RECOVERY AND EXPANSION OF TEJANO RANCHING IN SOUTH TEXAS, 1848-1885 The Good Years Even before the war with Mexico, United States economic penetration had been felt in some areas of northern Mexico, including coastal California, northern New Mexico, and the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Tamaulipas. The presence of a small but influential group of Anglo-American and European merchants and artisans at Matamoros since 1820 was a portent of future events in the economic history of the area. With the end of the war, a new era began for the Mexican populace who had settled north of the Rio Grande.1 The United States or American side of the Rio Grande grew gradually, taking on its own peculiar development. The new settlements quickly became intertwined with the old river villas, and they continued to be influenced by events that took place on the border and in Mexico. However, as time went on, economic changes pulled the region more and more into the market economy of the United States. After annexation, the resurgence of the mercantile trade based on the Rio Grande and the accelerated commercialization of ranching, and to a lesser degree farming, in the post-Civil War period ushered in profound economic changes that reshaped society in south Texas.2 Commercial ranching , in particular, became the dominant economic activity of the bulk of the population. Much of the history of stockraising in south Texas in the second half of the nineteenth century is a story of Tejano ranchers and their adaptation to a changing economy and society in which competition for resources between Tejanos and Anglosintensified. This chapter, then, addresses two key phases of Tejano ranching in the post-i848 period: (i) the initial recovery of stockraising in the period 1848-1865; i8 184 Chapter Seven and (2) the boom in livestock and wool production in the period 1866-1885. My objective here is to delineate the key elements of Tejano ranching in south Texas during a dynamic period of expansion. To understand the important role that Tejanos played in the ranching economy, I discuss here the early trade in livestock, the return of the rancherosto their lands, the system of registration of marks and brands, the temporary disruption of the recovery during the period from 1859 to 1865, the advantages that facilitated the expansion of commercial ranching, the variation in ranching activities across the region, and the market effects on livestock and wool production and marketing strategies of Tejano rancherosm the post-Civil War years. I have also included a detailed case study of ranching in Hidalgo County during this period (1852-1885) and identified a number of successful Tejano rancheroswho operated in south Texas. THE EARLY LIVESTOCK TRADE OF THE REGION, 1848-18508 Following the turmoil of the Mexican-American War, an initial period of recovery in commercial ranching set in, only to be halted with the outbreak of the Civil War. Two interrelated factors promoted this phase of stockraising: (i) an increase in local sales and exports of livestock and livestock by-products, especially hides, tallow, and wool; and (2) the return of Mexican rancheros to the north side of the Rio Grande to reclaim their lands and reorganize their ranching enterprises. The California gold rush of 1849 brought travelers passing through on their way overland to the Pacific Coast. To outfit their traveling parties, company leaders bought goods from local traders and livestock from rancheros.3 By the early 18505 a number of tallow factories were also in operation along the coast. For example, John Peter Schatzell and H. S. Kinney owned one at the Rincon del Oso, near Corpus Christi, valued at eight thousand dollars in i854.4 Commerce at the Rio Grande grew rapidly with annexation. The customs collector at Brazos de Santiago reported that the value of imports from Mexico during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1858, included nearly 430,000 dollars in livestock, hides, and wool. For the eleven months ending May 31, 1859, the same imported products saw a rise in value to 490,000 dollars.5 Not all agricultural products, however, were exported through Brazos Santiago . The German merchant John Zirvas Leyendecker, who located in Laredo in the mid-i85os, purchased corn, beans, and flour as well as thousands of pounds of hides. He sold some of these products to merchants in San Antonio, but most of the hides were marketed in New Orleans through the port of Corpus Christi, which was closer to...

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